By ANDREW DALTON (AP Entertainment Writer)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — HBO dominated Wednesday morning’s Emmy nominations, with the elite trio of “ Succession,” “The White Lotus” and “The Last of Us” combining for a whopping 74, but the dominant theme darkening the scene is the ongoing writers strike and the looming possibility that actors may join them in as little as a day.

“Succession” and its deeply dysfunctional dynasty of one-percenters led all Emmy nominees in its fourth and final season with 27, including best drama, which it has won two of the past three years. It got three nominations for best actor in a drama, with Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin all getting nods for playing men of the Roy clan, and Sarah Snook getting a best actress nomination. It also got four nominations for best supporting actor in a drama.

The cursed vacationers at a Sicilian resort from the second season of “The White Lotus” truly dominated the supporting categories, however, landing five nominations for best supporting actress in a drama — including nods for Jennifer Coolidge and Aubrey Plaza — and four more for best supporting actor.

Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal, the duo on a fungus-filled quest in “ The Last of Us,” each got lead acting nominations. The show, based on a popular Playstation video game, was second behind “Succession” with 24 nominations. “The White Lotus” had 23.

“Ted Lasso” was tops among comedies with 21 nominations, including best comedy series and best actor for Jason Sudeikis. The Apple TV+ series won both awards for each of its first two seasons, and is probably the favorite to threepeat with its third and last.

The nominations suggested that HBO — which got the most overall nominations by far with 127 — can still dominate even as streaming-only outlets have taken over so much of elite TV. The distinction is increasingly blurred, however, with a huge segment of viewers watching “Succession” and the cable channel’s other offerings on the streaming service now known as Max.

Cox, 77, got his best actor in a drama nod despite appearing in fewer than half of this season’s “Succession” episodes, though as the Roy family patriarch he loomed just as large over the episodes he didn’t appear in. A win would be his first for the role, though he won an Emmy for best supporting actor in a TV movie in 2001.

Strong won in 2020 for playing “eldest boy” Kendall Roy. Culkin got his first nomination for best actor after two previous nominations in the supporting category.

Actors joining movie and television writers on strike would further shut down the industry and be the first time since 1960 that two Hollywood unions were simultaneously striking. While show and film releases will continue, work on upcoming projects will cease — as would actors’ interviews and appearances to promote the projects.

The possibility of an industry debilitated by strikes could dampen any joy for the new nominees, and could put the damper on the ceremony scheduled for Sept. 18 on the Fox network.

Sheryl Lee Ralph, who provided the emotional high point of last year’s ceremony with her half-sung victory speech for her best supporting actor Emmy in “Abbott Elementary,” said she is a “puddle of emotions” after getting nominated again amid the strife.

“Change is hard. Change is difficult. And in the midst of once again of a great moment in my life, I am surrounded by a difficult moment,” Ralph told The Associated Press. “This is a fight for artistry, this is not a fight to make people rich.”

The nominations were announced by “Community” star Yvette Nicole Brown and Television Academy CEO Frank Scherma, who referenced the labor disputes before at the top of Wednesday’s livestream.

“We hope the ongoing guild negotiations can come to an equitable and swift resolution,” Scherma said.

But the announcements, while low-key, proceeded as though a show will go on in the fall.

It was not a strong year for Emmy diversity, with the lead categories dominated by shows with largely white ensembles. Pascal was the only minority nominee in any of the drama series categories.

Representation was stronger in the comedy categories, where the Black actors of ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” were again a high point for Emmy diversity, and for the otherwise largely absent broadcast networks. Creator Quinta Brunson was nominated for best actress, while Ralph and Janelle James were nominated for best supporting actress, as was Eyo Edebiri for “The Bear.”

That FX series showed some of the Emmys’ quirks with its 13 nominations. It appeared in the comedy categories despite its half-hour episodes having more drama than some of the drama nominees. And the awards’ eligibility calendar means it got the nominations for its first season, even after many viewers have seen – and largely loved – its second, bringing buzz that probably helped it.

Speaking of quirks, the genre-defying “Jury Duty” rode its cult status to four nominations for streamer Amazon Freevee. A faux reality show for most of its cast and a reality show for one man, it was nominated for best comedy series and best supporting actor in a comedy for James Marsden.

Netflix led streamers with 103 nominations, but its showing was meager in many of the top categories. “The Crown” received its nearly annual deference for best drama, and Jenna Ortega received a best actress in a comedy nomination for “Wednesday.” Christina Applegate was nominated for the third and final season of Netflix’s “Dead to Me” in the same category. Applegate, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021, has said the role may be her last.

