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Commission adopts new general rules for small amounts of state aid and for services of general economic interest

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

The European Commission has adopted two regulations amending the general rules for small amounts of aid (de minimis Regulation) and for small amounts of aid for Services of General Economic interest, such as public transport and healthcare (SGEI de minimis Regulation). The revised regulations, which exempt small aid amounts from EU State aid control since they are deemed to have no impact on competition and trade in the Single Market, will enter into force on 1 January 2024 and will apply until 31 December 2030.Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager (pictured), in charge of competition policy, said: “The revised de minimis regulations raise the exemption ceilings to cater for inflation, making it easier and faster to provide small amounts of aid. The revised rules will also introduce a central register to facilitate the control of the de minimis ceilings. This will reduce the burden for undertakings, in particular SMEs, as they will no longer need to self-monitor compliance. At...

Miss Manners: If you’re the best man at this wedding, brace for embarrassment

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Can you please list the requirements of the best man in a wedding?Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: I’m irritated by drivers who leave their car at the pump Advice | Miss Manners: I’m offended that they think my husband knows best Advice | Miss Manners: Do they think that as doctors they have some special aura? Advice | Miss Manners: I’m taking the high road when it comes to the fruitcake Advice | Miss Manners: Is it vindictive to cross these people off my cookie list because of what they said? There is only a best man, no groomsmen. It is a fancy destination wedding, and the gentlemen are best friends.GENTLE READER: Are you asking what the requirements should be, or what they actually will be, particularly given the “fancy destination” part that renders Miss Manners suspicious?A best man should be trusted not to lose the ring; to calm down the brideg...

Dear Abby: My wife’s snubbing of my parents could cost me a lot of money

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

DEAR ABBY: My parents announced during their recent visit that they are planning to move here.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: This is my family’s pronunciation, and the correction is hurtful Advice | Dear Abby: If my daughter’s not good enough for his son, what does that mean for us? Advice | Dear Abby: I let a drunk guy stay on my couch, and he won’t leave Advice | Dear Abby: I skipped the wedding because of what the bride’s mother demanded Advice | Dear Abby: My kids want the inheritance but I’m scared to give it to them Because of a laundry list of complaints, including them being snippy to serving staff in restaurants, my wife has decided she never wants to visit with them again.My inheritance from my parents is my only hope of being able to retire. What do I do?— CORNERED IN THE SOUTHDEAR CORNERED: That the reason you won’t tell your parents not to move ...

One person dead, one seriously injured after fire in Orange

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

One person died and another was seriously injured as a result of a three-alarm fire in Orange late Wednesday night, officials said. Orange Fire Chief James Young and State Fire Marshal Jon M. Davine in an initial statement said firefighters responded to a home on West River Street after receiving a report of a fire at 11:49 p.m. Once on scene, officials said, crews found heavy fire in the rear of the home and were told that one occupant was trapped inside. Crews immediately entered the structure and located the occupant, an older adult, who received medical attention on scene before being transported to Athol Memorial Hospital.A second occupant, also an older adult, was also transported for medical care. Both were later taken to Boston hospitals, according to state and local authorities. Two further adult occupants of the home were able to escape without injury.Young on Thursday morning thanked mutual aid partners who aided in this fire response and said “Our foremost conc...

Remains of MA airman, killed in Japan helicopter crash, returning home

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

The Massachusetts airman killed in the Osprey helicopter crash off the coast of Japan last month will be honored Friday as he returns home. Staff Sergeant Jacob Galliher, of Pittsfield, was among the eight crew members killed in the Nov. 29 crash, which occurred during a training mission. A procession will escort Galliher’s remains from the Westover Air Force Base to a funeral home in Pittsfield Friday afternoon. The public is invited to pay their respects along the route in Pittsfield.

