Category: News
Lawsuits allege shell corporations compound negligence by nursing homes
Two recent deaths at Chicago-area nursing homes highlight a growing problem not just of poor care, nursing home advocates say, but of difficulty in holding those responsible accountable.
In both cases, families reluctantly put their elderly mothers with dementia into nursing homes. Both cases ended tragically when the mothers died with severe infections due to bed sores.
The cases resulted in legal judgments against the nursing homes, but plaintiffs said neither has been paid. The nursing homes were managed by Infinity Healthcare Management of Illinois LLC, and other businesses that are part of the portfolio of Strawberry Fields REIT, a real estate investment fund trust that takes rent from nursing homes that its affiliates also operate.
There were 30 lawsuits consolidated between 2019 and 2025 involving companies associated with Strawberry Fields CEO Moishe Gubin, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers in many of the cases, Levin & Perconti. The total amount the lawyers say is owed in these cases is nearly $5 million.
Gubin and Strawberry Fields could not immediately be reached for comment. Affected families plan to hold a news conference Tuesday morning in downtown Chicago to demand accountability.
The cases highlight common problems, advocates say, involving nursing homes that are run by a confusing web of shell corporations that avoid financial liability and increasingly are under- or uninsured, leaving them unable to compensate victims.
“It was a slap in the face,” said Leslie Adams, whose mother, Shirley Adams, died after going into a nursing home. “The negligence of this was unbelievable. She had bed sores, surgeries and a colostomy. We thought a nursing home would be a place that would care for loved ones.”
Shirley Adams was able to walk with a cane before she went into Lakeview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in 2021. Her family said they brought her there because she had dementia and needed care around the clock, which they could no longer provide.
But when they visited her at the facility, they were surprised to find she was confined to a wheelchair, and later to bed. She developed painful bed sores that went to the bone, and which forced her to undergo multiple surgeries to remove infected tissue. She died at age 79 in 2023.
Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Chicago on June 8, 2018. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Similarly, Barbara Marchinska went into Oak Lawn Respiratory and Rehabilitation Center in 2021 with dementia. Her family worked full time and could not continue to care for her.
Within a few months, her granddaughter Kasia Robberechts said, she suffered advanced pressure sores that caused a sepsis infection. She contracted COVID-19 and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure. She entered the nursing home in July and was dead by December. She was 83.
“It was shocking,” Robberechts said. “You send your loved one where you have trust, and that trust was broken really fast in the worst possible way. It was unethical, because this was preventable.”
Lawyers who advocate for nursing home residents have talked to lawmakers about the problems, saying that state law should be changed to require better insurance for nursing homes and to require greater transparency in their ownership.
“It’s time to amend the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act,” attorney Margaret Battersby Black said. “No incentive to improve care or meet staffing requirements.”
The state did pass a nursing home reform law in 2022, which tied increased funding to increased staffing, and aimed at greater disclosure of nursing home ownership, but advocates say more needs to be done.
Under the law, to qualify for bonus reimbursement, nursing homes have to meet at least 70% of federal staffing guidelines and get compensated based on their quality rating by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Nursing home trade groups like the Healthcare Council of Illinois have called for increased Medicaid payments to sustain struggling long-term care facilities and improve staffing and care.
Since COVID-19, the council reported, 31 skilled nursing facilities in Illinois have closed, and the state’s largest independent operator filed for bankruptcy in 2024.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/20/nursing-home-negligence-lawsuits/
Trump Calls UK Chagos Deal “Great Stupidity” – Demonstrates Greenland Must Be Taken
Trump Calls UK Chagos Deal “Great Stupidity” – Demonstrates Greenland Must Be Taken
Venezuela, Cuba, Greenland, Canada… and now President Trump sets his sights on ‘defending’ America’s influence over the tiny but strategically important Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia and the Chagos islands.
Early Tuesday the US president on social media blasted the UK government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, branding Britain’s prior agreement to hand sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius as an act of “great stupidity” and “total weakness.”
Washington had backed the arrangement last year under the Joe Biden administration, which transfers the Indian Ocean territory to Mauritius while allowing the UK to retain access to the Diego Garcia air base under a 99-year lease. He has claimed the deal means the UK is planning to “give away the island of Diego Garcia”.
In his Truth Social post, Trump took aim at the deal under which London would surrender sovereignty while leasing back the strategically critical military base on the islands, including Diego Garcia – where US forces also have a base. He took the opportunity to say the move underscored exactly why he wants the United States to take control of Greenland.
“The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired. Denmark and its European Allies have to DO THE RIGHT THING,” Trump wrote as his concluding sentence in the message.
Despite that Diego Garcia lies some 1,000 miles from the nearest continent (that’s how far the southern tip of India is), it hosts a highly secretive UK-US military base – and has since the 1970s.
At this point its inhabitants are all military personnel and contractors, after over 900 Chagossian inhabitants were forcibly removed to make way for the military base in the 1960s.
The remote airbase has at times been used by the United States to attack targets in the Middle East. For example, typically just ahead of any potential or threatened Iran strike, the US begins building up aerial assets and forces at Diego Garcia.
