JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa held closed-door discussions Wednesday on the possible expansion of their BRICS economic bloc, a move they’ve framed as a way to amplify the voice of developing nations, but which also serves the geopolitical interests of Beijing and Moscow.

A decision on whether to accept new members had been expected late Wednesday, the second day of a three-day BRICS summit in Johannesburg. But officials said that was looking unlikely and a declaration might be made on Thursday.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Schoolchildren who were rescued from a broken cable car dangling high above a valley in Pakistan said Wednesday they repeatedly feared they were about to die during the 16-hour ordeal despite attempts by their parents to reassure them over cellphones.

Several of the children, who had been on their way to school Tuesday when one of the car’s cables snapped, also appealed for a school and bridge to be built in their village so they wouldn’t have to ride the cable car in the future.

Russia (AP) —Gen. Sergei Surovikin, a former commander of Russia’s forces in Ukraine who was linked to the leader of a brief armed rebellion, has been dismissed as chief of the air force, Russian state media reported Wednesday after weeks of uncertainty about his fate.

Surovikin has not been seen in public since June 23-24, when Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, sent his men to march toward Moscow. In a video released during the uprising, Surovikin — who was believed to have close ties to Prigozhin — had urged him to pull the mercenaries back.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Delays of up to 10 hours in mostly opposition strongholds marked voting in Zimbabwe on Wednesday as President Emmerson Mnangagwa seeks a second and final term in a country with a history of violent and disputed elections.

Long lines continued after sunset at some polling stations following the late distribution of ballot papers. The electoral commission said voting would continue until everyone who was waiting in line at 7 p.m., when polls were scheduled to close, got a chance to vote.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump says he will surrender to authorities in Georgia on Thursday to face charges in the case accusing him of illegally scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.

“Can you believe it? I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED,” Trump wrote on his social media network Monday night, hours after his bond was set at $200,000.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s aggressive response to his fourth criminal indictment in five months follows a strategy he has long used against legal and political opponents: relentless attacks, often infused with language that is either overtly racist or is coded in ways that appeal to racists.

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday told survivors of Hawaii’s wildfires that the nation “grieves with you” and promised that the federal government will help “for as long as it takes” Maui to recover from damage caused by the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

Biden arrived in Maui 13 days after fire ravaged the western part of the island, killing at least 115 people. Standing near a severely burned 150-year-old banyan tree, the president acknowledged the “overwhelming” devastation but said that Maui would persevere through the tragedy.

LAHAINA, Hawaii, Aug 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday praised the "remarkable resiliency" of the people of Maui, after wildfires killed more than 114 people on the Hawaiian island two weeks ago, and said America would stand by them for as long as it takes.

“We’re focused on what’s next. That’s rebuilding for the long term …and doing it together,” said Biden, visibly moved after a tour of the blackened city of Lahaina. He added he would make sure “your voices are heard” and local traditions and wishes were respected.

NEW YORK (AP) — If 2023 has taught anything to the people running Fox News, it’s the importance of being able to pivot.

The decision by former President Donald Trump to skip Wednesday’s first debate of the 2024 presidential primary season likely deprives Fox of a huge late-summer audience. Even worse for the network, Trump has talked of appearing in an online interview with former Fox star Tucker Carlson at the same time.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Monday subpoenaed several FBI and IRS agents involved in the federal investigation into Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden as the party weighs whether to open an impeachment inquiry into the president this fall.

Leaders of the House Judiciary and Ways and Means committees demanded testimony from four agents who worked on the yearslong Justice Department case into President Joe Biden’s youngest son and his tax and business dealings.

BERLIN, Aug 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Two American soldiers have been arrested in Germany over the death of a man at a funfair in the west of the country, according to German police.

“Following the murder of a 28-year-old man, two suspects were arrested … They are American servicemen,” police in the western city of Treves said in a statement.

The death occurred when an altercation broke out between several people at a Saubrenner funfair in the small town of Wittlich, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate between Treves and Koblenz, on Saturday night.

DENVER (AP) — As a wealthy dentist convicted of killing his wife at the end of an African safari listened in court, her brother vowed on Monday to move her remains to a place that Larry Rudolph would never discover.

Shortly before a judge sentenced Rudolph to life in prison in the 2016 death of Bianca Rudolph, Vincent Finizio also predicted Larry Rudolph would “die alone and unmourned” and that his future grandchildren will never know he existed.