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Federal Reserve raises its key rate for 11th time by a quarter-point in its drive to slow inflation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate Wednesday for the 11th time in 17 months, a streak of hikes that are intended to curb inflation but that also carry the risk of going too far and triggering a recession.The move lifted the Fed’s benchmark short-term rate from roughly 5.1% to 5.3% — its highest level since 2001. Coming on top of its previous rate hikes, the Fed’s latest move could lead to further increases in the costs of mortgages,auto loans, credit cards and business borrowing.Though inflation has eased to its slowest pace in two years, Wednesday’s hike reflects the concern of Fed officials that the economy is still growing too fast for inflation to fall back to their 2% target. With consumer confidence reaching its highest level in two years, Americans keep spending — crowding airplanes, traveling overseas and flocking to concerts and movie theaters. Most crucially, businesses keep hiring, with the unemployment rate still near half-century lows.In ...

Long wait for justice in one of Britain’s worst health scandals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

LONDON — Decades after they were let down by the state that was supposed to care for them, British victims of the world-wide infected blood scandal are still waiting for amends.On Wednesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was heckled as he sought to answer a flurry of questions on his administration’s response to what has been called the “worst treatment disaster” in the history of the National Health Service.Thousands died – with many more falling ill — after being treated with unsafe blood products between 1970 and 1991. Some of those made ill and family members of others who lost their lives watched from the public gallery as Sunak attempted to assure the official inquiry into what went wrong — launched decades after they were given contaminated blood — that the British state finally has their back. But his firm insistence that the government would not bring forward compensation despite being urged to by the inquiry chair prompted boos and bitter laughter from a number of onlookers. ...

EU migration deal faces delays after talks snag

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

BRUSSELS — Bitter infighting on Wednesday derailed EU ambassadors’ attempts to finish off the last plank of the EU’s flagship migration reform.As a result, officials will have to break for the summer without completing work on the overall package, which would reshape how the EU processes and relocates migrants across the Continent.The stumbling block proved to be the so-called “crisis mechanism,” which details measures to lift pressure on EU border countries facing spikes in people seeking asylum. Frontline countries, mostly in the south, are keen to be relieved of certain requirements if arrival numbers skyrocket, but northern countries are wary of rescinding some rules.The result was a stalemate this week — and a decision to come back at it after the holiday break. There was even speculation that the talks might slip all the way to a meeting of home affairs ministers at the end of September.“The latest draft landed very late,” said one EU diplomat who like others ...

Food truck owner gets 2 years in prison for $1.5M pandemic relief loan fraud

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

BOSTON (AP) — The owner of a Massachusetts food truck business has been sentenced to two years in prison for fraudulently obtaining about $1.5 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic relief loans — money that he used to invest in the stock market.Loc Vo owned Smart Gourmet LLC, a food truck business in Massachusetts, as well as a company called Indy Publish, federal prosecutors said in a statement WednesdayThe Boston man submitted loan applications between April 2020 and July 2021 on behalf of the businesses under three Small Business Administration pandemic relief programs, requesting about $1.5 million that was intended to be used for rent, mortgage interest, payroll and utilities, among other eligible expenses, prosecutors said.Loc, 56, then transferred most of the money to brokerage accounts in his own name so he could invest in several businesses, including an electric car manufacturer, an internet marketplace company and a biotechnology company, federal prosecutors said...

Budget Delay Complicates Free Community College Push

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

With a new academic year nearing, community colleges are tentatively moving forward with plans to help students 25 and older attend for free even though the program has not yet been approved within the fiscal 2024 budget that’s stalled in negotiations on Beacon Hill.Community college leaders say the delay in striking a budget deal, which was due by July 1, means they have less time to implement MassReconnect, launch marketing campaigns, and recruit potential students, including re-enrolling people who previously dropped out.Gov. Maura Healey, who pitched the program while campaigning, has said MassReconnect could reach 1.8 million Bay Staters who are eligible to receive state aid as they earn a college degree or certificate. But the budget impasse could imperil Healey’s plan to offer the program in the approaching fall semester.“Since Governor Healey put forward this proposal over the winter, the Department of Higher Education has been working closely with the Mass...

