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POLITICO Pro Central Banker: BoE day — Powell again — Turkish turn

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

Our one-stop source for central banking & monetary policy news.View in your browser or listen to audioBy GEOFFREY SMITHwith JOHANNA TREECK, BEN MUNSTER, ANJULI DAVIES and IZABELLA KAMINSKASNEAK PEEK— Stubborn inflation to force the BoE into its most unpopular rate hike yet.— UK government pushes banks to dust off their forbearance plans.— Policy meetings … in Switzerland, Norway, Mexico and Turkey.POLICY TICKERECB 3.50% ⇡ — BOE 4.5% ⇡ — FED 5.25% ⇡— SNB 1.5% ⇡— BOJ -0.10% ⇣— RBA 4.10% ⇡— PBOC 3.65%⇣— CBR 7.5% ⇣ — BOC 4.75 ⇡— SARB 8.25% ⇡Good morning everyone. There’s a unique sense of drama around developments in the U.K. Not just because inflation is higher than in any of the countries the U.K. likes to compare itself to, although that’s certainly a part of it, but because the political impact of its decisions is transmitted to a single government, rather than diffused among 20 member states. That makes the tension between Governor and Prime Minister almost gl...

San Diego Comic-Con faces potential impact from writers' strike

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- San Diego Comic-Con is facing writer strike issues with Marvel reportedly canceling their appearance at Hall H, the premier actor and director event for super fans.“Comic-Con is very unpredictable, you never know what's going to happen until the week of Comic-Con and even then, you still don't know what's happening,” said Erik Arreaga, a longtime Comic-Con illustrator and vendor. The deadline to get a ticket refund was set for May 12, and with tens of thousands of people already booking their flights, hotels and rental cars, there is no going back now. The show must go on. SDG&E customers can earn bill credits with this incentive program “Pretty heart broken only because its Marvel, like all the characters you are dressed up, half the people dressed up at Comic-Con are dressed up as Marvel characters,” Comic-Con fan Breana Nguyen said. Comic-Con is expected to have all the other excitement with cosplayers, video games, toy exclusives and all the normal fun, ...

Leaders and activists are in Paris to seek a financial response to the climate emergency and poverty

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

PARIS (AP) — World leaders, heads of international organizations and activists are gathering in Paris for a two-day summit aimed at seeking better responses to tackle poverty and climate change issues by reshaping the global financial system.Developing nations point to an outdated system where the United States, Europe, China and other big economies that have caused most climate damage are leaving the poorest countries to deal with the consequences.The Paris talks also come as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a global debt crisis have led to a drop in life expectancy and an increase in poverty in most countries around the world, the United Nations Development Program reported.French President Emmanuel Macron, who organized the summit, said the fight against poverty, efforts to curb global warming and the protection of biodiversity “are closely intertwined. We therefore need to agree together on the best means to address these challenges in the poor and emerging co...

Tornadoes tear through northern Texas town, killing 3 people and causing widespread damage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

MATADOR, Texas (AP) — A line of severe storms produced multiple tornadoes Wednesday evening on the Rolling Plains in Texas, killing at least three people and causing significant damage around the northern town of Matador.The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that the storms also produced softball-size hail and wind gusts topping 100 mph (161 kph) in other communities including Jayton, which also was under a tornado warning as the line moved southeast Wednesday night, according to the National Weather Service in Lubbock.Matador Mayor Pat Smith said at least three people had been killed, that others may be injured and that there was “a whole lot of damage,” The New York Times reported.There were widespread power outages across the Rolling Plains, including more than 700 customers without power in the Jayton area, according to South Plains Electric Cooperative.The worst damage appeared to be in Matador — a town of about 570 people 70 miles (112 kilometers) northeast of Lubbock in Motl...

Australian online safety watchdog demands answers from Twitter on how it tackles online hate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s online safety watchdog has issued a legal notice to Twitter demanding an explanation of what the social media giant is doing to tackle a surge in online hate since Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought the platform.Australia’s eSafety Commission describes itself as the world’s first government agency dedicated to keeping people safer online. The agency said Thursday that it received more complaints about online hate on Twitter in the past 12 months than any other platform and had received an increasing number of reports of serious online abuse since Musk took over the company in October.The Australian agency’s boss, eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, said she sent a notice to the San Francisco-based company Wednesday with 36 detailed questions on how Twitter’s policies about hateful conduct are enforced.If Twitter does not respond with factual and truthful responses to all questions within 28 days, an Australian judge could fine the company up ...

