After three years, the pandemic-era freeze on federal student loan payments will end this fall and more than 40 million Americans will have to start making payments again under the terms of a debt ceiling deal approved by Congress. Student loan interest will start accruing on September 1 and payments will...
Biden Attacks ‘Junk’ Insurance, Vows to Save Money for Consumers Played as ‘Suckers’
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday rolled out a new set of initiatives to reduce health care costs: a crackdown on what he called “junk” insurance plans that play consumers as ‘suckers,' new guidance to prevent surprise medical bills and an effort to reduce medical debt tied to credit...
3 Crosses Burned at a Small Los Angeles Church and Authorities Investigate Possible Hate Crime
Three wooden crosses outside a small Los Angeles church were found burned early Thursday, and authorities said it was being investigated as a possible hate crime. Firefighters responded to a report of a fire shortly before 5 a.m. in the Sylmar area and found the flames were already out, leaving...
Truck Makers Pledge to Comply With New California Rules Phasing out Gas-Powered Vehicles
Some of the nation's largest truck makers on Thursday pledged to stop selling new gas-powered vehicles in California by the middle of the next decade, part of an agreement with state regulators aimed at preventing lawsuits that threatened to delay or block the state's emission standards. California is trying to...
Elevated Mortgage Rates Are Leading to Sharply Higher Monthly Payments Even as Home Prices Ease
Would-be homebuyers are willing to take on sharply higher mortgage payments, even as home prices have begun to pull back this year. The median monthly payment listed on applications for home purchase loans jumped 14.1% in May from a year earlier to an all-time high $2,165, according to the Mortgage...
For the Third Time This Week, Earth Sets an Unofficial Heat Record
Earth's average temperature set a new unofficial record high on Thursday, the third such milestone in a week that already rated as the hottest on record. The planetary average hit 63 degrees Fahrenheit, surpassing the 62.9-degree mark set Tuesday and equaled Wednesday, according to data from the University of Maine’s Climate...
US to Provide Cluster Munitions to Ukraine in New Military Aid Package: AP Sources
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has decided to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine and is expected to announce on Friday that the Pentagon will send thousands as part of a new military aid package worth up to $800 million for the war effort against Russia, according to people familiar with the...
DeSantis Unleashes Controversial Anti-LGBTQ Video Attacking Trump
NEW YORK — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is defending an anti-LGBTQ video his campaign shared online that attacks rival Donald Trump for his past support of gay and transgender people, despite some of his fellow Republicans calling it homophobic. DeSantis, in an interview Wednesday on the podcast of conservative commentator Tomi Lahren, did not...
Disappearance Hoax Unraveled: Texas Man and Mother Deceived Authorities for Years
HOUSTON — The case of a Texas man who was reported missing as a teenager in 2015 and found alive last week at a church took an unexpected turn Thursday when police revealed it all was a hoax — the man was only gone for a day, but he and his...
A Hiker Is Missing in Yosemite After Being Swept Away by a Fast-Flowing Creek
A hiker has been missing in Yosemite National Park since the holiday weekend after being swept away by a cold and fast-flowing creek as California's epic winter snowpack melts. Hayden T. Klemenok vanished while backpacking with a group at Upper Chilnualna Falls on Sunday, the National Park Service said in a statement. “At...