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Top central bankers assert need for higher interest rates to tackle persistent inflation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Leading global central bankers asserted Wednesday that they are not backing off their steep interest rate increases, pointing to inflation being more persistent than expected but still downplaying fears of recession from their hikes.The message was that borrowing costs would stay high until the inflation beast is subdued, according to a panel discussion with U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, Bank of England Gov. Andrew Bailey and Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda.“I think we have to be as persistent as inflation is persistent,” Lagarde said during the talk at the ECB’s annual policy conference in Sintra, Portugal. “We have to be resolute and decided and determined in reaching the target that we have set.”Despite rapid rate increases, Powell said “the bottom line is that policy hasn’t been restrictive enough for long enough.”Powell, Lagarde and Bailey stressed the strong jobs market was a driver of...

As SAG contract deadline looms, Meryl Streep joins more than 300 actors expressing readiness to strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

(CNN) — Some members of the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have written a letter to union leadership urging the negotiating committee not to settle with the Hollywood studios on a deal that does not represent their demands.The letter, which was shared with CNN, expresses concern that “this is an unprecedented inflection point in our industry, and what might be considered a good deal in any other years is simply not enough.”“We feel that our wages, our craft, our creative freedom, and the power of our union have all been undermined in the last decade. We need to reverse those trajectories,” the letter continued.Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, Quinta Brunson, Rami Malek, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brendan Fraser, Neil Patrick Harris, Ben Stiller and Amy Schumer are among the more than 300 top-tier actors to sign the letter, according to a source who shared the text of the letter with CNN, which was first reported by Rolling Stone.CNN h...

Von der Leyen picks Ivanova as new Bulgarian Commissioner

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has picked Iliana Ivanova as the new Bulgarian Commissioner, in charge of innovation, research, culture, education and youth, the same portfolio that was handled by Mariya Gabriel before she returned to Bulgarian politics.Ivanova, a former MEP and member of the European Court of Auditors, was chosen over Daniel Lorer, a member of the Bulgarian parliament. Ivanova will have to implement the bloc’s R&D program and “enhance the performance of the EU’s research spending and achieve a better impact on the ground,” von der Leyen said.

Service delayed on Orange Line at Tufts Medical Center after issue with third rail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

Crews responded to the MBTA’s Tufts Medical Center station on Wednesday after the MBTA said an operator reported flames within the track area near the station.Video at one point showed the smoky scene on the Tufts platform.The T initially announced delays for southbound trains in the area around 12:15 p.m. In an update at 12:30 p.m., the T said service was temporarily suspended between North Station and Back Bay due to what the agency described as an “issue with the third rail.” A T spokesperson said the operator of a southbound train at Tufts first reported flames within the track area in front of the train around 11:50 a.m. The spokesperson said fire crews arrived while the flames were being put out. Power was turned off to the third rail around 12 p.m. and fire crews had left the station as of around 1:45 p.m., the spokesperson said.There were no injures and the T said regular service had resumed following repairs around 2 p.m. This is a devel...

Man’s death while awaiting trial on charges he killed his mother at sea was not suspicious, autopsy says

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — An autopsy has determined that the death of a man awaiting trial on charges of killing his mother off the coast of New England in a scheme to inherit millions of dollars was not suspicious, the New Hampshire attorney general’s office said Wednesday.Nathan Carman, 29, of Vernon, Vermont, was found dead in his cell in a county jail in New Hampshire on June 15. The attorney general’s office does not release the cause and manner in deaths that are not suspicious, according to spokesperson Michael Garrity. The U.S. Marshals Service in Vermont said it will not be releasing the cause of Carman’s death at the request of family.The attorney general’s office confirmed that authorities consider a death to be not suspicious when they’ve determined no one else was involved, or if no crime was committed.Carman pleaded not guilty last year to fraud and first-degree murder in the death of his mother, Linda Carman, in 2016, and was...