Hondurans see little hope for nation’s prisons as details of cold-blooded massacre emerge

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Authorities in Honduras began to hand over to relatives the hacked, burned corpses of 46 women killed in the worst riot at a women’s prison in recent memory.Some of the bodies were so badly burned they need genetic testing or dental studies to identify, said Yuri Mora, the spokesman for Honduras’ national police investigation agency.The picture that began to emerge of Tuesday’s violence at the women’s prison in Tamara, Honduras was one of a carefully planned massacre of supposed rival gang members by inmates belonging to the notorious Barrio 18 street gang.The carnage has led to calls for change to the country’s prison system and even talk of whether Honduras should emulate the drastic zero-tolerance, no-privileges prisons set up in neighboring El Salvador by President Nayib Bukele. While El Salvador’s crackdown on gangs has given rise to rights violations, it has also proved immensely popular in a country long terrorized by street gang...

What to know about India’s ties with Russia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in June was expected to reduce India’s dependence on Moscow for arms, economic ties and technology as New Delhi and Washington try to strengthen the Quad partnership, which also includes Japan and Australia, to contain growing aggression from China.India considers Russia a time-tested ally from the Cold War era with key cooperation in defense, oil, nuclear energy and space exploration. But that partnership has become fraught since Moscow started developing closer ties with India’s main rival, China, because of the war against Ukraine. Here’s where things stand with India-Russia ties.HOW DID INDIA DEVELOP TIES WITH RUSSIA? India started building a strong relationship with the then-Soviet Union in the mid-1950s during the Cold War, then strengthened those ties over conflicts with Pakistan.The Soviet Union helped mediate a cease-fire between India and Pakistan to end the 1965 war over control of the d...

A nuclear site is on tribes’ ancestral lands. Their voices are being left out on key cleanup talks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

Three federally recognized tribes have devoted decades to restoring the condition of their ancestral lands in southeastern Washington state to what they were before those lands became the most radioactively contaminated site in the nation’s nuclear weapons complex, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.But the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Nez Perce Tribe have been left out of negotiations on a major decision affecting the future cleanup of millions of gallons of radioactive waste stored in underground tanks on the Hanford site near Richland. In May, federal and state agencies reached an agreement that hasn’t been released publicly but will likely involve milestone and deadline changes in the cleanup, according to a spokesperson for the Washington State Department of Ecology, a regulator for the site. As they privately draft their proposed changes, the tribes are bracing for a decision that could threaten their fundamental vision for...

Federal judge strikes down Florida’s ban on Medicaid funding for transgender treatment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday struck down Florida rules championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting Medicaid coverage for gender dysphoria treatments for potentially thousands of transgender people.“Gender identity is real” and the state has admitted it, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle wrote in a 54-page ruling.He said a Florida health code rule and a new state law violated federal laws on Medicaid, equal protection and the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition of sex discrimination.They are “invalid to the extent they categorically ban Medicaid payment for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for the treatment of gender dysphoria,” Hinkle wrote. The judge said Florida had chosen to block payment for some treatments “for political reasons” using a biased and unscientific process and that “pushing individuals away from their transgender identity is not a legitimate state interest.”An email seeking comment from the DeSantis’ office wasn’t imm...

Sweet revenge: Austin FC pounds FC Dallas 3-0 for Copa Tejas victory

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:46:52 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin FC took advantage of a shorthanded FC Dallas team and was ruthless in a 3-0 Copa Tejas victory late Wednesday night at Q2 Stadium.It was the first-ever victory over FC Dallas during the Major League Soccer regular season for Verde and Black and a tremendous start to the second half of the season. Big week can set tone for Austin FC’s second half FC Dallas was without forward Jesus Ferreira, who scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute the last time the squads played May 13, due to international duty with the United States Men's National Team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. FC Dallas was also without midfielder Paul Arriola who is recovering from a thigh injury suffered in the May 13 match.Two first-half goals provided the hot start Austin FC needed against its Lone Star State rivals, and then Verde and Black decided that wasn't enough. Gyasi Zardes connected on Austin FC's third goal of the match in the 58th minute, the 101st goal of his illustrious MLS ca...