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Britain’s mortgage crisis could destroy Rishi Sunak. Why won’t he act?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

LONDON — Hundreds of thousands of Britons are facing mortgage misery over the next 12 months. Rishi Sunak is about to feel their wrath.The U.K. prime minister has been snookered by Britain’s stubbornly high inflation rate, which at 8.7 percent remains the highest in Western Europe. The Bank of England is pushing interest rates ever-higher as a result, creating a crisis for U.K. homeowners not seen for a generation.Around 800,000 households will need to remortgage their properties next year, the Resolution Foundation think tank calculates, and rising interest rates mean they will pay a staggering £2,900 a year more on average from 2024. With a general election looming next year, the timing for Sunak could hardly be worse.This is a “huge problem” for voters, Andrea Leadsom, a Conservative member of the Commons Treasury committee and former U.K. business secretary, told POLITICO.“It’s clear we’re going to lose the next election,” another former Cabinet minister sighed. “These are...

Kyle Farmer’s single in the 10th inning carries Twins to a 5-4 win over the Red Sox

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kyle Farmer hit a game-winning single that scored automatic runner Willi Castro from third base and the Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 in 10 innings on Wednesday night.Farmer’s line drive fell in front of Jarren Duran, who was playing shallow in center field, scoring Castro and snapping Minnesota’s three-game losing streak. Michael A Taylor dropped a sacrifice bunt that moved Castro to third base, setting up the potential winning run.Max Kepler homered for the second straight game for the Twins and added an RBI single. Minnesota had lost five of its last six games.Reliever Jovani Moran (1-2) earned the win for the Twins, stranding Boston’s automatic runner at second. He intentionally walked pinch hitter Adam Duvall, and struck out two in the inning.Kaleb Ort (1-1) took the loss for the Red Sox, who had their six-game winning streak halted. Designated hitter Justin Turner had a pair of hits, including a solo homer in the third, and drove in two runs.Th...

Two non-roster invitees fuel Yankees’ win over Mariners while another gets hurt

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

With some of the Yankees’ highest-paid hitters continuing to struggle or on the bench Wednesday, a pair of non-roster invitees carried the offense against Mariners ace Luis Castillo.Jake Bauers struck first in the Yankees’ 4-2 win, planting a Castillo fastball into Yankee Stadium’s right field seats with a two-run homer. With Anthony Volpe on first, Bauers watched as his sixth home run of the year towered over the porch.“Jake’s done a really good job of impacting the ball, and especially in the leadoff spot lately,” Aaron Boone said afterward. “I feel like he’s had really competitive at-bats.”Bauers, who played for the Mariners in 2021 before spending all of 2022 in the minors, now has eight doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI since the Yankees began a series in Seattle on May 29. The April 29 call-up has also hit .274 over that span.“I’m just in a place where I don’t have to worry about my swing,” Bauers s...

South nips North, 11-10, in epic MBCA Senior All-Star Game

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

When Casey Wensley arrived at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School to turn in his jersey after another successful baseball season this past month, his coaches quickly urged him to hold onto it. Little did he know that he still had one final showcase to play.On Tuesday, Wensley gathered with over 30 of the state’s top players at Monan Park for the 45th annual MBCA Senior All-Star Game, and made the most of his final high school appearance. The Bridgewater-Raynham standout finished 2-for-3 with a trio of RBI, driving in the winning run with a sacrifice fly to guide Team South to a thrilling 11-10 walk-off victory over Team North.“I forgot about this,” joked Wensley. “I picked (my uniform) up last night, and it feels good. I just don’t want to take it off.”Wensley was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for Team South for his efforts. Meanwhile, Franklin’s Dillon Cashin was chosen as the squad’s Most Valuable Pitcher after firing two shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts.“It ...

Celtics trade for Kristaps Porzingis reportedly breaks down after Malcolm Brogdon injury concerns raised

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

Deal or no deal? The Celtics were still reportedly trying to get one done as midnight passed on Wednesday night.A blockbuster three-team trade between the Celtics, Wizards and Clippers that would have sent 7-foot-3 big man Kristaps Porzingis to Boston appeared to be close to completion as of late Wednesday afternoon. But at 10:22 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN reported that those trade talks had suddenly broken down, leaving uncertainty if a deal would get done.The initial framework of the trade – which was first reported by The Athletic – would have sent Porzingis to the Celtics, Malcolm Brogdon to the Clippers and players and draft compensation to the rebuilding Wizards. Brogdon, who makes $22.5 million next season, and Danilo Gallinari, who reportedly opted in to his $6.8 million option for next season, were part of the deal to match salaries in a return for Porzingis.NBA reporter Marc Stein reported that the trade collapsed after the Clippers raised concerns about Brogdon’s injury status....

