AP National News

VERSAILLES, France (AP) — France and Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has been given a one-year suspended jail sentence and a fine of 75,000 euros ($84,000) in a sex-tape case that rocked French soccer. Benzema was found guilty of being involved in an attempt in 2015 to blackmail France teammate Mathieu Valbuena. The Versailles court

VERSAILLES, France (AP) — France and Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema has been given a 1-year suspended jail sentence and 75,000 euros ($84,000) fine in a sex tape case that rocked French soccer. Benzema was found guilty of being involved in an attempt in 2015 to blackmail France teammate Mathieu Valbuena. The Versailles court decision

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Global shares are mixed as worries about inflation set off expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve might accelerate its plans to raise interest rates. Benchmarks in France, Britain and Germany are higher in early trading. Shares fell in Japan, Australia and South Korea. The Fed will release

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden’s parliament has approved Magdalena Andersson as the country’s first female prime minister. Lawmakers on Wednesday tapped the finance minister who recently became the new leader of the Social Democratic party. Andersson was picked to replace Stefan Lofven as party leader and prime minister. Those

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two journalists from Norwegian state television were arrested and held for over 30 hours by security forces in Qatar without explanation. The arrest of the journalists from NRK came while they reported on the upcoming FIFA World Cup, before being allowed to travel back

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s Greens say a three-party agreement to form the next government will be presented Wednesday. The center-left Social Democrats have been negotiating with the Green party and the pro-business Free Democrats since narrowly winning a national election on Sept. 26. If approved by party members in the

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is spawning in an explosion of color as the World Heritage-listed natural wonder recovers from life-threatening coral bleaching episodes. Scientists on Tuesday night recorded the corals fertilizing billions of offspring by casting sperm and eggs into the Pacific Ocean off the Queensland state coastal city of Cairns.

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A thick cloud of smog has enveloped Pakistan’s cultural capital, earning it the ignominious title of the world’s most polluted city, according to a Swiss air quality monitoring company. Platform IQAir says that Lahore now stands at the top of its polluted cities ranking, with an air quality index of 203

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — Millions of Americans are loading up their cars or piling onto planes, determined to reclaim Thanksgiving traditions that were put on pause last year by the pandemic. The number of air travelers this week is expected to approach or even exceed pre-pandemic levels. Auto club AAA

By DANIEL NIEMANN and FRANK JORDANS Associated Press ESCHWEILER, Germany (AP) — Germany is inching toward the mark of 100,000 deaths from COVID-19. The country’s leader-in-waiting announced plans Wednesday to create an expert team at the heart of the next government to provide daily scientific advice on tackling the coronavirus pandemic. German officials including outgoing

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hosting Abu Dhabi’s powerful crown prince as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates seek to repair ties and increase economic cooperation. The visit by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, seen as the de-facto leader, is the highest-level visit by an Emirati official since relations

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have finally driven President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion package of family services, health care and climate initiatives through the House. Now the focus turns to the Senate, where painful Republican amendments, restrictive rules and moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin lurk. It took Democrats six months, but

By JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — NASA has launched a spacecraft on a mission to smash into an asteroid and test whether it would be possible to knock a speeding space rock off course if one were to threaten Earth. The spacecraft is called DART, for Double Asteroid Redirection Test. It lifted

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s military says Israeli warplanes attacked some army positions in the country’s central region leaving two civilians dead and seven people wounded, six of them soldiers. The unnamed military official was quoted by state media as saying that the Israeli warplanes fired their missiles early Wednesday while flying over neighboring Lebanon’s

By MARK PRATT Associated Press The city manager in Newport, Rhode Island, is standing by the city police department’s review of the 1966 death of an employee of wealthy heiress Doris Duke. The city manager in a statement Tuesday said there is no new evidence that would suggest that the death of Eduardo Tirella after

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Jury deliberations are set to continue for a second day in the trial of three white man charged with the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in coastal Georgia. The mostly white jury spent about six hours deliberating Tuesday before adjourning without a verdict. They are to resume

By JULIE WATSON Associated Press FERGUS FALLS, Minnesota (AP) — A Minnesota woman who worked as an agricultural adviser in the hinterlands of Afghanistan has been using her own time and money to get the Afghans who worked for her program out of the country. So far, five of the men and their families have

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats have finally driven President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion package of family services, health care and climate initiatives through the House. Now the focus turns to the Senate, where painful Republican amendments, restrictive rules and moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin lurk. It took Democrats six months, but

By JULIE WATSON Associated Press FERGUS FALLS, Minnesota (AP) — A Minnesota woman who worked as an agricultural adviser in the hinterlands of Afghanistan has been using her own time and money to get the Afghans who worked for her program out of the country. So far, five of the men and their families have

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats and climate activists generally support President Joe Biden’s decision to release a record-setting 50 million barrels of oil from America’s strategic reserve, even as the action appeared to contradict Biden’s long-term goal to fight climate change. The U.S. action announced Tuesday is aimed at global energy