A ”For Sale” sign is outside a residential home in Oro Valley, Ariz., Dec.12, 2025. (Michael Yanow/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Mortgage rates have climbed to their highest level since September as fallout from the Iran war ripples through financial markets, Freddie Mac data on Thursday showed.
The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 6.46%, continuing a weeks-long surge since the war began on Feb. 28, during which time mortgage rates have increased nearly half a percentage point.
Mortgage rates remain slightly lower than this time a year ago, when the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage stood at 6.64%.
The recent spike in borrowing costs risks further strain on U.S. households as they weather elevated gasoline prices.
The rise in mortgage rates owes to a jump in U.S. Treasury yields as investors fear a bout of inflation in response to the Middle East conflict.
High bond yields make borrowing more expensive for average Americans, since 10-year Treasury rates influence the rates offered for a variety of loans, including mortgages and credit cards.
Since bonds pay a given investor a fixed amount each year, the specter of inflation risks higher consumer prices that would eat away at those annual payouts. In turn, bonds often become less attractive in response to economic turmoil. When demand falls, bond yields rise.
The yield on a 10-year Treasury bond, meaning the amount paid to a bondholder annually, stands at about 4.31%, about 0.35 percentage points higher than pre-war levels.
“Mortgage rates have risen as bond market yields have sought to price in the risk of higher inflation in the future,” Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, previously told ABC News.
Last week, bond yields soared close to levels reached in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025, when the 10-year Treasury yield peaked at around 4.5%.
Bond yields eased in recent days as Trump signaled a possible off-ramp from the war with Iran.
Selena Gomez and David Henrie on the ‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ set. (Disney/Eric McCandless)
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is ready to cast one last spell.
Disney+ and Disney Channel have announced that the Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff series will return for its final chapter this summer. Production on the new episodes starts next week.
Selena Gomez will make her directorial debut as she helms the premiere episode of this final chapter in the Russo family’s story. In addition to directing, Gomez will reprise her role of Alex Russo over the course of multiple episodes and continue executive producing.
Wizards Beyond Waverly Place stars David Henrie as Justin Russo and Janice LeAnn Brown as the young wizard Billie. Alkaio Thiele, Max Matenko, Taylor Cora and Mimi Gianopulos also make up the main cast.
This final chapter of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is being billed as a special four-part event.
“Billie, still reeling from losing Alex at the end of season 2, discovers that the only way to rescue her mother is to reunite with her long-lost father,” according to an official description from Disney. “As her family bands together to find Alex, Billie realizes that their combined power is the only way the Russos can defeat the evil plaguing them.”
Disney Channel released a teaser for the new episodes on Thursday. The video features a moment from the emotional ending of season 2, with Billie and Alex embracing each other.
“Hold on tight for some news,” the video says, before announcing the upcoming new and final episodes.
Iraqi Shiite militia groups organize a military parade as part of the ‘World Quds Day’ events in Baghdad, Iraq, March 28, 2025. (Anadolu via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. officials have issued a new warning to Americans still in Iraq, advising them to leave the country immediately as Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may “intend to conduct attacks” in central Baghdad.
“U.S. citizens should leave Iraq now,” said the alert issued on Thursday by the United States Embassy and Consulate in Iraq, which has previously issued warnings for Americans to leave the country due to security risks.
The new alert comes as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has entered its second month.
The security alert also came just days after an American journalist, Shelly Kittleson, was kidnapped in broad daylight on a busy street in Baghdad, allegedly by an Iran-linked militia group.
“Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours,” the U.S. Embassy’s alert said.
The embassy’s statement added that Iran and Iran-aligned terrorist militias have already conducted “widespread attacks against U.S. citizens and targets associated with the United States throughout Iraq, including the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.”
The alert cautioned Americans to be aware that militia groups “may claim to be associated with the Iraqi government.”
“Terrorists may carry identification denoting their status as Iraqi government employees,” according to the alert.
In addition to U.S. citizens, terrorist militias might also target businesses, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports and “other locations perceived to be associated with the United States,” according to the alert.
While telling U.S. citizens to leave the country immediately, U.S. officials also said the only escape routes out of Iraq are overland to Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey because the airspace is closed, preventing commercial airlines from flying out of Iraq.
“Local ground transportation options are functioning. Americans should depart now via one of these overland routes,” according to the alert.
For the time being, the U.S. Mission in Iraq remains open. But the alert advised Americans not to go there.
“Do not attempt to come to the Embassy in Baghdad or the Consulate General in Erbil in light of significant security risks,” the alert said.
The search for Kittleson, 49, a freelance journalist originally from Wisconsin, continued on Thursday, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Interior.
“We have no answer or explanation,” the interior ministry said in a statement on Thursday about Kittleson’s abduction.