For further background: “The U.K. purchased the islands for the equivalent of around $4 million, CBS News partner BBC News reported, but Mauritius had long argued that it was forced to give the islands away in order to achieve its independence in 1968. The U.K. invited the U.S. to build a military base on the island of Diego Garcia, and it has become a cornerstone of American defense infrastructure in the vast Indian Ocean region.”
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/20/2026 – 11:00
Steve Reaven’s high school boys basketball rankings and player of the week for Lake County
Stevenson, Wauconda, Grayslake Central and Lakes all rise in the rankings.
TOP 10
With records through Monday and previous rankings in parentheses.
1. Warren 16-1 (1)
Braylon Walker averages 14.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in two victories as the North Suburban Conference leader wins by double digits for the 15th time.
2. Waukegan 15-5 (2)
Douglas Lewis and Cameron McKay emerge to provide newfound bench production for the Bulldogs.
3. Stevenson 15-5 (5)
Rocco Pagliocca scores his 1,000th career point with a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer in the Patriots’ win over Metea Valley.
4. Wauconda 14-5 (6)
Alex Ortega’s productive weekend in the Northern Lake County Conference leader’s two wins at Lakes includes a team-high 18 points against Zion-Benton.
5. Grayslake Central 13-6 (7)
Cordell Johnson, a lineman in football, is helping to control the paint for the Rams.
6. Lakes 11-7 (9)
Dorian Pullen hits the game-winning 3-pointer in the final seconds of the Eagles’ victory over Fremd in the Lakes MLK Classic championship game.
7. Deerfield 13-7 (3)
Max Garland, who is shooting 50% from 3-point range, has stepped up his game as the Warriors deal with injuries.
8. Libertyville 9-7 (4)
Ben Kristopher and the Wildcats will try to bounce back at Stevenson on Friday after back-to-back losses.
9. Vernon Hills 13-7 (8)
Daniel Odhiambo records 15 points and seven rebounds against Hoffman Estates in his second game back in the Cougars’ lineup after missing three weeks.
10. Grayslake North 9-9 (10)
Uros Mitrovic scores a career-high 29 points in the Knights’ win over Roosevelt as Jared Van Donselaar adds 22.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior guard Donny Williams averages 26.3 points in Stevenson’s wins against Zion-Benton, Downers Grove North, Metea Valley and Oak Park-River Forest, a stretch that includes nearly half of the team’s total points in back-to-back games.
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
Volunteers including actress Khali Spraggins support MLK Day of Service at The Bridge Teen Center
Now that the Netflix sitcom “The Upshaws” ended earlier this month, Khali Spraggins, who plays Aaliyah on the show, spends her time volunteering, a trait she gained from her aunt who co-founded her own nonprofit organization.
As Spraggins, a 20-year-old Inglewood native, prepares to start her own nonprofit later this year called Khali Cares, Dawn Hendricks-Milhouse, Spraggins’s aunt, brought her to volunteer Monday at the ninth annual Martin Luther King Day of Service at the Bridge Teen Center in Orland Park.
Both Spraggins and her aunt were a part of more than 200 volunteers.
“We’re always willing to help out, give out a hand at events like this,” Spraggins said. “They just gave me a tour of the place, I’m smiling the whole time, it’s amazing. I’m always willing to help, I love stuff like this.”
Two sessions were held for volunteers to sort clothes and shoes for the center’s thrift shop and deep clean the center.
Members of a Girl Scout troop, Milhouse Charities, Orland Park Meijer, Joliet Area/South Suburban Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and Chase Bank volunteered at the morning session.
Family groups and other volunteer organizations including Crate & Barrel. Jack & Jill Club, helped at an afternoon session.
With schools closed and some parents off work on the holiday, Priscilla Steinmetz, founder and executive director of the center, said she wanted to bridge the gap and have a day to volunteer.
“The power of a student and a parent or someone from their family serving together is very transformative,” Steinmetz said.
More than 230 people signed up to volunteer at both sessions, she said. From starting the volunteer day nine years ago and having multiple people reach out was humbling for Steinmetz.
Jasmine Thompson, a 40-year-old Auburn Gresham resident, smiles while volunteering Monday during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service at The Bridge Teen Center in Orland Park. (Cam’ron Hardy/for the Daily Southtown)
Vanessa Smith, 45, cleans glass Monday at The Bridge Teen Center in Orland Park. (Cam’ron Hardy/for the Daily Southtown)
“The Bridge Teen Center is just really trying to be a light in the community, and then when you’re able to organize and coordinate a day around Dr. King and his call for unity and his call to let the lightness come through the darkness, it just really shows you when a group of people come together, on a small scale, if we all do our part, we can make a difference,” Steinmetz said.
One of the principles of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority is service, which is why Jennifer Rush-Carthron, a 40-year-old Auburn Gresham resident, joined the organization a little over a month ago. Aside from just enjoying service work, she also wanted to find other ways to give back to the community.
“This is just very new for me, but it’s something that I wanted to do,” Rush-Carthron said. “I have children, but they’re older and I wanted to do something that was for me and something also kind of give back and do things with purpose.”