Recipe: Chefs share how-to for tasty homemade lobster rolls

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

Whether you like lobster rolls Connecticut style, with warm drawn butter and lemon, or New England/Maine style tossed in a light dressing, the classic summer food is usually considered a treat and one that’s ordered in a restaurant.But why not serve them to family/ guests at a summer get-together?“If you’re going to buy frozen lobster meat, it’s easy,” said David Cingari, executive chef of his family’s Cingari family ShopRite stores.Chefs in Greater Hartford agree that frozen Maine knuckle and claw meat is yummy and avoids the dreaded steaming of live lobsters, followed by the labor-intensive job of pulling out the meat.“If you’re an absolute die-hard and you want fresh lobster meat you can buy it picked off the lobster,” Cingari said, noting that’s the most expensive option.Even the frozen Maine lobster meat won’t be cheap – currently it’s running at close to $30 per pound but what a hit that special dinner will be.The process of cooking the meat for either type of lobster roll is ...

Patriots’ Matt Groh details Dalvin Cook’s ‘unique’ situation in free agency

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

FOXBORO — The Patriots have another “unique” opportunity to add a Pro Bowl-caliber playmaker after missing out on wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins earlier this offseason.Running back Dalvin Cook was released by the Minnesota Vikings two weeks after Hopkins was cut by the Arizona Cardinals. Hopkins caught on with the Tennessee Titans last week, but Cook is still available as a free agent.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Mac Jones ‘good’ with Bill Belichick after agreeing to ‘fresh start’ for Patriots season New England Patriots | Patriots enter training camp in good health, down only 3 players at Wednesday practice New England Patriots | Callahan: It’s a prove-it season for the Patriots — and they know it New England Patriots | Bill Belichick provides update on Patriots key starters head of training camp New England Patriots | Bill Belichick explains why the Patriots extended D...

Sinéad O’Connor, gifted and provocative Irish singer, dies at 56

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

LONDON — Sinéad O’Connor, the gifted Irish singer-songwriter who became a superstar in her mid-20s but was known as much for her private struggles and provocative actions as for her fierce and expressive music, has died at 56.“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time,” the singer’s family said in a statement reported Wednesday by the BBC and RTE. No cause was disclosed. O’Connor had publicly struggled with mental health in recent years.Recognizable by her shaved head and elfin features, O’Connor began her career singing on the streets of Dublin and soon rose to international fame. She was a star from her 1987 debut album “The Lion and the Cobra” and became a sensation in 1990 with her cover of Prince’s ballad “Nothing Compares 2 U,” a seething, shattering performance that topped charts from ...

Mayo Clinic Minute: What is Takayasu’s arteritis?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

Jason Howland | Mayo Clinic News Network (TNS)You’ve been feeling fatigued, lost a little weight, and had some muscle aches and pains, and your doctor can’t determine what’s wrong. What seem like symptoms of a common cold could actually be early signs of something called vasculitis, a group of disorders of the blood vessels that often go undiagnosed for years.In this Mayo Clinic Minute, Jason Howland explores one of the rarer forms of vasculitis, Takayasu’s arteritis.Takayasu’s arteritis is a rare type of vasculitis, a group of conditions that cause blood vessel inflammation.“It is in the category of large vessel vasculitis, meaning that it involves the aorta, that’s the largest artery in the body, and its main branches,” says Dr. Kenneth Warrington, a Mayo Clinic rheumatologist.The inflammation causes the arteries to narrow or thicken. It can weaken blood vessel walls and potentially cause aneurysms, and eventually lead to stroke or heart failure.“Takayasu’s arter...

Acclaimed Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor dies at age 56

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:11:44 GMT

By Theresa Braine, New York Daily NewsAcclaimed Irish singer Sinéad O’Connor, known for hits such as “Nothing Compares 2 U” and for shredding a photo of the pope while hosting “Saturday Night Live,” has died.She was 56.A cause of death was not given. The singer had lost her son, Shane, to suicide in January 2022, after which she was briefly hospitalized.Singer Sinead O’Connor attends the Giorgio Armani & Cinema Society screening of “Albert Nobbs” at the Museum of Modern Art on December 13, 2011 in New York City. (Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)Back in 1990, her famed cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” was named the number one world single at the Billboard Music Awards. During a decades-long career, the Dublin-based singer released 10 studio albums.Earlier this year she received a standing ovation at the RTÉ Choice Music Awards in receiving the first-ever award for Classic Irish Album, according to The Irish Times, which first reported her death.Singer Sinea...