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Germany aims to seize €720M of frozen Russian money

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

BERLIN — At a time when Germany’s ruling coalition is scrambling to find money due to its still-simmering budget crisis, it might be getting an unexpected windfall: a large chunk of frozen Russian money.Germany’s top federal prosecutor on Wednesday announced a motion to confiscate about €720 million held by a Russian financial institution in a Frankfurt bank account.“We will not allow Russian funds used to finance the illegal war of aggression against Ukraine to be held unchallenged in German accounts,” Justice Minister Marco Buschmann wrote on X, adding: “Liberal democracy defends itself on the side of the attacked and opposes violence with the law.”The motion represents an escalation of Germany’s efforts to sanction Russia. If prosecutors are successful, the frozen Russian funds would flow into Germany’s federal coffers, according to an official with knowledge of the case, providing the government with a potential financial boon.Until now, Germany has...

Jeffrey Wright elevates impressive ‘American Fiction’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

An impressive debut feature, Scituate-shot “American Fiction” is going to thrust Emmy award-winning director and co-writer Cord Jefferson (Netflix’s “Watchmen”) to the vanguard of new filmmakers.Meet Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright). He’s the semi-invisible, critically well-received, far from best-selling author of fiction that gets displayed in the Black studies section of bookstores. At the same time, a younger Black writer named Sintara Golden (Issa Rae) earns laurels and more money than Monk for writing a book entitled “We’s Lives in Da Ghetto” a tome that Monk believes is a crude, stereotypical depiction of Black people. Yet, at a writers’ festival in Boston her turnout is much larger and more enthusiastic than his. “Editors want a Black book,” says Monk’s friend and agent Arthur (a fine John Ortiz). Inspired by a challenge from Arthur, Monk writes a parody of the kind of book he claims to deplore, entitled “My Pafology” (later changed) b...

Lowry: Trump opponents not playing strictly by the book

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

You might have heard that Donald Trump is going to be a dictator if he wins the presidency next year. Among other things, he’s threatening to target his political opponents.Let’s stipulate that Trump is a provocateur who freaks out his opponents even when he’s on relatively good behavior. And his conduct after the 2020 election was genuinely alarming and deeply wrong. He shouldn’t talk about going after his political enemies, let alone actually do it if he takes power again.But the vapors over Trump’s threatening statements are rich coming from people who have targeted their enemy by any means necessary for years now. The Russian-collusion investigation, the Hunter Biden cover-up and the ongoing, politically timed legal onslaught against Donald Trump are among the most shameful and tawdry efforts to destroy a political opponent in memory.They all have involved the abuse of power by national-security or law-enforcement officials, with the connivance of a...

Celtics respond with impressive, dominant bounce-back win over Kings

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

Joe Mazzulla has emphasized the importance for the Celtics to have a consistent mindset this season. No matter the circumstances, he wants the Celtics to bring the same focus, energy and commitment for every game.The circumstances were not ideal on Wednesday night in Sacramento. They were missing Jayson Tatum and Al Horford. Less than 24 hours after an exhausting overtime loss to the Warriors, they had to play the second leg of a back-to-back, shorthanded against a good Kings team that loves to run.Challenge accepted, and accomplished. The Celtics, once again, responded. They didn’t make excuses. They showcased the mental toughness that has been consistent through the first third of the season. They put on an offensive clinic, and didn’t let off the gas in one of their most impressive performances of the season, a convincing 144-119 rout over the Kings.Without Tatum and Horford, the Celtics had plenty of firepower. Five players scored in double figures. Derrick White put on a master...

Lucas: Enjoy fed check Healey, it may be the last

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

Memo to Mo: Cash the check. Right away.Because it will most likely be a long time before you see another one.This is in reference to the $372 million Christmas appropriation the U.S. Department of Transportation gifted Gov. Maura Healey last week.The money is slated for beginning work on replacing the two aging Cape Cod bridges, first the Sagamore and then the Bourne.Both 88-year-old bridges were built and are operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.And while they are considered functionally obsolete, the federal government, perhaps with the financial disaster of the Big Dig still in mind, has balked at coming up with money for Massachusetts to build two new bridges.Or it could be that the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, all Democrats, simply lacks the clout to bring home the money?The replacement bridges, if they are ever built, will be turned over to the state.And while Healey called the appropriation a “huge win,” the amount is a pittance compared to the $4.5 billion...

