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Europe’s inflation inches up ahead of interest rate decision

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s painful inflation inched higher last month, extending the squeeze on households and keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to unleash another large interest rate increase.Consumer prices in the 20 countries using the euro currency jumped 7% in April from a year earlier, just down from the annual rate of 6.9% in March, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday. Food prices eased a little, falling to an annual 13.6% from March’s 15.5%, while energy prices rose a more modest 2.5%.Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel, slowed slightly but was still high at 5.6%, underlining the expectation that the ECB will press ahead with its campaign to beat inflation into submission with rate hikes. The question is: How quickly will the bank go? Analysts say the ECB’s meeting Thursday in Frankfurt could end in an increase of a quarter- or a half-percentage point. A quarter-point hike would be a moderation in the b...

Inflation in European countries using the euro currency inches higher to 7% in April as squeeze on households extends

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Inflation in European countries using the euro currency inches higher to 7% in April as squeeze on households extends.Source

Agentes de la patrulla fronteriza de EE.UU. buscan a sospechoso de tiroteo masivo en Texas, dice una fuente, mientras las autoridades buscan pistas sobre su paradero

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

(CNN) — Mientras investigadores de Texas se apresuran a encontrar al hombre acusado de disparar fatalmente a 5 personas, incluida una madre y su hijo de 9 años, en una casa de Texas, los agentes de la patrulla fronteriza de EE.UU. están atentos al fugitivo en caso de que intente de huir a México, le dijo a CNN una fuente policial familiarizada con la investigación.Las autoridades publicaron este lunes nuevas imágenes del fugitivo, identificado por los investigadores como el ciudadano mexicano Francisco Oropesa, en un cartel de búsqueda. El cartel muestra varios de los tatuajes distintivos del sospechoso y advierte que está “armado y es peligroso”.Oropesa, de 38 años, está acusado de llevar a cabo la masacre el viernes pasado después de que le pidieran que dejara de disparar su rifle cerca de la casa de una familia vecina en Cleveland, una ciudad de unos 8.000 habitantes al noreste de Houston, en Texas.Las víctimas, todas de nacionalidad hondureña, fueron identificadas como Son...

Buried treasure, including nearly 200 Roman coins, found in Italy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

(CNN) — Archaeologists in Livorno, Italy, are putting together the pieces of a great mystery that began with a stunning find.While hiking in a cleared area of a Tuscan forest northeast of Livorno, a member of the Livorno Paleontological Archaeological Group spotted a few glimmering coins in the dirt in November 2021. Upon closer inspection and excavation, researchers determined that the find included 175 silver Roman denarii coins. Nearly all were in good condition, making this one of the few hoards of ancient coins found intact, according to the group.But the discovery prompted a number of questions: Whose treasure was it? Who were they hiding it from? And why didn’t they come back for it?The archaeological group, along with the archaeologist official for the provinces of Pisa and Livorno, Dr. Lorella Alderighi, has spent more than a year measuring, weighing and documenting the coins, according to a news release posted on its Facebook page. Now, the researchers think th...

Hints of peaking EU inflation signal ECB rate hike slowdown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

The European Central Bank looked on course to slow its campaign of interest rate hikes after fresh data released Tuesday showed inflationary pressures easing a little, as the economy responded to an aggressive tightening of monetary policy over the last year. Core inflation in the eurozone, which strips out volatile food and energy components, fell for the first time in 10 months in April, edging down to 5.6 percent from 5.7 percent in March. That bolstered hopes that it has now peaked — even though headline inflation broke a five-month falling streak by ticking back up to 7.0 percent due to strong food and service prices. Both numbers were broadly in line with market expectations.The strength of core inflation — still over twice the ECB’s medium-term target of 2 percent — makes another interest rate hike at this Thursday’s governing council meeting all but inevitable, but a larger hike seems less likely.ECB board member Isabel Schnabel told POLITICO in April that she want...

Poland calls out Pfizer over vaccine glut

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

Poland has sent a public letter to Pfizer shareholders calling on the U.S. pharma giant to renegotiate its COVID-19 vaccines contract with the EU, marking an escalation in the ongoing dispute over excess doses.The letter, seen by POLITICO, is dated Tuesday and signed by Poland’s health minister, Adam Niedzielski. In it, the minister appeals to Pfizer’s “Corporate Social Responsibility” and calls on the company to come to more favorable terms in negotiations to lower the total amount of doses it is sending to the EU, and to spread them out over a longer time period. Warsaw has been leading the charge in efforts to reopen the EU’s largest contract, for 1.1 billion doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The deal was signed at the height of the pandemic and locks the EU into buying nearly half a billion doses this year, even as vaccination rates have fallen off a cliff as the pandemic subsides.As a result, millions of doses have expired unused in warehouses ...

Police investigating after 1 person injured in Roxbury shooting

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

Police are investigating after one person was injured in a shooting in Roxbury.Boston police said they were called to the scene on Dudley Street around 8:15 p.m. Crews remained on scene for several hours as an investigation appeared to focus on the area of a large apartment complex.The condition of the person who was hospitalized is unknown at this time. Police have asked anyone with information on this incident to reach out.

Dust storm in Illinois leaves at least 6 dead after more than 70 vehicles crash on major highway, officials say

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

(CNN) — At least six people were killed Monday when a dust storm caused more than 70 vehicles to crash along a major highway in central Illinois, officials said.The crashes along Interstate 55 happened shortly before 11 a.m. CT in Montgomery and Sangamon counties south of the state capital after dust from newly plowed fields took over the highway, police said. The state capital, Springfield, is in Sangamon County.Six people were killed and 37 people were hospitalized with injuries ranging from minor to life-threatening, Illinois State Police said. Those injured in the wrecks ranged in age from 2 to 80 years old, Illinois State Police Maj. Ryan Starrick said.One of those killed in the wrecks was Shirley Harper, 88, of Franklin, Wisconsin, police said Monday evening. Officials still were working to identify the five others who were killed and notify their families, police said.Seventy-two vehicles were involved in the crashes, which happened along a 2-mile stretch of I-55, polic...

Mayor Wu to announce 2023 ‘Open Streets’ routes and dates for ‘Open Newbury’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

Mayor Michelle Wu will hold an event Tuesday to announce this year’s “Open Streets” routes and the dates for “Open Newbury,” the program that turns Newbury Street in the Back Bay into a temporary pedestrian-only zone.Open Streets, which launched last year, involves closing other roads to vehicular traffic “to create room for community and play.” This year, there will be pedestrian-only zones in three neighborhoods in Boston. Wu is set to make the announcement at noon.This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

Classes resume at West Newbury school after refrigerant leak causes ‘strange odor,’ sends multiple students to hospital

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:12:26 GMT

Classes will resume Tuesday at a West Newbury school after a refrigerant leak in the HVAC system caused a “strange odor” on Monday, forcing the school to evacuate and sending multiple students to the hospital. West Newbury Police and Fire Chief Michael Dwyer said an initial call came in around 9:40 a.m. reporting a strange smell coming from a science lab in the middle school area of the Pentucket Middle-High School. Four students were transported to area hospitals after they started feeling dizzy and nauseous, according to Dwyer. About 39 others were checked out at the scene and released to their parents. Dwyer said all students impacted by this incident are expected to be okay.At one point, the situation was considered a hazardous materials incident, prompting a large emergency response. Prior to Tuesday’s reopening, officials say the HVAC unit was shut off and the middle school area of the building was vented to disperse the odor.The school is now working to repa...