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NextGenerationEU: Commission disburses second payment of €2.76 billion to Romania under the Recovery and Resilience Facility

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

The 29 September payment of €2.76 billion in grants and loans was made possible by Romania's fulfilment of 49 milestones and targets linked to the second instalment. They cover key reforms in the areas of the green and digital transition, such as the adoption of the decarbonisation law and the entry into force of the law for the governance of cloud services deployed in the public sector. Romania has also put forward reforms to improve its public policy delivery, promote tourism and culture, develop human resources in the health sector, improve tax collection and the sustainability of pensions, modernise the education system's infrastructure, as well as to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and the fight against corruption.Payments under the RRF are performance-based and contingent on Romania implementing the investments and reforms outlined in its recovery and resilience plan.On 16 December 2022, Romania submitted to the Commission a second request for payment of €2.8bn un...

Miss Manners: At what age should one start picking up the tab?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Without being rude, how do I convey to my adult, employed children that it is OK for them to pick up the tab once in a while when grabbing a meal of convenience?Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: Am I out of line in asking people not to hide during video meetings? Advice | Miss Manners: I confronted the bride about the exclusion, and she got defensive Advice | Miss Manners: I was annoyed by the fuss over the cost of my dinner Advice | Miss Manners: They stormed off and forgot the cooler. Do I have to keep it for them? Advice | Miss Manners: What am I allowed to say about a stranger’s hair? I’m not talking about an invitation to dinner, but the times when, after a long day of whatever, we decide to order delivery together. Or when we are out shopping and it gets to be lunchtime. They have this general expectation that the elder will pay the bill.We can all afford it, but...

Los incendios forestales de Canadá envolverán la ciudad de Nueva York y el noreste en una neblina de humo

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

(CNN) — Se espera que el humo de los incendios forestales que aún arrasan Canadá cubra parte del noreste de Estados Unidos este lunes, generando neblina en las ciudades de Nueva York y Massachusetts, dicen los meteorólogos.“Los pronósticos actuales indican que una columna de humo de incendios forestales puede llegar a la ciudad de Nueva York alrededor del amanecer de este lunes por la mañana, causando cielos notablemente brumosos”, dijo el alcalde de la ciudad de Nueva York, Eric Adams, en una advertencia a los residentes este domingo.El Departamento de Conservación Ambiental del estado de Nueva York pronosticó condiciones de calidad del aire moderadas en 55 en su índice de calidad del aire, alertando a los residentes que tienen condiciones de salud preexistentes a tomar las precauciones necesarias a la luz de la calidad del aire prevista.“Los incendios forestales en Canadá continúan produciendo algunos impactos de humo en el estado de Nueva York y el humo a ...

WTOP’s Neal Augenstein: My first year with stage 4 lung cancer

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

You probably remember about this time last year I started coughing. I didn’t stop coughing until I was diagnosed and began treatment for stage 4 lung cancer.By now, you likely know that after a couple months of coughing, I was surprised to learn in November 2022 that I had cancerous tumors and lymph nodes in both lungs, at age 63, with no history of smoking.Fast forward, after five months of one-pill-a-day targeted therapy, and a robot-assisted lobectomy, my oncologist said I had no evidence of disease — or NED.I’ll be the first to acknowledge I’ve had good doctors, good medicine, good insurance and good luck on my side — not to mention countless warm wishes and prayers from folks who know my work at WTOP.My hope is sharing my journey may make the experience a little less scary for others diagnosed with the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society.So, one year in, I decided to interview three key members of my treatment te...

Luke Donald urged to stay as European captain for Ryder Cup defense as new generation emerges

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — European captain Luke Donald was delivering his Ryder Cup victory speech in front of a giddy crowd at Marco Simone when his celebrating players standing beside him started a chant that quickly swept through the grandstands.“Two more years” was the cry, seemingly led by Rory McIlroy and drawing a broad smile from Donald.As the party continued into the night in Rome, Donald tempered any talk of him staying on as captain after orchestrating Europe’s 16½-11½ victory over the Americans that won back the 17-inch golden trophy on Sunday.For Donald, any thoughts of leading the Europeans into what will be a febrile atmosphere at Bethpage Black in New York in 2025 could wait.Not so for McIlroy.“I think everyone sitting here,” the four-time major winner said in the post-competition team news conference, “would be very happy to have him again.”No one has captained Europe in back-to-back Ryder Cups since Bernard Gallagher did so, three times in a row in fact, in...