Jennifer Rush-Carthron, 41, sorts through clothes at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service at The Bridge Teen Center. (Cam’ron Hardy/for the Daily Southtown)
A volunteer sands down wood Monday at The Bridge Teen Center in Orland Park. (Cam’ron Hardy/for the Daily Southtown)
The Bridge Teen Center is a nonprofit organization that opened in 2010 and has art, music, welding and culinary activities for students. It’s free and open to students between seventh and 12th grade. Since its opening, more than 14,000 students have visited the center. It serves 128 communities from the Chicago area.
Steinmetz encourages others to volunteer when they can to combat the darkness in the world.
“For us, for a community, for a nation, we got to keep volunteering,” she said. “We got to keep giving to each other and that’s where we’re gonna value each other.”
Cam’ron Hardy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/20/actress-khali-spraggins-volunteers-bridge-teen-center/
3 firefighters among 4 injured Monday night at West Town fire
Three firefighters and one person were injured following a fire Monday night at an apartment building in the West Town neighborhood, the Chicago Fire Department said.
Officials said the fire broke out in a second floor apartment at a building in the 800 block of North May Street where three firefighters were among four people who suffered injuries surrounding the fire.
Larry Merritt, a spokesman for the fire department said the firefighters were injured due to slipping and falling on ice at the scene. Their injuries were not due to the fire, he said, and they were taken to area hospitals for minor injuries.
Police said two adults were displaced, and an adult suffered a head injury. That person was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and reported in good condition.
As of Tuesday morning, the fire was reported extinguished.
Oklo’s Isotope Business: Atomic Alchemy
Oklo’s Isotope Business: Atomic Alchemy
Submitted by Tight Spreads
Oklo is one of the most impressive nuclear companies in the public equities market. They uniquely and strategically intersect arguably the most important themes today: energy dominance, critical material supply chains, and national defense.
The market is not pricing in the potential value of the Y-Combinator backed company: Atomic Alchemy acquisition. And those who attempted to value the business have likely found it difficult with the little information given from management. But the most important takeaways are:
Oklo’s management said on a recent earnings call they will be receiving isotope revenues from this segment in the first half of 2026.
Atomic Alchemy’s Versatile Isotope Production Reactors (VIPR) can simultaneously extract isotopes from waste and create 40+ variations of new types via direct irradiation.
Co-locating Atomic Alchemy’s VIPR with Aurora Powerhouses are projected to lower their levelized cost of energy by 30-40%.
VIPR technology converts silicon into Phosphorus-31 with atomic-level consistency for cooler-running chips – which could lead to an interesting partnership/contract for Oklo, Intel, and Nvidia as hinted by management.
Oklo has vertically structured its business into the following segments:
Power and heat generation
Nuclear waste to fuel recycling and fuel fabrication
Advanced fuel services
Radioisotopes business via Atomic Alchemy
Last February, Oklo acquired Atomic Alchemy for ~$28.4million, primarily funded via stock and represented less than 1% of dilution to Oklo shareholders. As mentioned in my Isotopes 101 article, Atomic Alchemy’s key technology is the Versatile Isotope Production Reactors (VIPR). The VIPR simultaneously extracts high-value radioisotopes from waste streams (ranging from SMRs to traditional nuclear power plants) and by directly irradiating targets in the VIPR to create over 40 types of radioisotopes on demand.
Oklo sees this as a significant high-margin opportunity and it stands up its nuclear generation business, and is moving expeditiously with the DOE to launch their first radioisotope facility. Recently on January 7, 2026, Oklo and the DOE signed what is known as a “Other Transaction Agreement” which established a framework for execution and risk reduction to design, construct, and operate the first radioisotope pilot plant under the DOE Reactor Pilot Program. Atomic Alchemy is using the radioisotope pilot plant to lay the groundwork for future commercial plants that make medical and research radioisotopes in the United States. Today, many are produced overseas or in aging facilities creating a structural supply shrinkage in an increasing demand environment.
This OTA is significant as it is a faster, well-structured pathway to scaling their isotope business compared to their prior planned Meitner-1 commercial radioisotope production facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).
And when thinking about timelines, it’s important to note that this superior pathway to commercializing their isotopes business was only recently announced. Richard Craig Bealmear, Oklo’s Chief Financial Officer, made the following statement about ten months earlier on Oklo’s March 2025 earnings call when the isotope business was still pursuing production at INL:
“Radioisotopes are among the most valuable materials on earth. Take Actinium-225 for example, which sells for $400 per nanogram or an astonishing $400 billion per gram. With our recent acquisition of Atomic Alchemy, we are positioning Oklo to capitalize on this high margin market. Our radioisotope demonstration project is already underway and we could begin generating revenue as early as the first quarter of 2026, unlocking significant near-term value for our business… [while] this acquisition is not expected to have material near-term operating cost increases for Oklo”
Isotopes that are currently disclosed, including special isotopes not found in nature and exclusive to VIPR technology, and rumored are included at the end of the article.
