DEVELOPING Person on fire outside Trump's hush money trial rushed away on a stretcher
A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.
The Bank of England said Wednesday it would buy U.K. government debt "on whatever scale is necessary" in an emergency intervention to halt a bond market crash that it warned could threaten financial stability.
Investors have been dumping the pound and U.K. bonds since the government of new Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday unveiled a huge package of tax cuts and increased borrowing aimed at getting the economy moving and protecting households and businesses from sky-high energy bills this winter.
Markets fear the plan will drive up inflation, forcing the Bank of England to push interest rates as high as 6 per cent next spring, from 2.25 per cent at present. Mortgage markets have been in turmoil all week as lenders have struggled to price their loans. Hundreds of products have been withdrawn.
"This repricing [of U.K. assets] has become more significant in the past day — and it is particularly affecting long-dated UK government debt," the central bank said in its statement.
"Were dysfunction in this market to continue or worsen, there would be a material risk to U.K. financial stability. This would lead to an unwarranted tightening of financing conditions and a reduction of the flow of credit to the real economy."
In other words, the Bank of England is worried that markets could seize up and that the economy — which it believes has already entered a recession — would suffer even worse damage.
To prevent that happening, the central bank said it would buy long-dated UK government bonds until October 14.
"The purchases will be carried out on whatever scale is necessary to effect this outcome," it added.
It reiterated that it would make a full assessment of recent developments at its next scheduled meeting in November and act accordingly.
"The [bank] will not hesitate to change interest rates by as much as needed to return inflation to the 2 per cent target sustainably in the medium term, in line with its remit," it said.
Yields on 10-year U.K. government bonds fell sharply after the Bank of England's announcement on Wednesday but remain elevated. They were last near 4.1 per cent, up from under 2.9 per cent at the beginning of the month. The pound continued its decline, however, sliding 0.4 per cent to below $1.07.
UK interest rates have risen seven times since December 2021. As part of its efforts to tighten monetary policy and get a grip on inflation, which now stands near 10 per cent, the bank is planning to sell £80 billion of U.K. government bonds each year. The bonds were bought as part of an effort to prop up the economy during the pandemic.
It said Wednesday it would retain that target but that the start of sales had been pushed back until October 31.
A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Ontario Provincial Police have landed a suspect following a fishy theft in Beachburg, Ont.
The U.S.’s Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a video that appears to show unauthorized personnel in the cockpit of a charted Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto.
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.