MPs to break for the summer amid negotiations on inquiry into foreign interference

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

OTTAWA — All parties in the House of Commons agreed to rise for the summer Wednesday despite there being no formal announcement of a public inquiry into foreign interference.Opposition parties had been demanding the government call the inquiry before the end of the spring session and it was being used as some leverage against allowing the House to rise earlier than the planned summer break date of June 23.But Wednesday evening that changed, and the opposition parties all backed a government motion that meant after Wednesday, the House will not sit again until September.But the talks for an inquiry continue and a deal still could be announced before the end of the week.Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc is leading the discussions with the Conservatives, NDP and Bloc Québécois about how to move forward on the foreign interference quagmire that has clouded the government and this parliamentary sitting for months.Numerous allegations have been made that the Chinese gover...

Pregnant woman suffers life-threatening injuries in 2 car crash; man arrested for impaired driving

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

A pregnant woman is in life-threatening condition following a two-car crash in Scarborough on Wednesday night. Police say the crash occurred around 8 p.m. in the area of Greypoint Drive and Wickson Trail near Neilson Road and Sheppard Avenue East. Paramedics transported the woman to a nearby trauma centre with life-threatening injuries. Another person suffered non-life threatening injuriesPolice say one man was arrested at the scene suspected of impaired driving.

A year after Pakistan’s devastating floods, challenges drag on for most, but signs of hope for some

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Last summer’s flooding in Pakistan killed at least 1,700 people, destroyed millions of homes, wiped out swathes of farmland, and caused billions of dollars in economic losses. All in a matter of months. At one point, a third of the country was underwater. Pakistani officials and scientists worldwide blame climate change for the unusually early and heavy monsoon rains.A year on, the country hasn’t fully recovered. The aftermath runs the length of the country; survivors living in makeshift huts where their homes used to be, millions of children out of school, damaged infrastructure waiting to be repaired.This journey through Pakistan looks at how the unprecedented flooding of 2022 affected everyday life – and future generations.RESTORING WATERThe high altitudes and sharp peaks of the Hindu Kush Mountains mean that heavy rains barrel down through the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. That’s good because the waters quickly drain to lower lying areas. But i...

Tourist sub customer calls his 2021 dive to the Titanic a ‘kamikaze operation’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

LONDON (AP) — As an international search continued for a vessel that disappeared after setting out for the underwater wreckage of the Titanic, a man who was one of the submersible company’s first customers characterized a dive he made to the site two years ago as a “kamikaze operation.” “You have to be a little bit crazy to do this sort of thing,” said Arthur Loibl, a 61-year-old retired businessman and adventurer from Germany.Loibl told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he first had the idea of seeing the Titanic wreckage while on a trip to the South Pole in 2016. At the time, a Russian company was offering dives for half a million dollars. After Washington state-based OceanGate announced its own operation a year later, he jumped at the chance, paying $110,000 for a dive in 2019 that fell through when the first submersible didn’t survive testing. Two years later he went on a voyage that was successful, along with OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, French diver and Titanic expert Pau...

'I wasn't scared': Chicagoland man talks about his journey to the Titanic on same submersible lost at sea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:06:27 GMT

As the desperate search continues for the missing submersible near the Titanic, a man from Chicagoland who made the same journey before is sharing what his experience was like.David Waud is just one of dozens of people who traveled to the Titanic shipwreck. The Titan submersible: What could have gone wrong? He traveled from his home in Lake Forest to dive in the Titan submersible with OceanGate Expeditions in 2021."So it kind of happened because it was my business and that was not the case for almost anybody else on the trips," Waud said. "They were all going down because it was something they all had dreamed up all their life or something they hadn’t done before and it was pretty exciting.”His daughter said he has been a lifelong diver and lover of the ocean who has made underwater movies for children since the 1980s. For his last movie before retirement, he wanted to feature the Titanic. Since Sunday, the same submersible has been missing in the North Atlantic.When Waud dove wit...