Unpacking Oklo’s vertically integrated business model
In a co-located facility, the Aurora Powerhouse and VIPR function as a single, integrated ecosystem where the flow of nuclear material is never a “choice” between power or isotopes, but rather a sequential process that maximizes every atom. The “closed-loop” system is anchored by Oklo’s Advanced Fuel Center in Tennessee, which employs electrorefining-based pyroprocessing—a high-temperature electrochemical technique uniquely capable of recycling spent fuel into fresh high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) metallic fuel for reuse in Aurora units. VIPR complements this by acting as an on-site “value-added” processor: as spent fuel exits the Aurora core, it undergoes initial extraction in co-located “hot cells” to harvest high-value isotopes like Strontium-90 and Americium-241, removing fission products that act as impurities without diminishing the fuel’s remaining energy potential. The purified remnants are then shipped to Tennessee for full re-fabrication, closing the loop and achieving up to 95% fuel reuse while minimizing waste.
Oklo could also co-locaate their VIPR technologies with the Tennessee fuel recycling and fabrication site as they scale to concentrate the logistics of mass producing and shipping isotope products. But if Oklo chose to co-locate generation and isotopes, that would likely be for a significant contract. The strategy of co-locating Oklo’s Aurora Powerhouse with the VIPR creates a highly efficient industrial hub by functioning as a “shared oven” for energy and advanced materials. By simultaneously extracting high-value co-products from spent fuel and irradiating specialized feedstock, Oklo aims to maximize neutron utility and transform the traditional nuclear cost structure. As highlighted in company updates from August 2025, this vertically integrated approach leverages the Atomic Alchemy segment to create a multi-stream revenue model. By offsetting power generation costs with high-margin isotope production, Oklo is positioning its Aurora-VIPR ecosystem to significantly lower the levelized cost of energy, with analyst projections suggesting a potential 30-40% reduction in long-term operational costs compared to non-integrated advanced reactor designs.
Putting it all together into one Golden Formula,
Bundled services (Aurora nuclear power + fuel services + partnership with RPower for back-up generation + VIPR materials) = (Reliable power delivery that is not at risk to the grid + supplies customers with specialty materials within half-life spans in decay)
Oklo additionally intends to use their Tennessee fuel facilities to recycle spent U.S. nuclear fuel reserves and Atomic Alchemy to produce isotopes from U.S. nuclear waste. The annual cost of managing spent nuclear fuel across the U.S. has risen sharply, reaching nearly $49 billion in 2025 according to congressional testimony. This will only increase as the U.S. expands its nuclear install base. The company views the approximately 94,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel stored across the U.S. as a significant energy reserve equivalent to 1.3 trillion barrels of oil. The nuclear fuel recycling market has a CAGR range of 6.5-8.5% between 2024-2035. And if spent fuel management wasn’t burdensome enough, the country is also facing a potential liability of up to $39.2 billion due to its failure to fulfill a legal mandate to dispose of uncontrollable nuclear waste. The market opportunity for high-level waste management for isotope recovery is a 7.8% CAGR between 2024-2034.
Applying the power and material stack to other industries
Semiconductors and Quantum Computers
In late 2025, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang publicly backed nuclear energy as the essential “round-the-clock” power source for the AI era. It makes sense that NVIDIA, Intel, and Oklo could form a vertically integrated “Quantum and AI Stack” that addresses the critical hurdles of power density and material evolution.
The technical and economic logic for this trifecta is driven by the escalating energy crisis in modern data centers, where individual server racks now demand up to 1 MW of power. To manage these unprecedented loads, Intel requires high-performance power semiconductors, such as MOSFETs and IGBTs, capable of high-frequency electrical switching with minimal thermal loss. While the industry has long used phosphorus as a “dopant” to induce electrical conductivity in silicon, traditional chemical methods are often “blotchy” and uneven, leading to efficiency-draining heat. By leveraging Oklo’s VIPR reactor, Intel can convert its pre-existing silicon sources into Phosphorus-31 atom-by-atom. This achieves an atomic-level consistency that no other commercial method can currently replicate, ensuring chips run significantly cooler and more efficiently bringing down the total cost of ownership in its factories.
It is notable to highlight that Richard Craig Bealmear, Oklo’s Chief Financial Officer, made the following statement on Oklo’s earnings call March 2025:
“We are already exploring joint ventures with customers in radiopharmaceuticals and advanced silicon doping for semiconductor manufacturing positioning Oklo for long-term success in high growth industries”
This collaboration between Intel and NVIDIA, announced in September 2025, elevates both companies from traditional semiconductor manufacturing to a next-generation tier that tightly integrates software and specialized hardware for accelerating AI workloads, requiring next-generation materials. NVIDIA agreed to invest $5 billion in Intel common stock, while the two firms jointly develop custom x86 CPUs designed to connect seamlessly with NVIDIA’s GPUs using NVIDIA’s high-bandwidth NVLink interconnect (a technology that provides significantly faster data transfer and lower latency than standard PCIe connections used in most systems today). This creates a unified “super-system” where Intel’s CPUs and NVIDIA’s GPUs work as one cohesive unit, allowing enterprise customers—such as data centers running massive AI models—to process complex tasks more efficiently without needing to rewrite existing software codebases heavily reliant on NVIDIA’s CUDA platform.
