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Jeremy Hunt says UK outlook ‘brighter than expected’ despite GDP flatline

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

LONDON — Chancellor Jeremy Hunt insisted the U.K.’s economic outlook is “brighter than expected” despite official figures showing no growth in February.The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics estimate that the U.K. economy saw no month-on-month growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in February. The opposition Labour Party’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in a statement that the U.K. was now “lagging behind on the global stage with growth on the floor.”February’s flatline followed growth of 0.4 percent in January, and means the U.K. economy continues to avoid a recession, defined in the U.K. as two quarters of declining GDP in a row. In the three months to February, GDP grew by 0.1 percent.Hunt, the U.K.’s top finance minister who was brought in to revamp the British economy after a market rout under his predecessor, said: “The economic outlook is looking brighter than expected — GDP grew in the three months to...

Tampa Bay doesn’t deserve undefeated Rays, but Orlando does | Commentary

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

Running off at the typewriter …The Tampa Bay Rays are 12-0 after Wednesday night’s 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox and one win shy of tying the record for the best start in Major League Baseball history — and still it doesn’t matter.The Rays are one of the best-run organizations in professional sports and do more with less than any team in any sport, yet they still have the fourth-worst attendance in all of baseball. Which is better than last year and the year before when they were third-worst in attendance even though they made the playoffs in both seasons. And in case you were wondering, the last time they made the World Series during a non-COVID season was 2008 when they had the fifth-worst attendance in the league.Translation: The Tampa Bay area simply doesn’t deserve such a quality team. Time to demolish the idea that baseball will ever work there.Raze the Rays!Move them to Orlando!Short stuff: Glad to see that the Florida Gators just restructured ...

Germany appeals for reducing tension over Taiwan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Germany’s government appealed for efforts to reduce tension over Taiwan as the German foreign minister flew to China for official talks following Chinese military exercises near the self-ruled island democracy Beijing claims is part of its territory.Annalena Baerbock was due to arrive Thursday. Her ministry said she would discuss Taiwan, Ukraine, human rights and other issues with Chinese officials.China’s ruling Communist Party sent warships and fighter planes near Taiwan last weekend in retaliation for a meeting between U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen.“Threatening military gestures” increase “the risk of unintentional military confrontations,” a spokeswoman for Baerbock’s ministry, Andrea Sasse, said in Berlin. “We therefore call on all partners in the region and are working also with our international partners to contribute to a de-escalation in the strait of Taiwan,” Sasse said Wednesday.Taiwan spl...

Northern China blanketed with floating sand and dust

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Many areas in northern China were blanketed with floating sand and dust on Thursday, and a sandstorm was expected to sweep through parts of Inner Mongolia. The sandy, dusty weather and strong winds will last until Sunday, the National Meteorological Center said in a statement, adding the public should take precautionary measures to guard against poor air quality. It renewed a blue alert for sandstorms — the least severe warning in the country’s four-tier weather warning system — and forecast that more than a dozen regions, including major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, would see some areas affected by floating sand and dust on Thursday.The center’s chief forecaster, Gui Hailin, earlier said the sandy and dusty weather began Sunday in southern Mongolia. As cold air moved southward, the weather spread to various regions including northern and northeast China, he said.In Beijing, buildings and traffic were shrouded by low visibility. The IQAir website showed an ...

Destructive cyclone forecast to hit northwest Australia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A tropical cyclone is expected to intensify to the most destructive category before it crosses the northwest Australian coast with winds gusting at more than 280 kph (170 mph), meteorologists said Thursday.Cyclones are common along the sparsely populated Pilbara coast of Western Australia state and fatalities are rare, but authorities fear that Cyclone Ilsa’s extraordinary wind speeds could take some in its path by surprise.Ilsa reached Category 4 intensity Thursday over the Indian Ocean and is expected to strengthen to the maximum destructive category on a five-tier scale before it crosses the Pilbara coast by early Friday, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said.Category 5 cyclones have a maximum mean wind speed exceeding 200 kph (124 mph) with gusts exceeding 280 kph (174 mph). They typically cause widespread destruction, the bureau said. The last Category 5 storm to cross the Australian coast was Cyclone Yasi in 2011. Yasi caused hundreds of millions of...

