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Finally — UK inflation comes off the boil

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

Inflation in the U.K. finally came off the boil in June, bringing relief to consumers, the government — and to the Bank of England. The consumer price index rose 0.1 percent on the month and was up 7.9 percent from a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. That was down from a headline rate of 8.7 percent in May and, crucially, the first time in five months the numbers had not exceeded market expectations.Although falling energy prices contributed most to the improved picture, the slowdown in price increases was broad-based, with the ONS reporting no major gains in prices for specific goods or services. Food prices, which have become the focal point of popular anger at the highest inflation in over 40 years, inched higher, but their annual gain slowed to 17.4 percent from 18.4 percent in May. The ONS’ measure of core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy elements, fell more moderately, to 6.9 percent from 7.1 percent in May. However, lea...

Why Latin America still won’t condemn Putin’s war in Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

The ghosts of colonial history returned to haunt European and Latin American leaders at their summit in Brussels.For the guests, four hundred years of European colonial rule, economic exploitation and slavery was front of mind. For the hosts, it was Russia’s war on Ukraine in the here and now. The divergence in views was so profound that the two sides struggled to align their thinking at their first summit in eight years — especially to find words to condemn Russia’s war of aggression in their closing communiqué.That made the two-day gathering frustrating for all concerned — but especially for leaders of the EU’s newest member states from Eastern Europe, which have their own bitter memories of Soviet imperial rule and Russian aggression.“It is actually a war of colonization,” Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš said of the 16-month-old Ukraine conflict. “There is a former colonizer, Russia, and a former colony, Ukraine. And the former overlord is trying to ta...

Independent school in Encinitas looks to provide housing options for staff

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

ENCINITAS, Calif. -- As housing becomes less affordable and harder to find, an independent school in Encinitas is looking to solve the problem for some of its staff.Using a $4.5 million grant from the Fred B. Luddy Family Foundation initially intended to build a sports facility, The Grauer School realized that the land could serve a much bigger need: providing affordable housing for its teachers. The donor agreed.“He said, 'The greatest donors are the ones that are giving to individuals with the vision,'" said Stuart Grauer, found and head of school at The Grauer School. "You could almost cry, I did actually."After nearly losing out on new hires because of difficulty securing affordable housing in the area, he decided the solution was in the land, just a half a block away from the school.According to Grauer, staff will be able to apply for one of three separate living spaces on the property, with room to build more if the program proves to be successful. Rent costs will be set a rat...

Sinkhole prompts lane closures on SR-67: Caltrans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- All northbound lanes on a stretch of State Route 67 through Lakeside and Ramona have been closed to traffic after a sinkhole was discovered, Caltrans announced.The sinkhole, approximately six feet deep, was discovered under the northbound lanes around 3 a.m. during scheduled paving operations, according to the transit agency. It is believed to have been a result of underground runoff from the winter storms earlier this year.Caltrans construction crews closed all northbound lanes from Slaughterhouse Canyon Road to just south of Foster Truck Trail for emergency repair work to the sinkhole. All traffic has been routed to the southbound lanes with one-way traffic control. Caltrans to close I-5 north exits to SR-163, airport for road work The lanes are anticipated to remain closed through Wednesday, Caltrans said, although an exact time of completion is not known.Caltrans reminds motorists headed in that direction to be alert when traveling through the work zone area and t...

UK inflation falls by more than anticipated to a 15-month low of 7.9%; may limit interest rate hikes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. has fallen by more than anticipated to a 15-month low, official figures showed Wednesday, a development that may ease the pressure for the Bank of England to raise interest rates sharply over the coming months.The Office for National Statistics said that inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, fell to 7.9% in the year to June from 8.7% the previous month. Economists had expected a more modest decline to 8.2%.The statistics agency said the falling of fuel prices was the biggest driver behind the drop, while food price inflation also pared back, though they remained historically high. Despite the decline, inflation is still running far higher than the Bank of England’s target rate of 2%. As a result, the central bank is expected to raise its main interest rate further at its upcoming meeting in early August. However, the bigger-than-expected fall may mean it only raises it by a quarter of a percentage to 5.25% rather than a half-p...

