Chicken Kiev, AI-generated press releases and the annoyance of fan selfies while performing — there was a lot on the minds of the Pet Shop Boys as the iconic British duo prepared to release a new album. Their 15th studio album, “Nonetheless,” comes Friday — 40 years (and 50 million record sales) after Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe rose to fame with the single “West End Girls.” Bands of any longevity — especially such a long one — are often asked the cliche: “How do you stay relevant?” For them, it's about never trying to be cool. “That’s something a lot of people try and do, to be somehow cool ..read more

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate climbed this week to its highest level since late November, another setback for home shoppers in what's traditionally the housing market's busiest time of the year. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose to 7.17% from 7.1% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.43%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loans, also rose this week, lifting the average rate to 6.44% from 6.39% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.71%, Freddie Mac said. When mortgag ..read more

Shawn Levy is no novice when it comes to rumors around his projects. Years on “Stranger Things” taught him how to tune out the noise. Yet even he’s found himself astonished by the sheer volume of speculation around “Deadpool & Wolverine.” “The rumors around this movie are overwhelming," Levy said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. “But so is the anticipation, which is a nice situation.” Anticipation might be an understatement for a movie that is poised to be the theatrical event of the summer, when it opens on July 26. The first trailer, which aired during the Super Bowl, was ..read more

The building of a new port in the Gaza Strip ahead of a U.S. military-led operation to bring more desperately needed food and other aid into the besieged enclave as Israel's war on Hamas grinds on is well underway, according to satellite images analyzed Thursday by The Associated Press. The construction appears to have been moving quickly over the last two weeks, judging from the images, and some officials say the port could become ready as early as a week from now. The port sits just southwest of Gaza City, which once was the territory's most-populous area before the Israeli ground offensive ..read more

Ariel Henry resigned Thursday as prime minister of Haiti, leaving the way clear for a new government to be formed in the Caribbean country, which has been wracked by gang violence that killed or injured more than 2,500 people from January to March. Henry presented his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles, dated April 24, and released on Thursday by his office on the same day a council tasked with choosing a new prime minister and Cabinet for Haiti was due to be sworn in. The council would be installed more than a month after Caribbean leaders announced its creation following an emerge ..read more

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday took up Donald Trump's bid to avoid prosecution over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump’s lawyers argue that former presidents are entitled to absolute immunity for their official acts. Otherwise, they say, politically motivated prosecutions of former occupants of the Oval Office would become routine and presidents couldn’t function as the commander in chief if they had to worry about criminal charges. Lower courts have rejected those arguments, including a unanimous three-judge panel on an appeals court in Washington ..read more

Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up on an increasing number of college campuses following last week's arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University. By Thursday, police in Boston and Los Angeles said they had arrested protesters at schools in those cities and at least one university announced that it had closed its campus. Protests on Wednesday on the campuses of at least two universities involved clashes with police, while another university shut down its campus for the rest of the week. The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from ..read more

New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein ’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. “We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes," the court's 4-3 decision said. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.” The state Court of Appeals ruling reopens a ..read more

Congo ’s government is questioning Apple about the tech company’s knowledge of “blood minerals” from a conflict zone in the African country that could be smuggled into its supply chains and is demanding answers within three weeks. A group of international lawyers representing Congo said Thursday that they sent letters to Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and its French subsidiary this week, raising concerns about human rights violations involving the minerals extracted from mines in the country’s troubled east that might end up being used in the company’s products. They included a list of questions challen ..read more

Cedar Point is bringing the world’s tallest and fasted triple-launch roller coaster to thrill seekers this spring. The first ride was featured live on Local 4 News at 7 a.m. on Thursday, check it out in the video player below: The Top Thrill 2 will feature open-air seating, providing stunning views on the world’s first and only dual-tower vertical speedway. Here’s what Cedar Point said about the experience: On the start, using an all-new linear synchronous motor (LSM) launch system, riders will peel out down the straightaway reaching speeds of 74 mph, racing toward the sky on Top Thrill 2′s or ..read more