A crucial meeting to repair one of the world's most important diplomatic relationships began with a fist bump Friday as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden at a royal palace. The first encounter, captured by Saudi television, occurred as Biden stepped out of his presidential...
Retail Sales up 1% in June, Easing Fears of a Recession
Consumers picked up their spending from May to June, underscoring their resilience despite painfully higher prices at the gas pump and in grocery aisles and allaying fears that the economy might be on the verge of a recession. U.S. retail sales rose 1% in June, from a revised decline of 0.1...
Khashoggi’s Fiancee Criticizes Biden’s Visit to Saudi Arabia
ISTANBUL — Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, described Joe Biden’s decision to visit Saudi Arabia as “heartbreaking,” accusing the U.S. president of backing down from his pledge of prioritizing human rights. In an interview with The Associated Press in Istanbul a day before Biden...
Ivana Trump, First Wife of Former President, Has Died
Ivana Trump, the first wife of Donald Trump, has died in New York City, the former president announced on social media Thursday. “I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in...
Average Long-Term US Mortgage Rates Bounce Back up to 5.51%
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates were back up this week, just as the latest government data shows inflation has not slowed, meaning the Federal Reserve is almost certain to raise its benchmark borrowing rate later this month. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate rose to...
Congress Honors WWII Hero of Iwo Jima With Ultimate Salute
Congress gave its ultimate final salute Thursday to Hershel W. “Woody” Williams, a 5-foot-6 “force of nature'” in the battle of Iwo Jima and the last remaining Medal of Honor recipient from World War II. Seventy-seven years after his wartime heroism, Williams, who died last month at age 98,...
Man Bitten by Great White Shark Near Monterey Goes Home
A man who was bitten by a great white shark off the central coast last month was released from the hospital on Wednesday. Steve Bruemmer, 62, was released from Natividad Medical Center in Salinas, after undergoing three weeks of hospital care and rehabilitation three weeks after a shark bit...
Yosemite Wildfire Moving East Into Sierra National Forest
A wildfire that threatened a grove of California's giant sequoias in Yosemite National Park was burning eastward into the Sierra National Forest on Wednesday. The Washburn Fire is one of dozens of blazes chewing through drought-parched terrain in the Western U.S. It had increased in size to more than...
Wildfire Threat Becomes Tool to Fight Home Builders
Preston Brown knows the risk of wildfire that comes with living in the rural, chaparral-lined hills of San Diego County. He’s lived there for 21 years and evacuated twice. That’s why he fiercely opposed a plan to build more than 1,100 homes in a fire-prone area he said would...
Israel Presents Biden With Medal of Honor
JERUSALEM — U.S. President Joe Biden received Israel’s Presidential Medal of Honor on Thursday in recognition of 50 years of support for the country in his career as a politician. Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Herzog praised Biden’s “uncompromising decades-long commitment to Israel’s security” as he presented Biden with the...