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Deal on new EU rules to make sustainable products the norm

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

On Monday night (4 December), Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on revising the EU’s ecodesign framework for sustainable products, ENVI.Parliament and Council negotiators agreed on an update to the so-called “ecodesign” regulation that aims to improve various aspects of products throughout their lifecycle to make them more durable and reliable, easier to reuse, upgrade, repair and recycle, use less resources, energy and water. Specific product requirements will be outlined by the Commission through secondary legislation.Negotiators agreed that ecodesign requirements should also address practices associated with premature obsolescence (when a product becomes non-functional or less performant due to, for example, product design features, unavailability of consumables and spare parts, lack of software updates).Priority productsAt Parliament’s initiative, negotiators agreed that the Commission should prioritise a number of product groups in its first working plan to...

Harriette Cole: I’m nervous about the impression I’ll make on my boyfriend’s family

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

DEAR HARRIETTE: This Christmas, I’ll be meeting my boyfriend’s family. They live out of state, and it’s the first time we’ll be face to face.Related ArticlesAdvice | Harriette Cole: I’m in college, and I need my mom to stop with the panicky phone calls Advice | Harriette Cole: My boyfriend’s Instagram posts make me worried that he did something wrong Advice | Harriette Cole: We split up a year ago, and I can’t stop thinking about him Advice | Harriette Cole: I want to shut down my friend’s snooping without a lot of drama Advice | Harriette Cole: My birthday wish list could get me in trouble with my family We have been dating for nearly a year now and I really like him, so I’m looking forward to getting to know his family and see how he grew up. I want to make a great impression, but I’m a bit nervous.Do you have any advice or tips for making a ...

Miss Manners: This is way too much money for a co-worker gift. How can I get out of it?

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have a colleague who consistently asks for what I consider large contributions to work gifts.Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: Am I wrong to insist my husband should take a bite of everything at a party? Advice | Miss Manners: I was in tears after this stranger’s comment in the grocery store Advice | Miss Manners: Both teens are uncomfortable with the other mom’s comparisons Advice | Miss Manners: I want Florida woman to stop sending these texts Advice | Miss Manners: Our little boy’s striking hair prompts questions we’d rather not answer I’ve explained to her that I’m not comfortable giving that kind of money. I want to show kindness for things such as birthdays and Boss’s Day, but the amounts she asks for are above my comfort level.I get the feeling that everyone begrudgingly agrees. We all feel the same, but none of us wants to be the...

Dear Abby: We learned the truth about our daughter when her fiance ditched her

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

DEAR ABBY: Three days before my daughter “Ginger” was to be married, her fiance called to announce that he could not marry her because she’s bisexual.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: His ex-wife is coaching her children to be mean to this little girl Advice | Dear Abby: My boyfriend doesn’t want this woman to know about me Advice | Dear Abby: My son’s wife and mother-in-law are ganging up on him Advice | Dear Abby: I am furious that the bride disinvited my little girl from the high-profile wedding Advice | Dear Abby: My husband invites his friends and waltzes away from the hassle It’s something he knew about for a year but waited until three days before the wedding to mention.Needless to say, my husband and I were shocked, embarrassed and devastated.We had gone to a wedding with Ginger and her fiance the previous weekend, and they were excited about their own weddin...

Family sues Panera, saying its caffeinated lemonade led to Florida man’s cardiac arrest

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. (AP) — The family of a 46-year-old Florida man has filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against one of the biggest fast-casual restaurant chains in the U.S., claiming Panera Bread Company’s caffeine-filled lemonade drink led to his death.David Brown had high blood pressure and didn’t drink energy drinks, but the lawsuit said he believed the Panera Charged Lemonade was safe since it was not advertised as an energy drink. It was offered in the same place as the restaurant chain’s non-caffeinated or less-caffeinated drinks, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in Superior Court in Delaware, where Panera Bread Company is registered.The lawsuit states that on Oct. 9, Brown had the drink three times during a visit to the Panera Bread Company location in Fleming Island, Florida. On his walk home, he suffered cardiac arrest and died a short time later. He had ordered a Panera Charged Lemonade at least seven times over the course of two weeks in Sep...

