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UK inflation falls sharply in November, boosting BoE rate cut hopes

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

Inflation in the U.K. fell to its lowest in over two years in November, fanning the flames of speculation that the Bank of England will be start cutting interest rates relatively early next year. The Office for National Statistics said its consumer price index fell 0.2 percent from October, rather than rising 0.2 percent as economists had expected ahead of time. Underlying inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, fell even more sharply, by 0.3 percent. That brought the headline annual rate down to 3.9 percent, down from 4.6 percent in October. While that’s still nearly double the Bank of England’s medium-term target of 2 percent, it represents remarkable progress from a peak of over 11 percent a year ago. Financial markets reacted enthusiastically to the news, pushing the benchmark FTSE 100 stock index up over 1.3 percent to its highest since May, the best performing market in Europe, while the pound fell half a percent against both the euro and the ...

US flies a bomber for joint drills with South Korea, Japan after North’s long-range missile launch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The United States flew a long-range bomber for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday in a show of force against North Korea, days after the North performed its first interconnectional ballistic missile test in five months. The trilateral training off South Korea’s southern island of Jeju was meant to strengthen the countries’ joint response against North Korean nuclear threats, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.The exercise involved a B-1B bomber and South Korean and Japanese fighter jets, the statement said. It said the B-1B’s flyover is the 13th time that a U.S. bomber has been temporarily deployed near and over the Korean Peninsula this year.A B-1B is capable of carrying a large conventional weapons payload. North Korean has previously called the bomber’s deployment a proof of U.S. hostility and had reacted with missile tests.North Korea on Monday launched a Hwasong-18 ICBM into the sea in a drill it said was me...

A Rwandan doctor gets 24-year prison sentence in France for his role in the 1994 genocide

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

PARIS (AP) — A Rwandan doctor was sentenced by a Paris court on Wednesday to 24 years in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide in his home country. Sosthene Munyemana, 68, was found guilty of charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and helping prepare a genocide.His lawyers said that he would appeal the decision. Munyemana has never been detained, remaining free throughout the trial. He won’t go to prison while an appeal is ongoing.Munyemana, who moved to France months after the genocide and quickly raised suspicions among Rwandans living there, has denied wrongdoing.The verdict comes nearly three decades after the genocide, in which more than 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus who tried to protect them were killed.At the time, Munyemana was a 38-year-old gynecologist in Tumba, in the southern university district of Butare.He has been accused of co-signing in April 1994 “a motion of support” for the interim government that supervised the genocide and of partici...

Hamas says its top leader has arrived in Cairo for talks on the war in Gaza

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas says its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has arrived in Cairo for talks on the war in Gaza. Egypt, along with Qatar — where Haniyeh is believed to be based — have both played a key role as mediators between the militant group and Israel since the war that began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Hamas said Haniyeh would discuss the war with Egyptian officials after having arrived Wednesday in Cairo, but did not provide details. Negotiations were underway on another cease-fire and the release of more hostages held by the militant group, but the two sides were believed to be far from an agreement.Wafaa Shurafa And Samy Magdy, The Associated Press

EU claims a migration deal breakthrough after years of talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union negotiators on Wednesday clinched a deal on the main elements of an overhaul of the bloc’s outdated asylum rules, paving the way for a definitive agreement to be reached before EU-wide elections in June.Envoys from member countries, the bloc’s parliament and the executive branch, the European Commission, “reached a deal on the core political elements” of the Pact on Asylum and Migration, the EU’s Spanish presidency said in a statement after a night of negotiations.The pact was touted as the answer to the EU’s migration woes when it was made public in September 2020. The bloc’s old rules collapsed in 2015 after well over 1 million people arrived in Europe without authorization. Most were fleeing war in Syria or Iraq.But little progress was made on the pact as the member states bickered over which country should take charge of migrants when they arrive and whether other countries should be obligated to help.The presidency said negotiators had bridged dif...

