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The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate drew closer this week to 6.5%, pushing up borrowing costs for prospective homebuyers. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.49% from 6.43% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the average rate was 6.72%. When mortgage rates rise they can add hundreds of dollars a month in costs for borrowers, reducing their purchasing power. Mortgage rates have remained elevated after the average rate on a 30-year loan briefly dropped below 6% in February for the f

Average 30-year US mortgage rate rises to 6.49%, pushing up homebuyers' borrowing costs

S&P 500, Nasdaq open higher as chip stocks gain; US-Iran tensions in focus

Mortgage rates are stuck near 6.5%. A new housing law may make buying easier – eventually

Fed's Williams doesn't expect sustained surge in energy prices

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said Thursday that despite the renewal of war in the Middle East, he was not looking for a sustained rise in energy prices over the remainder of the year.“The markets still expect oil prices to come down over the next six to 12 months. I think that's a pretty reasonable baseline,” Williams said at a conference at his bank. “I still feel kind of the fundamentals are that energy prices are likely to be around their peak and then to come down over time.”Williams was asked about how the Fed could respond to recent events at the Fede

IMF looks forward to engaging with Fed on its review of communications, forward guidance

Maine Democrats seek path forward in critical US Senate race

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US markets brace for renewed funding pressure as leverage rises

U.S. equity funding markets remain stretched in the wake of last month's spike in short-term borrowing costs, as near-record stock prices and a frenzy over popular technology shares fuel demand for leverage.Concerns center on the equity repurchase or repo market, where investors and traders borrow short-term cash against stock holdings. Ahead of the June quarter-end, financing costs in that market surged as demand for leveraged equity exposure intensified. The cost of financing equity positions climbed to roughly 200 basis points above the federal funds rate on June 26, Morgan Stanley data sh

Suspected Ebola patient placed in Equatorial Guinea hotel with deportees from the US, lawyers say

Spain says Trump softened rhetoric after learning of Madrid's contributions to NATO

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Oil rises more than a dollar per barrel as US launches fresh strikes against Iran

Oil prices rose more than a dollar a barrel in post-settlement trade on Wednesday after the U.S. military began launching fresh strikes on Iran.Both crude benchmarks had settled at their highest in over two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened fresh strikes against Iran as soon as Wednesday night. Trump also said that an interim deal to end the Iran war was "over", but then ruled out full-fledged war.Brent crude futures last traded up at $79.28 a barrel, after settling up more than 5% at $78.02 to end Wednesday's session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were trading a

Arts|Crime|Sports|US

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleads not guilty to Reflecting Pool damage

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty in Washington, DC, Superior Court Thursday to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, prompting a raucous scene at the courthouse where supporters chanted his name and accused the Trump administration of abusing the justice system.Hearn, 67, was indicted on July 2 on one count of destruction of property of more than $1,000 for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.The felony charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted.Hearn’s indictment was a notably aggressive prosecutori

Graham Platner drops Maine Senate bid, clearing way for Democrats to pick new nominee

Democrat Graham Platner says he plans to withdraw from Maine Senate race after sexual assault claim

Crime|US

Second person in 4 days is fatally shot in Memphis by federal task force member

A member of a federal crime-fighting task force in Memphis shot and killed a person there on Wednesday, the second fatal shooting by a task force member in four days, and the fourth death involving the unit since it started in September. The shooting occurred while U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents were serving a drug warrant at a hotel room, U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron said. When the suspect refused to open the door for agents, they knocked the door down, McCarron said. A news release from the Marshals Service sent out earlier in the

Crime|US

Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her pu

These Maine Democrats could run to replace Graham Platner in the Senate race

Why Trump left NATO summit on a positive note after seething about Iran, Spain and Greenland

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Sports|World

Gazans mourn aid worker killed by Israel who brought them the World Cup

Gazans turned out in large numbers to pay their respects to a senior Palestinian member of Egypt's main aid organisation who set up World Cup screenings in the shattered enclave and was killed by an Israeli air strike on a taxi he was in this week.The strike killed Mohammad al-Waheidi on the eve of the Egypt-Argentina match on Tuesday, along with three other people, including two young passers-by, siblings aged 10 and 8, in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, medics said.Watching the matches on giant screens brought joy to thousands of football fans in the enclave, laid waste by more than tw

