AP National News

MILAN (AP) — U.S.-European carmaker Stellantis has reported a 37% boost in earnings in the first half of the year. The results Wednesday were driven by strong North America income and an increase in electric vehicle sales in Europe. Profit in the first six months of the year was 10.9 billion euros, or $12.07 billion,

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Nissan and Renault have redefined their French-Japanese auto alliance to establish more equal cross-shareholdings. The change will end a disparity that had caused friction between the automakers. Nissan said Wednesday it will invest 600 million euros, or $663 million, in Ampere, Renault’s electric vehicle and software

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were lower Wednesday after Wall Street hit a 15-month high ahead of what traders hope will be the Federal Reserve’s final increase in this interest rate cycle. London and Paris opened lower. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Oil prices retreated. Wall Street’s benchmark

By JENNA FRYER AP National Writer AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — The United States and the Netherlands meet again on the Women’s World Cup stage with smaller stakes than the 2019 title game won by the Americans. But the Dutch are collecting injuries at a terrible time of the tournament. The Netherlands will most likely

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Longtime Cambodian leader Hun Sen said Wednesday he will step down in three weeks as prime minister and hand the position to his oldest son, who won his first seat in Parliament in Sunday’s election. The announcement came after their Cambodian People’s Party won a

By GRAHAM DUNBAR and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The Olympics is on track to be back in business with millions of visitors coming to Paris for the 2024 Games. The French capital has the expert experience to stage the event and welcome guests for the first Olympics of the post-pandemic era. That

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s population has declined in all of its 47 prefectures for the first time in a record drop, while its population of foreign residents reached a new high of almost 3 million people, highlighting the increasing role that non-Japanese people play in the shrinking and aging country.

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Wednesday after Wall Street hit a 15-month high ahead of what traders hope will be the Federal Reserve’s final increase in this interest rate cycle. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Tokyo and Sydney advanced. Oil prices retreated. Wall Street’s benchmark

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting the tiny kingdom of Tonga as the United States continues to increase its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific while China’s influence in the region grows. Home to just over 100,000 people, Tonga last year was the site of

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — NatWest, one of Britain’s biggest banks, says its chief executive has left her job after discussing personal details of a client — the populist politician Nigel Farage — with a journalist. The bank said Alison Rose was leaving Wednesday “by mutual consent.” The surprise early-morning statement came

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The truce that stopped the bloodshed in the Korean War turns 70 years old on Thursday and the two Koreas are marking the anniversary in starkly different ways, underscoring their deepening nuclear tensions. North Korea has invited delegations from China and Russia as it prepares

By NICK EL HAJJ Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia, the new home of some of soccer’s biggest stars and a co-owner of professional golf, is proving to be no less ambitious when it comes to another global pastime – the $180 billion-a-year video game industry. Last September, the Saudi sovereign

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Volunteers worked frantically on a second day Wednesday to save dozens of pilot whales that have stranded themselves on a beach in Western Australia, but more than 50 have already died. Nearly 100 long-finned pilot whales, stranded themselves Tuesday on the beach by the city of Albany, on the southern tip

The Mega Millions jackpot climbed to an estimated $910 million after Tuesday night’s drawing produced no big winners, extending a stretch of bad luck dating back to April. The numbers drawn were: 3, 5, 6, 44, 61 and the yellow ball 25 The absence of a winner for the estimated $820 million jackpot brings the

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California appeals court on Wednesday will consider reviving the dismissed lawsuits of two men who allege Michael Jackson sexually abused them as children for years, a move the court appears likely to make after a tentative decision that would order the cases back to

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press IXTENCO, Mexico (AP) — On the slopes of the Malinche volcano, Juan Vargas starts the dawn routine he’s had since childhood, carefully checking stalks of colorful native corn. For years, Vargas worried that these heirloom varieties — running from deep red to pale pink, from golden yellow to dark blue

By SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s popular but polarizing prime minister, Narendra Modi, has a fondness for abbreviations that create buzz around his government schemes and dress down his rivals. Last week, Modi’s political opponents did exactly that. They announced a new alliance — called INDIA — to unseat Modi and

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets retreated Wednesday after Wall Street hit a 15-month high ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting that traders hope will end with the final increase in this interest rate cycle. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Oil prices retreated. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P