All posts tagged: Central

Central bankers eye higher rates as AI boom fuels scramble for cash

Central bankers eye higher rates as AI boom fuels scramble for cash

Published by Sam Flores

BANGKOK, Oct 16 : The artificial intelligence boom is setting off a global race for money, forcing central bankers to contemplate a future in which interest rates stay higher and governments need to tighten their belts after an era of largesse. From silicon chips and data centres to power grids and telecoms networks, governments and companies are pouring money into projects tied directly or indirectly to AI, adding fuel to the global economy and pushing up borrowing costs. Central bankers from the world’s largest economies gathering in Bangkok said the boom was also creating fresh inflation pressures and financial risks, because the investment is arriving long before the productivity gains AI promises. “If you’re a central banker…you’ve got to recognise this as a shock,” Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Bangkok. “It’s obviously hitting the demand side of the economy before it’s going to hit the supply side.” Warsh, who said the US was benefiting from a broadening “surge of investment”, warned …

2024 Central Division Presidential Address: Who Am I and How Did I Get Here?

2024 Central Division Presidential Address: Who Am I and How Did I Get Here?

Published by Jenni Sidey

Below is the audio recording of Marya Schechtman’s presidential address, “Who Am I and How Did I Get Here?” given at the 2024 Central Division Meeting. The full text is available on the APA website (member sign-in is required).  The audio of the lecture is available here: “Who Am I and How Did I Get Here?” by Marya Schechtman Marya Schechtman is an LAS Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, as well as a member of the Laboratory of Integrative Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. She received her PhD in philosophy from Harvard in 1988. Her books include The Constitution of Selves (Cornell University Press, 1996), Staying Alive: Personal Identity, Practical Concerns, and the Unity of a Life (Oxford University Press, 2014), and The Self: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2024). She has also published many articles, including “Personhood and Personal Identity” (1990), “Stories, Lives, and Basic Survival: A Defense and Refinement of the Narrative View” (2007), “The Story of My (Second) Life: Narrative and Personal Identity Online” (2012), “Philosophical Reflections on Narrative and …

Middle East and Central Asia’s economy to shrink in 2026 amid war, IMF says | Business and Economy News

Middle East and Central Asia’s economy to shrink in 2026 amid war, IMF says | Business and Economy News

Published by Sam Flores

Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar face double-digit declines in GDP amid the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran. Published On 13 Oct 202613 Oct 2026 The economy of the Middle East and Central Asia is set to shrink in 2026 amid the fallout of the US-Israel war on Iran, with countries such as Kuwait and Qatar facing double-digit contractions, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The region’s gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to contract by 0.3 percent this year, a sharp downgrade from the 1.9 percent expansion projected in April, the IMF said in its latest economic outlook on Tuesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The IMF cited the prolonged disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for one-fifth of global oil supplies in peacetime, for the downgraded outlook. Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar are forecast to have the most severe economic contractions, with their GDPs expected to shrink by 16.7 percent, 16 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively. Bahrain’s GDP is forecast to contract by 11.3 percent, while Iran’s economy is projected to shrink by 7.6 …

Behind The Bar: How Bruce Willis Made Magic at Cafe Central

Behind The Bar: How Bruce Willis Made Magic at Cafe Central

Published by Sam Flores

That was another hallmark of Bruce, a.k.a. Bruno, bartender nonpareil: his penchant for making big entrances and exits. John Goodman, who became a good friend of Willis’s at Cafe Central, remembers going into a bodega on St. Patrick’s Day when, “all of a sudden, the door slams open. Willis comes sliding in like he’s heading for second base—a hook slide into the newspaper rack. “It’s the first time I ever knew somebody with that much charisma,” recalls Goodman. “He was very funny. He was magnetic. He kept it going and he kept all the drinks in his head, made them all very well, and he kept up a monologue. People were drawn to him. I was drawn to him.” Goodman first went to Cafe Central with Kevin Kline one night in 1979, “and I kind of never left,” he says. “Everybody who was anybody wound up there. I had some dough from doing commercials, so I didn’t have to scrounge to go there. It was a great hang and always a friendly crowd, but Bruce …

