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EU claims a migration deal breakthrough after years of talks

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 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(AP) — European Union negotiators on Wednesday clinched a deal on the main elements of an overhaul of the bloc’s outdated asylum rules, paving the way for a definitive agreement to be reached before EU-wide elections in June.Envoys from member countries, the bloc’s parliament and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 Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 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 Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 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 Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 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 Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 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 Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 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.

Dear Abby: My husband is desperate for women’s attention, and I don’t know what to do

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 GMT

DEAR ABBY: My husband is desperate for women’s attention, and I’m sure he’d cheat on me the instant he has the chance.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: I’m sure it’s the bride who made this hurtful decision Advice | Dear Abby: My sister doesn’t know it, but my husband’s demand is non-negotiable Advice | Dear Abby: I’m not sure I can spend the rest of my life with babyman in tow Advice | Dear Abby: I can’t believe my wife thinks it’s normal how she lives Advice | Dear Abby: My wife’s snubbing of my parents could cost me a lot of money We have been together for 12 years. When we met, he was 24 and I was 31. I realize now that while I had four long-term relationships and a fair share of sexual partners, my husband has had little sexual experience outside of our relationship.Any time he’s around women, whether I am there or not, he mak...

Freshman McCown leads UTSA to 35-17 Frisco Bowl win over Marshall

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 GMT

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Redshirt freshman Owen McCown recovered from a shaky beginning to his first start of the year to complete 22 of 31 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns as UTSA rallied from a 14-0 deficit to beat Marshall 35-17 in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday night.Robert Henry had touchdown runs of 3 yards and 1 yard and Rocko Griffin one for 17 yards for UTSA (9-4), which won a bowl game for the first time following four bowl losses including in each of the previous three seasons.Joshua Cephus caught a 44-yard TD pass and David Amador II caught one for 19 yards.Marshall (6-7) lost seven of its final nine games to finish with its first losing season since 2016.One play into the second period, UTSA trailed 14-0, had been outgained 114 yards to 16, had one first down, two interceptions thrown and three punts.“The grit of that team, to be down 14 to nothing — I bet if all the Roadrunner fans were honest, a bunch of ’em were probably ready to give up,” UTSA coach Jeff Traylor said...

Power returning to South Shore, nearly 25,000 still in dark Wednesday morning

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 GMT

Nearly 25,000 in Massaschusetts were still without power Wednesday morning, two days after the area was hit with a wet and windy storm.The South Shore bore the brunt of the storm’s power outages. More than 25 percent of Norwell was still in the dark Wednesday morning. Neighboring Pembroke remained 19 percent unpowered, better than its neighbor, Duxbury, where 14 percent of residents were left waiting.Norwell resident Alison Demong said her husband described the scene around Norwell as “Treemageddon.”“There’s just trees down and branches everywhere,” she said. “Most people in our town have generators at this point, not everyone, but it’s more and more common that we lose power. Norwell has so many big trees and the power lines come down so fast.”Scituate, which suffered widespread outages through Tuesday, was mostly back online Wednesday; just 5 percent of residents there were still without power, down from nearly 100 percent during the height of the storm.Nat...

Doctors in England begin a 3-day strike over pay at busy time of the year in National Health Service

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:02:16 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Doctors in the early stages of their careers in England started a 72-hour strike Wednesday in their long-running dispute with the British government over pay levels.Patients in Britain’s state-owned National Health Service have been warned that there will be “significant disruption,” with thousands of appointments and procedures postponed or even canceled. The strike began at 7 a.m. and will run until Saturday morning.Tens of thousands of so-called junior doctors, which make up around half of the medical workforce in the NHS, will also go on strike for a six-day stretch early next year, the longest walkout in the health service’s 75-year history.They are seeking a 35% pay rise, a figure they say takes into account years of below-inflation rises and will prevent an exodus of staff to other countries. The government though is offering junior doctors an average increase of 8.8% and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated there won’t be more on off...