Trump's talk of 51st US state met with near-silence in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Twice this week, U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed interest in turning Venezuela into his country’s 51st state. The latest came via a Truth Social post Tuesday with a map showing the South American country filled with the U.S. flag.

Stock markets drop from records as oil prices rattle market

NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. stock market fell from its records and joined a worldwide drop for stocks after higher oil prices sent a shiver through the bond market. The S&P 500 fell 1.2% Friday from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.5% from its own record.

BRICS foreign ministers meet in India as Iran war tests the bloc's unity

NEW DELHI (AP) – Foreign ministers from the BRICS nations began a two-day meeting in New Delhi on Thursday as the expanding bloc faces divisions over the war in Iran, rising energy prices and growing global economic uncertainty. The meeting brings together diplomats from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa along with newer member countries.

Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

Recent comments by U.S. President Donald Trump that arms sales to Taiwan are a “very good negotiating chip” in the United States’ dealings with China are heightening anxieties on the island democracy that Beijing claims as its own. Trump made the comment in a Fox News interview with Bret Baier.

Brazil's beloved instant payment system faces scrutiny from Trump

SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazil is a politically divided country, but there’s one thing that those on all sides of the political spectrum love: PIX, the country’s instant payment system that allows users to pay for everything, from ice cream on the beach to clothes in a shopping mall and even a car.

Brass bands in Beijing make way for sticker shock at home

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump returned from the spectacle of a Chinese state visit to a less than welcoming U.S. economy – with the military band and garden tour in Beijing giving way to pressure over how to fix America’s escalating inflation rate.

Brazil presidential hopeful Flávio Bolsonaro denies wrongdoing

SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro denied any wrongdoing Wednesday in his reported request for millions from jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro, a revelation that could harm the lawmaker’s expected run for the country’s presidency in October against Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Editorials from The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

Mass protests in Argentina decry Milei's funding cuts to prized public universities

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – Tens of thousands of Argentines flooded the streets of major cities nationwide on Tuesday to protest funding cuts by libertarian President Javier Milei to the public university system that represents a near-universal point of pride in this crisis-prone country.