Beyond the atomic-level architecture of the chips themselves, the collaboration between nuclear production and semiconductor fabrication enhances industrial quality control and long-term hardware reliability. Thallium-204 is utilized as a vital tool for high-precision thickness gauging, allowing foundries like Intel to monitor the extreme uniformity required for advanced 300mm wafer fabrication nodes. This ensures that microscopic layers across the wafer meet the rigorous standards necessary for next-generation Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. To further safeguard these assets, Krypton-85 is employed for sophisticated leak detection in hermetically sealed electronic components. This is especially critical for high-power AI enterprise hardware, where the failure of sealed cooling systems or protective enclosures could lead to catastrophic thermal failures. Together, these isotopes provide the material precision and operational security required to reduce the total cost of ownership for data centers while enabling the reliable scaling of the world’s most advanced computing technologies.
List of Isotopes associated with Atomic Alchemy:
More in the Tight Spreads substack
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/20/2026 – 10:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/oklos-isotope-business-atomic-alchemy
Canciller ruso afirma que la OTAN enfrenta profunda crisis por Groenlandia
Por VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
MOSCÚ (AP) — La intención del presidente estadounidense Donald Trump de apoderarse de Groenlandia refleja una “crisis profunda” dentro de la OTAN y plantea interrogantes sobre la preservación de la alianza como bloque político-militar unido, declaró el martes el principal diplomático de Rusia.
“Era difícil imaginar antes que algo así pudiera suceder”, indicó el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores, Serguéi Lavrov. Ello podría crear un escenario en el que “un miembro de la OTAN ataque a otro miembro de la OTAN”, agregó el ministro en conferencia de prensa.
Manifestó que las acciones de Trump trastocan el concepto occidental del “orden global basado en reglas” que Rusia ha criticado durante mucho tiempo, incluso después de que Moscú enviara tropas a la vecina Ucrania hace casi cuatro años.
“Ahora no es el Occidente Colectivo quien escribe las reglas, sino solo uno de sus representantes”, comentó Lavrov con ironía. “Es un gran trastorno para Europa, y lo estamos observando. El concepto euroatlántico de garantizar la seguridad y la cooperación ha quedado desacreditado”.
Afirmó que el control de Dinamarca sobre Groenlandia era un vestigio del pasado colonial.
“En principio, Groenlandia no es una parte natural de Dinamarca”, añadió.
Al mismo tiempo, negó rotundamente los comentarios de Trump de que Rusia y China tienen intenciones de amenazar la isla ártica.
“No tenemos relación con eso”, dijo. “Ciertamente estamos observando esta seria situación geopolítica y sacaremos nuestras conclusiones cuando se resuelva”.
Hablando en una conferencia de prensa anual sobre las prioridades de la política exterior de Moscú, Lavrov también ofreció una aprobación cautelosa de la iniciativa de Trump de establecer una Junta de Paz. Inicialmente, la organización era vista como un mecanismo enfocado en poner fin a la guerra entre Israel y Hamás en Gaza, pero está tomando forma con ambiciones de tener un mandato mucho más amplio sobre otras crisis globales, potencialmente rivalizando con las Naciones Unidas.
El Kremlin dijo que estaba estudiando la invitación de Trump para unirse a la junta y esperando escuchar más detalles desde Washington.
“Esta iniciativa refleja la comprensión de Estados Unidos de que incluso con la filosofía de política exterior que tiene, considera necesario tratar de convencer a un grupo de naciones para que cooperen con ellos”, señaló.
Elogió las iniciativas de Trump para negociar el fin de los combates en Ucrania, describiendo a Estados Unidos como el único país occidental que ha “expresado comprensión de la necesidad de tener en cuenta los intereses rusos y ofrecido soluciones considerando las causas fundamentales de la crisis”.
Al mismo tiempo, Lavrov reprendió a los aliados europeos de Kiev por intentar enmendar las propuestas de Estados Unidos mientras el ejército ucraniano enfrenta un implacable ataque ruso.
Argumentó que, aunque la propuesta inicial de Trump, que fue aceptada por el presidente Vladímir Putin en su cumbre en Alaska, preveía protecciones para los rusoparlantes en Ucrania y la Iglesia Ortodoxa Ucraniana afiliada a Moscú, fue eliminada de la última versión del plan propuesto por Kiev y sus aliados europeos.
Moscú no aceptará tales cambios, dijo.
“No permitiremos el lujo de dejar que el régimen de Kiev tome un descanso y se rearme una vez más”, sostuvo.
Señaló que, aunque Moscú no descarta contactos con líderes europeos, “lo más probable es que no podamos acordar nada con ellos, ya que se han sumido demasiado en el odio hacia Rusia”.
Pero también criticó a Estados Unidos por su captura del líder venezolano Nicolás Maduro para llevarlo a Estados Unidos y enjuiciarlo por cargos de tráfico de drogas, calificándolo de “cruda intervención militar”. Dijo que Moscú todavía está esperando que Estados Unidos cumpla su promesa de liberar a dos tripulantes rusos de un petrolero con bandera rusa incautado a principios de este mes, y también señaló las amenazas de Estados Unidos a Cuba y otras naciones latinoamericanas.
