>>Mortgages Rates Rise Yet Again (Washington, DC) -- Another week, another rise in mortgage rates. Freddie Mac says the rate for a 30-year mortgage came out to an average of six-point-six-five percent for the week that ended today. It was sitting at six-and-a-half percent the previous week. Freddie Mac's chief economist said inflation is one of the reasons for rates going higher.
>>DOJ Launches New Effort Targeting Corporate Sanctions Evasion
(Washington, DC) -- The Justice Department is launching a new effort to go after companies that evade sanctions and other crimes that threaten national security. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said on Thursday that, more and more, corporate criminal investigations carry "profound national security investigations." In the past year, the DOJ won a first-ever corporate guilty plea for support to terrorism from a French cement company. The firm admitted making millions of dollars of payments that supported ISIS and another terrorist organization.
>>Walgreens Won't Dispense Abortion Pills In Some GOP States
(Undated) -- Walgreens says it won't dispense abortion pills by mail in some Republican-run states. The pharmacy chain announced on Thursday it will not dispense abortion pills by mail in 20 states where Republican attorneys general have told the company it risks breaking the law if it dispenses the pills to those states by mail. A Walgreens spokesperson said the company made the decision after receiving a letter from the attorneys general. The spokesperson said Walgreens intends to become a certified pharmacy and will dispense abortion pills only in jurisdictions where it's legal.
>>Judge Rules Starbucks Violated Labor Laws During Unionization Efforts
(Washington, DC) -- A National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge says Starbucks committed "hundreds of unfair labor practices" during employees' efforts to unionize at the company's stores in the Buffalo, New York area. In a 200-page ruling issued late Wednesday, Judge Michael Rosas condemned what he called the coffeehouse chain's "egregious and widespread misconduct demonstrating a general disregard for the employees' fundamental rights." That included illegally disciplining and firing workers who supported joining a union. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wants to subpoena Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to testify before Congress about the company's labor practices.
>>USPS Buying Electric Vehicles From Ford
(Dearborn, MI) -- The United States Postal Service is buying over nine-thousand electric vehicles from Ford. The E-Transit Battery Electric Vehicles will be delivered to USPS starting in December. Ford president and CEO Jim Farley says they are "proud to support" the USPS in helping them attain a more sustainable future for the country with the vehicles. USPS will also buy all components for 14-thousand charging stations.
>>NE Woman Falls Victim To Bitcoin Scam Involving Over $730,000
(Omaha, NE) -- A Nebraska woman is the victim of a cryptocurrency scam worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The FBI says the victim from Omaha has deposited over 730-thousand dollars into a bitcoin account since 2021 and hasn't been able to access it. She says the account is run by a person she met on an online dating site. The FBI says that account has been linked to nine separate accounts in the Cayman Islands that are connected to wire fraud and money laundering. The money was moved over to an FBI account last February and it's unclear if the victim will ever get it back.
