Are Liverpool showing cracks in its pursuit of the Premier League title?

Arne Slot doesn't think so.

The polar vortex hit its peak across much of America on Wednesday, with an icy grip that made Arctic Greenland seem like a toasty vacation spot in comparison. Even Mars has been warmer than North Dakota this week.

But there's hope. Some of the coldest parts of the United States are forecast to see as much as a 90-degree warmup early next week, before the expected return of yet another polar plunge of freezing air the first week in March, meteorologists said.

The European Union's executive on Wednesday heeded the call of activist agricultural organizations and the complaints of hard-right parties by proposing a vision for the future of farming and food production that aims to cut deep into the complicated rules designed to protect the environment.

The blueprint, which seek to better protect local production from what is seen as unfair global competition, come after a year which saw protests by disgruntled farmers using tractors to paralyze many European capitals as part of a campaign lionized by the far right in the runup to their successful showing in EU-wide elections last June.

Apple has released a sleeker and more expensive version of its lowest priced iPhone in an attempt to widen the audience for a bundle of artificial intelligence technology that the company has been hoping will revive demand for its most profitable product lineup.

The iPhone 16e unveiled Wednesday is the fourth-generation of a model that's sold at a dramatically lower price than the iPhone's standard and premium models. The previous bargain-bin models were called the iPhone SE, with the last version coming out in 2022.

A wintry gust of wind raises hopes that the giant sails of a centuries-old windmill near Amsterdam will start turning. On the mill's cutting floor, six blades briefly rise and fall, sawing into a rough-hewn plank.

But the wind drops and the mill's sails and saws grind to a halt.

After devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles, the 97th Academy Awards are going forward.

Like the Grammys and other awards shows this year, the ceremony will be transformed by the fires and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pledged to help its members and the broader film community recover.

President Donald Trump's restrictions on foreign aid and targeting of a key agency funding programs around the world may be offering an opening to America's biggest adversary — China.

From the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development to quitting international groups, Trump's drastic "America First" moves have raised concerns among some lawmakers and experts about whether the U.S. is ceding global influence to its rivals, especially at a time when Washington is fretting over Beijing's growing clout at the cost to American interests.

German voters go to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament that will determine how the country is run for the next four years.

Europe's biggest economy is the 27-nation European Union's most populous nation and a leading member of NATO, as well as the second-biggest weapons supplier to Ukraine, after the United States, following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Germany's next government will be central to Europe's response to an assertive new U.S. administration.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in South Africa on Thursday for a two-day meeting of the Group of 20 nations, where top European diplomats are expected to reinforce their support for Ukraine and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is a high-profile absentee.

Lavrov traveled to Johannesburg for the G20 foreign ministers' meeting two days after landmark bilateral talks between the United States and Russia over ending the war in Ukraine. Those talks sidelined the U.S.'s European allies and Ukraine, who were not involved.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will skip a two-day meeting of foreign ministers from the leading rich and developing nations that starts on Thursday after criticizing host South Africa's policies as anti-American.

Instead, Rubio was headed back to the United States on Wednesday from his first trip to the Middle East as America's chief diplomat, and after leading a U.S. delegation in talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia over the war in Ukraine.