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The Godfather Part IV: US hits back after Orbán mocks Soros handover

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

Hungary’s troubled relationship with the United States took another twist on Monday as the two sides clashed over conspiracy theories featuring competing references to “The Godfather.” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sparked the exchange when he tweeted the words “Soros 2.0” in response to news that Hungarian-American businessman George Soros has decided to hand over his multi-billion dollar foundation to his son, Alexander. The Hungarian leader included a clip from iconic movie “The Godfather” showing fictional mafia boss Vito Corleone kissing his son and heir, Michael. Orbán has for years run campaigns portraying Soros as a puppet master controlling Hungary’s opposition and plotting against the country’s interests, fueling concerns that the Hungarian government is spreading conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic narratives.  In 2017, the Hungarian government plastered the country with billboards depicting Soros smiling, with the...

Utah woman accused of killing husband then writing grief book for kids denied bail

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A Utah mother of three who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband’s death, and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, will remain in jail for the duration of her trial on murder and drug charges, a judge said Monday.Kouri Richins knelt her head and cried as a detective testified about authorities finding her husband dead and “cold to the touch,” and prosecutors argued the evidence against her was strong enough to deny her bail.Her case became a true-crime sensation last month when charges were filed as a transfixed public pored over “Are You With Me?” — the illustrated storybook about an angel wing-clad father watching over his children after passing away — and scrutinized remarks Richins made promoting the book as a tool to help children grieve.Monday’s detention hearing offered both prosecutors and Richins’ attorneys a chance to preview their cases and provide contrasting theories of the case. Prosecutors called to t...

Student loan payments will be due starting in October, Department of Education clarifies

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

Washington (CNN) — In October, tens of millions of borrowers will be required to pay their monthly federal student loan bills for the first time since March 2020, the Department of Education clarified Monday.The pandemic-related pause on both payments and interest accumulation has been set to end later this summer, though the exact date payments would be due was a little fuzzy.The Biden administration had previously said that the pause would end either 60 days after June 30 or 60 days after the Supreme Court rules on the separate student loan forgiveness program – whichever comes first.A law passed in early June to address the debt ceiling officially prevented the pandemic-related pause from being extended again. The repayment date has been extended a total of eight times under both the Biden and Trump administrations.“Student loan interest will resume starting on September 1, 2023, and payments will be due starting in October. We will notify borro...

Realtors Take Build-More Approach To Housing Woes

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

As renters and would-be homebuyers face an affordability crisis, a leading trade group for the people who facilitate home sales is eyeing new building projects as the solution.“Rent control tries to attack a symptom of our lack of building. And that’s not the way to fix the issue. We need to build more housing,” Justin Davidson told Mass. Association of Realtors members as they prepared to visit House and Senate offices Monday.Elected officials in Boston are among those trying to tackle the affordability issue by capping rent increases, which Davidson, the association’s government affairs director, called a “harmful” policy.“If we build enough housing, if people have the options of where to live and what type of home to live in, we don’t need rent control,” Davidson said.The group also pointed to increased state funding for rental voucher programs as a way to address the problem without invoking rent control, and supports a tax-d...

Ukraine claims recapture of seven villages in early stages of counteroffensive

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

By JAMEY KEATEN (Associated Press)KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian troops have retaken seven villages spanning 90 square kilometers (35 square miles) from Russian forces in the past week, the deputy defense minister said Monday as the early stages of Kyiv’s counteroffensive notched small successes.Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on the Telegram app that the Ukrainian flag was again flying over the village of Storozhov, in the eastern Donetsk province, and that her troops had also retaken three other nearby small villages and three in neighboring Zaporizhzhia province.“The battles are tough, but our movement is there, and that is very important,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.” He added that rainy weather is challenging his troops, and that he’s discussed with his military commanders “which points of the front we need to strengthen and what actions we can take to break more Russian positions.”O...

