POPE-SOUTH AMERICA

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia — Pope Francis reaches the halfway mark in his South American pilgrimage on Thursday by celebrating his first Mass in Bolivia and meeting with indigenous groups and other grassroots organizations that work with the poor. 

JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN

HAMPTON, Virginia — The Marine general nominated to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says the U.S. and its coalition partners are making moderate progress in the fight against the Islamic State but that the strategy should be re-evaluated if efforts to improve governance and build reliable local ground forces stall. 

BILL COSBY-FIRST ACCUSER

PHILADELPHIA — Bill Cosby has painted many of his accusers as star-struck gold-diggers — aspiring models and actresses trying to shake him down to get ahead in Hollywood. Yet the first woman known to have told police she was drugged and violated by the comedian was a college basketball administrator in Philadelphia who initially asked only for an apology from the man she regarded as her mentor and friend. B

MALAYSIA-HUMAN TRAFFICKING

UNDATED — The U.S. plans to laud Malaysia for improving efforts to combat human trafficking in an upcoming annual report just a year after blacklisting the Southeast Asian country for failing to protect men, women and children forced into modern-day slavery. 

CANADA-WILDFIRES

LA RONGE, Saskatchewan — Firefighters and soldiers works to stamp out hundreds of wildfires raging across western Canada that are threatening thousands of people and triggering air quality warnings across the country and in the U.S. West and Midwest, authorities say.

COLOMBIA-PEACE TALKS

HAVANA — Colombia's largest guerrilla army announces a monthlong, unilateral cease-fire, seeking to ease tensions as it continues long-running peace talks with the government. 

PUERTO RICO-CONGRESS

WASHINGTON — Leading House Republicans declare their opposition to allowing debt-ridden Puerto Rico access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy protections, raising new uncertainty about how the island can emerge from its financial crisis.