Morgan Wallen and Post Malone headline a very collaborative Country Music Association Awards

Post Malone and Morgan Wallen’s collaboration “I Had Some Help” could make both men big winners at Wednesday’s night's Country Music Association Awards.

The huge hit from the rapper-singer and one of country's biggest stars helped make Wallen the night's top nominee and puts a spotlight on the crossover moment country is having — despite the absence of Beyoncé from the nominations.

"I Had Some Help" is up for four awards: single, song, musical event and music video of the year, making Malone a first-time CMA nominee.

Wallen is up for seven total, including the night's top prize, entertainer of the year, where his competition consists of Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton and last year's winner Lainey Wilson. Like Malone, she's up for four awards.

Collaborations will be all the rage at the show that airs at 8 p.m. eastern on ABC and streams starting Thursday on Hulu.

Wilson will host in combination with Luke Bryan and NFL Hall-of-Famer and University of Tennessee alum Peyton Manning.

The show is set to open with a dual performance from Malone and Stapleton.

And the telecast will feature performances from artist combos throughout the night including Shaboozey, Combs and Eric Church; Kelsea Ballerini and Noah Kahan; Thomas Rhett and Teddy Swims; and Brooks & Dunn with Jelly Roll.

The evening will also have a multi-artist tribute to George Strait as he receives the association's Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award.

The CMA Awards are nominated and voted on by members of the Country Music Association, which includes music executives, artists, publicists, songwriters and other industry professionals.

Ahead of the nominations, some fans speculated that Beyoncé, whose landmark country-and-then-some reclamation “Cowboy Carter” was released during the eligibility window, could receive a nomination at the 2024 CMAs. She did not.

Earlier this year, the album hit No. 1 on the Billboard country albums chart, making her the first Black woman to top the chart since its 1964 inception.

Other big nominees include Stapleton and Cody Johnson, who got five apiece. But through the atypical math of the CMAs, Stapleton could go home with seven trophies if he wins his categories. Stapleton is both an artist and producer on “White Horse,” up for single of the year, and “Higher,” up for album of the year. At the CMAs, production credits are not counted as separate nominations, although they are factored into trophy counts.

FILE - Post Malone performs a medley at the 57th Annual CMA Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan racked up a trade deficit in October for a fourth straight month as a weak yen and rising energy prices kept import costs high.

The trade deficit, which amounts to a nation’s imports subtracted from its exports, totaled 461 billion yen ($3 billion) last month, the Finance Ministry reported Wednesday.

Exports grew 3.1% in October from a year earlier, picking up pace over recent months, as shipments of equipment for semiconductor production increased.

But imports, up 0.4% from a year earlier, were still bigger than exports.

A major uncertainty over trade is looming because of the reelection of Donald Trump as U.S. president, in part because he favors sharp increases in tariffs.

Exports are a chief engine of growth for Japan, the home of Toyota Motor Corp., although such manufacturers have moved production and investment abroad.

New Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been busy meeting the leaders of Asian nations, as well as Europe and South America, to forge economic and trade relations, as well as security ties. Ishiba, who has yet to meet Trump, was recently in Brazil for the Group of 20 summit.

A weakening currency, which tends to accompany trailing growth, is another worry for Japan. The U.S. dollar has been trading at about 155 Japanese yen recently, up from 140-yen levels a year ago.

Inflation and rising energy prices are pushing up import costs, while slowing global demand dampens exports.

But the recent fall in overseas demand is believed to be partly due to temporary disruptions like a typhoon, while the drop in exports is related to auto production disruptions in Japan.

By region, exports rose to the rest of Asia, including Singapore and Hong Kong. Exports to the U.S. slipped slightly.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@yurikageyama

Peru's Foreign Affairs Minister Elmer Schialer, right, welcomes Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting in Lima, Peru, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, left, and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol attend the G20 Summit leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)