Boris Johnson hit by protests as he says sorry for UK’s COVID-19 ‘pain’

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

LONDON — Boris Johnson was heckled by protestors at Britain’s COVID-19 inquiry as he said he was “deeply sorry” for mistakes made by his government during the pandemic.Moments after the former prime minister was sworn in at the Paddington inquiry center, he started to apologize for the “pain, loss and suffering” that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. But he was quickly interrupted by the inquiry’s chair Heather Hallett, who had ordered protesters in the public gallery to sit down.After they refused to do so, four protesters — who were quiet, but holding signs aimed at Johnson — were removed.Responding after the interruption, Johnson said he could “understand the feelings of these victims and their families” and said he was “deeply sorry for the pain and the loss and suffering of those victims and their families.”He paid tribute to the “hundreds of thousands of health care workers and many other public servants...

New WooSox owner lays out plans for Red Sox minor league affiliates

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

NASHVILLE — Since bursting onto the scene in 2021, Diamond Baseball Holdings has quickly grown into baseball’s largest owner of minor league clubs, buying up nearly a quarter of all MLB affiliates over a span of just two years.That includes the Portland Sea Dogs and Salem Red Sox, and Tuesday the company announced it’s adding a third Red Sox affiliate as well.The Worcester Red Sox, Boston’s Triple-A affiliate, is set to become the latest addition to DBH’s sprawling portfolio, which has now swelled to 29 teams after the company also announced the acquisition of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats and Louisville Bats. The deal is reportedly for approximately $70 million.The WooSox will remain the Triple-A affiliate of the Red Sox and play at Polar Park under the continued leadership of Larry Lucchino as chairman, Dr. Charles Steinberg as president and Dan Rea as general manager. The existing front office staff will also remain in place, and Lucchino and local leaders...

SIU investigating hit-and-run crash in North York that sent 2 pedestrians to hospital

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

Police are searching for a driver and the province’s police watchdog is investigating after a crash in North York that left two people injured in hospital.Emergency crews were called to the area of Keele Street and Highway 401 just before 11 p.m. Tuesday for reports of a two-vehicle crash.Police say one vehicle fled the area before officers arrived. No suspect or vehicle description has been made available.Paramedics say two people were taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Traffic services say the two injured people were pedestrians.It remains unclear if the pedestrians were struck before or after the two vehicles collided.The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) is on scene and they have taken over the investigation. Traffic services tell CityNews the SIU was called in due to an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer being involved in the incident.The SIU is an independent agency that investigates the conduct of police officers that may have resulte...

Top US and Chinese diplomats agree to build on recent progress in ties

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — The top U.S. and Chinese diplomats agreed Wednesday to keep building on recent progress in bilateral ties and work together to keep the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza from spreading.Both Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken referred in a telephone call to last month’s closely watched meeting between the two countries’ leaders in San Francisco following years of frigid ties.“The important task for both sides at present is to continue the positive impact of the San Francisco meeting, implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and consolidate the momentum of stabilizing Sino-U.S. relations,” Wang said, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.Blinken also emphasized that the two sides should build on progress at the summit, according to the U.S. State Department. President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping agreed at their meeting to keep channels of communication open and resume military-to-...

A British financier sought for huge tax fraud is extradited to Denmark from UAE

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 13:53:34 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Dubai-based British hedge fund trader sought by Danish authorities for allegedly orchestrating a $1.7 billion tax fraud, considered one of the largest in the Scandinavian country, has been extradited from the United Arab Emirates, officials said Wednesday.Financier Sanjay Shah was convicted in May in Dubai of masterminding a scheme that ran from 2012 to 2015 in which foreign businesses pretended to own shares in Danish companies and claimed tax refunds for which they were not eligible. A court in the United Arab Emirates had cleared his extradition.“It goes without saying that we as a society cannot accept that our state treasury is exposed to it,” Danish Taxation Minister Jeppe Bruus said, calling it “one of the biggest criminal fraud cases in Danish history.” Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen added that Denmark was “sending an important signal that you cannot achieve impunity by staying abroad.”Shah’s British lawyer Chris Waters told Danish b...