How Chicago football players’ mental health journeys led them to focus on wellness for Black communities

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

Darcel Rockett | Chicago Tribune (TNS)It’s been almost nine years since the life-changing event that forced Dwight White, then a defensive back on Northwestern University’s football team, to change his trajectory. White took a hit during practice that caused abdominal pain, which led to the revelation that he was born with one kidney, a condition called renal agenesis.Medical professionals, sports staff and his parents advised White against playing football, but he made the decision to continue to play — until three weeks later, when he was hit in that same spot and had internal bleeding due to a renal contusion. Having never been hit there before, to now take two hits in such a short period of time made White decide in his junior year to walk away from the sport to which he’d dedicated his entire life.“He said: ‘I can’t do this to my mom. I can’t have her worry at every game,’” White’s mother, LaWanda, said in 2014. “That touched me.”Giving up football was traumatizing, White said....

Enough steam: Fire meets Water in Pixar’s clever and increasingly charming ‘Elemental’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

For a while, “Elemental” feels like little more than a reasonably clever idea, the latest from Disney affiliate Pixar Animation Studios finding an unusual way to illustrate the differences — and, ultimately, similarities — among folks of various cultural backgrounds.However, this tale in which personified Fire, Water, Earth and Air residents live together in the metropolis Element City finds its footing as it leans on tried-and-true plot devices from romances featuring star-crossed lovers and stories about parents and their children.Related Articles What to watch: ‘Crowded Room’ a gripping true-crime story, thanks to Tom Holland ‘The Flash’ a fast-moving, Bat-tastic, universe-altering thrillfest Is it time for these film franchises to go away? ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ has little animal magnetism ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 3 finale: What a long, strange, uneventful season it’s been “Elemental” is inspire...

12 must-read mysteries for summer and beyond

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

Look sharp, folks. There’s a crime wave coming.On the bookshelves, I mean. Based on the novels I’ve got on my list to read in the next few months, it looks like it’s going to be a great summer.Check out the criminal pursuits we’ve covered just in the last few weeks. I got the opportunity to talk with “Razorblade Tears” author S.A. Cosby about his acclaimed new novel, “All the Sinners Bleed.” My colleague Samantha Dunn interviewed Eliza Jane Brazier about her murder mystery “Girls and Their Horses.” Regular contributor Michael Schaub talked to Ivy Pochoda about her hard-hitting novel “Sing Her Down.”It turns out I’m not the only one who thinks that this suggests even more fine work to come. Novelist Jordan Harper, who published the excellent “Everybody Knows” earlier this year, says it’s an especially good time for the genre.“This is a monster year for crime fiction, a monster year,” says Harper, who spoke by phone while walking a WGA picket line this week. “I think we’re in the midd...

Mac Jones reacts to DeAndre Hopkins’ reported Patriots visit: ‘Obviously we’d love to have him’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

FOXBORO — In a matter of days, maybe hours, Mac Jones could have a new No. 1 wide receiver.DeAndre Hopkins is expected to take a free-agent visit with the Patriots, though Bill Belichick cast doubt on the timing Monday morning. If Hopkins does visit, and sign, what would Jones think?Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick expresses uncertainty about DeAndre Hopkins’ Patriots visit New England Patriots | Mac Jones, Bill O’Brien and 5 things to follow at Patriots minicamp New England Patriots | Patriots RB Rhamondre Stevenson ready to be ‘the guy’ in 2023 after Damien Harris’ departure New England Patriots | Belichick: Patriots ‘moved on’ after losing 2 workout days for NFL rules violation New England Patriots | Sources: Patriots lost two OTA practice after Joe Judge-led meetings “Yeah, I think that’s definitely a hypothetical, but I think DeAndreR...

1 dead after tour boat capsizes in Erie Canal water tunnel cave in Lockport, New York

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:56:41 GMT

LOCKPORT, N.Y. (AP) — One person was killed and multiple people were sent to local hospitals after a boat capsized Monday during a tour of an underground cavern system built to carry water from the Erie Canal beneath the western New York city of Lockport, officials said.Police and fire crews were called to the Lockport Cave Tours, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Niagara Falls, at about 11:30 a.m. The tours take visitors on an underground boat ride illuminated only by small lights.“The boat did a 180-degree turn, so the bottom of the boat was upright in the water,” Lockport Fire Chief Luca Quagliano said at a news conference. “A number of victims were on top of that boat initially when rescuers got to them.”He said all 29 people on board the flat-bottom boat were thrown into water between 5 feet and 6 feet deep when the boat apparently became unbalanced and capsized toward the end of the roughly 300-foot tunnel.Some passengers were able to get to safety on their own...