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The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose again this week, reaching its highest level in nine months, another setback for prospective homebuyers. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.53% from 6.51% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. Despite the latest increase, the average rate remains below 6.89%, where it was a year ago. When mortgage rates rise they can add hundreds of dollars a month […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bruce Springsteen, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews, Brittany Howard and Joan Baez will headline a star-studded protest festival set for the Washington, D.C., area a month before the midterm elections. Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello announced the festival Wednesday while performing together at Nationals Park in Washington as Springsteen winds down his Land of Hope and Dreams American tour. At the concert Wednesday, Springsteen […]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Democratic leaders in a handful of southern states are lobbying for South Carolina to reprise its role as the party’s first-in-the-nation state to cast primary ballots in 2028, arguing that the state best represents the initial playing field for presidential candidates to build the coalitions needed to win. The state party chairs of five Democratic parties wrote a letter Thursday to the Democratic National Committee calling […]

Louisiana must redraw its congressional districts in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that its map was racially gerrymandered. The question before state lawmakers now is how exactly to do that. The House is considering one option Thursday that differs somewhat from a plan already passed by the Senate. But both plans from the Republican-led chambers would eliminate a majority-Black district at issue in the Supreme Court’s ruling. Both […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mexico’s consulate in Los Angeles helps thousands of citizens each week, assisting them with registering births, obtaining passports and, increasingly since President Donald Trump’s second term began, accessing legal help for loved ones who have fallen afoul of his administration’s immigration policies. Although it serves the country’s biggest Mexican community, all 53 Mexican consulates in the U.S. provide services that make Mexican people’s lives easier — […]

President Donald Trump’s administration is suing four states over their refusal to issue undercover license plates to federal agents, the latest front in the wider struggle between the White House and Democratic-led states over the Republican president’s immigration crackdown. The Department of Justice alleges in separate lawsuits filed Wednesday that Maine, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Washington state are imposing unconstitutional restrictions that it says impede law enforcement and threaten agents’ safety. […]

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan put to rest speculation about a potential 2028 presidential bid, saying Thursday that she will not join what is expected to be a crowded primary field after leaving office at the end of this year. Whitmer has long been viewed by some Democrats as a possible White House contender after her decisive election victories in the closely contested state […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for a Black death row inmate from Mississippi who claims there was racial bias in the makeup of the jury that convicted him. By a 5-4 vote, the justices sided with Terry Pitchford, who was sentenced to death for his role in the killing of a grocery store owner. “In this case, whether due to confusion, oversight, an overly hurried jury […]

May 28 (Reuters) – Microsoft will unveil a suite of new homegrown AI models next week at its annual “Build” conference for developers in San Francisco, including a coding model to boost the usage of its GitHub Copilot tool, the Information reported on Thursday. The company is also planning to roll out new models that specialize in tasks such as transcription, reasoning, speech and images, the report said, citing a […]