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Commission to announce winners of 2023 EU Product Safety Award

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

Today (11 December), the Commission will host the Award Ceremony of the 2023 EU Product Safety Award. The Award honours good practices in product safety that go above and beyond legal requirements and can serve as an inspiration to others. Companies and researchers will receive awards ranging from bronze to gold to recognise their outstanding contribution to consumers' safety.This third edition of the Award focuses on businesses that innovate and invest to improve the safety of young people. For the first time, researchers could also take part in the competition.The categories of the Product Safety Award include distinctions for both small and medium-sized enterprises and large companies, as well as for early-career and senior researchers. Participants will also get to vote on their favourite initiative to elect the public's award. The event will be livestreamed and can be followed here.A press release to announce the winners will also be published today.More information on the Prod...

Miss Manners: I’m taking the high road when it comes to my fruitcake

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am from a family of five children, all of us now in our 60s. Our parents are both deceased.Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: Is it vindictive to cross these people off my cookie list because of what they said? Advice | Miss Manners: I wish the cleaning lady wouldn’t openly covet my belongings Advice | Miss Manners: The bride told everybody she’d be selling their gifts Advice | Miss Manners: This is way too much money for a co-worker gift. How can I get out of it? Advice | Miss Manners: Am I wrong to insist my husband should take a bite of everything at a party? Seven years ago, one of our brothers became angry at the rest of the family and broke off contact with all of us.My mother had a fruitcake recipe that all of us like, and for years it has been my custom to make her fruitcake and send it to all my siblings at Christmas. I have continued to do this, including fo...

Dear Abby: I skipped the wedding because of what the bride’s mother demanded

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I was invited to my nephew’s wedding out of state and accepted the invitation. It’s a four-hour drive. My son wasn’t interested in attending, and my boyfriend wasn’t sure he could attend due to work.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: My kids want the inheritance but I’m scared to give it to them Advice | Dear Abby: Do I need to be honest about what happened to their gift? Advice | Dear Abby: If my friend dies without revealing the truth, should I tell what I know? Advice | Dear Abby: The grandkids were upset by the fight, and now my husband is barred from their home Advice | Dear Abby: We learned the truth about our daughter when her fiance ditched her The mother of the bride informed me that she had decided to “put” an elderly relative in my hotel room with me, claiming they were out of rooms. (She’s known to be miserly and dishonest.) There wa...

San Jose Sharks nearly finish six-game road trip on winning note

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

The San Jose Sharks could have packed it in Sunday night after they fell behind by two goals to the Vegas Golden Knights midway through the third period.It had already been an exhausting and emotional trip, one in which they had guaranteed themselves a .500 record, and they were without two of their top wingers.But in another example of how much they have improved in recent weeks, and how much their confidence has grown, the Sharks came back to force overtime on late goals by Calen Addison and Mike Hoffman.But after a scoreless overtime, Kevin Labanc and Mikael Granlund could not capitalize on their shootout attempts, and Golden Knights forwards Jonathan Marchessault and Jack Eichel finished theirs to hand the Sharks a 5-4 loss at T-Mobile Arena.“It would have been easy to mail this game in,” Sharks coach David Quinn said. “It’s been a long trip, you’re 3-2, you feel really good about your trip so far and you’re playing probably the best team in t...

Let it go? Never! Disney’s ‘Frozen’ hits Kennedy Center for wintry family fun around the holidays

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since Disney’s “Frozen” premiered, but families will never let it go.The Broadway musical version hits the Kennedy Center in D.C. from Dec. 20 to Jan. 21 with a snowy setting that’s perfect for this season, if you have family in town for the holidays.“I’m from the D.C. area and … I would get Christmas presents that would be tickets to go see shows at the Kennedy Center,” Caroline Bowman a.k.a. Elsa told WTOP. “This show is such a great time. I love doing it around the holidays, it’s going to warm your heart, it’s good to come as a family to experience together, it’s a good family show and there’s not a better time. The holidays are a magical time and this is a magical show.”Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Snow Queen,” the story sees Princess Anna leave her palace in Arendelle on a journey with iceman Kristoff, ...