Netflix fared better in the limited series category, where “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” and “Beef” managed 13 nominations apiece.

The “Star Wars” galaxy made a surprisingly forceful showing for Disney+, with three television adaptations — “Andor,” “The Mandalorian” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi” — earning a combined 22 nominations. “The Mandalorian” received the most recognition with nine nominations in craft categories like stunt performance and costumes, but the series based on Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi’s exile years will compete for best limited series and “Andor” is among the drama series nominees.

The most famous “Star Wars” alum was among those snubbed, however, as Harrison Ford failed to get his first Emmy nomination. Some had expected his name to be called for his acting on the “Yellowstone” prequel “1923” or the Apple TV+ comedy “Shrinking.”

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AP National Writer Jocelyn Noveck contributed to this report.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER (AP Economics Writer)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Squeezed by painfully high prices for two years, Americans have gained some much-needed relief with inflation reaching its lowest point since early 2021 — 3% in June compared with a year earlier — thanks in part to easing prices for gasoline, airline fares, used cars and groceries.

The inflation figure the government reported Wednesday was down sharply from a 4% annual rate in May, though still above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. From May to June, overall prices rose 0.2%, up from just 0.1% in the previous month but still comparatively mild.

Even with Wednesday’s better-than-expected inflation data, the Fed is considered all but sure to raise its benchmark rate when it meets in two weeks. But with price increases slowing — or even falling outright — across a range of goods and services, many economists say they think the central bank could hold off on what had been expected to be another rate hike in September, should inflation continue to cool.

“It takes the second hike off the table, if that trend continues,” said Laura Rosner-Warburton, senior economist at MacroPolicy Perspectives. “They’re probably on hold for the rest of the year.”

On Wall Street, investors cheered the encouraging news, sending stock and bond prices higher. Investors have been eagerly anticipating the eventual end of the central bank’s rate increases.

The Fed has raised its benchmark rate by a substantial 5 percentage points since March 2022, the steepest pace of increases in four decades. Its expected hike this month will follow the central bank’s decision to pause its rate increases last month after 10 consecutive hikes.

Excluding the volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation was lower last month than economists had expected, rising just 0.2% from May to June, the smallest monthly increase in nearly two years. Compared with a year ago, core inflation does remain relatively high, at 4.8%, but down from a 5.3% annual rate in May.

In just the past two months, overall inflation, measured year over year, has slowed from nearly 5% in April to just 3% now. Much of that progress reflects the fading of spikes in food and energy prices that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last spring. Inflation is now significantly below its peak of 9.1% in June 2022.

Gas prices have fallen to about $3.54 a gallon on average, nationally, down from a $5 peak last year. Grocery prices have leveled off in the past three months and were unchanged from May to June. Milk prices, having dropped for a third straight month, are down 1.9% from last year.

Eggs, which had skyrocketed last year after an outbreak of avian flu decimated chicken flocks, have dropped to $2.22 a dozen — down more than 7% just in the past month. Egg prices had peaked at $4.82 in January, according to government data. Still, they remain above the average pre-pandemic price of about $1.60 a dozen.

Economists say inflation isn’t likely to keep falling at such a rapid pace. On a 12-month basis, inflation could even tick up in the coming months now that big drops in gas prices — they’re down 27% in the past year — have been achieved..

In particular, airfares plunged 8.1% just from May to June, hotel costs 2% and car rental prices 1.4% — sharp drops that aren’t likely to be replicated.

And the cost of some services are still rising and likely to stay high this year, potentially keeping core prices elevated. Auto insurance costs, for instance, have soared, and are up 16.9% from a year ago. Americans are driving more than during the pandemic and causing more accidents. Insurance is also costlier because vehicle prices are much higher than before the pandemic, and cars are therefore more valuable.

Restaurant prices are still moving up, having risen 0.4% from May to June and nearly 8% from a year earlier. Restaurant owners have had to keep raising wages to find and retain workers, and many of them are passing their higher labor costs on to their customers by raising prices.

Chrishon Lampley, owner of the wine brand Love Cork Screw, says more expensive restaurant prices have led her to cut back on taking prospective customers out for meals. Instead, she gives potential wine buyers small gifts.