In a security camera recording verified by ABC News and confirmed by Iraq’s interior ministry to show the moment Kittleson was kidnapped on Tuesday, the journalist is seen standing on a sidewalk as a silver car approaches before she is pushed towards the car, which then quickly speeds away.
One suspect alleged to be involved in the kidnapping was arrested when one of the cars fleeing the scene crashed and overturned, according to Iraq’s interior ministry. Kittleson had been forced into another car that got away.
Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs for the State Department, said in a statement on Wednesday that the suspect has ties to the Iranian-aligned militia group Kataib Hezbollah.
Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift attend the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards, March 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartRadio)
Kylie Kelce is Not Gonna Lie: she’s sick and tired of people trying to milk her for information about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding.
On the new episode of her podcast, Not Gonna Lie, Kylie, wife of Travis’ brother, Jason Kelce, announced, “I just want to say to literally everybody, I know it usually comes from a good place — not always — but quit asking me and my mother-in-law about upcoming nuptials.”
“Nobody’s f****** telling you anything,” she continued. “I don’t have any details. I don’t have any details. I don’t have any details. I have no details. I have none. … Stop f****** asking me. Stop f****** asking my mother-in-law.”
“TMZ, f****** being creeps in the f****** airport. Ew,” Kylie went on, referring to the fact that her mother-in-law, Donna Kelce, was recently pressed for information about the wedding at LAX.
“Here’s the deal,” Kylie said to the camera. “Even if I did have any information, I’m not f****** telling you. That’s private information, if I had it, private information between family. So, A and B, ‘C’ your way out. You see what I did there?”
“And while we’re talking about A and B and C and letters — TMZ, SMA. How about that? For anyone who’s confused about that, suck my a**.”
“Great, perfect. I feel like we appropriately nailed that,” Kylie concluded.
But then she went on say, “You know what? Keep f****** asking. You know what my answer’s gonna be? ‘I know nothing. Suck my a**.'”
Taylor and Travis haven’t confirmed any details about their wedding. There have been multiple reports that it’s going to be held June 13, as well as reports that it’s going to take place in Rhode Island. However, all of this is simply speculation.
J. Cole attends the 2018 Verizon Slam Dunk Contest at Staples Center on February 17, 2018, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
With his album The Fall-Off now in fans’ possession, J. Cole is nurturing another one of his loves. ESPN’s Shams Charania has reported that Cole is making a return to basketball and will be playing for the Chinese Basketball Association.
“J. Cole has signed a contract to play in the Chinese Basketball Association with the Nanjing Monkey Kings,” he writes. “The multi-time Grammy award-winning and multi-platinum artist had committed to playing a few games for the Chinese team last year, and now follows through.”
Footage of Cole warming up with the team has also been posted on social media.
Cole, who is minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets, has been open about his desire to play for the NBA. His professional run includes a few games as a member of the Rwanda Patriots in the Basketball Africa League in 2021 and with the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the Canadian Elite Basketball League in 2022.
He’s set to go on tour in July in support of The Fall-Off.
Bret Michaels performs during the 2026 Extra Innings Festival at Tempe Beach & Arts Park on February 27, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by John Medina/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh native Bret Michaels is part of the entertainment for the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft in his home city.
The Poison frontman and rapper Wiz Khalifa, a fellow Pittsburgh native, are set to perform at the Draft Theater next to Acrisure Stadium ahead of draft rounds two and three on April 24. Country star Kane Brown will play the finale on April 25.
“I cannot be more honored, excited and fired up to be asked to perform at the Pittsburgh 2026 Draft on Friday night,” says Michaels. “As a Pittsburgh native and a diehard fan of the Steelers, the NFL and all things Pittsburgh, this is a dream come true.”
All performances are free, although fans are advised to arrive early as standing room spots will go on a first-come, first-served basis. You can find out more at NFL.com.
The 2026 NFL Draft kicks off April 23 on NFL Network, NFL+, NFL Channel, ABC and ESPN.
Disney is the parent company of ABC News and ESPN.
Pam Bondi, US attorney general, center, during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Pam Bondi was being ousted as his attorney general in a post on his social media platform, saying she’ll move to a role working in the private sector.
“We love Pam, and she will be transitioning to a much needed and important new job in the private sector, to be announced at a date in the near future,” Trump said in the post.
Trump’s deputy attorney general and former personal attorney Todd Blanche will serve as acting Attorney General, the president said.
“And our Deputy Attorney General, and a very talented and respected Legal Mind, Todd Blanche, will step in to serve as Acting Attorney General,” Trump wrote.
Trump had raised potentially removing Bondi as attorney general in recent discussions with senior administration officials, sources told ABC News on Wednesday, amid months of mounting frustration that the Justice Department isn’t doing enough to target his political opponents for prosecution.
Blanche previously served as Trump’s defense attorney in the cases brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and former special counsel Jack Smith.
