LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in June to the slowest pace since January, as a near-historic low number of homes for sale and rising mortgage rates kept many would-be homebuyers on the sidelines. The national median sales price fell on an annual basis for the fifth month in a row, though fierce competition led to about one-third of homes selling for more than their list price.

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta Braves executives say business will continue as usual under a new ownership structure following a spinoff from Liberty Media. Perhaps most notable is fans will be able to purchase stock in the newly created Atlanta Braves Holdings Inc. and become owners of the team. Plans for the spinoff were announced last year and made final in a vote by Liberty stockholders, led by chairman John Malone, on Monday.

HONG KONG (AP) — China's economic growth missed forecasts in the second quarter of the year, adding to worries over surging youth unemployment and a weak property sector and raising the likelihood the government will double down on support for the faltering post-COVID-19 recovery.

NEW YORK (AP) — It's not just you. Sriracha is hard to come by these days — at least for one popular brand. The shortage of Huy Fong Foods' Sriracha, the beloved red hot sauce packaged in those green-capped bottles, isn't new — with the company pointing to a scarcity of chile pepper supply for several years now. And as frustrated fans continue to face store shelves missing the Huy Fong name, third-party resellers are punching up prices.

Delta Air Lines executives say they’re not seeing the drop in average airfares that federal officials believe are contributing to lower inflation. The Labor Department's latest consumer price index this week showed average airfares falling 8% from May to June on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Delta Air Lines reported unprecedented quarterly profit and revenue Thursday and raised its expectations for a year after travelers took to the skies in huge numbers, defying some forecasts of a pullback in spending. Revenue soared almost 13% to $15.58 billion, a surprising jump even for a carrier that has outperformed consistently.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of congressional Democrats reported Wednesday that three large tax preparation firms sent “extraordinarily sensitive” information on tens of millions of taxpayers to Facebook parent company Meta over the course of at least two years. Their report urges federal agencies to investigate and potentially go to court over the wealth of information that H&R Block, TaxAct and Tax Slayer shared with the social media giant.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation in the United States has reached its lowest point in more than two years — 3% in June compared with 12 months earlier — a sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have steadily slowed price increases across the economy. The inflation figure the government reported Wednesday was down sharply from a 4% annual rate in May, though still above the Fed’s 2% target rate.

A federal judge has handed Microsoft a major victory by declining to block its looming $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard. Regulators sought to ax the deal saying it will hurt competition.

NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America will reimburse customers more than $100 million and pay $150 million in fines for “double-dipping” on overdraft fees, withholding reward bonuses on credit cards and opening accounts without customer consent.

NEW YORK (AP) — An influencer-backed energy drink that has earned viral popularity among children is facing scrutiny from lawmakers and health experts over its potentially dangerous levels of caffeine.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Would-be homebuyers are taking on sharply higher mortgage payments, even as home prices have begun to pull back this year. The median monthly payment listed on applications for home purchase loans jumped 14.1% in May from a year earlier to an all-time high $2,165, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The May figure also represents a 2.5% increase from April.

WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers pulled back on hiring but still delivered another month of solid gains in June, adding 209,000 jobs, a sign that the economy’s resilience is confounding the Federal Reserve’s drive to slow growth and inflation. The latest evidence of economic strength makes it all but certain that the Fed will resume its interest rate hikes later this month after having ended a streak of 10 rate increases intended to slow inflation.

NEW YORK (AP) — Threads, a text-based app built by Meta to rival Twitter, is live. The app, billed as the text version of Meta's photo-sharing platform Instagram, became available Wednesday night to users in more than 100 countries — including the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan. Despite some early glitches, 30 million people had signed up before noon on Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Threads.

Meta has unveiled an app called Threads to rival Twitter, targeting users looking for an alternative to the social media platform owned — and frequently changed — by Elon Musk. Threads is billed as a text-based version of Meta's photo-sharing app Instagram that the company says provides “a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has arrived in Beijing for meetings with Chinese leaders as part of efforts to revive relations that are strained by disputes about security, technology and other …

Contract negotiations between UPS and the union representing 340,000 of the company's workers broke down early Wednesday with each side blaming the other for walking away from talks. The Teamsters have imposed several deadlines for United Parcel Service negotiators to make their “last, best and final” offer to its unionized workers in recent days. Union officials said Wednesday that UPS “walked away from the bargaining table after presenting an unacceptable offer," specifically with regard to the economic package.

LONDON (AP) — Meta is poised to unveil a new app that appears to mimic Twitter in a direct challenge to the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. A listing for the app, called Threads, appeared on Apple's App Store, indicating it would debut as early as Thursday. It is billed as a “text-based conversation app" that is linked to Instagram, according to the listing, which teased a Twitter-like microblogging experience.

Air travelers could breathe a little easier Monday, as a break in stormy weather — and lighter schedules a day before the July 4 holiday — helped airlines keep more flights moving on time. By late afternoon on the East Coast, about 125 U.S. flights had been canceled and 2,800 were late, according to FlightAware. Those numbers were down from more than 600 cancellations and 7,700 delays on Sunday.

Airline passengers dealing with weather delays could face a new source of disruptions this weekend. Wireless providers plan to power up new 5G systems near major airports on Saturday. Most U.S. …

WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation index that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve fell last month to 3.8%, its lowest level since April 2021, though still nearly twice the 2% level desired by the Fed. At the same time, consumers barely increased their spending last month, boosting it just 0.1%, after a solid 0.6% gain in April.

ATLANTA (AP) — Norfolk Southern's CEO has spoken often of safety and better service since he took the job over a year ago, but it's safety that has dominated discussions after one of his trains derailed and caught fire in February in Ohio, creating towering black smoke, forcing evacuations and raising environmental worries.

Travelers are getting hit with delays at U.S. airports again early Wednesday, an ominous sign heading into the long July 4 holiday weekend, which is shaping up as the biggest test yet for airlines struggling to keep up with surging numbers of passengers. As of early morning, nearly 1,300 flights have been delayed in the U.S., according to FlightAware. Cancellations neared 700 flights.

BEIJING (AP) — Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure “white gold” in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to Nevada to Chile. General Motors Co. and the parent company of China’s BYD Auto Ltd. went straight to the source and bought stakes in lithium miners, a rare step in an industry that relies on outside vendors for copper and other raw materials. Others are investing in lithium refining or ventures to recycle the silvery-white metal from used batteries.

Instagram and Facebook's parent company Meta is adding some new parental supervision tools and privacy features to its platforms as social media companies face increasing scrutiny over their effects on teen mental health. But many of the features require minors — and their parents — to opt in, raising questions about how effective the measures are.