Destacó la negativa de Washington a aceptar la propuesta de Putin de respetar los límites sobre armas nucleares establecidos por el tratado de control de armas New START por un año más después de que expire el próximo mes.
Rusia está lista para continuar el diálogo con Estados Unidos sobre la base del respeto mutuo por los intereses nacionales, aseguró Lavrov. Afirmó que durante las conversaciones entre Estados Unidos y Rusia en Riad en febrero, el secretario de Estado Marco Rubio enfatizó la necesidad de cooperación donde sus intereses lo permitan y evitar que los desacuerdos se conviertan en una confrontación.
Concluyó: “Respondí que comparto plenamente esta filosofía y lógica”.
___________________________________
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Bipartisan FY26 Minibus Released As January 30th Shutdown Approaches
Bipartisan FY26 Minibus Released As January 30th Shutdown Approaches
It seems that Congress may bypass our regularly scheduled shutdown drama – as House appropriators released the text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 early Monday, marking a significant step toward completing all 12 annual spending bills ahead of the January 30 funding deadline and averting another government shutdown. The package reflects a rare point of bipartisan convergence on topline funding – even as Republicans and Democrats frame the deal in sharply different political terms.
The legislation packages conference agreements covering Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services and Education; Transportation, Housing and Urban Development; and Homeland Security, though GOP leaders have committed to moving the Homeland bill separately. Together, the three-bill minibus released Monday totals roughly $1.2 trillion in discretionary spending, according to Democratic appropriators.
Punchbowl News‘ John Bresnahan has summarized a few key provisions:
FEMA gets a big increase, $4.7 billion.
$28 billion-plus for ICE & CPB. This includes nearly $4B for “custody operations to bolster the Trump Administration’s efforts to detain and deport all criminal and removable aliens.”
$744 million in Homeland Security bill for “the transportation and removal of every alien who no longer has a legal basis to remain in this country.”
$2.6B for Homeland Security Investigations
$273 million in earmarks in FEMA
Keeps in place HUD layoffs, about 24% of staff.
$3.8 billion in earmarks in THUD bill
Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee cast the agreement as proof that Congress can complete its work without relying on year-end omnibus packages. Chairman Tom Cole said the deal reflects “a deliberate, member-driven process” that delivers full-year funding aligned with the Trump administration’s priorities while keeping spending below levels projected under the current continuing resolution.
“America has always been a nation of builders,” Cole said, arguing the bills reinforce military readiness, border security, education, health systems and transportation infrastructure while applying fiscal discipline. GOP leaders emphasized that the measures were negotiated on a bipartisan, bicameral basis and described the package as advancing an “America First” agenda centered on defense, innovation and domestic security.
The Defense title includes funding increases for military pay, investments in weapons systems and industrial supply chains, and research and development accounts aimed at accelerating next-generation capabilities. Homeland Security provisions emphasize enforcement, border operations and emergency preparedness, while maintaining longstanding riders barring housing assistance for undocumented immigrants and preserving restrictions related to abortion and livestock transportation.
Labor-HHS-Education funding, according to Republicans, prioritizes biomedical research, workforce training and rural health care, while Transportation and Housing provisions focus on air traffic control modernization, infrastructure safety and economic development assistance for local communities.
Democrats, however, described the agreement as a rebuke of the Trump administration’s budget proposals rather than an endorsement of them.
“This latest funding package continues Congress’s forceful rejection of extreme cuts to federal programs proposed by the Trump Administration,” said House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro. She said Democrats and Republicans jointly rejected proposals to eliminate or sharply reduce funding for federal health, education and housing programs, instead sustaining or increasing funding in several areas.
The bill includes a ban on any new border crossing fees, which DHS cannot even study.
also interesting: explicit ban on any new border-crossing fee. also, DHS cannot even STUDY a border-crossing fee. https://t.co/u6Ff2D4Qe1 pic.twitter.com/057EjqvKYc
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 20, 2026
DeLauro highlighted increased funding for the National Institutes of Health, investments in transportation infrastructure, and expanded resources for affordable housing and homelessness assistance. She said the housing provisions would prevent millions of households from losing housing while also supporting new construction.
Regarding ICE funding, DeLauro said: “I understand that many of my Democratic colleagues may be dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE. I share their frustration with the out-of-control agency. I encourage my colleagues to review the bill and determine what is best for their constituents and communities.”
“The Homeland Security funding bill is more than just ICE. If we allow a lapse in funding, TSA agents will be forced to work without pay, FEMA assistance could be delayed, and the U.S. Coast Guard will be adversely affected. All while ICE continues functioning without any change in their operations due to $75 billion it received in the One Big Beautiful Bill. A continuing resolution will jettison the guardrails we have secured while ceding authority to President Trump, Stephen Miller, and Secretary Noem.”
The package also includes a pay raise for service members and funding increases for national security priorities – points of overlap that helped unlock bipartisan agreement despite deep philosophical differences over the role of federal spending.
