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Surprise fall in UK inflation eases pressure on Bank of England

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

Consumer inflation in the U.K. fell surprisingly in August, easing the pressure on the Bank of England to deliver a 15th straight rise in interest rates when its decision-makers meet Thursday.The consumer price index rose only 0.3 percent from July, the Office for National Statistics said, rather than the 0.7 rise expected. That brought the headline rate of inflation down to 6.7 percent from 6.8 percent the previous month.The ONS’s broadest measure of inflation, CPIH, which includes the housing costs of owner-occupiers, fell to 6.3 percent from 6.4 percent in July.The news is a welcome fillip for the Conservative government, for whom the cost-of-living crisis has become a key vulnerability in the election campaign that will start next year.“Inflation never falls in a straight line but it’s now down 40 percent from it’s [sic] peak,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said via X. “The plan is working.”However, he was quick to rule out any suggestion that the numbers give the gove...

Great Weather… For Now

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

Clear skies and crisp air kicks off this Wednesday morning as temps start in the 50s. We’ll go from sweatshirt weather this morning to t-shirt weather this afternoon as highs head back up into the low to mid 70s. Stellar September weather for sure as sunshine wins out too. With humidity very low, it’ll allow for a quick drop in temps this evening as the numbers slide back into the 40s for many by daybreak tomorrow. Yet again, it’ll be another nice bounce back with highs in the lower 70s tomorrow afternoon. It’s pretty much a rinse and repeat forecast for Friday. The weekend brings in challenges to the forecast as plenty of moisture will be tracking up the East coast. It looks like at least some of that moisture will move in, allowing for the rain potential Saturday afternoon into Sunday. How much rain will depend on how far north all the moisture goes, but the highest risk of heavy rain is across Southeast Mass. Temps will be cooler over the weekend, in the ...

OBF: 0-2? 0-3? Oh no if Pats lose to Jets

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

The NFL offered a media release Tuesday imploring those whose teams are now 0-2 to keep it together.“No Need To Panic” was the headline on the email direct from the Politburo to my inbox.It’s been 22 years since the Patriots began 0-2.New England’s NFL entry last fell to 0-2 Sept. 23, 2001.That 10-3 loss to the Jets has been bronzed.It was the first game for the Patriots after 9/11.With 5:01 left in the fourth quarter, Mo Lewis knocked Drew Bledsoe out of the game.(It was a savage, but clean, shoulder hit. Bledsoe was still on the field and not heading out of bounds.)And launched Tom Brady into immortality.Week 3 of the 2001 season marked Brady’s first NFL start.Tom Brady 1 – Peyton Manning 0.Just 24, Brady would go on to win his first Super Bowl that season.At 24, Mac Jones needed a boost from Bill O’Brien to beat Bailey Zappe for the QB1 spot.The final bell has since tolled for Brady’s NFL playing career.Tom is not coming through that door …  until next June.Roger Good...

Howie Carr: Statie nabbed in OT sting wins back $90K pension kiss

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.Or if you don’t want to lose your tax-free kiss in the mail.But corrupt thieving convicted felon ex-Massachusetts State Police Lt. John Giulino apparently never watched the old TV show Baretta, maybe because he was too busy stealing $29,000 with his badge and his gun and his free police cruiser.In 2020, Giulino was stripped of his $90,000 tax-free pension pulled after he pleaded guilty to putting in for 85 overtime shifts on the Mass Turnpike that he did not work. He backed his felonious theft by writing fake traffic tickets.But now, at age 72, the greed-crazed crooked cop Giulino has found a district-court judge who decreed that the kleptomaniac cop should get his bloated state pension back.It’s just one hack helping another. Call it professional courtesy.Let me ask you this: will you get a $90,000-a-year pension when you retire? And I’m guessing you’ve never been convicted of stealing more than $29,000 in public funds.Don’t do the crime ...

ISL football preview and players to watch

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

Lawrence Academy rode the combination of solid line play and explosiveness from its skill position players to a share of the Independent School League title and the Todd Marble Bowl championship.The good news for the Spartans is that all five starters return on the offensive line led by Dom Selvitelli, Sam Healey and Matt Pierotti as well as tight end Cole Nelson. All-Scholastic quarterback Michael Landolfi returns along with wide receiver Jovon Mobley and running back Michael Gregoire.On defense, Selvitelli, Healey and Pierotti are in the trenches with Nelson. Gregoire is the top returning linebacker, while Tavian Henderson and Mobley anchor the secondary.BB&N is chasing its sixth NEPSAC bowl since 2016 and have the horses to be in the hunt. The defense will rely on DL Kastriot Panariti, Max Van Tassell amd Nic Matosic, LB Jack Kelley and Tyler Blum as well as DB Kevin Winschel and Baron Langston.Henry Machnik returns at quarterback and he has one of the top running backs aroun...