Europe|Sports|World

France and Morocco’s intense rivalry gets the World Cup quarterfinals started with a bang

Note: This story first appeared in The Beautiful Game by CNN Sports, our daily newsletter on all things World Cup. To subscribe, click here.I don’t know about you, but it was a little confusing having no soccer to watch on television yesterday. For almost a month that’s been my go-to setting and it felt strange not to have my daily fix of live World Cup action.But fear not, we are back underway again today with the first quarterfinal between France and Morocco. This could be the tie of the round with the rivalry hitting deep for both nations.We’ll discuss all you need to know about the m

Turkey's Erdogan gives NATO leaders revolver conundrum after summit

Iran says it hits US military targets in Gulf, lays slain leader to rest

Election|Europe|World

Farage left fighting a trash can as the UK populist leader’s election gamble backfires

A political gamble looks like it has spectacularly backfired.When British right-wing populist leader Nigel Farage announced he was resigning as a lawmaker and triggering a special election in the face of a swirl of allegations over personal financing, he sought the high ground, declaring that the “judges of my actions” should be his constituents.Instead, rival parties dismissed his actions as a stunt and said they would sit out the election, leaving his principal opponent as a garbage-can wearing comedian whose policies include forcing rule-breaking cyclists to ride unicycles.Farage, the

Arts|Environment|Science|Technology|World

An impenetrable steel ‘Black Box’ will record ‘every step’ humanity takes toward catastrophe

A disused airport on Tasmania’s rugged West Coast will soon be home to an angular steel structure with a haunting purpose: to record “every step” humanity takes toward “catastrophe.”The striking monolith, known as “Earth’s Black Box,” will be perched on the granite landscape of western Tasmania — an island about 150 miles off the Australian mainland — and will be up and running by the end of the year, if all goes to plan.The box’s design is imposing. Roughly the size of a city bus and made of 3-inch-thick steel, it will be surrounded by concrete panels and covered by a ro

US and Iran exchange more attacks across the Mideast, threatening ceasefire deal

Trump says Ukraine to be allowed to make Patriot missile interceptors

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"Like a war scene:" Dozens injured in multi-vehicle crash involving MTA bus in Baltimore

Arts|Business|Economy|Entertainment|Environment

New York hopes converted offices can ease a housing crisis. A structural emergency at a high-rise tower shows the challenges

Bezos' Blue Origin seeks first outside funding at $130 billion valuation, NYT DealBook reports

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is looking to tap outside investors for the first time, aiming to raise $10 billion in a funding round that would value the rocket maker at $130 billion

Arts|Business|Entertainment|Political|Technology

Judge tosses Trump Media’s $3.8 billion defamation suit against The Washington Post

Economy|Europe|Opinion

Le Pen can run, but can’t hide her policy flaws

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Political

Maryland lawmakers to meet in August for special session on redistricting

Maryland lawmakers will meet for a special session next month to consider a constitutional amendment dealing with future congressional redistricting

Business|Economy|World

US strikes Iran and reimposes oil sanctions as ceasefire faces one of its most significant tests

Americas|Europe|Political|World

The Latest: US strikes Iran as Trump meets with NATO leaders in Turkey

The U.S. military has launched a series of strikes against Iranian targets after three merchant ships were struck in the waters off Oman

Business|Economy|Finance|Stock Markets|Technology

SpaceX is joining the Nasdaq 100. Here’s what to know

Asia|Crime|Political|Technology|World

South Korean law targeting 'fake news' takes effect as journalist groups raise concerns

South Korea is enforcing a law that allows steep punitive damages against news outlets and social media influencers for spreading false information as journalist groups warned it could chill public discourse and invite censorship

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Local

From LA to Scottsdale: The Founder Behind AdDynamix Is Building the Bridge Between AI and Business Tools

An LA digital advertising veteran of 28 years has moved to Scottsdale and is building what he calls the missing piece between business software and the AI assistants people now use every day. SCOTTSDALE, AZ. When Benoit Pecqueur talks about his latest company, he sounds less like a founder pitching a product and more like an operator who got tired of watching the same problem repeat itself. “Most small business owners are watching the AI revolution from the sidelines,” he says. “Not because they don’t want it. Because their tools don’t talk to ChatGPT or Claude. Their accountant still pulls