The worst may be yet to come for the stock market.

Wall Street's mini-rebound since mid-October has recovered some of the index's sharp losses from the first 10 months of the year. It closed Monday a shade below 4,000, up more than 10% since its bottom two months earlier.

The European Central Bank slowed its record pace of interest rate hikes only slightly Thursday, joining the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world in reinforcing an inflation crackdown while glimpsing headway against the high prices that are plaguing consumers.

The Bank of England and Swiss National Bank also dialed back to half-point increases from three-quarters Thursday, as did the Fed a day earlier in a blitz of central bank action this week.

Business is bouncing back in Bethlehem after two years in the doldrums during the coronavirus pandemic, lifting spirits in the traditional birthplace of Jesus ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Streets are bustling with tour groups. Hotels are fully booked, and months of deadly Israeli-Palestinian fighting appears to be having little effect on the vital tourism industry.

European Union and southeast Asian countries commemorated 45 years of diplomatic ties Wednesday at a summit overshadowed by political distractions in Europe, ranging from the war in Ukraine to a bribery scandal.

EU leaders hosted counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, in a nod to Asia's economic rise. But the meeting comes at a time of increasing difficulties in the 27-nation European bloc.

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and former CEO of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, helped 1,500 Bahamian investors remove $100 million from their accounts while other customers around the world were locked out of the exchange, according to the company's new CEO, who testified before a House committee Tuesday

FTX CEO John Ray III, who has guided dozens of companies, including Enron, through bankruptcy restructuring, called FTX's collapse one of the worst business failures he has seen — a "paperless bankruptcy," fueled by an "unprecedented lack of documentation."

World shares are mixed ahead of a decision by the Federal Reserve on its final interest rate hike for the year.

London, Paris and Frankfurt declined while shares in Asia were higher. U.S. futures edged lower and oil prices also fell.

U.K. inflation remained close to a 40-year high in November, piling pressure on employers to boost wages as the nation faces a wave of strikes and economists expect the Bank of England to approve a ninth consecutive interest rate increase on Thursday.

While annual consumer price inflation dipped to 10.7% in November from 11.1% the previous month, inflation remains at levels last seen in the 1970s and early 1980s, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.

With frost biting outside European Union headquarters, energy ministers again sought to overcome deep differences Tuesday on a natural gas price cap that many hope would make utility bills cheaper so people can stay a little warmer during harsh winter days — if not this year, then later.

EU energy ministers have been forced into five emergency meetings because they cannot come to agreement on a maximum ceiling to pay for gas because of fear that global suppliers will simply bypass Europe when others offer more money.

Inflation in the United States slowed again last month in the latest sign that price increases are gradually cooling despite the pressures they continue to inflict on American households.

Consumer prices rose 7.1% in November from a year ago, the government said Tuesday. That was down from 7.7% in October and a recent peak of 9.1% in June. It was the fifth straight slowdown.

The joint parliamentary committees convened Tuesday to resume discussing the capital control draft law.

"We have specifically modified the needed exemptions in the capital control," Bou Saab said after the meeting.