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European lawmakers give green light to ‘model’ NZ trade deal

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

Lawmakers in the European Parliament on Wednesday signed off on the bloc’s free trade agreement with New Zealand, heralded as Brussels’ gold standard for making its trade deals greener. “This is the most modern agreement that we as a European Union have concluded,” German MEP Daniel Caspary of the center-right European People’s Party, who led work on the deal in the Parliament, told reporters ahead of the vote. “We want to ensure that in the future such high standards will be complied with across the board,” he said, arguing that the agreement should be a “model” for other deals. MEPs approved the agreement by an overwhelming majority of 524 votes in favor, 85 against and 21 abstentions. Brussels and Wellington signed the deal — the first free trade agreement to include the EU’s ambitions on sustainability — in early July. In economic terms, the agreement is relatively small for the EU, but it represents a symbol...

Which modern-day politician is most like Napoleon?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

“The battlefield is a scene of constant chaos. The winner will be the one who controls that chaos, both his own and the enemy’s” — Napoleon Bonaparte, French military commander and political leader. “My, my, at Waterloo, Napoleon did surrender” — Abba, Swedish military historians.All our political leaders want power (whether they admit it or not), but few will manage to secure even a fraction of that achieved — for good or ill — by Napoleon Bonaparte, the subject of a new blockbuster movie out this week. But which of our current crop of leaders — and some from the not-so-distant past — can match up to Napoleon? To find out, we have come up with an entirely non-scientific ranking system, in which we take several of Napoleon’s more famous characteristics to see who best lives up to him.Emmanuel MacronSeriously? If anyone can be described as the modern incarnation of Napoleon, it’s France’s current empe...

Snow totals, rain and wind today

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

Snow totals coming in this morning Worcester County! Worcester picked up a new record amount of daily snowfall yesterday at 2″. That broke the old record of 1.9″ set in 1978. Any snow has transitioned to rain across our region. Snow remains for far Northern New England. Rain will taper off around midday/early afternoon. We’ll hold on to abundant cloud cover with a wide range of temperatures. The other part of the weather story is the wind. It’s already gusty along the coast. The wind will stay strong this morning through about midday. Gusts will be 30-40 mph from Cape Ann to the South Coast. The strongest gusts will across Cape Cod and the Islands, potentially near 50 mph.Overnight, temperatures fall into the upper 30s/low 40s with clearing toward sunrise. The breeze lingers tomorrow out of the northwest adding an extra chill to the air.

The official Christmas tree arrives

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

Callahan: The Patriots can beat the Giants without a quarterback Sunday

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

FOXBORO — As Bill Belichick leads the Patriots in a dance around questions about their starting quarterback this week, here’s one to stop the music: what does it matter?Mac Jones is broken. An intact Bailey Zappe throws interceptions into triple coverage. I have argued for Malik Cunningham to start Sunday, but the fact an undrafted rookie who’s spent most of his NFL career playing receiver represents a compelling option is perhaps most damning.Let’s skip all the reasons how or why the Patriots reached a dead end at quarterback. They live here now. At least for two more months, this is their street.The Giants, of course, are next-door neighbors. After injuries to veteran quarterbacks Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor, undrafted rookie Tommy DeVito jumped from practice-squad intern to full-time starter. DeVito, who couldn’t hold down the starting job at Syracuse, still lives in his childhood home, where his parents do his laundry and cook his food.Not even Mama DeV...

Meal kit company Goodfood reports $3.7M Q4 loss, improves margins

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

MONTREAL — Goodfood Market Corp. reported a loss of $3.7 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $58.4 million a year earlier as the meal kit company improved its margins.The company says the loss amounted to five cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 2 compared with a loss of 78 cents per diluted share a year earlier.Net sales in what was Goodfood’s fourth quarter totalled $37.2 million, down from $50.4 million in the same quarter last year.The drop in net sales came as Goodfood saw a drop in the number of active customers, partially offset by an increase in average order value.Goodfood says the decrease in active customers was mainly driven by its focus on attracting and retaining customers that provide higher gross margins and by changing customer behaviour.The company’s gross margin for the quarter improved to 38.2 per cent compared with 28.3 per cent a year earlier.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2023.Compan...

Where can you shop on Black Friday? Here’s what’s open – and when

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

Black Friday is almost upon us, when retailers kick off the holiday season with offers meant to get customers in the shopping mood.The term “Black Friday” in relation to shopping the day after Thanksgiving is most often traced to Philadelphia where police had to deal with large crowds who thronged the streets of the city before the annual Army-Navy game and to take advantage of sales. According to the Dec. 18, 1961, issue of Public Relations News, a newsletter, it became customary for police to refer to post-Thanksgiving shopping as Black Friday and Black Saturday because of the headaches they created.Retailers began taking ownership of the term in the late 1980s as the opening bell for the holidays. Of course Black Friday has morphed more accurately into a month of offers that begin in October, when Halloween jack-o’-lanterns are still flickering. A number of stores that were closed on Thanksgiving, including Walmart and Target, reopen early Friday as the holiday shopping sea...

Health Canada lifts years-long mad cow blood donation ban in Quebec

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

Quebec’s blood supply agency says Health Canada has lifted a longstanding ban on blood donations in the province that stemmed from fear of mad cow disease.Héma-Québec vice-president Dr. Marc Germain says it’s clear that there is now virtually no risk of transmitting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease through new blood transfusions. For two decades, people who lived or travelled in the United Kingdom or France for long periods of time in the 1980s and 1990s have not been allowed to donate blood in case they were exposed. Héma-Québec says the change will come into effect Dec. 4. Canadian Blood Services has also asked Health Canada to lift the ban in the rest of the country. It says Health Canada is expected to make a decision soon. The United States and Australia both lifted similar bans in 2022. Both Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec say they have turned away thousands of donors whose travel in the United Kingdom and Europe decades ago disqualified them. This report...

Edmunds picks the five best cars for under $30,000

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

Pricing for the average new car continues to rise, with the latest reports pegging the average new vehicle transaction price around $48,000. High interest rates are a further impediment for shoppers on a tight budget. While buying used is always an option, there are some great new cars out there that are still affordably priced. The automotive experts at Edmunds have selected five standout vehicles with starting prices less than $30,000. While there are other less expensive vehicles on the market, oftentimes spending a little more will get you a much more desirable vehicle over the long term. Edmunds took into account qualities such as comfort, fuel economy, driver assist features and practicality. All of the manufacturer suggested retail prices below include destination charges. SMALL CAR: HONDA CIVICAvailable as a sedan or hatchback, the Honda Civic boasts roomy seating, high fuel economy, and a pleasing amount of standard features even on the base LX trim level. The Civic EX seda...

How to spot 4 Social Security scams and protect your identity

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:14:49 GMT

When the Social Security Administration calls, you pick up. But between October 2022 and June 2023, more than 55,000 people who answered calls from what they thought was the government agency said they were scammed.Allegations of Social Security scams increased 61.7% in the quarters ending in June 2022 and June 2023, according to the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General.The most common tactic is simple: Scammers say they’re with the SSA and ask for personal information or money.Imposter scams gain victims’ trust by appropriating federal agencies’ authority, says Stacey Wood, the Molly Mason Jones Chair in Psychology at Scripps College in Claremont, California. Some impersonate officials with fake IDs or use caller IDs that resemble government phone numbers.So how do you know if a scammer’s calling? If they tell you any of these four stories, it’s time to hang up.1. ‘YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER IS SUSPENDED’THE TACTIC: A scammer tells you that your Social Se...