Associated Press stories, Page 695
2023 was slowest year for U.S. home sales in nearly 30 years as high mortgage rates frustrated buyers
LOS ANGELES — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes sank in 2023 to a nearly 30-year low, as sharply higher mortgage rates, rising prices and a persistently low level of homes on the market combined to push homeownership out of reach for many Americans. The National Association of Realtors said...
Biden is skipping New Hampshire’s primary. One of his opponents says he’s as elusive as Bigfoot
PETERBOROUGH, N.H. — Trying to upset President Joe Biden in New Hampshire’s primary, Democratic challenger Dean Phillips is running a TV ad across the state comparing him to Bigfoot — the argument being both are hard to find. “I’m something of an expert on elusive creatures,” a man dressed as...
Rifts emerge among top Israeli officials over how to handle the war against Hamas in Gaza
JERUSALEM — Rifts are emerging among top Israeli officials over the handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza. A member of the country’s War Cabinet cast doubt over the strategy for releasing hostages, while the prime minister rejected the United States’ calls to scale back its offensive. Only a...
Boeing 747 cargo plane makes emergency landing shortly after takeoff at Miami airport
MIAMI — A witness saw sparks shooting from a cargo plane as it made an emergency landing at Miami International Airport shortly after takeoff. The aircraft landed safely Thursday night “after experiencing an engine malfunction soon after departure,” a spokesperson for Atlas Air said in a statement Friday. “The crew...
Winter weather is snarling air travel. Here’s what to do if your flight is canceled
A winter storm made its way across the eastern half of the United States on Wednesday, snarling traffic in the air and on the highways. By early afternoon in the East, more than 1,000 U.S. flights had been canceled and 4,000 others were delayed, according to FlightAware. The brunt of...
Boost for homebuyers: Average long-term mortgage rate falls to 6.6%, lowest level since May
LOS ANGELES — The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell this week to its lowest level since May, welcome news for prospective homebuyers facing rising home prices and intense competition for relatively few properties on the market. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 6.6% from 6.66% last...
Packers QB Jordan Love offers different challenge for 49ers from past playoffs
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The San Francisco 49ers had plenty of success going up against the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs when Aaron Rodgers was running the show. The Niners knocked Rodgers and the Packers out of the playoffs four times, including twice in the previous four seasons. While...
Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, Texans’ C.J. Stroud ready for rematch
BALTIMORE — When Lamar Jackson and C.J. Stroud faced off in Week 1 back in September, it was not a good representation of how those two would play this season. Jackson threw an early interception. Each quarterback lost a fumble. Stroud was sacked five times and Jackson four. “I haven’t...
Mike McCarthy sells belief in playoff breakthrough that has eluded Cowboys
FRISCO, Texas — Mike McCarthy sifted through several versions of selling his belief that the Dallas Cowboys can find a level of postseason success that has eluded the storied franchise for nearly three decades. The coach faced reporters a day after a meeting with owner and general manager Jerry Jones...
Fani Willis accuses estranged wife of special prosecutor of ‘interfering’ with Trump election case
ATLANTA — Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is accusing the estranged wife of a special prosecutor she hired of trying to obstruct her criminal election-interference case against former President Donald Trump and others by seeking to question her in the couple’s divorce proceedings. A motion filed last week by...
Man arrested in series of New York City stabbings, police say
NEW YORK — New York City police have arrested a hospital worker from Queens after a series of recent stabbings, officials announced Thursday. NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban described the six attacks over the past 10 days, none of which were fatal, as “random, unmotivated violence” at a news conference. Jermain...
Judge denies Trump’s request to hold Jack Smith in contempt in federal 2020 election case
WASHINGTON — The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump on Thursday rejected his lawyers’ bid to hold special counsel Jack Smith’s team in contempt for actions prosecutors took after the judge put the case on hold. But the judge said no further “substantive” court filings...
Hunter Biden agrees to deposition with House Republican after months of defiance, committee says
WASHINGTON — Hunter Biden has agreed to appear before House Republicans for a private deposition next month, ending months of defiance from the president’s son, who had insisted on testifying publicly. The House Oversight Committee announced Thursday that the two parties have agreed for Hunter Biden to sit for a...
