Category: News
Francia: Wesley Saïd lidera al líder Lens a su décima victoria consecutiva
LENS, Francia (AP) — El extremo Wesley Saïd estampó un gol brillante para certificar la décima victoria consecutiva de Lens en todas las competiciones y colocarse en la cima de la clasificación de la liga francesa.
Lens derrotó el sábado 1-0 a Auxerre gracias al gol de Saïd, quien dominó con el pecho un centro de Malang Sarr al área y definió con una volea de zurda al rebote del balón. El tanto a los 65 minutos fue su octavo de la temporada.
Lens, que ganó su único título francés en 1998, se mantuvo un punto por delante del campeón defensor Paris Saint-Germain, que el viernes venció 3-0 a Lille.
Penúltimo en la clasificación, Auxerre no se dejó intimidar por la animada multitud y planteó una fuerte resistencia.
Después de un primer tiempo con escasas ocasiones, Lens mostró más intención y Matthieu Udol, asistido por Adrien Thomasson, estuvo cerca de romper el empate. El balón volvió a caer a Udol, quien disparó de nuevo solo para que el defensor Fredrik Oppegård tapase.
Lens siguió presionando y finalmente fue recompensado cuando Saïd anotó.
Doble de Hidalgo
El delantero argentino Santiago Hidalgo comenzó en lugar del suspendido Emersonn y anotó dos veces para que Tolosa derrotase 5-1 a Niza. Fue la tercera victoria de Tolosa en cuatro partidos de la Ligue 1.
Tolosa marcha séptimo, 17 puntos detrás de Lens.
El tercero Marsella jugaba más tarde el sábado contra Angers.
El PSG se puso a tono para enfrentar a Sporting Lisboa la próxima semana en la Liga de Campeones con una convincente victoria sobre Lille el viernes. Ousmane Dembélé, ganador del Balón de Oro, firmó un doblete. Mónaco sufrió séptima derrota en ocho partidos, un 3-1 en casa ante Lorient.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Photos: Hundreds return to Broadview to denounce federal agents’ killings in Minneapolis.
One of the first large-scale events to occur in Broadview since federal agents pulled back from their 64-day surge of immigration enforcement raids in and around Chicago, took place Saturday less than two weeks after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot U.S. citizen Renee Good to death in Minneapolis.
A person argues with a man carrying an American flag during a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
People attend a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility following recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
People attend a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility following recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A person holds a sign of Renee Good, the woman who was fatally shot by an immigration enforcement agent in Minneapolis, at a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility Saturday Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
An activist holds a sign during a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility following recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A person walks around dressed as an eagle while attending a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility following recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A person yells towards a man live-streaming from his phone during a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility following recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A woman holds a sign from her vehicle while people march in the street on South 25th Avenue during a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A woman carries a “We Love ICE” sign as people yell towards her during a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility following recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
People march in the street on South 25th Avenue, Jan. 17, 2026, during a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility following recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
A person holds a sign with an ICE agent during a protest outside the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility following recent immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis Saturday Jan. 17, 2026. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
Hundreds return to Broadview to denounce federal agents’ killings in Minneapolis, Chicago area
Andrew Pollock wore four sets of layers to a freezing protest outside the Broadview ICE processing center Saturday to deliver what he said was a “pretty straightforward” message to the federal government: “Killing American citizens is bad,” he said. “And they should stop doing that.”
Pollock, 39, was one of hundreds to gather and march outside the west suburban facility to condemn recent violence by federal agents executing President Donald Trump’s nationwide campaign to arrest and deport citizens without legal status.
The demonstration, one of the first large-scale events to occur in Broadview since federal agents pulled back from their 64-day surge of immigration enforcement raids in and around Chicago, took place less than two weeks after ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot U.S. citizen Renee Good to death in Minneapolis.
64 days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz
Good’s life and death were top of mind for many of the demonstrators who packed the street outside the processing center Saturday alongside Pollock, but so was the memory of a man from the Chicago area who died at the hands of federal agents in the early days of last year’s surge in Chicago.
“Before Renee Good was killed in Minnesota, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez was killed here, in Franklin Park,” independent congressional candidate and activist Myra Macias reminded the crowd. “We should be a model for what a just government looks like, but instead, we are a model of how to assassinate people and get away with it.”
Chela Garcia, of the Little Village Community Council, called on those gathered outside the building to remember Villegas-Gonzalez, a Mexican immigrant, alongside Good.
“Silverio was a father,” Garcia said. “Silverio was a person. Silverio’s life mattered. Everyone’s life mattered.”
Villegas-Gonzalez and Good were both on Rebecca Hatfield’s long, cardboard list of people who died in the custody or at the hands of federal immigration agents over the last year. There were 37 names on the list, she said.
“I’m just here today to share the names of everyone who has been killed in detention or in the streets,” she said.
Hatfield, 38, said she’d been working with local rapid response volunteer groups in the western suburbs and planned to keep that work up, particularly should agents refocus on the Chicago area in this spring as they have pledged to do.
“You have to be out there, patrolling, and alerting communities and alerting our neighbors and just keeping each other safe,” she said.
For many like Hatfield outside the processing center Saturday, the demonstration was a continuation of their volunteer efforts and local organizing to support immigrant families throughout the fall, when federal agents bore down on the city and suburbs in what Trump administration officials dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz.” As agents swept up thousands of people – most of whom had minimal or no criminal records — from around the city and suburbs, they faced off with enraged neighbors and filled city blocks with tear gas and pepper balls in an attempt to subdue crowds, hundreds of people gathered weekly outside the processing center to attempt to block federal vehicles, encourage detainees and exhort federal agents to “quit your jobs.”
