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Eurozone inflation stays hot in August, ECB rate debate rages on

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

FRANKFURT – Eurozone inflation remained stable at 5.3 percent in August, defying expectations of a decline, and raising concerns that further interest rate hikes may be necessary to beat racing prices and send the economy into recession in the process. Ahead of the release by Eurostat and upside surprises in national data from Germany and France, analysts had projected inflation to ease to 5.1 percent from 5.3 percent in July.Importantly however, core inflation excluding energy and unprocessed food, which is seen as a bellwether for future inflation developments, came in weaker than expected and fell to 6.2 percent from 6.6 percent.ECB officials will meet in two weeks to decide whether to raise interest rates for the tenth consecutive time to 4 percent or pause at 3.75 percent to see how growth and inflation develop.Latest economic data pointed to the risk of recession in the second half, strengthening the doves’ hand in arguing for a pause. Ahead of the data release, even the hawki...

Repairs continue after manhole explosions in Cambridge send flames shooting onto Harvard Square

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

Parts of Harvard Square remain closed to both vehicle and foot traffic after multiple manhole explosions sent flames shooting into the air on Wednesday and crews continue to work to fix the issue.Crews could still be seen in the area on Thursday morning and several area businesses remained closed.The Cambridge Fire Department said crews were originally called to the area of 27 Brattle Street before 8:45 a.m. for reports of a structure fire, only to soon discover heavy smoke billowing from the ground.By 9 a.m., firefighters were checking for exposure to surrounding buildings, with both Cambridge police officers and Transit Police Department personnel also responding. A short time later on X, the Cambridge Police Department said Harvard Square was shut down to pedestrians and vehicles as crews continued to monitor the situation. Cambridge Fire Chief Thomas Cahill said that after the fire was put out, crews remained on scene throughout the afternoon to ventilate carbon monoxide. As of ...

Housing Minister Steve Clark to address media; Ford to face questions on Greenbelt findings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

Premier Doug Ford is set to hold a news conference with his labour and educations ministers on Thursday morning, but he’ll likely face questions about the fate of his housing minister.CityNews has learned that Housing Minister Steve Clark will also address the media in his owen news conference from Queen’s Park at 12:30 p.m.New: embattled housing minister Steve Clark is holding a news conference at Queens Park at 12:30. the day after damning Integrity Commissioner report. #onpoli— Cynthia Mulligan (@CityCynthia) August 31, 2023Calls are growing louder for the resignation of Steve Clark after the integrity commissioner found Wednesday that he violated two sections of the Members’ Integrity Act that governs politicians’ ethics, conflict of interest rules and insider information rules, when the province removed land from the protected Greenbelt for development.J. David Wake’s scathing report found Clark failed to oversee the land selection process, which led t...

US applications for jobless claims inch back down as companies hold on to their employees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week as companies held on to employees in an economy that has largely withstood rapidly rising interest rates, intended to cool hiring and spending, for more than a year.The number of Americans applying for jobless benefits last fell week by 4,000, to 228,000 the week ending August 26, the Labor Department reported Thursday.The four-week moving average of claims, which evens out some of the weekly volatility, rose by 250 to 237,500.Jobless claim applications are seen as representative of the number of layoffs in a given week.The Federal Reserve, in its now year-and-a-half battle against inflation, has raised interest rates 11 times to 5.4%, the highest level in 22 years.Part of the Fed’s intent was to cool the job market and bring down wages, which many economists believe suppresses price growth. Though some measures of inflation have come down significantly — from as much as 9% down closer to 3% — since the Fed starting...

Elderly man critically injured in east-end Toronto highrise fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

One person has been rushed to hospital after a two-alarm fire at a highrise in Scarborough.Firefighters responded to the residential building at Brimley and Kingston roads around 7:30 a.m.Paramedics say a man in his 70s is in critical condition.It is not yet known what caused the fire.More to come. Developing story.

