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US inflation rose 3.2% in February — yet another stubbornly high figure that won’t inspire the Federal Reserve to slash interest rates this spring.

February’s Consumer Price Index — which tracks changes in the costs of everyday goods and services — came in a tick higher than the 3.1% headline inflation figure economists surveyed by FactSet expected.

Consumer prices have not fallen year-over-year since President Joe Biden’s term began in January 2021.

The closest the economy has gotten to a yearly decrease since Biden took office was in July 2022, when the inflation rate remain “unchanged,” at a sky-high 8.5%.

Overall, prices are up staggering 19% since December 2020, the month before Biden moved into the White House — despite the president’s Bidenomics agenda, which he has consistently claimed works to reduce the [governments] deficit.

However, Treasury data shows the red ink topped $1.7 trillion in 2023 — a sum that nearly doubled over the course last year.

On a monthly basis, price growth edged 0.4% higher last month, driven primarily by the indexes for shelter and gasoline, which contributed to more than 60% of the advance.

Core CPI a number that excludes volatile food and energy prices slowed to 3.8% in February after advancing 3.9% in December and January.

The figure, a closely-watched gauge among policymakers for long-term trends, was slightly above the 3.7% figure economists at FactSet expected.

The latest inflation figures are apt to disappoint central bankers, who have been unsuccessful in tamping down inflation closer to their 2% goal, as well as investors who were banking on the first of three interest rate cuts to take place within the first half of the year.

Aside from shelter and gasoline, the Bureau of Labor Statistics attributed the CPIs increase to rises across airline fares, motor vehicle insurance, apparel and recreation.

The indexes for personal care and household furnishings, meanwhile, dropped.

The food index was unchanged in February, as was the food at home index, though the food away from home index rose 0.1% for the month.

Unlike the CPI, February’s jobs report said that the unemployment rate edged higher — a welcome sign that the economy is slowing.

The closely watched jobs report showed that the unemployment rate rose to 3.9%, breaking a three-month streak where the rate held steady at 3.7% an uptick that likewise will boost the Federal Reserves case for rate cuts in the coming months, which most traders are now pegging for June.

Still, US employers increase payrolls by a surprisingly strong 275,000 last month, according tot he Labor Department, blowing past the 198,000 job gains economists expected.

Also in February, the annual increase in wages edged up by five cents, to $34.57, after increasing by 18 cents in January.

Wage increases have historically been a key measure of inflation as they’re attributed to higher inflation rates because the cost of goods and services rises as companies pay their employees more.

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Recent data echoes what Fed Chair Jerome Powell told US lawmakers last week — that progress on lowering inflation is not assured.

He said that central bankers would like to see more data that confirm and make us more confident that inflation is moving sustainably down to 2% before reducing the policy rate.

The remarks come nearly rwo years after inflation peaked at a staggering 9.1% in June 2022, pushing Fed officials to begin a rate-hiking campaign that lifted the benchmark federal funds rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023, landing on its current 22-year high, between 5.25% and 5.5%, in July 2023.

Nonetheless, policymakers have been able to dodge a recession, which has been atributed to the healthy job market.

Even billionaire hedge fund tycoon Ray Dalio and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon were wrong about their recession predictions.

In September 2022, Dalio — the founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund — told MarketWatch that the US will likely slide into a recession in 2023 or 2024, citing the Fed’s interest rate hikes in its effort to curb inflation at the time.

Shortly thereafter — and as recently as November — Dimon also sounded the alarm on a possible recession, warning Wall Street of a so-called “hard landing” where the economy would rapidly decline, blaming “runaway inflation,” interest rates and the effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine during an interview with CNBC.

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Entertainment

Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’

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Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it's 'an underdog just like me'

Snoop Dogg has become a co-owner and investor of Swansea, with the US rapper hailing the Welsh football club as “an underdog that bites back, just like me”.

The former Premier League club, which plays in the English second tier, confirmed the US rapper and producer plans to use his own money to invest in it, Sky Sports reports, although it didn’t disclose financial details.

“My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City,” the music icon said in the announcement.

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me,” he added. “This is a proud, working class city and club.

“An underdog that bites back, just like me.

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club.”

Swansea’s American owners, led by Brett Cravatt and Jason Cohen, are trying to grow the Championship club’s global brand and increase commercial revenue.

Snoop Dogg, 53, who has 89m followers on Instagram and more than 20m on X, helped launch the team’s 2025-26 home shirt last weekend.

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The club ownership group said: “To borrow a phrase from Snoop’s back catalogue, this announcement is the next episode for Swansea City as we seek to create new opportunities to boost the club’s reach and profile.”

Luka Modric, who recently signed with AC Milan from Real Madrid, joined Swansea’s ownership group in April.

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Politics

Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

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Diane Abbott suspended from Labour Party

Diane Abbott has been suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation.

A party spokesperson confirmed the decision to Sky News but did not give a reason why.

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It comes after the veteran MP defended previous comments about racism which sparked an antisemitism row and led to a year-long suspension.

