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No more rate hikes (for now)! ECB set to take its foot off the brake

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank is set to end a year-long sequence of interest rates hikes this Thursday and usher in a policy pause that is expected to stretch well into next year.The base case for all 85 economists in a recent Reuters survey is that the pause will ultimately come to represent the start of a plateau for interest rates, as a weakening economy removes the need for further hikes. The bank raised its key deposit rate to a record 4 percent in September with a 10th straight hike — by far the most aggressive tightening of monetary policy in its 25-year existence. With the Eurozone economy now expected to stagnate or even contract in the second half of this year, the majority of economists expect the ECB’s next move to be a cut — albeit not until the third quarter of next year. Against that backdrop, President Christine Lagarde is expected to play for time at her regular press conference after the meeting. That’s partly because uncertainty over the outlo...

Emergency crews respond to crash involving school bus in Boston

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

Several people were evaluated for possibly minor injuries following a multi-vehicle crash involving a Boston Public Schools bus on Tuesday morning.Troopers responding to a reported crash on the Riverway around 7:30 a.m. found a crash between a vehicle and a school bus with children aboard, according to a state police spokesman.Occupants of the bus, including students, the driver, and an adult monitor were evaluated at the scene for possible minor injuries.The cause of the crash remains under investigation.No additional information was immediately available.This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

Police responding to school bus crash on Riverway, evaluation for ‘minor’ injuries underway

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

A  Boston school bus carrying children was involved in a crash this morning with another vehicle, according to police.State police and Boston EMS are at the scene on the Riverway evaluating passengers “for possible minor injuries,” according to the state police.The collision occurred at approximately 7:30 a.m.Occupants of the bus including the driver, bus monitor and students are being evaluated.– Developing

Crews clear wreckage after ‘superfog’ near New Orleans causes highway crashes that killed at least 7

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Crews worked into Tuesday morning clearing the wreckage of more than 150 vehicles involved in a series of crashes the day before on Interstate 55 near New Orleans caused by a “superfog” of marsh fire smoke and dense fog that killed at least seven people and injured another 25.Hazardous driving conditions Tuesday morning prompted several schools in the area to close or delay.An estimated 158 vehicles were involved and 25 people injured, according to the Louisiana State Police, who warned Monday night the death toll could climb as first responders looked for victims, the smell of burnt wreckage still heavy in the air.The crashes began before 9 a.m. Monday and there were several crashes along a one-mile span of the highway, Louisiana State Police Sgt. Kate Stegall said in a news briefing. The highway was expected to remain closed at least until the bridge could be inspected for damage in daylight Tuesday, Stegall said.The crashes left a long stretch of mangled and sc...

Michelle Obama to narrate audio edition of ‘Where the Wild Things Are’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A new digital audio edition of Maurice Sendak’s “Where the Wild Things Are” will have a very well known narrator: former first lady Michelle Obama.HarperCollins Publishers announced Tuesday that the audio download will go on sale Oct. 31, the 60th anniversary of the book’s original release. Michelle Obama has read from “Where the Wild Things Are” before. In 2016, she and President Barack Obama acted out the classic picture book for an Easter event at the South Lawn of the White House. “Maurice Sendak would have been absolutely delighted with Mrs. Obama’s superb rendition of ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ and her strong commitment to children is much admired by us all in the Sendak household,” Lynn Caponera, president and treasurer of the Maurice Sendak Foundation, said in a statement.Sendak, one of the world’s most famous children’s authors, died in 2012 at age 83. His other books included “In the Night Kitchen,” “Chicken Soup with Rice” and “Ou...

Extremists with ties to the Islamic State group kill at least 26 people in eastern Congo

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Extremists with ties to the Islamic State group killed at least 26 people in eastern Congo, authorities said on Tuesday. Attackers with the Allied Democratic Forces killed people in the city of Oicha in North Kivu province on Monday, said Beni Charles Ehuta Omeonga, the military administrator for the area. “Among the victims were seven members from the same family killed by the assailants in their home,” he said.Most of the victims were shot in their homes, said Nicolas Kikuku, a deputy governor in the region, adding that the death toll is likely higher than what’s been reported. Conflict has been simmering in eastern Congo for decades where more than 120 armed groups are fighting in the region, most for land and control of mines with valuable minerals, while some are trying to protect their communities.ADF has been expanding and intensifying operations in recent years, spreading from North Kivu to Ituri province despite military interventions meant to stop th...

