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.

LIMA, Peru (AP) – A former minister, a comedian and a political dynasty heiress are among the 35 candidates hoping to become Peru’s ninth president in just 10 years.

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.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday approved a bill to regulate the country’s mining as it seeks to attract leery foreign investors to a once-private industry that has long been exploited by criminal groups with ties to the government.

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.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – Peruvians head to the polls Sunday to elect a new president and Congress, but illegal mining – a major driver of deforestation and mercury pollution – has received little attention on the campaign trail, even as it spreads deeper into the Amazon and Indigenous territories.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – Argentina’s Congress on Thursday approved a bill promoted by libertarian President Javier Milei that eases protections on glaciers to facilitate investments in mining for metals – a move that environmental groups vow to challenge in courts.