She apologised at the time and was readmitted back into the party before the 2024 general election.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “Diane Abbott has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing.”

Sky News understands that the suspension is not related to the four rebels who lost the whip on Wednesday for “repeated breaches” of party discipline, including voting against the government’s welfare cuts.

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The action has been taken because of an interview in which she doubled down on her claim Jewish people experience racism differently to black people, which previously sparked a huge controversy.

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Diane Abbott

In a letter to The Observer in 2023, Ms Abbott argued that people of colour experienced racism “all their lives” and said that was different to the “prejudice” experienced by Jewish people, Irish people and Travellers.

Shortly after it was published, she issued a statement in which she said she wished to “wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them”.

However in a new interview with BBC Radio 4’s Reflections programme this week, she said she did not look back on the incident with regret.

Ms Abbott said: “Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.

“But if you see a black person walking down the street, you see straight away that they’re black. They are different types of racism.”

She added: “I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism.

“I don’t know why people would say that.”

Commenting on the suspension, Ms Abbott told Sky News: “It’s obvious this Labour leadership wants me out. My comments in the interview with James Naughtie were factually correct, as any fair-minded person would accept.”

The clip of the interview was re-posted by Brian Leishman, one of the MPs suspended on Wednesday, who said: “Diane Abbott has fought against racism her entire life.”

Bell Riberio-Addy, who lost her role as trade envoy in yesterday’s purge, also came to Ms Abbott’s defence, saying: “Before condemning her based on headlines, I would listen to her clip and note she discussed the different forms that racism takes and condemned all forms of racism.”

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell made similar comments, saying that in the interview his colleague “forthrightly condemns antisemitism & discusses the different forms of racism”.

But Labour MP David Taylor told Sky News he has “long thought Diane Abbott shouldn’t be a member of our party due to her appalling positions on everything from Bosnia to Syria”.

He added: “As the Jewish Labour Movement have said, antisemitism targets Jews regardless of how they look, and many in the community are visibly Jewish and suffer racism for it.”

In the interview, Ms Abbott said she “of course” condemns antisemitic behaviour in the same way she would condemn racist behaviour because of the colour of someone’s skin, adding: “I do get a bit weary of people trying to pin the antisemitic label on me because I spent a lifetime facing racism of all kinds.”

Ms Abbott made history when she was elected as Britain’s first black female MP for Labour in 1987.

She is the longest-serving female MP in the Commons, giving her the title “Mother of the House”.

As an MP on the left of the party she has often clashed with the leadership throughout her career – bar her time serving in Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

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Many MPs rallied in support of Ms Abbott last year when it was not clear if she would be reinstated in time for the general election, or allowed to stand.

She went on to retain her seat of Hackney North and Stoke Newington with a majority of over 15,000.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner hinted action could be taken against Ms Abbott when she told The Guardian earlier on Thursday that she was “disappointed” in her colleague’s remarks.

“There’s no place for antisemitism in the Labour Party, and obviously the Labour Party has processes for that,” she said.

A source close to the decision to suspend her told Sky News there is a “very slim chance” she will be allowed back in, given she did antisemitism training and apologised last time.

It raises questions about whether Ms Abbott could join the new party being formed by Mr Corbyn and former Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

For the time being, Ms Abbott will sit in the Commons as an independent MP.

Adnan Hussain, who was elected as the independent MP for Blackburn last year, said on X: “We’d be honoured to have a giant like Diane join us, she [should] come to the side that would really appreciate her for the legend she is.”

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UK

Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

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Child who died in Minehead school coach crash was 10-year-old boy, police say

The child who died in a school coach crash in Somerset on Thursday was a 10-year-old boy, Avon and Somerset Police have said.

A specially trained officer is supporting the child’s family, the force said, adding that two children taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children by air ambulance remain there as of Friday.

Four children and three adults also remain in hospital in Somerset.

There were between 60 to 70 people on board when the incident happened near Minehead, just before 3pm on Thursday.

The coach was heading to Minehead Middle School when it crashed on the A396 between Wheddon Cross and Timbercombe.

Flowers outside school
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Pic: PA

Police said that 21 people were taken to hospital, including two children who were taken via air ambulance.

Gavin Ellis, chief fire officer for Devon and Somerset, said the coach “overturned onto its roof and slid approximately 20ft down an embankment”.

Rachel Gilmour, MP for Tiverton and Minehead, said the road where it happened is “very difficult to manoeuvre”.

“You have a very difficult crossing at Wheddon Cross, and as you come out to dip down into Timbercombe, the road is really windy and there are very steep dips on either side,” she told Sky’s Anna Botting.

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Tearful MP reacts to coach crash

It comes after a teacher at Minehead Middle School praised the “incredibly brave” pupils for supporting each other after the coach crash.

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“You have looked after each [other] in what was a life-changing event, we will get through this together,” they wrote on Facebook.

“I feel so lucky to be your teacher. I am so grateful to my wonderful colleagues during this time who were also fighting to help as many people as we could.”

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