Logan Clegg set to be sentenced in 2022 murder of retired NH couple

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

The man convicted of killing a retired New Hampshire couple in April 2022 is set to be sentenced Friday.Logan Clegg, who was convicted of shooting and killing Stephen and Djeswende Reid, will be in court today to find out his fate.A jury in October found Clegg guilty on all nine charges he faced, including second degree murder and falsifying evidence, after two days of deliberation.The couple was attacked by Clegg while out on a hike on April 18, 2022. Their bodies were found days later, both with multiple gunshot wounds, setting off an investigation that ended when police arrested Clegg in Vermont in October that year.Family members who spoke in court said the pair were “lifelong humanitarians” who were “beloved worldwide”. Prosecutors say Clegg had been living in the woods in the area where the bodies were discovered. Police used surveillance videos and credit card records to connect Clegg to the murders.This is a developing story; stay with ...

RI bridge open to two-way traffic

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

Traffic is moving again in both directions over the Washington Bridge in Rhode Island following the bridge’s abrupt closure Monday.Rhode Island Dan McKee announced early Friday that the bridge was once again open to two-way traffic, a day earlier than previously expected. Two bypass lanes are open going in each direction.The sudden closure of the westbound lanes Monday was due to discovery of “critical failure” of parts of the original 1960s-built infrastructure of the bridge. After investigating, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation said they found eight of the 10 pins that hold the bridge in place had been snapped, with large gaps left in beams as a result.Officials said if the westbound side had remained open, it could have collapsed. Repairs could take at least three months.https://twitter.com/GovDanMcKee/status/1735580646662181110?s=20

Live updates | As fighting rages in Gaza, a US envoy is set to meet with the Palestinian president

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

The Palestinian president was set to meet Friday with U.S. officials to discuss postwar arrangements for Gaza that could include reactivating Palestinian security forces driven out by Hamas in its 2007 takeover of the territory.While Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it wipes out Gaza’s Hamas rulers, the international call for a cease-fire has grown in volume. Israel has drawn international outrage and rare criticism from the U.S. — its main ally — over the killing of civilians. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told U.S. President Joe Biden during a call Thursday that a quick cease-fire for Gaza would be possible if Washington withdrew its unconditional support for Israel.More than 18,700 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel says 116 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, ki...

Denmark widens terror investigation that coincides with arrests of alleged Hamas members in Germany

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark is holding two people in custody and four others are the target of a terrorism investigation, a prosecutor said Friday, in a case that coincided with one arrest in the Netherlands and several in Germany of alleged Hamas members.While Denmark hasn’t said there is a Hamas link, authorities in Germany said that three people arrested there are suspected of preparing for attacks Jewish institutions in Europe.Danish authorities say that one person was arrested in the Netherlands, but it wasn’t clear if there were any ties to the Hamas investigation in Germany.The two suspects being held in Denmark were ordered to remain in pretrial detention until Jan. 9. The whereabouts of the other four, and whether there was an ongoing search for them, weren’t immediately known.On Thursday, Danish intelligence agency PET, announced the arrest of three people on suspicion of plotting to carry out “an act of terror.” One of them was released, prosecuto...

Hungary’s Orbán says he won’t hesitate to slam the brakes on Ukraine’s EU membership

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:50:58 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday his country will have plenty of opportunities in the future to interrupt Ukraine’s process of joining the European Union, the day after the right-wing leader’s stunning turnaround allowed an EU summit to move forward on bringing the war-torn country into the bloc.Orbán had spent weeks vigorously declaring that his country would not consent to the EU beginning talks with Ukraine on its eventual membership, arguing such a decision would be catastrophic and that Kyiv was unprepared to begin the process. But in a dramatic reversal in Brussels on Thursday, Orbán left the room where the leaders of the EU’s 27 member nations were debating the measure and allowed a unanimous vote of 26 to approve the start of accession talks for Kyiv. In an interview Friday with Hungarian state radio, Orbán said that EU leaders told him he would “lose nothing” by dropping his veto since he’d have chances in the futu...