AP-National

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shop for a home now or hold out for possibly lower mortgage rates? That’s a question confronting many home shoppers this spring homebuying season amid widespread expectations that mortgage rates could come down once the Federal Reserve begins lowering its own short-term rate. Economists generally

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose to its highest level in five weeks, a setback for prospective homebuyers during what’s traditionally the busiest time of the year for home sales. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.88% from 6.82% last week,

By SCOTT BAUER and KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley says she won’t seek another term next year, setting up a high-stakes fight for control of the battleground state’s highest court. Bradley, who is part of the court’s 4-3 liberal majority, said in a statement Thursday

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The commanding officer of an Army reservist responsible for the deadliest shooting in Maine history has acknowledged to an independent commission that he didn’t get deeply involved in the reservist’s medical care after his discharge from a psychiatric hospital. Capt. Jeremy Reamer insisted Thursday that he

By The Associated Press Reaction to the death of O.J. Simpson after prostate cancer. He was 76. Simpson’s family announced the news on his X account. Relatives said he died Wednesday. ___ “I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere. I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press MILAN (AP) — The Italian Coast Guard says it has rescued 22 people and recovered nine bodies after a smugglers’ boat capsized in a storm about 30 miles south of the island of Lampedusa. Survivors indicated that the steel bottom boat had departed from Sfax, Tunisia, overnight Sunday carrying 46

NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) — Officials say 55 U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadets have been disciplined for sharing homework answers in violation of academy policy. After a series of disciplinary hearings, six of the cadets failed the course and 48 got lowered grades. The commandant of the academy in New London, Connecticut, said Wednesday that

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Union officials say steelworkers at Britain’s largest steel production plant have voted to go on strike for the first time in 40 years. They will protest the planned cuts of 2,800 jobs by Indian owner Tata Steel. The Unite trade union said Thursday that 1,500 of its

MADRID (AP) — The Portuguese Catholic Church says it will pay some form of compensation to victims of sex abuse by clergy. The country’s Bishops Conference said Thursday the church will set up a fund with contributions from all dioceses to meet the eventual payments. A 2023 report said more than 4,800 people may have

By LINDA DEUTSCH AP Special Correspondent LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ten things to remember about O.J. Simpson, the NFL running back-turned actor who was acquitted of murdering his wife and her friend. The family announced on Simpson’s official X account that Simpson died Wednesday after battling prostate cancer. Simpson’s attorney confirmed to TMZ he died

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A special prosecutor has been assigned to look into whether Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones should face criminal charges over efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia announced Thursday that its executive director, Pete Skandalakis, will handle the matter. Fulton County

By MICHAEL FLEEMAN Associated Press EDITOR’S NOTE: The first week of the O.J. Simpson case in mid-June 1994 moved quickly, with reporters racing to reach the news. The only thing that was slow was The Chase. The football great had been accused of killing his ex-wife and her friend, and there he was on live

By LISA RATHKE Associated Press Prosecutors say the man accused of starting a fire outside U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Vermont office has had past brushes with the law involving guns and a history of traveling from place to place. According to an affidavit, 35-year-old Shant Michael Soghomonian threw liquid at the bottom of the door

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — O.J. Simpson, the football star and Hollywood actor acquitted of charges he killed his former wife and her friend in a trial that mesmerized the public and exposed divisions on race and policing in America, has died. He was 76. The family announced on Simpson’s official

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the International Monetary Fund says strong economic activity in the United States and emerging markets is projected to help drive global growth by about 3% this year. That’s below the annual historic average and a warning sign about potential lackluster performances through the 2020s.

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The wife of Julian Assange says her husband’s legal case “could be moving in the right direction.” Stella Assnge spoke Thursday after President Joe Biden confirmed the U.S. may drop charges against the imprisoned WikiLeaks founder. It came as supporters in several cities rallied to demand the

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s bipartisan elections commission has rejected a petition seeking to force a recall election of the state’s top elected Republican, who has drawn the ire of former President Donald Trump. Trump backers angry with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos launched the recall effort. They cited his refusal to decertify President Joe Biden’s

NEW YORK (AP) — A memoir Alexei Navalny began working on in 2020 will be published this fall. “Patriot,” which publisher Alfred A. Knopf is calling the late Russian opposition leader’s “final letter to the world,” will come out Oct. 22. Navalny, 47, died in February while serving a 19-year prison sentence on extremism charges

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Jordan Janes knew when he arrived at the Masters for the first time a pimento cheese sandwich was a must-have. He wanted to soak in the Augusta National experience, and that has long included the iconic staple on the affordable Masters menu. And no, Janes

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Belarusian man who was in jail awaiting trial on charges of insulting the authoritarian president has died in custody. The country’s leading human rights group says Aliaksandr Kulinich, 51, died Tuesday in a detention center in the western city of Brest that is notorious for harsh treatment of opposition activists.