Stock market today: World shares mostly higher after Wall Street hits 2023 peak

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

World shares mostly gained on Monday at the start of a week that includes vital U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s final rate decision of the year.Germany’s DAX was virtually unchanged, at 16,757.43, and the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.2% to 7,537.72. In London, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 7,526.38.The future for the S&P 500 was down 0.1% and that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average also lost 0.1%.The Fed will will announce its next move on interest rates on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the U.S. government will report on U.S. consumer inflation. Thursday will bring meetings of the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the Swiss National Bank, Norway’s central bank.In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sank 0.8% to 16,201.49 and the Shanghai Composite added 0.7% to 2,991.44. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 1.5% to 32,791.80 and the Kospi in Seoul was 0.3% higher, to 2,525.36. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1% to 7,199.00.India’s Sensex was 0.1% higher and Bang...

Calvin and Wright State host Western Kentucky

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (7-3) at Wright State Raiders (4-5, 1-0 Horizon League)Fairborn, Ohio; Tuesday, 7 p.m. ESTBOTTOM LINE: Wright State hosts the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers after Trey Calvin scored 20 points in Wright State’s 81-62 victory against the Bethel (IN) Pilots.The Raiders have gone 2-1 at home. Wright State scores 81.3 points while outscoring opponents by 2.5 points per game.The Hilltoppers are 2-1 on the road. Western Kentucky scores 81.0 points while outscoring opponents by 8.1 points per game.Wright State averages 81.3 points, 8.4 more per game than the 72.9 Western Kentucky allows. Western Kentucky’s 44.0% shooting percentage from the field this season is 3.9 percentage points lower than Wright State has allowed to its opponents (47.9%).TOP PERFORMERS: Calvin averages 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Raiders, scoring 21.0 points while shooting 45.9% from beyond the arc. Tanner Holden is shooting 51.1% and averaging 14.4 points for Wright Stat...

4 Marblehead elementary school staff on leave as district reviews restraint policies

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

Four elementary school staff members in Marblehead are on paid administrative leave while the district reviews protocols and policies around restraining students.The school district said this is due to a recent incident involving the restraint of a student and that they are bringing in an outside evaluator to assist in the review process.“The safety and security of all of our students and staff is our top priority,” said Marblehead Public Schools Interim Superintendent Theresa McGuinness in a statement. “The district will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that all of our schools are safe and welcoming learning environments for all.”State guidelines allow staff who have received proper training and certification to restrain students, but only as a last resort in specific situations when a student’s behavior poses a threat of assault, or imminent, serious, physical harm to self or others.

Family of worker killed in Waltham crash seeking justice

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

The family of the National Grid worker killed last week in a crash in Waltham is seeking justice.Roderick Jackson, 36, was working a roadside project lsat week when he and Waltham Police Officer Paul Tracey, 58, were struck and killed. Two other National Grid workers were also hurt.“The man accused of killing Mr. Roderick Jackson and Officer Paul J. Tracey is a habitual offender who should have never been in the position to take the lives of these two beloved members of our community,” the Jackson family’s attorney said in a statement. “The system failed these two innocent men and we intend to seek civil justice to the fullest to avenge Mr. Jackson’s tragic passing.”Peter Simon, of Woodsville, New Hampshire, is accused of killing Jackson and Tracey. He’s facing several charges, including two counts of manslaughter.

Harvard faculty voice support for embattled president

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:39:43 GMT

Harvard President Claudine Gay is facing growing calls to resign following her testimony on antisemitism on Capitol Hill last week, but a large contingent of university faculty are urging the administration to not remove the school’s leader.Roughly 300 faculty members signed onto a letter addressed to the president and fellows of Harvard College in support of Gay’s continued tenure.“We, the undersigned faculty, urge you in the strongest possible terms to defend the independence of the university and to resist political pressures that are at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom, including calls for the removal of President Claudine Gay,” the letter read. “The critical work of defending a culture of free inquiry in our diverse community cannot proceed if we let its shape be dictated by outside forces.”Last week, Gay testified in Congress alongside the presidents of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsyl...