Homebuyers willing to brave today’s high mortgage rates might at least be delighted to find that they have plenty of homes to consider. In the latest monthly housing report from Realtor.com®, the overall number of homes for sale in May marks seven months of growth. “The biggest eye-catcher for me is the fact that inventory is rising sharply,” says Realtor.com senior economist Ralph McLaughlin. “There are 35.2% more homes on the market than this time last year, an incredible...

FBI Director Christopher Wray declined Tuesday to answer whether the recent New York hush money guilty verdict and three other indictments against former President Donald Trump amount to “election interference,” just five months out from the November 2024 race. Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, asked Wray whether the federal indictments against Trump and his New York conviction amounts to a level of...

Washington marked the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown with a series of events and statements on Tuesday, urging Beijing to release political prisoners and hold itself accountable for alleged human rights abuses. “Today, on the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, we remember the tens of thousands of peaceful Chinese pro-democracy protesters who were brutally assaulted for standing up for freedom, human rights and an end to corruption,” said US Secretary of...

Israel organized and paid for an influence campaign last year targeting U.S. lawmakers and the American public with pro-Israel messaging, as it aimed to foster support for its actions in the war with Gaza, according to officials involved in the effort and documents related to the operation. The covert campaign was commissioned by Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, a government body that connects Jews around the world with the State of Israel, four Israeli officials said. The...

A group backed by Wall Street heavyweights BlackRock BLK 0.15%increase; green up pointing triangle and Citadel Securities is planning to start a new national stock exchange in Texas, aiming to take on what they see as onerous regulation at the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.  The Texas Stock Exchange, which has raised approximately $120 million from individuals and large investment firms, plans to file registration documents with the Securities and Exchange...

Language learning app Duolingo has deleted references in Russia to what Moscow calls "non-traditional sexual relations" after being warned by Russia's communications regulator about publishing LGBT content classed as "extremism". Russia last year widened restrictions on the promotion of what it calls LGBT propaganda amid a broader crackdown on LGBT rights, which President Vladimir Putin has sought to portray as evidence of moral decay in Western countries. Roskomnadzor, Russia's...

Only 6% of Western Europeans see the United States as a “very reliable” guarantor of European security over the next decade, according to a new survey released Wednesday, underscoring increasing worries about a trend of US isolationism. The survey of 3,360 people, conducted by the Institute for Global Affairs housed at the Eurasia Group, found that 46% of Western Europeans — respondents from the UK, Germany, and France — view the US as somewhat reliable in its security commitments...

Security forces in capital were readying for potential friction on Wednesday afternoon, when the Jerusalem Day Flag March was slated to take place amid already heightened tensions over the ongoing war in Gaza. The parade will follow its usual route, with tens of thousands of Jewish Israelis waving blue-and-white flags marching through Damascus Gate and the Old City’s Muslim Quarter to the Western Wall. Critics of the march, which celebrates the reunification of East and West Jerusalem in...

The third time proved to be the charm for NASA and Boeing, which successfully launched two astronauts into space Wednesday morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Liftoff, which was scheduled for 10:52 a.m., occurred without a hitch. It is Boeing's first piloted test flight.  The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket and Boeing Starliner carrying astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams is heading for the International Space Station (ISS). The Starliner is expected to...