News digest

Prices tick up but gauge shows pressures eased

WASHINGTON — An inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month, a sign that price pressures cooled.

Friday's report from the Commerce Department showed prices rose just 0.1% from October to November. Excluding volatile food and energy categories, prices ticked up just 0.1%, after two months of 0.3% gains. The report came two days after Federal Reserve officials said they expect to cut their key interest rate two times in 2025, down from four in their previous estimate.

Year-over-year inflation edged up to 2.4% in November from 2.3% in October, still above the Fed's 2% inflation target. But year-over-year "core" prices, which exclude volatile food and energy costs, were unchanged at 2.8%. The Fed pays closer attention to the core figures.

Ukrainian strike with US missiles kills 6 in Russia

KYIV, Ukraine — A Ukrainian attack on a town in Russia's Kursk border region using U.S.-supplied missiles Friday killed six people, including a child, a senior official there said. The attack came hours after Ukrainian authorities said a Russian ballistic missile strike on Kyiv killed at least one person and wounded 13.

Ten other people in the Kursk town of Rylsk, including a 13-year-old, were hospitalized after Friday's strike with HIMARS missiles, Kursk acting Gov. Alexander Khinshtein said. He provided no further details.

President Joe Biden last month authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, easing limitations on the longer-range weapons. The move was a response to Russia deploying thousands of North Korean troops to reinforce its war effort, officials said. Moscow claimed the Kyiv strike was in response to a Ukrainian strike on Russian soil using American-made weapons earlier this week.

BRIEFLY

ABORTION: A judge ruled Friday that Missouri's near-total abortion ban is unenforceable under a new constitutional amendment, ensuring abortion will be legal in the state. It's one of five states where voters approved ballot measures in the 2024 general election to add the right to an abortion to their state constitutions.

JUDGES: The Senate approved the 235th judicial confirmation of Democrat Joe Biden's presidency Friday, exceeding his Republican predecessor Donald Trump's total by one, as Democrats tout diversity of the nominees.

CONVICTIONS: France's anti-terrorism court convicted eight people Friday in the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty four years ago after he showed his class cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a debate on free expression.

CAMPUS PROTESTS: The U.S. Department of Education said Friday it reached an agreement with the University of California system resolving complaints from Jewish and Muslim students of discrimination and harassment during protests last spring over the war in Gaza.

CHIEF: Madison, Wis., police Chief Shon Barnes was named chief of police in Seattle on Friday, five days after he was thrust into the national spotlight because of a shooting at a religious school in the Midwest city.

SENTENCED: Richard Allen, 52, of Indiana, convicted in the 2017 killings of two teenage girls who vanished during a winter hike, was sentenced to a maximum of 130 years in prison Friday.

— Associated Press