Busy day ahead for Trudeau at UN General Assembly

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

If you think your Wednesday is going to be busy, pour one out for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Canada’s to-do list at the United Nations? Confronting the climate crisis, helping Ukraine defeat Russia and eradicating global poverty, among other things.Trudeau will take in a UN Security Council debate on the way forward in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to speak.At a climate ambition summit, Secretary-General António Guterres is expected to hold leaders to account on what they’re doing to confront the emergency.Trudeau will also take part in high-level meetings on creating new finance models to help the developing world find sustainable solutions.And he’ll join Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault at an event aimed at helping developing countries deal with their carbon emissions.“The time has come for all of us to step up and understand: the future is expecting us all to meet this moment,” Trudeau said Tuesday at a meeting on...

Azerbaijan and Armenian forces reach cease-fire deal for breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh, officials say

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — A cease-fire agreement with Azerbaijan was reached on Wednesday to end two days of fighting in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region, local authorities and Azerbaijani officials said. The agreement was to go into effect at 1 p.m. local time (0900 GMT), and talks between Azerbaijani officials and the breakaway region’s ethnic Armenian authorities on its “re-integration” into Azerbaijan were scheduled to take place on Thursday in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh. The deal was reached through negotiations with the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the region, local officials said. It envisions the withdrawal of Armenian military units and equipment from Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as disarming the local defense forces, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry confirmed. It comes a day after Azerbaijan launched military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh and used heavy artillery fire on Armenian positions there, an attack that local officials said killed or wounded sc...

Denmark’s Novo Nordisk and South Africa’s Aspen sign a deal to produce insulin for African patients

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk signed a deal with South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare to produce human insulin for diabetes patients in Africa, where there is a dire need for the life-saving treatment.The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention welcomed the move Wednesday, saying it would “greatly impact the fight against diabetes” in Africa.Novo Nordisk has contracted Aspen to convert insulin into finished doses at its plant in Gqeberha, South Africa, the companies said when announcing the partnership in separate statements on Tuesday.They project the production of 16 million vials in 2024, the yearly amount needed to treat 1.1 million patients in Africa, and an increase to enough insulin to treat 4.1 million diabetes patients on the continent annually by 2026. Production will start at the beginning of next year.The insulin will be distributed to national health authorities and non-governmental organizations through a “low-cost...

Six Palestinians are killed in latest fighting with Israel, at least 3 of them militants

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank and unrest in the Gaza Strip have killed six Palestinians, Palestinian health officials said Wednesday, the latest spike in a wave of violence that has roiled the region for more than a year. At least three of those killed were claimed as militant fighters.The death toll from the most recent flare-up stood at four late Tuesday. But on Wednesday the Palestinian Health Ministry raised it, saying an Israeli raid into the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank killed four people and wounded some 30 others, while a raid in a separate refugee camp killed another Palestinian. A sixth Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire in unrest in the Gaza Strip, officials said.The deadly violence between Israel and the Palestinians over the last year and a half has surged to levels unseen in the West Bank in some two decades. Israel has stepped up its raids on Palestinian areas and Palestinian attacks against Israelis ...

Japanese crown prince visits Vietnam to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:25:33 GMT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Japanese Crown Prince Akishino, the younger brother of Emperor Naruhito, arrived in Vietnam on Wednesday for a five-day visit marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, as Tokyo pushes to deepen ties with Southeast Asia and other developing and emerging nations to tackle regional and global challenges.Akishino, at a news conference last week, stressed the importance of deepening relations between Japan and Vietnam, noting their long history of cultural and economic exchanges dating back to the 16th century.“Japan and Vietnam have a very close relationship,” Akishino said. “I hope we can contribute as part of an effort to promote friendly relations between the two countries.” He said it is particularly important for younger people to develop mutual understanding and respect for each other’s cultures through exchanges.During the Sept. 20-25 trip, Akishino and his wife, Crown Princess Kiko, are visiting Hanoi, Vietnam’s c...