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Toyota’s small car unit Daihatsu raided after faked tests lead it to suspend all vehicle shipments

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese transport ministry officials inspected Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu on Thursday, one day after officials announced it was suspending the small car unit’s shipments of all vehicles in and outside Japan after an investigation found improper testing involving 64 models. The safety test irregularities earlier this year prompted an independent panel investigation, which found widespread and systematic problems at Osaka-based Daihatsu Motor Co. It is the latest of safety or other violations found at at least five of Japan’s major automakers in recent years. On Thursday, transport ministry officials began a deeper investigation at Daihatsu’s offices over the systematic safety scandal that apparently persisted for decades. “It’s extremely regrettable,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Thursday. “It damaged the trust of car owners and has shaken the foundation of the automobile certification system.” Hayashi urged Daihatsu officials ...

RJ Davis scores 23 points, No. 11 North Carolina knocks off unbeaten No. 7 Oklahoma 81-69

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — RJ Davis scored 23 points, Armando Bacot added 14 points and eight rebounds and No. 11 North Carolina handed seventh-ranked Oklahoma its first loss of the season 81-69 on Wednesday night at the Spectrum Center.Cormac Ryan had 13 points and Harrison Ingram added 11 for the Tar Heels (8-3), who snapped a two-game losing streak.Otega Oweh had 23 points and Javian McCollum had 14 for Oklahoma (10-1), which never led. The Sooners’ loss leaves No. 3 Houston, No. 20 James Madison and No. 25 Ole Miss as the only unbeaten teams in Division I basketball.It was the seventh straight game Davis has led the Tar Heels in scoring. He came into the game averaging 21.6 points per game.The Sooners cracked The Associated Press Top 10 this week for the first time since February 2021, but struggled from the onset in their first meeting with North Carolina since a 72-60 loss in the 2009 NCAA Tournament’s Elite Eight.North Carolina’s defense gave Oklahoma fits in the early goin...

3D holiday designs from NailBox Miami in Little Havana add festive flair to the season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

Christmas is only a few days away, and I know what you’re thinking: “I’ve got to get my nails done.” If you’re looking for inspo or for an appointment, don’t you worry. Deco is checking a really cool SoFlo spot that making manicures merry and bright.Bad day? Don’t worry. NailBox Miami in Little Havana is gonna make everything merry and bright.Karen Elmir: “I’ve been coming here since they opened, and I always leave super happy. I think that their nail techs do the best designs.”Daniel Moran: “Every time I come here, I bring an idea. I always want 3D, more glitter.”Ciro Orizondo: “We do very detailed nail art — a 3D chrome, anything popping out of your nails, any magnets that we can stick on your nails, almost anything you have on your mind, we can make it come to life.”Really? OK, I have holidays designs on my mind. What ya got?Ciro Orizondo: “You’re gonna see a lot of Christmas-the...

A warning for 2024: The losers of the green revolution won’t go quietly

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 GMT

After pioneering the green revolution, Europe is now living under its shadow: the counterrevolution.I spent much of the past year reporting across northern Europe, where the pace of the transition to a clean economy is the greatest, talking to the people who will become the losers of the world’s desperately needed effort to bring our economies in sync with the environment.What they told me was that they won’t accept their fates in silence.I reported on Dutch farmers who have transformed their country’s politics and Polish coal miners who shaped the European Union’s climate policies. I talked to London drivers worried about their mayor’s efforts to rein in cars, and to reindeer herders at risk of having their lives upended by the pursuit of the metals and minerals needed for green technologies. In Germany I met the leaders and supporters of the far right, buoyant on a rising tide of rage.For some the impositions were minor, but for others they were life-changing. What all had in comm...

Germany aims to seize €720M of frozen Russian money

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 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 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 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 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 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 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 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 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 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 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:15:50 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...