The cost of printing labels for her wine bottles has nearly doubled in the past year, Lampley said, mostly because of higher labor costs. She’s reduced her travel costs as a result. Lampley now chooses extended-stay hotels with kitchens rather than regular hotels, and she rents smaller cars even though she often carts around cases of wine.

“Everything has just become way more frugal,” she said. “I’ve got to pull back.”

Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed officials have focused their attention, in particular, on chronically high inflation for restaurant meals, auto insurance and other items in the economy’s sprawling service sector. It’s a big reason why several Fed policymakers were still talking earlier this week about the likelihood of two more rate hikes.

“We’re likely to need a couple more rate hikes over the course of this year to really bring inflation back into … a sustainable 2% path,” Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said on Monday.

At the same time, Daly said she was “holding myself to … extreme data dependence” and could shift her thinking based on incoming reports. There will be two more inflation reports — for July and August — before the Fed meets in September.

Some drivers of higher prices are likely to keep fading and pull down inflation in the coming months. Used car prices sank 0.5% from May to June, after two months of big spikes. Automakers are finally producing more cars as supply shortages have abated. New-car prices, too, have begun to ease as a result, and were unchanged from May to June.

And rental costs, a huge driver of inflation, are expected to keep declining, as builders continue to complete the most new apartment units in decades. Rising housing costs have driven more than two-thirds of the increase in core inflation in the past year, the government said, so as that increase fade it should steadily lower overall inflation.

Prices first spiked two years ago as consumers ramped up their spending on items like exercise bikes, standing desks and new patio furniture, fueled by three rounds of stimulus checks. The jump in consumer demand overwhelmed supply chains and ignited inflation.

Many economists have suggested that President Joe Biden’s stimulus package in March 2021 intensified the inflation surge. At the same time, though, inflation also jumped overseas, even in countries where much less stimulus was put in place.

The building that was consumed by fire Tuesday night the Virginia Beach Oceanfront is a “total loss,” according the fire department, along with the three business inside.

The affected establishments are the T-Shirt Factory, The Maple Tree Pancake House, and the King of the Sea restaurant, which all sit side-by-side on Atlantic Avenue. The fire started at T-Shirt Factory at about 5:17 p.m. and spread to the other two, which sit on either side.

In a Facebook post on the Maple Tree’s official page Tuesday night, the restaurant looked ahead at an uncertain future.

“Everyone is ok and we were closed when the fire started at a neighboring business and spread,” the post read. “42 years in business and it’s gone just like that.”

They thanked their customers for their business and messages of support, adding, “As to what’s next, we’re not sure…”

The only injury in the fire, which burned for more than five hours, was a firefighter who was burned. There were two people in T-Shirt Factory at the time of the fire, and “not many” in the King of the Sea, according to a spokesperson for the fire department.

Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, [email protected]

GLOUCESTER — Becoming one of America’s first female airline pilots was a dream come true for Mary Bush Shipko.

But the job was also a nightmare.

Hired in 1976 by Hughes Airwest, the airline owned by magnate Howard Hughes, Shipko said she endured 5½ years of sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying that damaged her physical and mental well-being.

Now 74, the Gloucester Point resident is an author and speaker who shares her story and that of other early female commercial aviators. Her latest self-published book, “The Firsts: Women Pilots and How They Changed the Airlines,” also aims to inspire young girls and teenagers to pursue their own dreams.

“Certainly, things have changed for the better, but it’s still powerful to know about our past,” Shipko says. “These women showed amazing courage and resilience, and they opened doors that other women can now walk through.”

“The Firsts” is an insider’s look at six early female airline pilots in the United States, including Shipko. All were hired in the 1970s, from Emily Warner at Frontier Airlines in 1973 to Jill Brown, the first Black female pilot, at Texas International Airlines in 1978. The book also touches on the stories of trail-blazing aviators around the world.

“The Firsts” follows Shipko’s 2015 autobiography “Aviatrix: First Woman Pilot for Hughes Airwest,” and a 2022 children’s book, “Daring Mary: Aviation Pioneer.” She and her husband, Gary Smith, have lived in Gloucester since 2018.

A Florida native, Shipko was raised by a pilot father who encouraged all six of his children — three sons and three daughters — to fly. Shipko was sitting in her dad’s lap during flights by age 5, took flying lessons as a teen and accomplished her first solo takeoff and landing at 16.

“That was such a mixture of excitement, anxiety and joy,” she recalls. “It’s like when you get to drive a car on your own for the first time after getting a license, only much better and to me much more fun.”