Couple of admin restrictions in the latest minibus:
– prevents OMB from funding multi-year NIH grants in one lump sum, which cuts # of grants funded
– rejects 15% indirect research cost cap
– states Ed Dep’t has no authority to offload responsibilities
— Samantha Handler (@sn_handler) January 20, 2026
Both parties emphasized the importance of completing full-year appropriations before the end of January, after years of stopgap funding measures that lawmakers from both sides say undermine agency planning and oversight. Republicans framed the deal as a break from what they described as “rushed, Christmas omnibuses,” while Democrats emphasized Congress’s role in reasserting its constitutional power of the purse.
The remaining point of contention is procedural rather than substantive: House Republicans have pledged to hold a separate vote on the Homeland Security bill, decoupling it from the current minibus even as the text has already been negotiated.
Still, with conference agreements finalized and leadership on both sides publicly backing the deal, the FY26 funding package appears on track for floor action later this week — setting Congress up to clear one of its most consequential must-pass items before the end of the month.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 01/20/2026 – 10:20
Una bebé palestina murió de hipotermia en Gaza
Por WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY y SAM METZ
DEIR AL-BALAH, Franja de Gaza (AP) — Una bebé palestina murió de hipotermia el martes en la Franja de Gaza, subrayando las sombrías condiciones humanitarias en el territorio mientras líderes mundiales se reunían en un resort suizo donde el plan de alto el fuego en Gaza del presidente Donald Trump es un tema destacado en la agenda.
La familia de Shaza Abu Jarad encontró a la bebé de tres meses el martes por la mañana en su tienda en el barrio Daraj de la Ciudad de Gaza.
“Estaba congelada y muerta”, afirmó el padre de la bebé, Mohamed Abu Jarad, a The Associated Press por teléfono después del funeral. “Murió de frío”.
El hombre, que trabajaba en Israel antes de la guerra, vive con su esposa y sus otros siete hijos en una tienda improvisada porque su casa quedó destruida durante la guerra.
La familia llevó a la niña al hospital Al-Ahly, donde un médico la declaró muerta por hipotermia, dijo su tío, Khalid Abu Jarad. El Ministerio de Salud confirmó que la bebé murió de hipotermia.
La familia es parte de los cientos de miles de personas que se refugian en campamentos de tiendas y edificios destrozados por la guerra en Gaza, que experimenta inviernos fríos y húmedos, con temperaturas que caen por debajo de los 10 grados Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) por la noche.
Mientras los palestinos en el enclave devastado por la guerra languidecen en campamentos de desplazados, Trump espera establecer su nuevo Consejo de Paz en el Foro Económico Mundial en Davos. Pero la iniciativa, concebida inicialmente para supervisar el alto el fuego en Gaza, enfrenta muchas preguntas sobre su membresía y alcance.
El martes, Israel comenzó a demoler la sede en Jerusalén de la agencia de la ONU para los refugiados palestinos, avanzando con su represión contra un organismo al que ha acusado durante mucho tiempo de sesgo antiisraelí.
Shaza Abu Jarad fue la novena niña en morir de frío severo este invierno en Gaza, según el ministerio de salud de la franja, parte del gobierno dirigido por Hamás y atendido por profesionales médicos. La ONU y expertos independientes lo consideran la fuente más confiable sobre las bajas de guerra. Israel disputa sus cifras, pero no ha proporcionado propias.
Más de 100 niños han muerto desde el inicio del alto el fuego en octubre, una cifra que incluye a una niña de 27 días que murió de hipotermia durante el fin de semana.
El alto el fuego detuvo dos años de guerra entre Israel y los militantes de Hamás y permitió un aumento de la ayuda humanitaria en Gaza, principalmente alimentos.
Pero los residentes dicen que persisten las carencias de mantas y ropa de abrigo, y hay poca madera para hacer fuego. No ha habido electricidad central en Gaza desde los primeros días de la guerra en 2023, y el combustible para generadores es escaso.
El Comité Internacional de la Cruz Roja dijo que el reciente frío intenso y las lluvias en Gaza eran “en última instancia una amenaza para la supervivencia”.
El Consejo de Paz de Trump fue visto inicialmente como un mecanismo enfocado en poner fin a la guerra entre Israel y Hamás en Gaza.
Pero las recientes invitaciones enviadas a docenas de líderes mundiales muestran que el organismo podría tener un mandato mucho más amplio sobre otras crisis globales, potencialmente rivalizando con el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU.
Trump dice que el organismo “emprendería un nuevo enfoque audaz para resolver conflictos globales”, una indicación de que el organismo podría no limitar su trabajo a Gaza.
El panel fue parte del plan de alto el fuego de 20 puntos de Trump que detuvo la guerra en Gaza en octubre. Muchos países, incluida Rusia, dijeron que recibieron la invitación de Trump y estaban estudiando la propuesta. Francia dijo que no planea unirse al consejo “en esta etapa”.
______
Magdy informó desde El Cairo y Metz en Jerusalén.
______
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/20/una-beb-palestina-muri-de-hipotermia-en-gaza/
No longer one of those kids in awe, No. 1 Kouts’ Lucas Kleckner is a player they revere. ‘He’s our leader.’
Kouts senior Lucas Kleckner is a skilled player who can dribble, pass and shoot at an exceptionally high level.
But the 5-foot-8 point guard focused on something else to make strides in his third season as a starter for the Mustangs.
