AP National News

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks rose on Wall Street Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest decision on interest rates. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% as of 1:37 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 231 points, or 0.7%, to 34,337 and the Nasdaq rose 0.6%. Investors are

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish court has sentenced the mayor of Istanbul  to two years and seven months in prison on charges of insulting members of Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council. The court convicted Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Wednesday and also imposed a political ban that could lead to his removal from office. Imamoglu is expected

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Four chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure in a Swedish zoo and roamed freely before being captured and euthanized on Wednesday, according to Swedish media. Annika Troselius, press spokeswoman for the group that operates the Furuvik zoo, told the Expressen daily that the animals had to be euthanized because there was not enough

By ZEKE MILLER AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the U.S. “should have societal guilt” for the slow pace of action on restricting access to firearms as he marked the 10th anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Twenty students and six teachers died in

PARIS (AP) — Morocco and its former colonizer France are facing off in the World Cup semifinal Wednesday in a historic match that has left both nations in the grip of excitement and anticipation — and fear of possible unrest. Supporters plan gatherings in bars from the boulevards of Paris to the streets of Morocco’s

By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press The Scripps National Spelling Bee has its third executive director in the past two years. Scripps announced Wednesday that longtime bee staffer Corrie Loeffler will lead the competition. Loeffler is a 40-year-old former speller who has worked for Scripps since 2006. She says the executive director position is her dream

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer More than half of U.S. adults say it’s harder to afford holiday gifts this year. According to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 69% of them say they have seen higher prices for holiday gifts in recent months, up from 58% last year.

TARIK EL BARAKAH and BARBARA SURK Associated Press RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Hind Sabouni bristles with pride as she recalls her country’s history-making World Cup run as it eliminated one European soccer powerhouse and former colonial power after another — Belgium, Spain and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal — to become the first African and Arab nation

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s military chief of staff has suggested that Israel was behind a strike on a truck convoy in Syria last month. The remarks provided a rare glimpse of Israel’s shadow war against Iran and its proxies across the region. Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Wednesday

By KEVIN MCGILL and STEPHEN GROVES Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A destructive storm ripping across the U.S. spawned tornadoes that killed a young boy and his mother in Louisiana, smashed mobile homes and chicken houses in Mississippi and threatened neighboring Southern states with additional severe weather Wednesday. To the north, the huge storm

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco’s national carrier says seven flights that were meant to take soccer fans to Qatar for Morocco’s World Cup semifinal against France have been canceled because of restrictions by Qatari authorities. Royal Air Maroc, or RAM, earlier this week announced it would organize 30 flights between Casablanca and Doha on Tuesday

By ELAINE KURTENBACH and MATT OTT AP Business Writers Early trading on Wall Street is muted ahead of the Federal Reserve’s final decision of the year on interest rates. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were flat Wednesday, shifting between tiny gains and losses. A 7.1% U.S. consumer price index

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Acting Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has outlined her agreement for a new centrist coalition government, the country’s first in 44 years, saying it was the answer for uncertain times. The three-party majority coalition means the end of two blocs that have opposed each other

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — The people of Ukraine and their representatives have been handed the European Union’s top human rights prize for their resistance to Russia’s invasion and defiance during the ongoing war. The 27-nation bloc awarded the “brave people of Ukraine” the prize in October. Yulia Pajevska, founder of the medical evacuation unit Angels

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union and southeast Asian countries are commemorating 45 years of diplomatic ties with a summit overshadowed by political distractions such as the war in Ukraine and an EU Parliament bribery scandal. EU leaders hosted counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Wednesday. The meeting is a nod to Asia’s

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — U.K. inflation has eased in November but is still stuck near a 40-year high. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that consumer prices rose 10.7% in the 12 months through November, down from 11.1% in October. The figures offer little relief for consumers as the high

LAAYOUNE, Western Sahara (AP) — The Moroccan soccer team’s history-making successes at the World Cup are stirring mixed emotions in the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Its largely Moroccan population is celebrating, but native Sahrawis have a more complex reaction. The Sahrawi people have sought independence for the territory since Morocco annexed it in 1975.

By ALEXANDRA OLSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Say goodbye to virtual wine tastings, and bust out the karaoke. Love them or hate them, company holiday parties are back — in a toned-down kind of way. After more than two years of working in pajama bottoms and clinking glasses over Zoom, many office

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Two Ethiopians have filed a lawsuit against Facebook’s parent company, Meta, over hate speech they say was allowed and even promoted on the social media platform amid heated rhetoric over their country’s deadly Tigray conflict. Former Amnesty International human rights researcher Fisseha Tekle is one petitioner