WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump announced at the White House on Wednesday a new list of 20 more candidates he would consider nominating to the Supreme Court, which is widely seen as his latest effort to bolster support among conservative voters in the November elections.

Among the names added to the list are three sitting Republican Senators — Ted Cruz of Texas, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Josh Hawley of Missouri. (US-Supreme Court)

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TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday announced a program of 221 million Canadian dollars to aid Black-owned businesses in the country amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Trudeau said that the COVID-19 pandemic has put a spotlight on the systemic gaps and economic barriers Black Canadians face every day, and that his government wants a pandemic recovery that is “inclusive and equitable for all Canadians.” (Canada-Black Businesses)

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BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled its first-ever Strategic Foresight Report, which aims to identify challenges and opportunities to better steer the European Union’s strategic choices.

The document is meant to support the Commission in designing “future-proof” policies and legislation that serves both the current needs and longer-term aspirations of European citizens. (EU-Strategic Foresight Report)

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LOS ANGELES — As a wildfire in Angeles National Forest continued spreading and the dangerous Santa Ana winds was predicted to hit the area Wednesday evening, several cities in Los Angeles county along the foothill was under evacuation warnings.

The blaze, dubbed Bobcat Fire, scorched 10,344 acres (41.86 square kilometers) with no containment as of Wednesday morning, according to InciWeb, an interagency all-risk incident web information management system. (US-LA-Wildfire)

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RIO DE JANEIRO — New cases and deaths from COVID-19 in Brazil doubled from Tuesday to Wednesday, with 1,075 deaths and 35,816 cases reported in the last 24 hours, the government reported.

On Tuesday, the government announced 504 new deaths and 14,279 new cases. The low figures were possibly due to the fact that Monday was a national holiday. (Brazil-COVID-19)

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BAGHDAD — Spokesman of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said on Wednesday that the U.S. decision to cut its troops in Iraq came within an agreed timetable between the Iraqi government and the United States.

“The latest step to cut the number of U.S. troops came as a result of coordination and joint work between us and the U.S.-led international coalition forces,” Tahseen al-Khafaji, the JOC spokesman, told the official Iraqi News Agency. (Iraq-US-Troops)