Victor barbish

As the U.S. economy remains on shaky ground, declining builder confidence marks the latest "troubling sign" of a weak housing market, according to a new report. Confidence among home builders fell for the eighth consecutive month in August, dropping six points to 49, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released on Monday. The report marks the first time since the pandemic began that the index fell below 50 points. In a press release, NAHB Chairman Jerry Konter cited rising construction costs and mortgage rates for the weakened sentiment among builders. Konter added that in "a troubling sign" that consumers are now opting out of home purchases due to increased housing costs, the index found that August's buyer traffic number fell to a record low since April 2014, with the exception of when the pandemic first hit in the spring of 2020. Existing-home sales have fallen more than 14 percent from last year, according to … [Read more...] about New “troubling sign” for U.S. housing market, according to report

Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson drew fresh criticism Monday over his handling of multiple crises afflicting Britain, after taking a second summer holiday just weeks before he leaves office. The main opposition Labour party accused Johnson, who is due to leave office on September 6, of having “one big party” as many Britons struggle with a surging cost-of-living crisis. With inflation at its highest rate in decades and the UK predicted to slump into recession, people across England are also struggling with the impact of a drought officially declared on Friday. But Johnson, who only returned to his Downing Street desk last week after enjoying a five-day belated honeymoon with wife Carrie in Slovenia, opted to take another break this week in Greece. A Greek website posted footage of the British leader shopping at a supermarket in a coastal town near Athens, stocking up on items including food and wine. “It’s all just one big party for Boris Johnson while the country … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson Under Fire for Second Holiday in Two Weeks Amid Cost of Living Crisis

President Donald Trump’s unwillingness to concede the election is bad news for many reasons. One is that it all but guarantees that some portion of his followers will refuse to recognize the Biden administration’s legitimacy—just as some people did not recognize the Trump administration’s legitimacy, or the Obama administration’s legitimacy before it. President-elect Joe Biden is promising a return to normalcy, but the perception by some substantial part of the electorate that the American president is illegitimate is no longer an aberration in American politics. It is normal. This may have all started with Bob Dole. Although people tend to think of the former Senate majority leader, now 97 years old, as an old-school Republican of the pre-scorched-earth era, he was as early as 1993 a chief source of chaos and destabilization. When Bill Clinton routed the incumbent George H. W. Bush in the 1992 presidential election—bringing the Democrats to the White House for the first time in 12 … [Read more...] about What Bob Dole Hath Wrought

close Video Amber Heard's attorney calls Depp win a 'major setback' for women Amber Heard's attorney Elaine Bredehoft weighed in on the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial verdict on 'CBS Mornings'. NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles! Actress Amber Heard has parted ways with Elaine Bredehoft, her trial lawyer in Depp v. Heard, a spokesperson announced Monday. Heard, 36, has hired First Amendment attorneys David Axelrod and Jay Ward Brown, who successfully represented the New York Times against a libel lawsuit brought by Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. "We welcome the opportunity to represent Ms. Heard in this appeal as it is a case with important First Amendment implications for every American," said Axelrod and Brown in a joint statement. "We’re confident the appellate court will apply the law properly without deference to popularity, reverse the judgment against … [Read more...] about Amber Heard hires new law firm, trial lawyer Elaine Bredehoft steps down

William Ruto was Monday declared the victor of Kenya’s hard-fought presidential poll, but the outcome sparked a split in the election commission and some violent protests in his defeated rival’s strongholds. Ruto won with 50.49 percent of the vote on August 9, narrowly ahead of Raila Odinga on 48.85 percent, Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission chairman Wafula Chebukati announced after an anxious days-long wait for results. With tensions running high after the disputed outcome, the 55-year-old president-elect vowed to work with “all leaders”. “There is no room for vengeance,” said Ruto. “I am acutely aware that our country is at a stage where we need all hands on deck.” AFP correspondents reported that police fired live rounds as protests erupted in a Nairobi slum that is an Odinga stronghold. Police also fired tear gas in his lakeside bastion of Kisumu where demonstrators threw stones and erected roadblocks with large chunks of rock. “We were cheated,” Isaac Onyango, … [Read more...] about Kenya’s William Ruto Declared President-elect in Disputed Vote Outcome