Pharrell Williams is named a UNESCO goodwill ambassador

PARIS (AP) — Pop star and fashion designer Pharrell Williams was named UNESCO’s goodwill ambassador for artistic education and entrepreneurship on Tuesday in Paris, continuing his cultural dominance of the French capital as Louis Vuitton menswear artistic director and performer at Notre Dame Cathedral’s reopening earlier this month.

Williams said he hoped to “deepen that sense of unity and togetherness” in work that “evens the odds for marginalized communities.”

He also spoke about his impoverished youth, adding: “Growing up in Virginia, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be given an opportunity like this one."

The role of goodwill ambassador for the Paris-based U.N. cultural agency involves promoting its initiatives that include protecting Indigenous cultures, advancing education and health care for women, raising awareness about genocide prevention and safeguarding cultural heritage.

The U.N. agency said Williams will be “a mentor and role model for young creators, particularly in Africa, where UNESCO supports the development of cultural industries.”

Williams joins a list of goodwill ambassadors that includes U.S. jazz musician Herbie Hancock, Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase.

Williams has been particularly visible in Paris this year. Shortly before the Paris Olympics, his role as Louis Vuitton menswear designer took center stage during a star-studded event at UNESCO’s headquarters. The show, celebrating the beauty of human skin, featured models wearing garments in shades representing the diverse hues of humanity.

UNESCO leaders hope that Williams' global influence and deep connections to fashion and music will draw fresh attention to the agency’s work.

Williams is American, and his selection as goodwill ambassador also may be highlighting the readmission of the United States to UNESCO last year.

The U.S. exit under President Donald Trump cited alleged anti-Israel bias within the agency. The decision followed a 2011 decision by UNESCO to include Palestine as a member state, which led the U.S. and Israel to cease financing for the agency.

The U.S. return under President Joe Biden was marked by a flag-raising ceremony attended by U.S. First Lady Jill Biden.

Pharrell Williams listening to UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay as he was named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for for Arts, Education and Entrepreneurship at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Pharrell Williams gestures as speaks after he was named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for for Arts, Education and Entrepreneurship at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Pharrell Williams, left, holds his diploma of Goodwill Ambassador for for Arts, Education and Entrepreneurship as he poses with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

FILE - Pharrell Williams upon arrival at the Louis Vuitton Foundation on the eve of Paris Olympics opening ceremony, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. rose to its highest level in eight months during November, official figures showed Wednesday, a development that has cemented market expectations that the Bank of England will opt against cutting borrowing costs this week.

The Office for National Statistics said consumer price inflation rose by 2.6% in the year to November, up from 2.3% the previous month. It said stubbornly high inflation in the crucial services sector, which accounts for around 80% of the U.K. economy, and an increase in fuel prices was largely behind the overall increase.

The increase, which took inflation further away from the Bank of England's target of 2%, was in line with market expectations.

This is the biggest increase since March, leading economists to rule out any prospect that the Bank of England will cut its main interest rate from 4.75% after its policy meeting on Thursday.

James Smith, research director at the Resolution Foundation economics think tank, said that the “latest data shows the challenge Britain faces in squeezing inflation out of the economy.”

Rate-setters had anticipated a pickup in inflation when the central bank last cut rates in early November as price pressures eased earlier in the year — in September, inflation had fallen to its lowest level since April 2021.

Still, inflation in the U.K. and across the world is far lower than it was a couple of years ago, partly because central banks dramatically increased borrowing costs from near zero during the coronavirus pandemic when prices started to shoot up, first as a result of supply chain issues and then because of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine which pushed up energy costs.

As inflation rates have fallen from multidecade highs, the central banks have started cutting interest rates, though few, if any, economists think that rates will fall back to the super-low levels that persisted in the years after the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.

Recent developments have scaled back expectations of rapid cuts from the Bank of England. Rising wages and stubbornly high inflation in the services sector, the biggest single part of the U.K. economy, have prompted economists to scale back expectations of rapid rate cuts next year.

Critics have argued that the new Labour government's first budget in October will lead to higher inflation than otherwise would have been case. The extra public spending announced in the budget will be largely funded through increased business taxes and borrowing. Economists think that the splurge, coupled with the prospect of businesses cushioning the tax hikes by raising prices, could put upward pressure on prices.

FILE - The Bank of England is pictured in London, on Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)