Bulgaria’s parliament on Wednesday rejected a minority government proposed by the centre-right GERB party, likely bringing the country closer to new elections.

Lawmakers voted 138-98 to reject a proposal designed to make Rosen Zhelyazkov, a 56-year-old lawyer and former speaker of parliament, the next prime minister.

The GERB party, which proposed the minority government, finished first in the June elections but has only 68 legislators in the 240-seat National Assembly.

The party picked Zhelyazkov to head a new government over its leader, Boyko Borissov, who led three governments between 2009 and 2021. His third cabinet resigned following major anti-corruption protests.

The move comes after six elections over the last three years that resulted in shaky coalitions.

Although Borissov tried to find coalition partners in the fragmented legislature by refusing to become prime minister for a fourth time, his offer could not garner enough support.

The country’s president will now hand the next mandate for forming a government to the runner-up in the elections — the MRF party.

Analysts predict that after the first vote failed, it will be hard to cobble together a viable coalition in this parliament. The likely option is a new election, which will deepen the political crisis in the European Union’s poorest member country.

LeBron James is making it official: He’s coming back for a record-tying 22nd season in the NBA, one where the league’s all-time scoring leader could share the floor with his son Bronny as teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers.

James has agreed to a two-year contract to remain with the Lakers, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said Wednesday. The second year of the deal is at James’ option and means he could become a free agent again next summer, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not been announced publicly.

ESPN reported that the Lakers and James’ agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, may agree on a salary slightly less than the max that James could have gotten — a move that could keep the team from reaching the second apron and preserve some roster flexibility going forward.

Either way, the expectation is that James will make around $50 million — give or take a little bit — this coming season, pushing his career on-court earnings to around $530 million and making him the first player in NBA history to eclipse the $500 million mark.

It will be James’ 22nd season in the NBA, tying Vince Carter for the league record. The Lakers selected Bronny James last week in the second round of the draft, putting them in position to have the first on-court father-son duo in NBA history.

Getting the deal done clears one logistical hurdle: LeBron James needed a new deal in place before he could take the floor with USA Basketball for the start of its training camp in Las Vegas this weekend, one where the squad will start preparations for the Paris Olympics. James will play in the Olympics for the fourth time, his first since helping the U.S. win gold at the 2012 London Games.

He’ll turn 40 in December and averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists last season — as the oldest active player in the league.

Not only is James the all-time leader in points (40,474), but he’s fourth in assists (11,009), sixth in games played (1,492), and eighth in both 3-pointers made (2,410) and steals (2,275).

His 20 All-Star selections is a record, as are his 20 appearances on the All-NBA team. He holds the records for being both the youngest player, and oldest player, to make an All-NBA squad.

James became the youngest to make All-NBA when he was voted onto the team for the 2004-05 season. This past season, he became the first player to be age 39 or older in what became an All-NBA campaign.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan were both just a few days from turning 39 when the regular seasons ended in what became their final All-NBA campaigns, Abdul-Jabbar’s being 1985-86 and Duncan’s being 2014-15. James played in 71 games this past season, the last 42 of those coming after he turned 39.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

• Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits led to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India on Wednesday, resulting in at least 121 deaths.
• Five people died on Wednesday morning, and 28 people are still hospitalized.
• The event drew around 250,000 people, although it was only permitted to accommodate 80,000.

Severe overcrowding and a lack of exits contributed to a stampede at a religious festival in northern India, authorities said Wednesday, leaving at least 121 people dead as the faithful surged toward the preacher to touch him and chaos ensued.

Five of those died on Wednesday morning, local official Manish Chaudhry said, and 28 people were still being treated in a hospital.

Deadly stampedes are relatively common at Indian religious festivals, where large crowds gather in small areas with shoddy infrastructure and few safety measures.

DEATH TOLL CLIMBS TO 116 IN RELIGIOUS GATHERING STAMPEDE IN INDIA

Some quarter of a million people turned up for the event Tuesday that was permitted to accommodate 80,000. It’s not clear how many made it inside the giant tent set up in a muddy field in a village in Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh state.

It was also not clear what sparked the panic. But the state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, told reporters that a crowd rushed toward the preacher to touch him as he was descending from the stage, and volunteers struggled to intervene.

An initial report from the police suggested that thousands of people then thronged the exits, and many slipped on the muddy ground, causing them to fall and be crushed in the crowd. Most of the dead were women.

The chaos appeared to continue outside the tent also as followers again ran toward the preacher, a Hindu guru known locally as Bhole Baba, as he left in a vehicle. His security personnel pushed the crowd back, causing more people to fall, according to officials.

AT LEAST 60 DEAD AFTER STAMPEDE AT RELIGIOUS GATHERING IN NORTHERN INDIA

Authorities are investigating and searching for Bhole as well as other organizers, whose whereabouts are not known.

Binod Sokhna, who lost his mother, daughter and wife, wept as he walked out of a morgue on Wednesday.

“My son called me and said, ‘Papa, mother is no more. Come here immediately.’ My wife is no more,” he said, crying.

People injured in a stampede receive treatment at Hathras district hospital, Uttar Pradesh, India, on July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

Bhole’s Sri Jagar Guru Baba organization had spent more than two weeks preparing for the event.

Followers of the guru from across the state, which with over 200 million people is India’s most populous, traveled to the village, with rows of parked vehicles stretching nearly 2 miles.

State official Ashish Kumar said there were insufficient exits in the vast tent. It’s not clear how many there were.

Experts said the event violated safety norms. “The function was held in a makeshift tent without ensuring multiple exit routes,” said Sanjay Srivastava, a disaster management expert.

Members of a forensic team investigate the scene a day after a fatal stampede in Fulrai village of Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh, India, on July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

On Tuesday, hundreds of relatives had gathered at local hospitals, wailing in distress at the sight of the dead, placed on stretchers and covered in white sheets on the grounds outside. Buses and trucks also carried dozens of victims to morgues.

Sonu Kumar was one of many local residents who helped lift and move dead bodies after the disaster. He criticized the preacher: “He sat in his car and left. And his devotees here fell one upon another.”

“The screams were so heart-wrenching. We have never seen anything like this before in our village,” Kumar added.

In 2013, pilgrims visiting a temple for a popular Hindu festival in central Madhya Pradesh state trampled one another amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 were crushed to death or died in the river.

In 2011, more than 100 people died in a crush at a religious festival in the southern state of Kerala.