Local shops rule for great last-minute gifts

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

Last week, when we still had the luxury of time, we offered ideas for thoughtful and creative gifts for your friends and loved ones based on their interests.But this week is go time. By now we’ve missed most online ordering windows. (Unless, that is, you want to pay lots of money for 24-hour delivery fees). So that means it’s time to lace up those boots, hit the pavement, and get out there and buy your gifts in person. But that also means something quite nice: buying local.Starting in the stomping grounds of my clothing boutique, Gretta Luxe, downtown Wellesley is one of my favorite areas for mom-and-pop holiday shops. I can’t help but point out one of my favorite gifts of the season for fashion lovers — the Stella McCartney Quilted Gold Crossbody Bag ($895 at Gretta Luxe, 94 Central St., Wellesley, 781-237-7010) is the perfect present for anyone looking for a snazzy and high-style way to sail into the new year.A few blocks over, drop by Wasik’s (61 Central St., Wellesley, 781-237-0...

‘Migration’ doesn’t have all its ducks in a row

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

Co-written by the white-hot Mike White (TV’s “White Lotus”) and the film’s co-director Benjamin Renner of the Academy Award-nominated “Ernest & Celestine,” “Migration” tells the lukewarm, if beautifully animated, visually inventive and often funny tale of a family of mallards that must overcome the timidity of its patriarch. Mack (Kumail Nanjiani) is a duck, who is overprotective of his wife Pam (Elizabeth Banks) and their children, teenage son Dax (Caspar Jennings) and pint-sized, preteen daughter Gwen (Tresi Gazal), both of whom are eager to establish their independence.Mack and family live safely in a New England pond with Mack’s sleepy, senile Uncle Dan (Danny DeVito). But when another family of blue-winged ducks, part of a migratory flock on its way to Jamaica, stop at the pond to rest, Pam, Dax and Gwen are inspired to migrate there as well in order to expand their horizons and see more of the world. Dax also falls for a young blue-winged traveler. On the...

Editorial: Democracy hit or miss among young Americans- that’s a problem

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

We’re losing America’s young people. They may not be physically leaving the U.S., but a new poll shows they’re throwing American ideals overboard.As The Hill reported Wednesday, only about half of young Americans say democracy is the greatest form of government.Less than a week after the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, an event that set the nation on its course to independence, and only half of young Americans think democracy is worth achieving? This doesn’t bode well.The Economist/YouGov’s poll shows that among U.S. adults surveyed, support for democracy is strongest among older Americans, but it declines in every subsequent younger age bracket — with the weakest levels of support among adults younger than 45.Only 54% of U.S. adults ages 18-29 agree with the statement, “Democracy is the greatest form of government,” including 21% who agree strongly and 34% who agree somewhat. Another 34% say they neither agree nor disagree, and 12%t say they...

Dear Abby: Struggling daughter could pull mom under

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

Dear Abby: How can I help my financially drowning, 57-year-old daughter without being pulled under myself? I live comfortably now, but that could change in an instant with a stroke or a fall and the need for assisted living.My daughter had been employed throughout her adult life but was recently part of a group layoff. She has failed to find another job in her field, and her benefits have run out. I don’t blame her for the job loss, but I do think she could have been earning some money by working part-time. She didn’t do that until the benefit well had run dry.I “loaned” her some money but have made it clear that it will be short-lived. She hasn’t asked for my opinion but, boy, do I ever want to give it. She would have had a nice financial cushion had she not blown a $300K inheritance some years back.I feel guilty going out to lunch with friends or buying something unnecessary for the house when she’s close to being homeless. My house is large eno...

AP PHOTOS: In North America, 2023 was a year for all the emotions

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:18:28 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — To look is to be charmed. Amused. Saddened. Horrified. Amazed. Inspired.Photographers chronicling life in North America in 2023 captured images that evoked all the emotions, from the giddy silliness of people racing in inflatable dinosaur costumes to the wrenching sorrow of a vigil for victims of a mass shooting.This gallery from The Associated Press showcases a year that included unprecedented events — such as the first ever criminal indictment of a former president, Donald Trump, in connection to a hush money scheme from his 2016 campaign. Trump was photographed surrounded by security as he was escorted to a Manhattan courtroom in April.Some of the images focused on issues that the country continues to wrestle with, like immigration at the southern border where people come from around the world in hope of seeking asylum in the United States: A grim-faced man waits while cradling a sleeping child, reminiscent of Dorothea Lange’s iconic 1936 “Migrant Mother”; a...