Thunderstorms tonight; maybe a wintry mix for Virginia Monday

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate ticked up again this week, remaining at its highest level since July. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate loan rate rose to 6.93% from 6.91% last week, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. It was at 6.66% a year ago. It has risen for four straight weeks. The uptick in […]

NEW YORK (AP) — When Justin Stewart started his career, he juggled several jobs to make ends meet. He poured himself into his full-time role as a news show production assistant from 3 a.m. until noon. Then he rushed to the airport where he rented cars or to the big box stores where he pulled […]

BANGKOK (AP) — World shares were mixed on Thursday as the U.S. stock market remained closed to observe a National Day of Mourning for former President Jimmy Carter. European stocks were modestly higher, with Germany’s DAX inching up 0.1% to 20,342.60 and France’s CAC 40 adding 0.6% to 7,500.22. Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.8% to […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Electric vehicle demand is expected to keep rising this year, but uncertainty over policy changes and tariffs is clouding the forecast. S&P Global Mobility expects global sales of 15.1 million battery electric vehicles in 2025, which would mark a 30% jump. Battery electric vehicles are expected to make up 16.7% of […]

LONDON (AP) — The new year is always a good time to make a fresh start — including with your email inbox. To kick off 2025 with a clean slate, why not clear out all those unnecessary and unwanted messages? If you’re anything like me, you’ll have piles of messages that have been accumulating in […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump likes the idea of “one, big beautiful bill” for his top legislative priorities, but he emerged from a lengthy closed-door meeting with Republican senators late Wednesday open to other strategies as GOP leaders strain to develop a plan before the party gains full power in Washington. Trump said it […]

U.S. longshoremen reached a contract agreement with ports and shippers Wednesday, averting a potential strike that could have damaged the American economy. The International Longshoremen’s Association union and the U.S. Maritime Alliance of ports and shipping companies said they had reached a tentative agreement for a six-year contract, a week ahead of a Jan. 15 […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Service Employees International Union is returning to the AFL-CIO after 20 years, betting that a united labor movement will do more to help workers overcome legal challenges to organize and join unions. The union groups’ executive boards each unanimously approved the combination on Wednesday, with plans to formally announce the affiliation […]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s new governor appointed a so-called energy czar on Wednesday to help pull the U.S. territory out of a power-supply crisis. The nomination of Josué Colón comes days after a massive blackout hit the island, leaving nearly all its 3.2 million inhabitants in the dark as they prepared […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street held firmer on Wednesday, a day after strong reports on the economy hurt U.S. stocks by stirring up worries that inflation and interest rates may remain higher than expected. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% to recover a bit of its 1.1% slump from the day before. The Dow Jones […]

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Advocates for limits on indiscriminate outdoor lighting that are obscuring night skies worldwide are recognizing efforts by an oil and natural gas developer to reduce scattered light in New Mexico. DarkSky International, an advocacy group for preserving views of starry skies, on Wednesday announced its first-ever certification of oil and […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials at their meeting Dec. 17-18 expected to dial back the pace of interest rate cuts this year in the face of persistently elevated inflation and the threat of widespread tariffs and other potential policy changes. Minutes from the meeting, released after the typical three-week lag, also showed clear division […]

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday said no bids were submitted for this week’s oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — a sale the state has challenged as too restrictive and at odds with a 2017 law aimed at opening the refuge’s sweeping coastal plan to […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top policymaker at the U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday that he still supports cutting interest rates this year, despite elevated inflation and the prospect of widespread tariffs under the incoming Trump administration. Christopher Waller, an influential member of the Fed’s board of governors, said he expects inflation will move closer to […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS boosted taxpayer services through Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act but still faces processing claims from a coronavirus pandemic-era tax credit program and is slow to resolve certain identity theft cases, according to an independent watchdog report released Wednesday. “For the first time since I became the National Taxpayer Advocate in 2020, […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When he was still a boy making long, tedious trips between his school and his woodsy home in the mountains during the 1980s, JoeBen Bevirt began fantasizing about flying cars that could whisk him to his destination in a matter of minutes. As CEO of Joby Aviation, Bevirt is getting closer […]

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in nearly a year last week, pointing to a still healthy labor market with historically low layoffs. The Labor Department on Wednesday said that applications for jobless benefits fell to 201,000 for the week ending January 4, down from the previous week’s 211,000. This week’s […]

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg will serve as the country’s interim leader while the far-right Freedom Party attempts to put together a new coalition government, the president’s office said Wednesday. Schallenberg, 55, will take on the duties of outgoing Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who announced his resignation over the weekend after his efforts […]

NEW YORK (AP) — On the night Stephanie Cosme died, her sister and brother said they received a curt explanation from a U.S. Air Force official who met them at the hospital: The civilian contractor was failing to follow protocol when she was hit by an aircraft’s rotating propeller and killed. The family would wait […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Exxon Mobil Corp. filed a federal defamation lawsuit against California Attorney General Rob Bonta and several environmental groups, months after Bonta sued the oil and gas giant alleging that it deceived the public for half a century by promising the plastics it produced would be recycled. The Texas-based company said in […]