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Volcano erupts in southwestern Iceland, spewing magma in spectacular show of Earth’s power

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

By MARCO Di MARCO and DAVID KEYTON (Associated Press)GRINDAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano has erupted in southwestern Iceland, sending a flash of light into the evening sky and spewing semi-molten rock into the air in a spectacular show of Earth’s power in the land known for fire and ice. The eruption Monday night appears to have occurred about 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) from the town of Grindavik, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said. The town near Iceland’s main airport was evacuated in November after strong seismic activity damaged homes and raised fears of an imminent eruption.Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, averages an eruption every four to five years. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.But the eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) sout...

Commission welcomes political agreement on new rules on substances of human origin

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

The Commission welcomes the political agreement reached on 14 December between the European Parliament and the Council to further increase the safety and quality of substances of human origin (SoHO). As proposed by the Commission in July 2022 and as part of the actions to build a strong European Health Union, the new rules will ensure that citizens are better protected when donating or receiving substances such as blood, tissues, cells, breast milk or microbiota.The new rules include a range of measures that fill regulatory gaps, in order to support the functioning of this essential healthcare sector. In addition, they aim at facilitating the cross-border circulation of SoHO and promote greater cooperation between national public health authorities. Furthermore, the Regulation now tackles concerns regarding sufficiency of supply, highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.The European Parliament and the Council will now have to formally adopt the new Regulation, which will start to apply ...

Harriette Cole: I don’t want to offend my friend but I can’t stay in this house

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

DEAR HARRIETTE: I’ve received an invitation to stay at a friend’s house over the holidays, but I feel uncomfortable about the living conditions.Related ArticlesAdvice | Harriette Cole: An audience makes my roommate more irritating Advice | Harriette Cole: He’s finally single, but his ex brainwashed him. How can I get through? Advice | Harriette Cole: How do I tell this nice girl I sent the text by mistake? Advice | Harriette Cole: How far should I go with my Christmas to remember? Advice | Harriette Cole: He hasn’t told his therapist about this big problem Their place tends to be messy, and I’m unsure how to handle this situation without offending them.I value our friendship, but I’m hesitant about staying in an environment that makes me uneasy.How can I navigate this situation tactfully while expressing my concerns?— UninhabitableDEAR UNINHABITABLE: “No...

Miss Manners: People are noticing my watch and it’s making me uncomfortable

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am not knowledgeable about watches. I found the watch I often wear by searching online for a self-winding watch and finding one that was in my budget and looked nice.Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: Snow shoveling has created an awkward situation with my neighbors Advice | Miss Manners: Our houseguests canceled abruptly and implied we were running a frat party Advice | Miss Manners: If you’re the best man at this wedding, brace for embarrassment Advice | 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 What I didn’t realize at the time was that it was a knockoff of a popular luxury design.In the past, when somebody would compliment me on my watch, I would explain that it wasn’t what they thought it was. But I recently changed jobs and am seeing many more...

Nearly 140,000 still without power as recovery from Monday storm continues

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

Nearly 140,000 residents were still without power Tuesday morning, waking up the day after a wet and windy storm rocked southern New England. Many schools are closed Tuesday due to continued issues with power; Cohasset, Duxbury, Marshfield, Norwell, Pembroke, Millis, South Shore Christian Academy, and Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical, and Foxborough Regional Charter are closed all day. Scituate closed schools for Tuesday morning. At the storm’s peak, around 12:30 p.m. Monday, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported more than 285,000 outages statewide, with South Shore communities among the hardest hit.“Our crews worked throughout the day today, where safe to do so, and will continue throughout the night and around the clock to restore power to our customers as quickly and safely as possible,” Tim Moore, National Grid’s Vice President for Electric Operations for New England said Monday night in a statement. ...

Thousands on South Shore still waiting for power to return, schools closed Tuesday

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

Much of the South Shore is starting Tuesday still without power.As of 6 a.m., 92 percent of customers in Scituate, 70 percent of customers in Norwell, and more than half of all customers in Duxbury, Pembroke, Hanover, Hanson and Halifax were still in the dark.National Grid said it could take until Thursday to fully restore power.“Residents are strongly advised to avoid road travel to facilitate cleanup efforts by the Town of Scituate and National Grid crews working overnight,” Scituate officials said near 5:15 p.m. “National Grid will perform damage assessments during the night, and restoration efforts will commence once it is deemed safe.”Scituate schools were closed Tuesday morning, as were those in Cohasset, Duxbury, Marshfield, Norwell, and Pembroke.One National Grid worker in Scituate told 7NEWS he was tasked with keeping people clear of a utility pole left swaying in the wind over a local street.“If it comes down, it could be deadly,” said James McCauley.“Stay clear of everyth...

Hull ferry service closed for storm cleanup

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

Multiple cars parked in the MBTA ferry parking lot in Hull were struck by falling power poles during Monday’s storm.No one was hurt by the tumbling poles, which crushed the cars. Officials said ferry service will be closed for the entire day Tuesday as crews work to clean up the mess left by the extreme wind and rain. https://twitter.com/MBTA/status/1736818749976514766

Massachusetts housing prices hit all-time high, as home sales drop

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

Home sales fell by more than 10% year-over-year last month while November prices hit an all-time high, real estate market watchers say.Sales of both single-family homes and condos dropped by an average of 10.5% when compared to 2022, and sales this year are down about 22% from last year, according to national real estate and transaction data provider the Warren Group.At the same time, the median price for a single-family home jumped by 8.4% to $579,000 and the median condominium price climbed 5.3% to $500,000.“Market conditions and trends remained relatively unchanged in November as limited inventory in Massachusetts pushed single-family prices to a new all-time high for the month and sales fell by more than 10 percent on a year-over-year basis,” Warren Group Associate Publisher Cassidy Norton said.Last month, just 3,447 single-family homes sold in Massachusetts, down from more than 3,850 in 2022. That’s the smallest reported single-family home sales number seen since November of 20...

An earthquake in northwestern China kills at least 126 people in nation's deadliest quake in 9 years

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — A strong overnight earthquake rattled a mountainous region of northwestern China, authorities said Tuesday, destroying homes, leaving residents out in a below-freezing winter night and killing 126 people in the nation’s deadliest quake in nine years.The magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck just before midnight on Monday, injuring more than 700 people, damaging roads and knocking out power and communication lines in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, officials and Chinese media reports said.As emergency workers searched for the missing in collapsed buildings and at least one landslide, people who lost their homes were preparing to spend a cold winter night in tents at hastily erected evacuation sites.“I just feel anxious, what other feelings could there be?” said Ma Dongdong, who said in a phone interview that three bedrooms in his house had been destroyed and a part of his milk tea shop was cracked wide open.Afraid to return home because of aftershocks, he spent the night in a f...

Live updates | Israel launches more strikes in Gaza as UN delays vote on a cease-fire resolution

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 11:56:53 GMT

Israeli troops launched more deadly strikes in Gaza on Tuesday and raided the last working hospital in Gaza City, while the U.N. Security Council delayed voting on an Arab-sponsored resolution for an urgent cessation of hostilities. A strike on a home in Rafah where displaced people were sheltering killed at least 25 people, including women and children, and another killed at least three people, according to Associated Press journalists who saw the bodies arrive at two local hospitals early Tuesday.Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Thousands more lie buried under the rubble of Gaza, the U.N. estimates. Israel says 127 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages. Currently: — UN Security Council delays ...