UK inflation falls by more than anticipated to 2-year low of 3.9% in November

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. as measured by the consumer prices index eased back to its lowest level in more than two years, official figures showed Wednesday, in a development that is likely to bolster speculation that the Bank of England may start cutting interest rates sooner than expected.The Office for National Statistics said inflation dropped to 3.9% in the year to November, its lowest level since September 2021, from 4.6% the previous month. That decline was bigger than anticipated in financial markets.The agency said the biggest driver for the fall was a decrease in fuel prices after an increase at the same time last year. Food price inflation also contributed to the decline.Last week, the Bank of England left its main interest rate at a 15-year high of 5.25%, where it has stood since August following the end of nearly two years of hikes. Bank Gov. Andrew Bailey said interest rate policy would likely have to remain “restrictive for an extended period of time.”T...

Filmmakers call on Iranian authorities to drop charges against 2 movie directors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Filmmakers and movie festival organizers from around the world have called on Iranian authorities to drop all charges against two Iranian film directors and lift their travel ban.Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha had planned to travel to Paris in September for post-production on their new film, “My Favorite Cake,” but authorities confiscated their passports and informed them that they were banned from leaving Iran, said an open letter by PEN America on Tuesday that was signed by 30 filmmakers and artists. The two were among some 70 Iranian filmmakers and movie industry workers who had joined the hashtag #put_your_gun_down, which was a reference to a violent crackdown during an unrest following the Metropol building collapse in the southwestern city of Abadan that killed at least 41 people in May 2022.Moghadam and Sanaeeha gained international recognition for their 2020 film “Ballad of a White Cow,” which won several prizes, including...

How the markets and the economy surprised investors and economists in 2023, by the numbers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — In a year full of big numbers, with strong gains for stocks and even more fantastic flights for crypto, it was one shrinking number that superseded all.Inflation, the scourge of the global economy, moderated this year. It’s still relatively high, particularly after the many years of low inflation that everyone enjoyed before U.S. inflation topped 9% two summers ago. But it’s cooled enough to get investors looking ahead to a 2024 where interest rates may be on the way down instead of up. Globally, inflation is estimated to have come down to 6.9% from 8.7% last year. Surprisingly, the U.S. economy also held up through the year despite worries at the start of it that a recession may be inevitable. For a while, the worry was even that the economy may be too strong, which could have fed into upward pressure on inflation and forced the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher for longer.That led to counterintuitive moments where Wall Street actually cheered weaker rep...

From AI and inflation to Elon Musk and Taylor Swift, the business stories that dominated 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

The tide turned against inflation.Artificial intelligence went mainstream — for good or ill.Labor unions capitalized on their growing might to win more generous pay and benefits.Elon Musk renamed and rebranded the social media platform Twitter, removed guardrails against phony or obscene posts and ranted profanely when advertisers fled in droves.The American housing market, straining under the weight of heavy mortgage rates, took a wallop.And Taylor Swift’s concert tour scaled such stratospheric heights that she invigorated some regional economies and drew a mention in Federal Reserve proceedings.A look back at 10 top business stories in 2023:RAGING AGAINST INFLATIONThe Fed and most other major central banks spent most of the year deploying their interest-rate weapons against the worst bout of inflation in four decades. The trouble had erupted in 2021 and 2022 as the global economy roared out of the pandemic recession, triggering supply shortages and igniting prices.By the end...

Commission launches pilot of Deforestation Information System to help authorities, companies and traders prepare for EU Deforestation Regulation  

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:27 GMT

The Commission is starting pilot testing of the Deforestation Information System, a key step to operationalise the Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR). The system will help operators, traders, competent authorities and customs submit and process due diligence statements. Once the EUDR is fully in force, such statements will serve as proof that products are deforestation-free and can therefore be placed on the EU market or exported from it.100 stakeholders from all relevant sectors concerned by the EUDR will participate in the pilot which will run until the end of January. Following this, the Commission will provide a training environment and “train-the-trainers” sessions toall interested companies in the summer of 2024, in coordination with member states' authorities. The Commission will also make available user manuals and other relevant self-learning material such as video tutorials. More information is available in the news item.