NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks are flirting with a record Wednesday following their big rally the last two weeks on hopes that the global economy can avoid a worst-case scenario. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%  The Dow Jones was down 52 points, or 0.1%, as of 3:09 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.4% higher.

MONACO (AP) - Lando Norris broke the track record to qualify on pole position Saturday for Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix, besting Charles Leclerc and title rival Oscar Piastri.

BEIJING (AP) – Chinese President Xi Jinping said Wednesday that the stability and certainty of China-Russia relations are particularly “precious” in the face of an international landscape intertwined with change and chaos.

MONACO (AP) - Here’s a guide that tells you what you need to know about Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix. It’s the eighth round of the 2025 Formula 1 season.

SAN SALVADOR (AP) – Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Wednesday signed into law constitutional reforms to permit life prison sentences for people as young as 12, a contentious reform that follows other heavy-handed measures pushed through by the populist leader.

PORT SUDAN, Sudan (AP) – Famine. Massacres. And now badly needed food and other supplies are under strain. Sudan on Wednesday entered a fourth year of war that’s been called an “abandoned crisis,” as a new Middle East conflict throws into shadow the fighting that has forced 13 million people to flee their homes.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) – Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday doubled down as U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism showed no sign of letting up, insisting that the message “the world needs to hear today” is one of peace and dialogue.