Russia launches intense night attacks across Ukraine, targeting southern port city for second night

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched an intense series of night-time air attacks using drones and missiles against targets across Ukraine, and targeting the southern port city of Odesa for a second night in a row, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday. Meanwhile, a fire at a military facility in Russian-annexed Crimea caused the closure of an important highway and the evacuation of civilians from four settlements, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of the region, which was annexed in 2014. He did not specific a cause for the fire at the facility in Kirovsky district, which came two days after an attack on a bridge linking Russia to the peninsula that the Kremlin has blamed on Ukraine. “A difficult night of air attacks for all of Ukraine,” said Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration in a statement on Telegram. Popko said the attacks were especially fierce in Odesa for a second consecutive night. Odesa’s regional governor Oleh Kiper said th...

11 dead after a wall collapses near an under-construction bridge in Pakistan, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Eleven workers were killed early Wednesday after a wall collapsed near an under-construction bridge on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, police and rescue officials said.The wall fell while the workers sat inside their roadside tents at the construction site. Local police official Mohammad Akram and Emergency Service Rescue 1122 said the collapse happened amid the monsoon rains near the neighborhood of Golra and that the bodies of the deceased were recovered.Monsoon rains have been lashing Pakistan since June 25, killing at least 112 people in weather-related incidents. The rains have also swelled Pakistan’s rivers in eastern Punjab province, swamping hundreds of villages and displacing at least 15,000 people.The rains returned to Pakistan a year after climate-induced downpours inundated at one point one-third of Pakistan, killing 1,739 people. The floods also caused $30 billion in damage in cash-strapped Pakistan in 2022.The Associated Press

UK’s governing Conservatives face a reckoning with voters in 3 special elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Bad things may come in threes for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose Conservative Party faces a trio of unwanted verdicts from voters this week.The U.K. is holding three special elections for House of Commons seats on Thursday that will let a broad cross-section of voters — in northern England, southwest England and on London’s suburban fringe — deliver a verdict on the party that has governed Britain since 2010.The Tories are bracing for the worst.“Midterm by-elections for incumbent governments are always difficult,” Sunak said Monday. “I don’t expect these to be any different from that.”It could be different, or at least rare, if the Conservatives lose all three seats. The last time a governing party lost three by-elections in one day was in 1968 under Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson.The three elections are part of the still-rippling shockwaves from the turbulent term of ex-leader Boris Johnson. He quit as a lawmaker last month, almost a year after resigni...

Metro workers at 27 stores across GTA reach a deal and avoid a strike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

TORONTO — Metro workers at 27 grocery stores across the Greater Toronto Area reached a deal with the grocery giant just after midnight when they were set to go on strike. In a statement, Unifor National President Lana Payne says “This is a milestone agreement that underscores Unifor’s deep commitment to grocery workers in the retail sector and our important work to advance their workplace rights.”She adds, “This agreement will lay the foundation for grocery workers across the country as workers, both unionized and non-unionized, make clear their urgent need for improved working conditions amidst a chronic affordability crisis.”Details of the tentative agreement will not be released prior to being presented to members for a ratification vote in the coming week.The workers, represented by Unifor, headed into bargaining in June with a 100 per cent strike mandate.  A strike would have affected some 3,700 workers across the GTA. The union has said its priorities for Met...

Britain’s MI6 intelligence chief says AI won’t replace the need for human spies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:28:37 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — Artificial intelligence will change the world of espionage, but it won’t replace the need for human spies, the head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency says in prepared remarks released Wednesday. Richard Moore, director of the U.K.’s foreign intelligence agency, is set to speak in Prague on evolving threats to the West from Russia and Iran, and argue that the “human factor” will remain crucial in an era of rapidly evolving machine learning.“AI is going to make information infinitely more accessible and some have asked whether it will put intelligence services like mine out of business,” he says in extracts released in advance by the U.K. government.“In fact, the opposite is likely to be true,” he adds. “As AI trawls the ocean of open source, there will be even greater value in landing, with a well-cast fly, the secrets that lie beyond the reach of its nets.”Moore, who has previously warned that the West was falling behind rivals in the AI race, will argue...