He has served as the nation’s No. 2 law enforcement official since being confirmed by the Senate in March of last year, and previously served in the Justice Department as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Like Bondi, he has been vocal about his personal loyalties to President Trump and just last week appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he cheered the purge of prosecutors who previously worked on investigations into Trump and defended the DOJ from criticism by the MAGA base.
“So when people say, ‘Why aren’t you doing more?’ I welcome that criticism,” Blanche said. “Keep on putting pressure on us. Do you think it makes me upset when you go on X and say, ‘Come on, Blanche, why aren’t we doing more?’ You don’t know me. That’s what motivates me.”
The shakeup comes as Democrats and voting rights groups have expressed alarm that the White House may seek to use the DOJ and FBI to intervene in the midterm elections in November.
The president’s announcement brings an end to a rocky tenure for Bondi as the nation’s top law enforcement official, during which she aggressively sought to reshape the Justice Department as an enforcer of Trump’s agenda — repeatedly breaking with institutional norms implemented after the Watergate era that had encouraged independence from the political demands of the White House.
From her first days in office, Bondi emphasized her personal loyalty to Trump and echoed his longstanding grievances with the DOJ and FBI that the president and his allies have long accused of being “weaponized” against him.
During Trump’s first term in office he faced resistance from top officials at the DOJ and FBI against using the vast powers of their agencies to punish the president’s perceived enemies, but Bondi publicly embraced Trump’s demands to launch prosecutions against specific targets — to mixed effect.
The department’s attempts to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James fell apart after a federal judge ruled that the Trump-appointed prosecutor who indicted them was appointed unlawfully. Attempts to revive the case against James were twice rejected by a grand jury, sources previously told ABC News.
A separate effort by the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro, to indict six Democratic lawmakers who posted a video urging military service members to refuse to follow unlawful orders was also rejected by a grand jury — despite Trump’s accusation the group was guilty of “treason.”
Pirro and the department are separately appealing an order from the chief judge in Washington, D.C., that has put on hold their attempt to launch a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, another frequent target of Trump’s ire.
In recent months, Trump has repeatedly vented frustration to aides regarding both the pace and the effectiveness of the Justice Department’s ability to target his foes — concerns he had also conveyed directly to Bondi — according to sources familiar with the matter.
Trump and other senior White House officials have also criticized Bondi’s handling of the DOJ’s files from its investigations into deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which has consumed months of media attention and led to widespread backlash from some of Trump’s most devoted supporters.
Bondi’s appearance in front of the House Judiciary Committee in February, in which she repeatedly yelled at lawmakers and sidestepped questions about the DOJ’s handling of the Epstein files and other sensitive matters, was also a subject of some criticism at the White House, sources say. Trump posted afterward on social media that Bondi was “fantastic” at the hearing.
Weeks later, a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Oversight committee voted to subpoena Bondi with a demand that she sit for a deposition on the Epstein files in mid-April.
ABC News’ Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
Sabrina Carpenter is headlining Coachella on April 10, and she’s arranged something special for fans who are heading there to see her.
Sabrina has teamed up with Airbnb to create a “Pit Stop” in Indio, California, just off Route 111. It will be open to the public April 10 from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. PT; April 11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. PT; and April 12 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. PT. It features photo ops with “sparkly vintage cars”; a “refuel” station with “custom slushie concoctions”; candy-inspired art; and limited-edition merch.
“This is a full circle moment for me. I wouldn’t be here without my fans so I wanted to create something special just for them. It’s not your typical pit stop – I wanted it to feel like a surrealist fantasy land of mine,” Sabrina says in a statement.
The address is 82338 CA-111, Indio, California, 92201, for your Google Mapping or Waze-ing pleasure.
French Montana and Max B attend Max B In Concert – Brooklyn, NY at Brooklyn Paramount on January 17, 2026, in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
The Wave Gods are headed on the road. Following the January release of their joint album, Coke Wave 3:5 Narcos, French Montana and Max B have announced the Wave Gods tour.
The outing will kick off May 24 in Albany, New York, and wrap in New York City on a date still to be announced. The rappers also have shows scheduled in Atlanta, Miami, Dallas, New Orleans, Detroit and more. Tour info is posted on French Montana and Max B’s social media.
Maggie Rogers performed her breakout single “Alaska” Wednesday on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to celebrate the 2016 song’s 10th anniversary.
Rogers famously played a recording of “Alaska” for Pharrell Williams while he was visiting her music class at New York University. Footage of Williams’ stunned, impressed reaction to the song — “I have zero notes for that,” he said — helped “Alaska” go viral.
You can watch Rogers’ Colbert performance on YouTube. She also played a cover of the standard “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)” during the show.
Rogers announced in March she was launching a foundation and scholarship at NYU to mark the “Alaska” anniversary.
