Residents traverse flooded streets in Viacha, Bolivia, on Wednesday. The Associated Press

Nation

Florida

SpaceX delays flight to replace astronauts

CAPE CANAVERAL — A launch pad problem has forced a flight delay to replace NASA’s two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station.

Concerns over a critical hydraulic system arose less than four hours before the Falcon rocket’s planned evening liftoff from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The decision to cancel finally came down with less than an hour remaining in the countdown.

District of Columbia

USDA ends local foods program for schools

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Agriculture Department is ending two pandemic-era programs that provided more than $1 billion for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farmers and producers.

About $660 million of that went to schools and childcare centers to buy food for meals through the Local Foods for Schools program.The cuts will hurt school districts with “chronically underfunded” school meal budgets, said Shannon Gleave, president of the School Nutrition Association.

Pakistan

Insurgents kill 21 in passenger train attack

QUETTA — Pakistani officials say insurgents who attacked a passenger train carrying 440 people in the southwest killed 21 hostages but security forces rescued the others.

The information minister on Wednesday said all 33 assailants were killed and praised the military for “averting a potential catastrophe.”

United Arab Emirates

Yemen’s Houthi rebels to again target vessels

DUBAI — Yemen’s Houthi rebels have warned shippers that “any Israeli vessel” traveling through nearby Mideast waters is now a target as Israel continues to block aid to the Gaza Strip.

The statement early Wednesday from the Houthis’ Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center follows a four-day deadline set by the rebels for Israel to resume aid shipments.