“I’ve taken pride in playing defense this year,” Kleckner said. “Last year, we had Caden Spagna, who played a lot of defense for us, and we don’t have that this year. So we need somebody to step up and play defense. That’s what I’ve been trying to do this year.”
Not to say Kleckner didn’t continue to hone his offensive tools. He’s averaging team highs of 22.8 points, 4.6 assists and 2.2 steals to go along with 1.8 rebounds for the Mustangs (10-0, 4-0), who are ranked No. 1 in Class 1A in the USA Today poll as they open Porter County Conference Tournament play against Morgan Township on Wednesday.
Kleckner is shooting an efficient 59.2% from the field, including 55.9% (38 of 68) from 3-point range, and is 15 points away from reaching 1,000 in his career. He averaged 17.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.9 assists last season.
“He’s our leader,” Kouts coach Kevin Duzan said. “He’s the guy that keeps everybody stabilized out there on the offensive end. He’s put a lot of time in. His success is not because he just shows up. It shows the amount of time he’s put in has really paid off.
“He’s always in the gym. He has a gym at home that he goes out to. When he’s not playing here, he’s playing there, and if he’s not playing there, he’s playing someplace else. He plays a lot. He’s been a good one for us. He learned as a sophomore, and he just kept getting better, getting better. He’s really had a great start to this year.”
Kleckner and the Mustangs have picked up where they left off last season after winning the PCC Tournament for the first time since 2021 and reaching a semistate final. Kouts has won three regional titles in the past five seasons and was the 1A state runner-up in 2021.
“I can remember these kids would line the sidelines for that ’21 group, and they’d all want five, and all the varsity kids were good about giving them five,” Duzan said. “Our young kids eat this stuff up, and it’s a credit to these guys for being who they are. More than basketball players, they’re just good kids.
“That’s the neat thing about a small school. Our first, second, third, fourth, fifth graders see these kids in the hallway, and they’re just in awe, and these guys are really good about giving those kids attention. I’m seeing pictures on Facebook of when these were those kids around the ’21 group. Thank goodness they’ve all grown up. These kids make time for those kids. That helps keep this thing going because everyone wants to be a part of it.”
Senior point guard Lucas Kleckner is averaging team highs of 22.8 points, 4.6 assists and 2.2 steals for top-ranked Kouts. (Michael Osipoff / Post-Tribune)
This group includes seven seniors, four of whom have been starting since they were sophomores.
“There’s so much here,” Kleckner said. “Every single guy here can score. Every guy can play defense. Every guy can rebound. But the thing that’s special with this group. It’s not just on the basketball court. We’re always hanging out. We’re a really close group. We’re always doing stuff together.”
Senior forward Landon Garrett is part of that group. Kleckner recalled meeting Garrett in first grade.
“Me and him sat next to each other,” Kleckner said. “I went and I sat down and took my jacket off, put it on the back of my chair. I was wearing this red dirt bike shirt — I remember it like it was yesterday — and he took his jacket off, and he was wearing the same red dirt bike shirt. We just knew from there we were going to be best friends.”
Garrett knows what the Mustangs have in Kleckner.
“Lucas is a major competitor,” Garrett said. “He’s been that way since we were kids. I’ve never seen a guard his size before finish like he does around the basket.
“He’s the bread and butter to our team and has been a major key to our success on both sides of the ball. As a team, we feel very comfortable with Lucas as our point guard.”
Duzan said Kleckner plays with confidence on the court but exhibits humility off it.
“He’d be the first to tell you it’s a collective team effort,” Duzan said. “It’s not just about him. All these guys are close, and it’s a collective team effort.”
With that effort, Kouts has taken a significant step toward winning its first PCC round-robin title since 2021 by defeating Washington Township on Friday.
“It set the tone,” Kleckner said. “We want everybody to know our goal is to win the round robin, to win the tournament and make it to state. That’s the end goal. We want to make that known.
“We all have that goal in mind. We’re all together. We all have the same goal. This group’s been playing together for a while.”
Kouts’ Lucas Kleckner shoots the ball during a Porter County Conference game against Boone Grove in Valparaiso on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune)
Indeed, these are heady times for Kouts. Four of the five starters also started for the baseball team during a run to the 1A state championship game in June.
Kleckner has focused on basketball, which he said he has played since he “started walking.” But his career is likely winding down. He’s planning to become an electrician after graduation.
“It was a really hard decision,” Kleckner said. “A hundred percent, I was going to go to college and play basketball up until this year. But I decided to go into my future career. It was a tough decision.”
Duzan doesn’t believe Kleckner will veer too far away from the game he loves.
“Lucas certainly can play in college, and it would be nice to see him play someplace,” Duzan said. “But he’ll be one of those guys that shows up here on Monday nights during basketball season and plays in the old man’s league. He’ll find a Y league to play in. He’ll keep playing, and he’ll make a good coach down the road.
“We have a policy you have to be out two years before you can come back and help. It works. I could see him coming back at some point, wanting to give back. He already gives lessons to elementary kids out in his own gym. They come out and do ballhandling and shooting with him. That’s just what he does.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/20/basketball-kouts-lucas-kleckner/