Icy blast gripping U.S. blamed for 14 deaths in Tennessee; Oregon braces for another round of coldVideo
NASHVILLE — At least 14 deaths in Tennessee have been linked to a storm system that blanketed the state in snow and sent temperatures plummeting, as bitterly cold weather kept an icy grip Thursday on a swath of the U.S. stretching from Oregon to the Northeast. Tennessee officials updated the...
New York midwife who gave kids homeopathic pellets instead of vaccines fined $300K for falsifying records
NEW YORK — A New York midwife who gave nearly 1,500 children homeopathic pellets instead of required vaccinations has been fined $300,000, the state’s health department announced this week. Jeanette Breen, who operates Baldwin Midwifery on Long Island, administered the pellets as an alternative to vaccinations and then falsified their...
Pennsylvania can’t stop young adults from openly carrying guns during emergencies, U.S. court rules
PHILADELPHIA — Young adults in Pennsylvania cannot be arrested for openly carrying guns in public during a declared state of emergency, at least while a court fight over the issue plays out, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. The 3rd U.S. Circuit judges, in a 2-1 decision, relied on the...
Anna Blinkova upsets Elena Rybakina in record-long Australian Open tiebreaker
MELBOURNE, Australia — Her hand and her legs were shaking, she’d missed nine match points but also saved six, and Anna Blinkova was 41 points into a wild tiebreaker that was the longest ever in a women’s Grand Slam event. Elena Rybakina, last year’s Australian Open runner-up, was just as...
Miami TE Cam McCormick says he’s coming back for 9th year of college
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Miami tight end Cam McCormick said Thursday that he is coming back for a ninth season of college football. He is believed to be the first with a ninth season granted by the NCAA. McCormick’s career was derailed multiple times by season-ending injuries, some of which...
Congress votes to avert a shutdown and keep the government funded through early March
WASHINGTON — Congress sent President Joe Biden a short-term spending bill on Thursday that would avert a looming partial government shutdown and fund federal agencies into March. The House approved the measure by a vote of 314-108, with opposition coming mostly from the more conservative members of the Republican conference....
Falcons plan for 2nd interview with Bill Belichick after talking with Eagles’ Brian Johnson
ATLANTA — The Atlanta Falcons are planning for a second interview with Bill Belichick after talking with Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson for the head coaching vacancy on Thursday. Belichick made the Falcons his first known interview Monday since leaving the New England Patriots. Belichick won a record six...
Atlanta’s Spelman College just got the largest-ever single donation to an HBCU
ATLANTA — A billionaire couple is giving $100 million to Atlanta’s Spelman College, which the women’s school says is the largest-ever single donation to a historically Black college or university. The donation was announced Thursday by Ronda Stryker and her husband William Johnston. She is the billionaire granddaughter of the...
Instant is in, fancy is out. Nothing stays the same for long in the world of home-brewed coffee
Instants that demand respect. Compostable pods. High-altitude blends. And a myriad of related home-brew goodies that lift the senses with the familiar fragrant waft of a humble roasted bean: coffee. Coffee world can’t sit still, it seems — just ask Brooklyn Roasting’s founder and CEO Jim Munson. “The coffee market’s...
Police response to the Uvalde shooting was riddled with failures, a new DOJ report says
UVALDE, Texas — Police officials who responded to the deadly Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting waited far too long to confront the gunman, acted with “no urgency” in establishing a command post and communicated inaccurate information to grieving families, according to a Justice Department report released Thursday that identifies “cascading...
Kirk Cousins plans to be ready for OTAs in the spring after Achilles injury
Kirk Cousins plans to be ready to return for practice in the spring wherever he ends up playing next season. Cousins continues progressing from a torn Achilles tendon that ended his season after eight games. He’s set to become a free agent following six years with the Minnesota Vikings but...
Reba McEntire, Post Malone and Andra Day to sing during Super Bowl pregame
LOS ANGELES — Country music star Reba McEntire will grace next month’s Super Bowl stage to sing the national anthem while Post Malone will perform “America the Beautiful.” The performances will take place Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas before the championship matchup and halftime show featuring Usher....
