Stories by Associated Press

A judge’s ruling that Donald Trump committed fraud as he built his real-estate empire could strip him of his authority to make major decisions about the future of his marquee properties in his home state.

The average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 7.31%, from 7.19% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.70%.

Jasmine Amy Rogers will star in “BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical” making its debut this fall in Chicago with hopes that it can charm itself to Broadway. It first plays Broadway In Chicago from Nov. 19-Dec. 24.

The 1858 ambrotype was created during the future nation-saving Civil War president’s ascendancy, an image which the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has added to its collection.

Experts in presidential and U.S. labor history say they cannot recall an instance when a sitting president has joined an ongoing strike, even during the tenures of the more ardent pro-union presidents such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, is the result of a years-long investigation into Amazon’s businesses and one of the most significant legal challenges brought against the company in its nearly 30-year history.

The Writers Guild of America announced the deal in a joint statement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations.

An invasive mussel is destroying shipwrecks deep in the depths of the Great Lakes, forcing archeologists and amateur historians into a race against time to find as many sites as they can before the region loses any physical trace of its centuries-long maritime history.

The American flamingos spotted Friday in Port Washington, about 25 miles north of Milwaukee, marked the first sighting of the species in Wisconsin state history.

A search of the couple’s home turned up $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in hidden cash, said prosecutors, who announced the charges against the 69-year-old Democrat nearly six years after an earlier criminal case against him ended with a deadlocked jury.

The president of the United Auto Workers said Friday the union will expand its strike against major automakers by walking out of 38 General Motors and Stellantis plants in 20 states.

The various scenarios playing out across the country paint a picture of a strained immigration system making an impact far from the U.S.-Mexico border. The Biden administration late Wednesday announced measures intended to alleviate the problems.

Sergio Brown, 35, is still considered a missing person, Maywood police spokesperson Carmen Rivera said in an email Tuesday, acknowledging police were aware of the videos and were investigating.

Increasingly impatient leaders of President Joe Biden’s party in other cities and states have hammered the same message over the last month, saying the administration must make it easier for migrants to get work authorization quickly, which would allow them to pay for food and housing.

In a video statement late Monday, UAW President Shawn Fain said workers at more factories will join those who are now in the fifth day of a strike at three plants.

Ovidio Guzmán López was extradited on Friday, five months after U.S. prosecutors unsealed sprawling indictments against him and his brothers, known collectively as the “Chapitos.”

Providers across the state stopped offering abortions following the June 2022 decision, fearing enforcement of an 1849 state law that appears to ban the procedure but had previously been nullified by the 1973 Roe ruling.

Key to the measure is first-time authority for tribes to rebury recovered remains in Illinois, which they much prefer to relocating them to states to which the U.S. government forced their relocation nearly two centuries ago.

Biden won 61% of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 in 2020, making young voters a critical part of his coalition. However, his approval ratings within that age group now stand at 29% compared to 40% overall, according to a new AP-NORC poll.

A tent collapse in southwest suburban Chicago injured at least 26 people, police said. Five of those hurt had serious injuries, Bedford Park Police Chief Tom Hansen said.

 Anthony Freud will retire as general director of the Lyric Opera of Chicago at the end of the season, ending a 13-year tenure.

Hunter Biden is accused of lying about his drug use when he bought a firearm in October 2018, a period when he has acknowledged struggling with addiction to crack cocaine, according to the indictment filed in federal court in Delaware by a special counsel overseeing the case.

A federal judge declared illegal a revised version of a federal policy that prevents the deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. He declined, however, to order an immediate end to the program and the protections it offers to recipients.

In a set of conflicting data, the Labor Department said the consumer price index rose 3.7% in August from a year ago, up from a 3.2% annual pace in July. Yet excluding the volatile food and energy categories, so-called core prices rose 4.3%, a step back from 4.7% in July and the smallest increase in nearly two years. 

If the appeal before the Chicago-based First District Appellate Court fails, Smollett will have to finish a 150-day stint in jail that his trial judge ordered during his 2022 sentencing. 

The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans is likely no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient.