Month: August 2022

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell below 5% for the first time in four months this week, just after the Federal Reserve jacked up its main borrowing rate in an aggressive effort to get inflation under control. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press PROCTOR, Vt. (AP) — Weeks after surviving one of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California history, the Holden family just wanted a new home. The family of seven couldn’t find anything nearby to replace their house reduced to ashes in the 2018 Paradise fire. It proved too daunting

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The Polish foreign ministery has summoned the charge d’affaires of Belarus to express its concern after a Belarusian court sentenced a journalist to five years of prison. The Polish foreign ministry spokesman said that Poland’s concerns over the treatment of journalists and the Polish minority in Belarus were raised at the

By DAVID KLEPPER and SOPHIA TULP Associated Press In the thick of Kansas’ contentious debate over abortion rights, the anonymous text messages arriving on the eve of the big referendum this week seemed clear enough. “Voting YES on the Amendment will give women a choice.” The only problem: It was a lie, transmitted by text

CINCINNATI (AP) — There’s a new mouth to feed to at Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. A full-term hippopotamus was born Wednesday night. The baby is a sibling to Fiona, a hippo who became a global celebrity when she was born prematurely in 2017. The zoo’s animal care director says the baby looks huge because

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — When camp counselor Allie Tarantino was flipping through a magazine years ago, he came upon a familiar name: Mark Zuckerberg. He rifled through boxes of memorabilia in his basement, running his fingers over old photos, newspapers and bus maps before finding a signed baseball card

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press POKROVSK, Ukraine (AP) — Around 50 mourners escort two caskets draped in satin fabric through a leafy cemetery in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, family members of two soldiers killed last week on the nearby front. One casket is opened to reveal the military fatigues-clad body of 48-year-old Oleh Panchenko, which

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for jobless benefits last week as the number of unemployed continues to rise modestly, though the labor market remains one of the strongest parts of the U.S. economy. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 30 rose by 6,000 to 260,000

PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has announced the creation of a new position of ambassador for LGBTQ rights, in efforts to fight discrimination across the world. Borne spoke while visiting an LGBTQ center in Orleans, central France, Thursday on the 40th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in the country. Borne said

BY DREW COSTLEY AP Science Writer Billions of dollars in climate and environment investments from the Inflation Reduction Act could flow to communities in the United States that have been plagued by pollution and climate threats for decades. The bill, announced by Sens. Chuck Schumer and Joe Manchin last month, could also jumpstart a transition

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez has been arrested on bribery charges related to the financing of her 2020 campaign, the latest hit to an island with a long history of corruption that brought fresh political upheaval to the U.S. territory. Vázquez is accused

By TODD RICHMOND and DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — As Wisconsin’s longest-serving Assembly speaker, Republican Robin Vos has presided over efforts to restrict abortions, weaken unions, expand gun rights and push back against COVID-19 mandates. Despite that, he’s facing a primary challenger who claims he’s not conservative enough. The challenger’s argument:

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has promoted a Vatican nurse to be his “personal health care assistant” The Vatican announced the appointment of Massimiliano Strappetti on Thursday. Strappetti is the nursing coordinator of the Vatican’s health department, and the 85-year-old Francis has credited him with saving his life. The pope said last year that the

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government says a Japanese video journalist detained while covering a brief pro-democracy march has been charged with violating a law against spreading false or alarming news. Toru Kubota, a Tokyo-based documentary filmmaker, was arrested Saturday by plainclothes police after taking photos of the protest. He is the latest of about

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s annual Oktoberfest festival is finally on again for this fall, following a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. The head of the famous Bavarian beer festival in Munich said Thursday the celebrations will be held without any pandemic restrictions from Sept. 17 to Oct. 3. Some 487 beer breweries, restaurants,

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press Negotiators from Iran, the United States and the European Union have resumed monthslong, indirect talks over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal. That’s even as international inspectors acknowledged Thursday that the Islamic Republic began a new expansion of its uranium enrichment. The resumption of the Vienna talks, suddenly called only Wednesday, appears

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruling expanding gun rights threatens to upend firearms restrictions across the country as activists wage court battles over issues including age limits and bans on AR-15-style guns. The June decision struck down a New York law requiring people to demonstrate

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s new government announced on Thursday it plans to prevent development of a coal mine due to the potential impact on the nearby Great Barrier Reef. Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said she intends to deny approval for the Central Queensland Coal Project to be excavated northwest

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England has announced its biggest interest rate increase in 27 years. The central bank forecasts that the war in Ukraine will fuel further inflation and tip the U.K. economy into a prolonged recession. Soaring natural gas prices are likely to drive consumer price inflation

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Sydney apartment where the bodies of two Saudi sisters were found in June is back on the rental market. Its real estate ad advises their deaths are “not a random crime and will not be a potential risk for the community.” Asra and Amaal Abdullah

BEIJING (AP) — China is staging live-fire military drills in six self-declared zones surrounding Taiwan in response to a visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island Beijing claims as its own territory. China has warned aircraft and ships to avoid the areas during the exercises, which run through Sunday. The drills appear

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — “Where you went grad,” is a common question posed in Hawaii Pidgin to find out which high school someone graduated from. High school has long been tied to Hawaii residents’ sense of identity. What happens when that school bears the name of President William McKinley, who

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A large fire triggered by explosions at an ammunition dump is raging in a major Berlin urban forest on one of the German capital’s hottest days so far this year. A huge cloud of grey smoke hung over the city’s western districts Thursday and residents were asked

By SAM McNEIL Associated Press AL-FAKHEET, West Bank (AP) — After repeatedly rebuilding his home only to have it demolished by Israeli soldiers, Mohammed Abu Sabaha has a new plan to remain on the land — he is moving into a cave. Abu Sabaha is among some 1,000 Palestinians at risk of expulsion from an

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Italy’s firebrand former interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has put migration at the center of his electoral campaign during a visit to Lampedusa. Italy’s southernmost island is the gateway for tens of thousands of migrants arriving in the country each year across the perilous central Mediterranean Sea. Salvini

By BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Bamako, Mali’s bustling riverside capital of more than 2.5 million people, is on heightened alert as jihadi attacks have moved perilously close to the city. At least 15 extremist attacks hit Mali in June and July, the most daring when jihadi fighters attacked Kati, the country’s

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Friday ahead of an update on the health of the U.S. jobs market while the Federal Reserve weighs whether more rate hikes are needed to cool surging inflation. U.S. futures and oil prices edged higher. Investors were looking ahead to monthly U.S.

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer Cliff Branch was the epitome of what Al Davis coveted in a receiver during his decades running the Raiders. Branch arrived in Oakland with the game-breaking speed needed to fuel the Raiders’ vertical offense and as soon as he learned to harness that speed and develop reliable hands,

By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — A judge in Russia convicted American basketball star Brittney Griner of drug possession and smuggling. She was sentenced to nine years in prison in a politically charged case that could lead to a high-stakes prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow. Griner showed little emotion to the

By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — An international human rights group says Sri Lanka’s government is using emergency laws to harass and arbitrarily detain protesters who are seeking political reform and accountability amid the island country’s economic crisis. Human Rights Watch says the military has sought to curtail protests through intimidation,

By DAVID RISING Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is stressing his country’s efforts to strengthen ties with Southeast Asian countries at a meeting with their foreign ministers, which comes as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in the region. Wang’s talks with top diplomats from the Association of

By KAREL JANICEK and JOVANA GEC Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — Liudmyla Chudyjovych used to have a career as a lawyer in Ukraine and big plans for the future. That was before the Russian invasion forced the 41-year-old woman to put her daughter’s safety first, and leave both her job and home behind. Since fleeing