AP-National

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose this week to its highest level in 10 weeks, a setback for prospective homebuyers ahead of the spring homebuying season. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 6.77% from 6.64% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The man accused of killing a Tennessee deputy and wounding another during a traffic stop last week had made his first court appearance. News outlets report that 42-year-old Kenneth Wayne DeHart Jr. was arraigned Thursday on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a

By JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A truck’s fuel tank exploded early Thursday in a neighborhood south of downtown Los Angeles, sending a fireball into the air and injuring nine of the 10 firefighters responding to the blaze, including two critically, fire officials said. All nine Los Angeles firefighters were rushed to

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Auto workers held waves of walkouts. Hollywood actors and writers picketed for months. And healthcare, education and hospitality employees also withheld their labor while calling for improved pay and job conditions. The number of U.S. workers on strike more than doubled last year. According to

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Multimillionaire Republican businessman Eric Hovde is planning to launch a bid for U.S. Senate against Democratic incumbent Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Hovde campaign spokesperson Ben Voekel said Thursday that Hovde will be announcing next week. Reelecting Baldwin to a third term is critical for Democratic hopes to

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa City Council is poised to pay former prison inmate Robert DuBoise $14 million to compensate him for the 37 years he spent behind bars for a murder that he did not commit. DuBoise was 18 when the crime occurred. He was initially sentenced to

By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, Chris Hemsworth and Zendaya will join Vogue’s Anna Wintour as co-chairs of this year’s Met Gala, the magazine and the Metropolitan Museum of Art revealed Thursday. And the dress code? “The Garden of Time,” whatever that means in the imaginations of the star-studded

By HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s medical board on Thursday approved some guidance abortion providers would need to follow if the state’s ban on most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy is upheld by the Iowa Supreme Court. The restrictive abortion law is currently on hold as the court

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage in 2011, has lost his second attempt at suing the state for what he said was a breach of his human rights. Breivik, who changed his name to Fjotolf Hansen, has been held in isolation

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Republican proposal to legalize medical marijuana in Wisconsin is dead. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday that there will still be a public hearing to build support for passage next session, but it won’t occur until after the Assembly has adjourned for this year. The

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Kuwait’s emir has dissolved parliament, the latest dissolution to strike the oil-rich nation’s legislature amid years of political gridlock. The state-run KUNA news agency announced the decree from the country’s ruling emir, Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber. It blamed “offensive and uncontrolled” utterances by lawmakers for the decision.

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Families of Indonesian activists who were kidnapped and tortured by the military 25 years ago have expressed shock over the apparent presidential victory of Prabowo Subianto, whom they blame for the atrocities. Currently the defense minister, Subianto claimed victory in Wednesday’s vote based on unofficial tallies

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Last fall’s contentious United Auto Workers’ strike changed Ford’s relationship with the union to the point where it will “think carefully” about where it builds future vehicles, Ford’s top executive said Thursday. CEO Jim Farley told the Wolfe Research Global Auto Conference in New York that

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press ROXBORO, N.C. (AP) — Front-runners for North Carolina’s major-party nominations for governor in next month’s primaries have taken dramatically different paths to prominence. Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein and Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson have been ahead in fundraising and support from key party figures. These and other primary

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Another juror has been dismissed in the murder trial of a former Ohio sheriff’s deputy, forcing the panel to start over its deliberations for the second time in two days. The jury had been deliberating for more than three hours Wednesday when a male juror was dismissed and replaced by an

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Friends and colleagues of Manuel Rocha knew him for an aristocratic, almost regal, bearing that was fitting for an Ivy League-educated career U.S. diplomat who held top posts across Latin America. So former CIA operative Félix Rodríguez was dubious in 2006 when a defected

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin lawmakers have passed bills designed to regulate artificial intelligence, joining a growing number of states grappling with how to control the technology as November’s elections loom. The Assembly on Thursday approved a bipartisan measure to require political candidates and groups to include disclaimers in ads

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek farmers angry at high production costs say they will step up a roadblock campaign and take their protests to Athens, after rejecting government-proposed concessions. After a nationwide meeting of farmer unionists near the town of Larissa in central Greece Thursday, representatives said protesters would drive their tractors to the capital

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Manuel Rocha was well known in Miami’s elite circles for an aristocratic, almost regal, bearing that seemed fitting for an Ivy League-educated career U.S. diplomat who held top posts in Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba and the White House. “Ambassador Rocha,” as he preferred to be

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is stepping up efforts to stop dirty money from flowing through the U.S. financial system by crafting a slew of new rules aimed at increasing corporate transparency and regulating occupations that are exploited for money laundering. A top treasury official will be in Paris