EU foreign ministers arrive in Kyiv to talk weapons

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

The EU’s foreign affairs ministers and chief diplomat Josep Borrell meet Monday for a special session with their Ukrainian counterpart — but instead of Dmytro Kuleba coming to Brussels or dialing in, this time they’ve gone to Ukraine.“We are convening a historic meeting of EU foreign ministers here in Ukraine, candidate country and future member of the EU. We are here to express our solidarity and support to the Ukrainian people,” Borrell said Monday.“The fact that this Foreign Affairs Council is coming to Ukraine is a message in itself,” showing that Ukraine is moving closer to EU accession, Kuleba told POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook in a phone call. “The message is that Ukraine is becoming a member of the European Union, the process is taking place right as we speak and hold these meetings,” Kuleba added, underlining that he expects “to open accession talks by the end of the year.” There’s hope the EU-Ukraine talks on Monday yield tang...

Boston fire crews battling multi-alarm blaze that spread to adjacent home

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

Boston fire crews are working to contain a blaze that broke out in a three-family home on Woodson Street this morning, officials said.Crews responding to a reported structure fire at 52 Woodston St. around 5:25 a.m. found heavy flames coming from the rear of the building.The fire has spread to the adjacent building at 56 Woodson Street, prompting a second and third alarm be ordered, fire officials said.The fire has burned through the rear porches and across the roof, according to a post on the department’s X account.The cause of the fire remains under investigation.No additional information was immediately available.https://twitter.com/BostonFire/status/1708780590126821460https://twitter.com/BostonFire/status/1708780135678103819

Concerns raised over O’Bryant School move

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

The Boston School Committee will be voting on whether to relocate the highly rated O’Bryant School to the vacant West Roxbury Education Complex, one way or the other, despite opposition from parents and the community at large.District officials continued to hear concerns from parents during an open house Saturday at the proposed site they have set for the college preparatory exam school. Concerns ranged from issues with transportation to the transparency and accountability behind the planning process.When exactly the School Committee will be voting on the proposal remains an open question, but Delavern Stanislaus, the district’s chief of capital planning, told the Herald she believes it could happen sometime by the end of this year or in early 2024.“I think we have to go back as a team and evaluate — based on conversations we’ve had, based on the feedback from the community — the work we have to put in to actually continue the community engagement pieces before we put a final propos...

Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman win Nobel in medicine for enabling development of mRNA vaccines

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.Katalin Karikó is a professor at Sagan’s University in Hungary and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Drew Weissman performed his prizewinning research together with Karikó at the University of Pennsylvania.Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Assembly, announced the award Monday in Stockholm.The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was won last year by Swedish scientist Svante Paabo for discoveries in human evolution that unlocked secrets of Neanderthal DNA which provided key insights into our immune system, including our vulnerability to severe COVID-19.The award was the second in the family. Paabo’s father, Sune Bergstrom, won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1982.Nobel announcements continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Priz...

A big fire at a police headquarters in northeastern Egypt injures at least 38 people

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:02:33 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — A huge fire broke out early Monday at a police facility in northeastern Egypt, injuring at least 38 people before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze several hours later, authorities said.The cause of the fire, which ripped through the multistory police headquarters in the Suez Canal province of Ismailia, was not immediately clear.Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfiq, whose ministry oversees police forces, rushed to the site in the city of Ismailia, about 125 kilometers (77 miles) northeast of Cairo. He said a committee was set up to investigate the fire.Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry, said in a statement that 12 of the injured were treated at the site, while 26 others were taken to hospitals. All but two suffered from breathing difficulties; seven of the injured were treated and discharged, he said.It was not immediately clear how many police were in the building at the time. Local media reported that the police building was severel...