Shipko earned an Industrial Technology degree from Florida International University while continuing to rack up her pilot ratings. She knew that working for a passenger airline would mean steady work and good pay, yet women had largely been dismissed as pilots.

During World War II, for example, volunteer females weren’t allowed to fly combat missions and instead delivered planes to men in the field or handled other domestic tasks. Even in an early job flying cargo planes out of Miami International Airport, Shipko often was denied work because male pilots didn’t want to fly with her.

But when Shipko was 25, a brother — the only other sibling who wanted to be an airline pilot — was lost at sea during a flight. “I became determined to complete my goal, for my parents and myself,” she says. “I didn’t care how much I had to struggle. Nothing could stop me.”

At 26, Shipko landed her job at Hughes Airwest after applying to 50 airlines. From the start, she said, her male colleagues attacked her abilities and made lewd comments, dirty jokes and sexual advances, and even looked at pornographic images in the cockpit. Complaints to her superiors, a labor lawyer and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission went nowhere.

“They all told me to suck it up,” she says. “I kept thinking I could overcome it. I tried to gracefully survive it, one incident at a time, but eventually I lost all hope and self-confidence. It took me years to gain that back — to feel human again.”

In 1981, Shipko, by then a DC-9 first officer, left Hughes Airwest with health concerns that included anxiety, depression, weight loss and a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. She went on to earn a Master of Social Work from the University of Georgia and saw a psychiatrist who introduced her to the expression “hostile work environment.”

As times changed, Shipko later brought a workers’ compensation claim against her airline, winning the first trial before declining to go through a second. She also successfully fought for a medical retirement, which thanks to a series of mergers is through Delta Airlines.

Researching “The Firsts” made Shipko realize that many of her fellow female pilots had experienced the same open hostility as she had, none of it related to their abilities. At least two others had retired for medical reasons, in fact, and later were diagnosed with PTSD. Not surprisingly, women of color had faced even greater resistance.

Today, Shipko is the proud mother of two grown sons — both color-blind and unable to be pilots — and three stepdaughters, who have five children between them. She enjoys boating, cooking, hiking, gardening and playing second violin in the Courthouse Community Orchestra.

Fifty years after Emily Warner’s hiring, only about 6 or 7 percent of U.S. airline pilots are female, according to Shipko, who plans to continue researching and writing on women’s aviation history for adults and children.

However, girls and young women can find plenty of support and scholarship opportunities through organizations such as Women in Aviation, the International Society of Women Airline Pilots and the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Their dreams, Shipko hopes, won’t come with any nightmares attached.

“Get a mentor and develop a plan, and you can make it,” she advises. “Don’t be intimidated by the amount of work. It’s worth it. Even today when I hear a plane overhead, I feel a sense of pride and think, ‘I can do that. I once did that.’”

Want to know more?

Shipko will be the guest speaker at 7 p.m. Friday at the Mathews Historical Museum, 200 Main St. in Mathews. Her remarks will precede a showing of Part II of a movie detailing Virginia’s role in aviation history, “Taking Flight — Stories of Modern Virginia Aviation, 1941 to Present Day.” She is available as a speaker as well as a resource to would-be young pilots and can be reached at [email protected]. Shipko’s books are sold online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Alison Johnson, [email protected] 

A 27-year-old Aurora man jailed for investigation of first-degree murder after police say he chased down two teenagers suspected of trying to steal his wife’s car is an active duty U.S. Space Force sergeant and Army war veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan, court documents show.

Thieves apparently had tried to steal the white Hyundai Elantra twice before at his home, the documents show.

The Hyundai’s alarm went off shortly before midnight on July 5 and Orest Schur, awakened by his mother-in-law, confronted the two teens, dressed in black, near the house where he lived on East 59th Place, according to an Adams County District Court affidavit reviewed by The Denver Post.

After the alarm on the Hyundai went off, Schur and his wife observed damage to the door handles. They heard another car alarm going off nearby and saw taillights as the teens sped away in an apparently stolen white Kia Rio, the affidavit said.

Aurora police said Schur, who was armed with a Glock 19 9mm handgun, followed them.

He called 911 at 11:23 p.m., the affidavit said, telling a dispatcher that “there had been shots fired and he had been shot at while he was chasing some car thieves who had attempted to steal his wife’s car.” He called again and told a dispatcher he was uninjured, that he’d chased down car thieves, who had crashed, and that he had “shot back at them.”