MEPs approve revamped EU product safety rules  

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

The updated law will ensure that products in the EU, whether sold online or in traditional shops, comply with the highest safety requirements.Last week, MEPs endorsed the revised rules on product safety of non-food consumer products with 569 votes in favour, 13 against and no abstentions. The new regulation aligns the existing General Product Safety Directive with the latest developments in digitalisation and the surge in online shopping.Improving safety assessmentsIn order to guarantee that all products placed on the market are safe for consumers, the General Product Safety Regulation includes measures to guarantee that risks for the most vulnerable consumers (e.g. children), gender aspects and cybersecurity risks are also taken into account during safety assessments.Market surveillance and online shopsThe new regulation extends the obligations of economic operators (such as the manufacturer, importer, distributor), increases the powers of market surveillance authorities and introd...

Boeing partners on projects to make Europe’s airspace smarter and more sustainable

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

Boeing will partner with leading European aviation companies as part of seven new SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking research projects aiming to make Europe’s airspace safer, more sustainable, more efficiently managed and integrated for all users.“As a proud founding member of the SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking and a supporter of this initiative since its inception, we are delighted to partner with the European Union, EUROCONTROL, Airbus, Collins Aerospace and ENAIRE on work which will benefit the entire aviation value chain,” said Liam Benham, Boeing’s president of EU, NATO and Government Affairs Europe. “Aviation has always been a driver of technological and economic progress and we firmly believe that this Joint Undertaking, like the two before it, will bring mature solutions to the table and have a net positive impact on our sector.”“We are excited to apply our knowhow, experience and innovation to these seven projects to deliver the Digital European Sky,” said José Enrique Román, vice-presid...

Dear Abby: My son says Dear Abby will confirm what I did was outrageous

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

DEAR ABBY: At a party recently, I met the 20-something daughter of a friend of mine. The daughter is friendly, intelligent and very nice.I told my available 20-something son about my friend’s daughter and offered to get her number from my friend, the mom. I said he could call the daughter if he was interested. I only suggested this to him.He was outraged and insisted it was weird for his mother to “fix him up.” He concluded: “Ask Dear Abby!” — so I’m asking.Was it weird for me to ask my friend about her daughter’s availability and pass along her phone number? He can call or not and, if he does, the two of them can determine if they want to meet. What say you?Thanks!CALIFORNIA MOMRelated ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: It feels so right but the timing is wrong. Should I walk away? Advice | Dear Abby: I can’t help being rattled by my nitpicking boss Advice | Dear Abby: My dad says he had no ch...

Sale closed in San Jose: $1.6 million for a four-bedroom home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

347 El Portal Way – Google Street ViewA 1,676-square-foot house built in 1972 has changed hands. The new owners acquired the property in the 300 block of El Portal Way on March 16, 2023. The property located in the 300 block of El Portal Way in San Jose was sold on March 16, 2023. The $1,560,000 purchase price works out to $931 per square foot. The house, built in 1972, has an interior space of 1,676 square feet. The property features four bedrooms, two baths, a garage, and two parking spaces. The backyard also has a pool. The unit sits on a 6,000-square-foot lot.Additional houses that have recently been purchased close by include:In September 2022, a 1,475-square-foot home on Alric Court in San Jose sold for $1,780,000, a price per square foot of $1,207. The home has 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.On Brian Court, San Jose, in July 2022, a 1,562-square-foot home was sold for $1,550,000, a price per square foot of $992. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 2,952-square-foot home on ...

Apple’s local tax arrangement with Cupertino comes under fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:50 GMT

By Laura Mahoney | BloombergA tax agreement between Apple Inc. and its hometown of Cupertino has come under scrutiny from state regulators, potentially slashing the amount of money that the company sends to the city.The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration launched an audit of the arrangement in 2021, and Cupertino’s finance director is scheduled to explain the findings to the city council on Thursday. The upshot for Cupertino is that local tax revenues are expected to fall 73% this year.Although Apple isn’t named in the city staff report, the company is Cupertino’s largest source of sales tax revenue. According to the audit, revenue will drop to $11.4 million in the current fiscal year from $42.1 million, and Cupertino may be required to return money to the state that it has received in previous years. The city may have to cut staff and other spending to cover the shortfall.“This decline in revenue is due to a change in sales tax distributions based on the anticipate...