Trump tells prosecutors to stand down on Venezuela leader

MIAMI (AP) – The Trump administration has quietly instructed federal prosecutors in Miami to avoid pursuing criminal investigations into Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime target of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials, in the latest sign of warming relations between the White House and the oil-rich nation.

Oil back over $100 - US stocks halt their record-breaking rally

NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices rose Wednesday following the latest flare-up in fighting to threaten the U.S.-Iran ceasefire, and U.S. stocks retreated from their records. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% from its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 466 points, or 0.9%, with an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.8% lower.

5 things to know about the protests challenging Bolivia's new president

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) – Less than six months ago, the inauguration of centrist President Rodrigo Paz seemed to usher in a new reality for Bolivians reeling from the worst economic crisis in a generation and fed up with two decades of almost uninterrupted socialist leadership.

Top Asia Pacific Breaking News: Latest Updates

NEW DELHI (AP) – A fire swept through a building in a New Delhi neighborhood Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring several others, police said. The building in the Malviya Nagar neighborhood in the southern part of the city had a restaurant on the ground floor and a hotel above.

Brazil to invest $75 million in highway through Amazon, fueling deforestation concerns

SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazil’s government announced Wednesday that it will invest $75 million in the BR-319 highway cutting through the Amazon rainforest, a project environmentalists say could accelerate deforestation and worsen climate change.

Report: Disruption of Mideast energy into next year would slam global economy

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – Prolonged disruption of energy supplies from the Middle East due to the Iran war would deal a severe blow to the global economy, sending some countries into recession and spreading inflation and higher unemployment, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a report Wednesday.

Brazil's Flávio Bolsonaro scandal shakes his presidential bid

SAO PAULO (AP) – A year ago, Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro touted his family’s connection with U.S. President Donald Trump as a major political asset. This week, Bolsonaro is in Washington leaning into that relationship again in an attempt to shore up his weakening presidential bid after he received millions of dollars from a disgraced banker.

Editorials from The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian and others

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

Global heritage group to work improving conditions at Machu Picchu

LIMA, Peru (AP) – A global heritage foundation that works to improve conditions at famous archaeological sites offered on Tuesday to work with Peruvian authorities on the famed Machu Picchu, where tourists often face hours of lines, overcrowding and unreliable local transport.