But police didn’t find evidence supporting the claim that anybody fired at Schur, according to the affidavit.

The Kia crashed into a backyard fence nearby on East 58th Circle. Police said they found five bullet casings in the Hyundai and that Schur shot both teens. Reaching the scene around 11:30 p.m., police saw one teen down with gunshot wounds in his back and head. He was pronounced dead of his wounds after paramedics took him to University Hospital shortly after midnight.

The other teen, a 13-year-old, ran to a relative’s house nearby and was taken to Children’s Hospital Colorado with a gunshot wound in his back and underwent surgery.

After the attempted theft of the Hyundai, Schur’s wife called 911 and told a police dispatcher she heard gunfire, adding that this was the third time thieves had tried to steal the Hyundai at their home and that her husband “was out on the streets looking around,” according to the affidavit. Later, she told police, Schur was “upset by what had happened and he indicated to her that he was nauseous.”

Schur later told police he “heard gunshots but did not see a muzzle flash” and that he “returned fire,” shooting his handgun with his right hand out the driver’s side window of the Hyundai while steering with his left hand, the affidavit said. He said “he was concerned the suspect vehicle would return to his home,” the affidavit said.

Police searched but did not find other weapons or bullet casings, the affidavit said.

Schur served in the U.S. Army before transferring to the Space Force as part of the nation’s “global war on terrorism.” He’s now a sergeant posted in Aurora at the Buckley Space Force Base. He has received weapons training. Military records show he received combat service and other medals following his Army tours in Afghanistan.

At Buckley, “he serves as a signals intelligence analyst. … he uses satellites to get data and analyze it,” spokesperson Lt. Sarah Skelton said.

Military judicial officials issued a statement saying that “the military’s decision on prosecution or discharge will be made after the investigation is completed.”

Aurora police arrested Schur and booked him into the Adams County Detention Facility the night of July 6, with bail set at $500,000, for investigation of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

A court hearing was scheduled for July 13.

The gently waving underwater grasses of the Chesapeake Bay continue to recover after heavy rains destroyed almost half their volume in 2018 and 2019.

The Virginia Institute of Marine Science recently released the results of its 2022 submerged aquatic vegetation survey, finding a 12% increase in blooming acreage after last year’s study showed an increase of 7%. The bay lost 42% of recorded grasses in 2019.

Grass volume is a good indicator of the watershed’s overall health, according to a report from the Chesapeake Bay Program. Grasses are sensitive to climate conditions and pollution but are quick to respond to water quality improvements.

Less rain and cooler temperatures are boosting the growth of the grasses, which need water clear enough for sunlight to reach them. Storm runoff, especially from intense bouts of rain, can cloud the water.

Underwater grasses, such as widgeongrass and eelgrass, are vital to the bay’s ecosystem. They absorb pollutants, counteract wave energy and provide a habitat for marine life, including juvenile blue crabs.

Areas with saltier water showed greater recovery, while freshwater areas continued to lose volume, the survey showed. Researchers aren’t sure why, but believe it may have something to do with increased sediment in the evaluated freshwater areas.

Christopher Patrick, the director of the institute’s Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Monitoring and Restoration Program, attributes the recovery to the current cooler La Niña climate pattern. That pattern was in effect for about the last three years before recently transitioning to a neutral pattern, according to the National Weather Service.

The pattern is currently transitioning to an El Niño period, bringing weaker trade winds and warmer water in the Pacific around the Western U.S. That make the grasses’ recovery difficult, Patrick said in an institute report.

“The real test for those zones will be summer 2024 when hot summer temperatures, a known stressor of eelgrass, return with the predicted El Niño cycle,” he said.

The increase in intense storms because of climate change will continue to challenge recovery, said Brooke Landry, chair of the program’s Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Workgroup, in the report.

Residents’ use of rain barrels or rain gardens can slow the rate of stormwater runoff, the report stated. Localities can help by upgrading pollution-reducing technology and strategies, especially in wastewater plants.

Katrina Dix, 757-222-5155, [email protected]

Norfolk Vice Mayor Martin Thomas thinks it is past time to discuss closing or consolidating schools.

“I don’t think we should continue to talk about it – we need action,” Thomas said Tuesday during a joint meeting of the City Council and School Board.

The meeting was set to be a general discussion in which city councilors and school board members could talk about priorities and how the two entities could work together. Much of the discussion turned to school facilities planning.

