GOP eyes recount in Pennsylvania House race — Republicans eyed a recount and a lawsuit over perceived irregularities in a closely watched U.S. House race in Pennsylvania where Democrat Conor Lamb clung to a slender lead Wednesday in the longtime GOP stronghold friendly to President Donald Trump. With the last batch of absentee ballots counted, Lamb, a 33-year-old former prosecutor and first-time candidate, saw his edge over Republican Rick Saccone shrink slightly, to 627 votes out of more than 224,000 cast, according to unofficial results. The four counties in the Pittsburgh-area district reported they had about 375 uncounted provisional, military and overseas ballots. They have seven days to count the provisional ballots, and the deadline to receive military and overseas ballots is next Tuesday. With the margin so close, supporters of either candidate can ask for a recount. The GOP is considering lodging a recount request, and county officials reported receiving a letter from a law firm requesting that they preserve their records, something the counties say they do anyway under state law.

Canned soup may fuel North Korea’s air force — Is North Korea’s air force selling canned soup and taxi rides to upgrade its runways and airstrips? Amid the toughest sanctions ever against the North and its nuclear weapons program, there are some compelling reasons to believe the answer may well be yes. The story of how — and why — offers some insight into how North Korea’s economy functions under Kim Jong Un. There’s a fine line between North Korea’s military and its private sector. To augment the already huge share of the country’s limited national resources earmarked for defense, North Korean military units control everything from restaurants to farms to the flagship airline. Air Koryo is far more than just an airline. Over the past several years, it has also become one of the country’s most recognizable consumer brands

Myanmar rejects U.N. ethnic cleansing findings — Myanmar officials denied Wednesday that the country’s military had committed any crimes against Rohingya Muslims, one day after a United Nations expert suggested the government was implicated in “the crime of genocide” against the persecuted Muslim minority. “There is no ethnic cleansing or genocide in our country,” said Aung Tun Thet, chief coordinator of the Myanmar government body dedicated to the Rohingya crisis, which has sent hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fleeing. The military’s scorched-earth tactics resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings and rapes of Rohingya, according to the U.N. and international rights groups.

Australian court hears testimony in cardinal case — A judge allowed reporters into an Australian courtroom Wednesday to hear witness testimony during a pretrial hearing for Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s third-highest-ranking priest, in a high-profile sexual abuse case that has largely unfolded behind closed doors. In a heated exchange, the defense cross-examined witnesses in open court, including Bernard Barrett, a researcher for Broken Rites, an advocacy group for victims of clergy abuse, who said he received an email from a victim in 2014. After a defense lawyer accused him of “making up” representations accusing the church of covering up sexual abuse, Barrett replied, “We don’t rile or make up accusations, we just state the facts.”

In Guinea, wave of protests leaves at least 11 dead — A wave of unrest in the West African nation of Guinea left at least 11 people dead as protesters have poured into the streets nearly every day for weeks to demand raises for teachers and the results of long-awaited municipal elections. Thousands have turned out for demonstrations in Conakry, Guinea’s capital, and other major cities, and security forces have responded with tear gas and tanks. Violence has broken out at rallies, and journalists have been attacked. Some people died from gunshot wounds, according to local news media reports, and a police officer was killed after being hit in the head with a rock.

Tehran’s mayor resigns after dance recital — A troupe of young dancing girls may have ended the career of Tehran’s mayor, who suddenly resigned Wednesday. The mayor, Mohammad Ali Najafi, attended a celebration last week amounting to an Islamic version of Mother’s Day, where he encountered six girls dancing in traditional costumes. A 66-year-old graduate of MIT, Najafi did not leave when the girls took the stage and a video shows him immersed in paperwork. Though the audience can be heard cheering, hard-liners were outraged. There is a ban on dancing in public for women — and girls older than 9 are regarded as women by clerics.

Want to be happy? Try moving to Finland —Finland is the happiest country in the world, according to the World Happiness Report 2018, which was released Wednesday, followed by Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand, Sweden and Australia. Though in a different order, this is the same top 10 as last year, when Norway was No. 1. The United States is 18th out of 156 countries surveyed — down four spots — as life expectancy has declined, suicide rates have risen, the opioid crisis has worsened, inequality has grown and confidence in government has fallen. The report, produced by the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network, is based on Gallup International surveys.