Oprah Winfrey selects Jesmyn Ward’s ‘Let Us Descend’ for her book club

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey’s new book club pick highlights an author she has long admired, Jesmyn Ward. On Tuesday, Winfrey announced she had selected Ward’s “Let Us Descend,” which comes out this week. “Let Us Descend” is a slave narrative set in the 19th century and follows a teenage girl’s journey across the American South. Ward, 46, is among the most acclaimed writers of her generation. Her previous works include the novels “Salvage the Bones” and “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” both winners of the National Book Award.In 2022, she became the youngest winner of the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction.“I have read all of Jesmyn Ward’s books and have been a fan of her writing for years,” Winfrey said in a statement. “‘Let Us Descend’ is a vital work for our culture and I’m so excited to have her newest offering as part of our Book Club.” Ward has also written such nonfiction as “Men We Reaped” and “Navigate Your Stars.” In a statement Tuesday, she expressed ...

A brief history of Middle East ceasefires

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

In today’s Big Story Podcast, two weeks after a terror attack by Hamas, and two weeks into a devastating retaliatory bombing campaign by Israel, thousands of lives are gone, and the world wonders how and when the horror might stop. There are calls for a humanitarian pause. A ceasefire. Deescalation. It seems impossible in the moment, but then, it usually does.Dr. Randa Slim, the Director of the Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program at the Middle East Institute, says that the involvement of third parties, like Iran and it’s regional proxies, is making the situation even more volatile.“Every party in this conflict, Israel, Hamas, allies of Hamas, America, they are all messaging each other, and the purpose of this messaging is to help shape the calculus of their opponent in terms of the next steps,” says Slim.     So today, a brief history of ceasefires, peace deals, and other quests for a pause in a deadly conflict — and an explanation from a long-time observer of how the...

Love it or hate it, feelings run high over candy corn come Halloween

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Cruel joke for trick-or-treaters or coveted seasonal delight? The great Halloween debate over candy corn is on.In the pantheon of high-emotion candy, the classic shiny tricolor kernels in autumn’s white, orange and yellow are way up there. Fans and foes alike point to the same attributes: its plastic or candle-like texture (depending on who you ask) and the mega-sugar hit it packs.“I am vehemently pro candy corn. It’s sugar! What is not to love? It’s amazing. It’s like this waxy texture. You get to eat it once a year. It’s tricolor. That’s always fun,” comedian Shannon Fiedler gushed on TikTok. “Also, I know it’s disgusting. Candy corn is objectively kind of gross, but that’s what makes it good.”Or, as Paul Zarcone of Huntington, New York, put it: “I love candy corn even though it looks like it should taste like a candle. I also like that many people hate it. It makes me like it even more!” Love it or loathe...

Ukraine’s leader says Russian naval assets are no longer safe in the Black Sea near Crimea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 16:11:43 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Tuesday that recent Ukrainian attacks have denied the Russian fleet safe bases and secure maritime corridors in the western part of the Black Sea, as Kyiv’s troops look to squeeze the Kremlin’s occupying forces out of the Crimean Peninsula.Crimea provides rear support for Moscow’s battlefield efforts further west and has been a frequent target for Ukrainian forces during the war since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.“The Russian fleet is no longer capable of operating in the western part of the Black Sea and is gradually retreating from Crimea,” Zelenskyy claimed, without providing evidence. “This is a historic achievement.”Ukraine is keen to show that billions of dollars’ worth of weapons supplied by its Western allies have allowed it to make progress in the fighting, as the conflict enters its 21st month amid a broad stalemate.With the war poised to extend into another winter and likely deep into next year, K...