Thomas said he has been advocating for the division to take a look at how it utilizes its facilities since 2016, given that the city has increased its spending on schools even as enrollment declines. He referred to a study presented to the school board by Cooperative Strategies in March.

The study outlined Norfolk’s declining enrollment numbers and under-utilization of elementary, middle and high school buildings. It showed that since 2013, the division has operated three to 17 surplus schools, which refers to the number of surplus seats divided by the enrollment of a school by grade level. It also estimated that these surplus schools cost the division $81 million.

Superintendent Sharon Byrdsong said the projected enrollment for the upcoming school year is about 27,000. However, she said actual enrollment could “go up or down. Likely it’s the latter.”

School board members largely agreed to having these discussions moving forward and working with the city. Board member Noelle Gabriel said it is “in our best effort and benefit to work collaboratively” and “plan for the fact that our enrollment is decreasing, but at the same time, we want to offer a high quality, highly effective K-12 education.”

Also mentioned throughout the discussion was teacher pay, school safety and security, school resources, school funding and more. Mayor Kenneth Alexander said another joint meeting will be set in the fall to further discuss ways to address these topics.

Kelsey Kendall, [email protected]

By KEN SWEET and MICHELLE CHAPMAN (Associated Press)

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.

Combined, it is one of the highest financial penalties in years against Bank of America, which has largely spent the last 15 years trying to clean up its reputation and market itself to the public as a bank focused on financial health and not on overdraft fee income and financial trickery.

BofA must refund $100 million to customers, pay $90 million in penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and $60 million to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “Bank of America wrongfully withheld credit card rewards, double-dipped on fees, and opened accounts without consent,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, in a statement. “These practices are illegal and undermine customer trust.”

Empowered by a broad mandate from the White House, Chopra and the bureau have focused heavily in the past year on the issue of “ junk fees ” — fees charged to Americans that are often seen as unnecessary or exploitative by banks, debt collectors, airlines and concert venues. Banks such as BofA, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and others have been a target for the bureau under the Biden administration.

Part of the fines and penalties come because Bank of America had a policy of charging customers $35 after the bank declined a transaction because the customer did not have enough funds in their account, the CFPB said. The agency determined that the bank double-dipped by allowing fees to be repeatedly charged for the same transaction.

The fees often came when customers had routine monthly transactions, like a gym membership. If a customer had too low of a balance to cover the transaction, it would be declined and BofA would charge the customer a $35 fee. The business, who hasn’t been paid, often would recharge the customer’s account, resulting in another $35 non-sufficient funds fee.

The bank ended this practice last year, but will still have to repay customers who got charged before the policy was changed.

BofA has been cutting down on its reliance on overdraft fee revenue for more than a decade, and cut how much it charges customers for an overdraft to $15 last year. Brian Moynihan, the bank’s CEO and chairman, told The Associated Press in 2022 that under these new policies, overdraft fee income was down 90% from 2021. The bank said that it voluntarily reduced overdraft fees and eliminated all non-sufficient fund fees in the first half of last year.

Bank of America also offered people cash rewards and bonus points when signing up for a card, but the CFPB said the bank illegally withheld promised credit card account bonuses.

The CFPB also found that, since at least 2012, Bank of America employees illegally applied for and enrolled consumers in credit card accounts without their knowledge or authorization. It is a similar to, but smaller than, a charge that was made against Wells Fargo, which paid billions in fines after it was determined that the San Francisco bank opened millions of unauthorized bank accounts in order to meet unrealistic sales goals.

In 2014 the CFPB ordered Bank of America to pay $727 million for illegal credit card practices. Last year it was ordered to pay a $10 million civil penalty over unlawful garnishments. Also in 2022, the CFPB and OCC fined Bank of America $225 million and required it to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in redress to consumers for botched disbursement of state unemployment benefits at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and MARI YAMAGUCHI (Associated Press)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile in three months on Wednesday, two days after it threatened “shocking” consequences to protest what it called provocative U.S. reconnaissance activity near its territory.

Some experts say North Korea likely launched its developmental, road-mobile Hwasong-18 ICBM, a type of solid-fuel weapon that is harder to detect and intercept than its liquid-fuel ICBMs. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un previously called the Hwasong-18 his most powerful nuclear weapon.

The missile fired from North Korea’s capital region around 10 a.m. flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) at a maximum altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,730 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to South Korean and Japanese assessments. They said the missile was launched on a high angle, in an apparent attempt to avoid neighboring countries.