Looking back at the Nets-Celtics trade on the 10-year anniversary

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

The NBA, by nature of the CBA and career timelines, is cyclical. One moment a team is in the conference finals, the next it’s toiling through a rebuild. Just ask the Thunder. And the Rockets.Very rarely does a trade bring heavy repercussions a decade later. But there weren’t many moves like the Boston-Nets swap on June 28, 2013. It became THE cautionary tale for teams eager to sacrifice draft assets for a shot at a title, setting off a five-year trend of reluctance to part with unprotected picks. It took Toronto’s deal for Kawhi Leonard in 2018 to reset that market — and now we’re seeing another reverse following that outrageously priced deal for Rudy Gobert.On the 10-year anniversary of the Nets-Celtics trade, we’ll take a look at the major characters involved, what happened to them, and how the negotiations shaped two franchises:THE DEALNets receive: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, DJ White, Jason Terry and a 2017 first-round pickCeltics receive: Ke...

Black bear spotted in Quincy, the latest in a string of eastern Massachusetts sightings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

Are black bears trying to buy wholesale now?The latest sighting of a black bear in eastern Massachusetts was a bear reportedly being spotted behind a BJ’s Wholesale Club in Quincy.Around midnight on Tuesday, a Quincy police officer spotted a black bear in the wooded area behind BJ’s Wholesale Club on Crown Colony Drive.The bear’s location was unknown Wednesday afternoon, and there were no other sightings or reports overnight.“Please contact our Communications Division if you happen to see the bear at 617-479-1212 or 911 if an emergency response is needed,” Quincy Police wrote on social media.“Even if the bear is spotted in a remote or wooded area it is important that we are notified,” police added.Related ArticlesLocal News | Black bear sightings in Massachusetts: South Shore bear roaming Cohasset, police help ‘furry friend’ Local News | Bears having summertime fun in Massachusetts; many police departme...

Nurses have had enough, threatening big gaps in US health care

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

Augusta Saraiva, Alex Tanzi | (TNS) Bloomberg NewsA large swath of American nurses want out of the profession, raising the threat of a mass exodus that would leave gaping holes in health care.Almost one in three registered nurses say they’re likely to seek a different job, according to a recent survey by AMN Healthcare Services Inc. A McKinsey & Co. study last month warned the US risks a shortfall of as many as 450,000 nurses. Job openings in health care surged above 2 million in April, not far short of last year’s record.The pandemic put nurses and other health-care professionals under unprecedented strain. The worst of the COVID crisis may be over, but staff remain stretched. And that’s creating a “vicious cycle” of fewer people wanting to become nurses as the profession becomes more stressful and less satisfying, according to Cole Edmonson, chief clinical officer at AMN.“This really creates this negative narrative that can have implications for the workforce for years to come...

E-cigs are still flooding the US, addicting teens with higher nicotine doses

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

Liz Szabo | KFF Health News (TNS)When the FDA first asserted the authority to regulate e-cigarettes in 2016, many people assumed the agency would quickly get rid of vapes with flavors like cotton candy, gummy bears, and Froot Loops that appeal to kids.Instead, the FDA allowed all e-cigarettes already on the market to stay while their manufacturers applied for the OK to market them.Seven years later, vaping has ballooned into an $8.2 billion industry, and manufacturers are flooding the market with thousands of products — most sold illegally and without FDA permission — that can be far more addictive.“The FDA has failed to protect public health,” said Eric Lindblom, a former senior adviser to the director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “It’s a tragedy.”Yet the FDA isn’t the only entity that has tolerated the selling of vapes to kids.Multiple players in and out of Washington have declined to act, tied the agency’s hands, or neglected to provide the FDA with needed resources....

The heat wave blamed for 13 deaths in Texas so far spreads eastward

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:14 GMT

Scorching heat blamed for at least 13 deaths in Texas and another in Louisiana blanketed more of the Southeast on Wednesday, stretching government warnings of dangerous, triple-digit temperatures eastward into Mississippi and Tennessee.California, meanwhile, was facing its first major heat wave of the year. The National Weather Service warned that the dry, hot, windy conditions were ripe for dangerous fires in parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. Mid-week temperatures were forecast to surpass 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius) in much of the Southeast and high humidity was expected to push heat index values above 115 degrees (46 Celsius) in some areas.Lingering power outages after weekend storms compounded the heat-related misery in Arkansas. More than 10,000 residents were still without power in the central part of the state. In Cabot, northeast of Little Rock, a local senior center provided cool air and a place to charge cellphones and tablets for those without el...