UN-backed panel says Italy can do more to fight racism, discrimination in sports and society

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — U.N.-backed human rights experts focusing on racial discrimination urged Italy’s government to do more to eliminate violence, hate speech, stigmatization and harassment against Africans and people of African descent, and expressed concern that no legal cases have been brought to punish fans and others for racist acts at sports events. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a panel of independent experts that works with the U.N.’s human rights office, also said it regrets that Italy’s government hasn’t provided it with an updated number of complaints and cases of racial discrimination that have been investigated and prosecuted, among other concerns. The findings released Thursday were part of the committee’s periodic look at efforts by governments of U.N. member states to crack down on racial hatred and discrimination. Other countries under the panel’s scrutiny in this round were Croatia, Namibia, Senegal, Turkmeni...

Niger’s military regime orders police to expel French ambassador and revokes his diplomatic immunity

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Niger’s military junta has revoked the diplomatic immunity of France’s ambassador and ordered police to expel him from the country, according to a statement from the military regime.The mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger’s president more than a month ago gave French Ambassador Sylvain Itte 48 hours to leave the country last week. The deadline expired on August 28 without France recalling Itte. The French government says it doesn’t recognize the coup-plotters as the country’s legitimate leaders. The communique sent by Niger’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this week and seen by The Associated Press on Thursday said Itte “no longer enjoys the privileges and immunities attached to his status as a member of the diplomatic staff of the embassy.” The document also says the diplomatic cards and visas of the ambassador’s families have been canceled. France’s government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comme...

A Palestinian kills an Israeli soldier in a West Bank truck ramming attack and is fatally shot

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A Palestinian driver slammed his truck into soldiers at a busy checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, killing one of them before being shot dead, Israeli authorities said, in the latest bloodshed in a relentless cycle of violence to roil the region.The violence came a day after Israeli police shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who stabbed a man in a Jerusalem light-rail station and after Palestinian militants detonated a bomb near a convoy of Israeli troops escorting Jewish worshippers to a holy site in the West Bank, wounding four Israeli troops. The unrest is part of more than a yearlong wave of violence that has surged to levels unseen in the West Bank in some two decades. According to Israeli authorities, the driver, identified as a 41-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, was moving east toward the crossing when he spotted the soldiers near a bagel stand. He made a U-turn and slammed into the soldiers, who were in uniform. An Isr...

Stock market today: Wall Street higher as it tries to claw back losses from a brutal August

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

BEIJING — Wall Street pushed higher Thursday ahead of new inflation and jobs data that could influence the Federal Reserve and its policy decisions regarding benchmark interest rates. Futures for the Dow Jones industrials rose 0.5% and the S&P 500 advanced 0.2% as more corporate earnings reports trickled in after the bell Wednesday. Markets are trying to claw back losses on the last day of what’s been a brutal month. Even with a hot streak the past two weeks, the Dow, S&P and Nasdaq are all still down close to 2% in August. It would be just the second down month for the Nasdaq this year.The U.S. issues an inflation update early Thursday as part of its report on personal consumption and expenditures — the measure of prices most closely watched by the Fed. It eased to 3% in July from last year’s peak of 7%.The Fed has raised interest rates 11 times since March of 2021 in an attempt to stifle inflation. Higher rates help to cool the economy and slow price growth, but anal...

Fed’s preferred inflation gauge shows a modest rise in latest sign of slowing price increases

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:30:18 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained low last month, adding to signs of cooling price increases and raising the likelihood that the Fed will leave interest rates unchanged when it next meets in late September. Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department showed that prices rose just 0.2% from June to July, the third straight modest increase. Compared with a year earlier, prices rose 3.3% in July, up from a 3% annual increase in June. The year-over-year figure, though, is down sharply from the 7% peak it reached a year ago, though still above the Fed’s 2% inflation target. The latest data follows other recent reports that suggest the economy and the job market may be slowing enough to cool inflation pressures. The number of advertised job openings, for example, tumbled in July, and fewer Americans are quitting their jobs to seek better opportunities. Both trends ease the pressure on companies to raise pay to find and keep ...