South Korea’s military called the launch “a grave provocation” and urged North Korea to refrain from additional launches. Chief Japanese Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno denounced North Korea’s repeated missile launches as “threats to the peace and safety of Japan, the region and international society.”

In a trilateral phone call, the chief nuclear envoys of South Korea, Japan and the U.S. agreed to sternly deal with North Korean provocations and boost their coordination to promote a stronger international response to the North’s nuclear and missile programs, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.

The launch came while South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida are attending the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. In an emergency meeting of South Korea’s security council convened by video in Lithuania, Yoon warned North Korea would face more powerful international sanctions due to its illicit weapons programs.

North Korea’s ICBM program targets the mainland U.S, while its shorter-range missiles are designed to hit South Korea and Japan, both key American allies in northeast Asia.

Since 2017, North Korea has performed a slew of ICBM tests, but some experts say the North still has some technologies to master to possess functioning nuclear-armed missiles capable of reaching major U.S. cities.

The North’s most recent previous ICBM test was the first launch of the Hwasong-18 in April. After that launch, Kim said the missile would enhance the North’s counterattack capabilities and ordered the expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal to “constantly strike extreme uneasiness and horror” in its rivals.

Missiles with built-in solid propellants would be easier to move and hide, making it difficult for opponents to detect their launches in advance. All of North Korea’s previous ICBM tests used liquid fuel.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Wednesday’s launch appeared to be the North’s second flight-test of the Hwasong-18.

The launch, the North’s first weapons firing in about a month, came after North Korea earlier this week released a series of statements accusing the United States of flying a military spy plane close to its soil.

In a statement Monday night, Kim’s sister and top adviser, Kim Yo Jong, warned the United States of “a shocking incident” as she claimed that the U.S. spy plane flew over the North’s eastern exclusive economic zone eight times earlier in the day. She claimed the North scrambled warplanes to chase away the U.S. plane.

The U.S. and South Korea dismissed the North’s accusations and urged it to refrain from any acts or rhetoric that raised animosities.

“I would just say that we continue to urge (North Korea) to refrain from escalatory actions,” Matthew Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said Tuesday. “As a matter of international law, the (North Korea’s) recent statements that U.S. flights above its claimed exclusive economic zone are unlawful are unfounded, as high seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in such areas.”

North Korea has made numerous similar accusations over U.S. reconnaissance activities, but its latest statements came amid heightened animosities over North Korea’s torrid run of weapons tests since the start of last year. Some observers say the North wants to use an expanded weapons arsenal to wrest greater concessions in eventual diplomacy with its rivals.

“Kim Yo Jong’s bellicose statement against U.S. surveillance aircraft is part of a North Korean pattern of inflating external threats to rally domestic support and justify weapons tests,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “Pyongyang also times its shows of force to disrupt what it perceives as diplomatic coordination against it, in this case, South Korea and Japan’s leaders meeting during the NATO summit.”

Kim Dong-yub, the professor, said Wednesday’s launch was likely made under the North’s previously scheduled weapons build-up programs to hone Hwasong-18 technologies, rather than a direct response to the NATO gathering or the alleged U.S. spy plane flight.

The Hwasong-18 is among an array of high-tech weapons that Kim Jong Un has vowed to introduce to deal with what he called escalating U.S. military threats. Other weapons on his wish-list are an ICBM with multi-warheads, a spy satellite and a nuclear-powered submarine. In late May, North Korea’s launch of its first spy satellite ended in failure, with a rocket carrying it plunging to the ocean soon after liftoff.

Some experts say North Korea could ramp up weapons tests around July 27, the date for the 70th anniversary of the signing of an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. North Kore calls the date “the V-Day” or “the War Victory Day.”

“Pyongyang might be manufacturing tensions ahead of its Victory Day to further strengthen solidarity domestically after having failed its first spy satellite launch in May and then justifying future provocations by first unleashing a stream of threats and harsh rhetoric about U.S. spy planes,” said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct Senior Fellow with the Center for a New American Security.

U.N. Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from engaging in any launches using ballistic technologies. But China and Russia, both permanent members of the council, blocked the U.S. and others’ attempts to toughen U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its recent ballistic missile tests.

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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and MARI YAMAGUCHI (Associated Press)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in three months on Wednesday, two days after it threatened “shocking” consequences to protest what it called provocative U.S. reconnaissance activity near its territory.