Striking images show new flash floods hitting central Nepal

Striking images show new flash floods hitting central Nepal

Published by Sam Flores

Striking new images show new flash floods hitting central Nepal. This comes only six weeks after another disaster there left more than 1,400 dead and 5,000 missing. According to an initial assessment by the Nepalese authorities, at least five people are now missing. Elitsa Gadeva and France 2 have the details. Keywords for this article Source link

Air quality back to moderate across Singapore after central region hits unhealthy range

Air quality back to moderate across Singapore after central region hits unhealthy range

Published by Sam Flores

SINGAPORE: Air quality across Singapore improved to the moderate range on Saturday (Oct 3), hours after the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in the central region crossed into the unhealthy range. At 11pm, the 24-hour PSI in the central region was 100. Readings were 93 in the east, 89 in the west, 83 in the south and 76 in the north. The 1-hour PM2.5 readings, which provide a more current indication of air quality, were also in the normal band across all five regions. In an update earlier on Saturday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said moderate to dense smoke plumes from southern Sumatra were observed drifting towards Singapore and the surrounding region. Smoke haze from fires in Kalimantan was also observed.. Dry weather is forecast to persist over Singapore and the surrounding region on Sunday, with prevailing southeasterly or southwesterly winds expected to strengthen. There remains a risk of smoke haze affecting Singapore, with the 24-hour PSI forecast to be in the high-moderate to low-unhealthy range, NEA said. Source link

Pope Leo Draws 800,000 People to Central Paris for Open-Air Mass on Iconic Square

Pope Leo Draws 800,000 People to Central Paris for Open-Air Mass on Iconic Square

Published by Sam Flores

PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people packed Paris’ iconic Champs-Élysées avenue to attend an open-air Mass with Pope Leo XIV on Saturday, a sign of the Catholic Church’s enduring appeal in the once staunchly Catholic but officially secular country. The Vatican estimated that 800,000 people attended — about 200,000 more than the number who had registered in advance. The turnout testified to the church’s lasting influence in France despite declining attendance and secularizing trends that have emptied churches across Europe. The American pope greeted the flag-waving, cheering throngs from his popemobile during a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) parade along the grand boulevard leading to the Place de la Concorde for Mass, essentially the heart of Paris and a symbol of the French republic. In his homily, Leo asked the crowds not to keep their faith to themselves, but to instead “let it overflow, so that those you meet may be refreshed and their thirst satisfied.” “From this beautiful city of Paris, I pray fervently that the living water of the Holy Spirit may flow throughout …

Inclusion is central to England’s education policy – but what it means is changing

Inclusion is central to England’s education policy – but what it means is changing

Published by skeptic

Inclusion has become one of the most prominent concepts in contemporary education policy in England. Its position at the centre of the Department for Education’s ambitions can be seen in recent guidance on the creation of “inclusion bases”, spaces that support pupils with additional needs, in mainstream schools. It is also present in wider reforms designed to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (Send). These include guidance for schools developing an inclusion strategy. The inclusion bases are designed to include those with Send, pastoral needs and those at risk of being excluded from school. The intention is to provide targeted support while maintaining connections with mainstream education. The guidance promotes inclusion as something that is delivered through high-quality curriculum design and by schools and professionals working in partnership. It requires good leadership and an environment that is accessible. Yet, despite this policy emphasis, a fundamental question remains unresolved. What exactly does “inclusion” mean? Inclusion is often treated as a self-evident term. This is despite it being interpreted in different ways …

Major central banks on tightening path amid energy price shock

Major central banks on tightening path amid energy price shock

Published by Sam Flores

Sept 17 : Major central banks are on a tightening path, with the Federal Reserve recalibrating its policy to a more restrictive stance on Wednesday, even as traders continue to price in a more aggressive policy response than projected in the U.S. central bank’s so-called dot plot. Economists say markets are overpricing future rate increases amid fears the oil shock could worsen after Houthis seized a strategic stretch of Red Sea coastline, a move seen as signalling a more assertive stance by Iran-backed militia. Here’s where central banks in the Group of 10 developed economies stand, ranked from highest to lowest policy rate. 1/ AUSTRALIA The Reserve Bank of Australia has hiked interest rates three times this year to 4.35 per cent, entirely undoing last year’s cuts. The door to another hike looks firmly open, especially after a hot July inflation print. The central bank’s deputy governor said policymakers would debate the case for a hike at their meeting later this month. Markets are broadly expecting the central bank to hike rates then. 2/ NORWAY …