Some experts say North Korea likely tested its developmental, road-mobile Hwasong-18 ICBM, a type of solid-fuel weapon that is harder to detect and intercept than the North’s other liquid-fuel ICBMs. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un previously called the Hwasong-18 his most powerful nuclear weapon.

A long-range North Korean missile fired from its capital region around 10 a.m. flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) at a maximum altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,730 miles) before landing in waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to South Korean and Japanese assessments. They said the missile was launched on a high angle, in an apparent attempt to avoid neighboring countries.

South Korea’s military called the launch “a grave provocation” and said the South Korean and U.S. authorities agreed to maintain robust, combined defense postures.

Chief Japanese Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno also denounced North Korea over its repeated ballistic missile launches as “threats to the peace and safety of Japan, the region and international society.” He said that Japan protested to North Korea via embassies in Beijing.

The launch came as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were visiting Vilnius, Lithuania, to attend this week’s NATO summit. In an emergency security council meeting convened in Lithuania, Yoon told officials that North Korea must face consequences over its provocation. Matsuno said Kishida asked him to prepare for a security council meeting over the launch.

North Korea’s long-range missile program targets the mainland U.S, though it also has a variety of other shorter-range nuclear-capable missiles designed to hit South Korea and Japan, both key American allies in the region.

Since 2017, North Korea has performed a slew of intercontinental ballistic missile launches as part of its efforts to acquire nuclear-tipped weapons capable of striking major U.S. cities. Some experts say North Korea still has some technologies to master to possess functioning nuclear-armed ICBMs.

Before Wednesday’s launch, the North’s most recent long-range missile test happened in April, when it launched the Hwasong-18 ICBM for the first time. After that launch, Kim said the missile would enhance the North’s counterattack capabilities in the face of U.S. military threats and ordered the expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal to “constantly strike extreme uneasiness and horror” in its rivals, according to state media.

Missiles with built-in solid propellants would be easier to move and hide, making it difficult for opponents to detect their launches in advance. All of North Korea’s previous ICBM tests used liquid fuel.

Wednesday’s launch, the North’s first weapons firing in about a month, came after North Korea earlier this week released a series of statements accusing the United States of flying a military plane close to North Korea to spy on the North.

The U.S. and South Korea dismissed the North’s accusations and urged it to refrain from any acts or rhetoric that raised animosities.

In a statement Monday night, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean sister Kim Jong Un, warned the United States of “a shocking incident” as she claimed that the U.S. spy plane flew over the North’s eastern exclusive economic zone eight times earlier in the day. She claimed the North scrambled warplanes to chase away the U.S. plane.

In another fiery statement Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong said the U.S. military would experience “a very critical flight” if it continues its illicit, aerial spying activities. The North’s military separately threatened to shoot down U.S. spy planes.

North Korea has made numerous similar threats over alleged U.S. reconnaissance activities, but its latest statements came amid heightened animosities over North Korea’s barrage of missile tests earlier this year. Since the start of 2022, North Korea has test-fired about 100 missiles, many of them in response to military drills between the United States and South Korea. Some experts say Kim wants to use an expanded weapons arsenal to wrest greater concessions in eventual diplomacy with the U.S.

“Kim Yo Jong’s bellicose statement against U.S. surveillance aircraft is part of a North Korean pattern of inflating external threats to rally domestic support and justify weapons tests,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “Pyongyang also times its shows of force to disrupt what it perceives as diplomatic coordination against it, in this case, South Korea and Japan’s leaders meeting during the NATO summit.”

Before his departure to Lithuania, Yoon said in written responses to questions by The Associated Press that he would discuss North Korean nuclear threats with NATO leaders.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Wednesday’s launch appeared to be the North’s second flight-test of the Hwasong-18 ICBM. He said the launch was likely made under the North’s previously scheduled plans to hone Hwasong-18 technologies, rather than a direct response to the NATO gathering or the alleged U.S. spy plane flight.

The Hwasong-18 is among an array of high-tech weapons that Kim Jong Un has vowed to introduce to deal with what he called escalating U.S. military threats. Other weapons on his wish-list are an ICBM with multi-warheads, a hypersonic missile, a spy satellite and a nuclear-powered submarine. In late May, North Korea’s launch of its first spy satellite ended in failure, with a rocket carrying it plunging to the ocean.

U.N. Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from engaging in any launches using ballistic technologies. But the U.S. and others have failed to toughen U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its numerous, recent ballistic missile tests because China and Russia, both permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, blocked such attempts.

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Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.