Katherine “Kat” Abughazaleh, a progressive content creator and candidate in the race to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional district, spoke to the crowd about her earliest memories outside the processing center, which at points was effectively a battleground as federal agents faced off with protesters week after week throughout the “blitz,” where agents deployed copious amounts of chemical munitions hitting journalists and clergy alongside demonstrators, and chased protesters well beyond the immediate surroundings of the processing center into private yards across 25th Avenue in Broadview and Maywood.
“The taste of pepper bullets and tear gas coats my throat,” she said. “I am just one of so many people here and around the country who know what ICE does. I have been beaten, thrown, shot with pepper and rubber bullets.”
Abughazaleh is one of the “Broadview Six” — five political operatives and one garden store worker who are under federal indictment for allegedly attempting to impede a federal vehicle as it drove through a furious crowd toward the processing center. Abughazaleh is still campaigning, but one of her co-defendants, Catherine “Cat” Sharp, announced Monday that she was ending her campaign for the County Board’s 12th District seat, because she needed to “focus on winning the legal battle against the Trump administration.”
While the protest marked a return to familiar terrain for many of the demonstrators, others like Michelle Wesley and George Shalhoub, were just starting to step up their activism in response to federal immigration raids. Wesley, 37, said she’d kept up with news of the “blitz” and helped hand out whistles around Chicago’s North Side over the fall, but increasingly was looking for more ways to participate in the opposition, particularly in the wake of Good’s killing.
“As things continue to get more and more egregious, we’re going to get more active,” Wesley said.
She carried a sign that read “I will dance at your Nuremberg trial,” a reference to the international criminal trials of Nazi officials that followed the end of the Second World War.
“I just have hope that one day justice actually prevails here, and that we do a postmortem on everything that’s happened here and that we hold people to account,” she said. “I hope we have an organized fashion of holding these agents and their leadership accountable and that is not a certainty.”
Bayern supera susto inicial y vence 5-1 a Leipzig, ratificando su dominio en la Bundesliga
Por JAMES ELLINGWORTH
Justo cuando parecía que Leipzig podría ser el equipo que propinase a Bayern Munich su primera derrota en la Bundesliga esta temporada, el conjunto bávaro encontró una marcha extra.
El Bayern anotó cinco goles en 38 minutos de la segunda mitad para aplastar el sábado 5-1 a Leipzig tras ir al descanso en desventaja por primera vez en la liga alemana esta temporada.
Harry Kane marcó su 21º gol en la Bundesliga en lo que podría ser una temporada récord, pero fue una tarea con cinco anotadores diferentes. El arquero Manuel Neuer también se destacó con atajadas cruciales mientras crecen las conjeturas sobre si Bayern extenderá el contrato del jugador de 39 años.
Jürgen Klopp, observando en su capacidad como jefe de fútbol global de Red Bull, se mostró complacido cuando el delantero brasileño Rómulo empujó al fondo de la red el centro de David Raum para adelantar a Leipzig en un dominante primer tiempo que acabó en desperdicio.
Los errores de Leipzig reflotaron a los visitantes. A los 50 minutos, Dayot Upamecano le ganó la posesión a Christoph Baumgartner y jugó para que Serge Gnabry anotara. Después, Ridle Baku se resbaló al intentar interceptar un centro, dejando a Kane con un remate a placer a los 67.
El Bayern acabó dándose un festín. Jonathan Tah (83), Aleksandar Pavlovic (85) y Michael Olise (88) facturaron los otros goles.
Para rematar, el mediocampista ofensivo Jamal Musiala salió del banco al final para su primer partido desde julio cuando se fracturó la pierna izquierda en la Copa Mundial de Clubes, y celebró con los fanáticos del Bayern después del pitido final.
Penal agónico salva a Dortmund
La victoria restauró la ventaja de 11 puntos del Bayern sobre Borussia Dortmund, que pasó apuros para vencer 3-2 al colista St. Pauli tras dejar escapar una ventaja de dos goles.
La multitud de Dortmund vitoreó el anuncio del árbitro de que la revisión de video mostró que Ricky-Jade Jones de St. Pauli efectivamente había cometido falta sobre Maximilian Beier dentro del área de penal, y se mostró jubilosa cuando Emre Can convirtió la pena máxima en el sexto minuto de tiempo añadido al final.
Hoffenheim en racha
El gol de tiro libre de Wouter Burger le dio a Hoffenheim la victoria 1-0 sobre Bayer Leverkusen, apuntalando sus aspiraciones de clasificarse a la Liga de Campeones. Hoffenheim ha perdido una vez en la Bundesliga desde octubre.
La racha de Fischer termina
El inicio invicto de Urs Fischer como técnico de Mainz terminó en su séptimo partido después de que Ragnar Ache de Colonia anotara dos veces en la remontada 2-1 que dejó a Mainz en el puesto 17.
Un cabezazo tardío de Moritz Jenz rescató el empate 1-1 para Wolfsburgo contra Heidenheim, que buscaba la victoria para salir de la zona de descenso.
Hamburgó desperdició una serie de oportunidades al empatar 0-0 con Borussia Moenchengladbach.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Hegseth Takes “Sledgehammer” To Nation’s Largest DEI Program
Hegseth Takes “Sledgehammer” To Nation’s Largest DEI Program
The Small Business Administration’s crackdown on Washington’s oldest DEI program, otherwise known as the 8(a) program for “socially disadvantaged” businesses, which has largely amounted to a major vector for fraud, pass-through schemes, and artificially inflated contract costs, has expanded to the Department of War.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth revealed late Friday on X that his team is “taking a sledgehammer to THE OLDEST DEI program in federal government…a program few people outside of Washington have ever heard about! It is called the 8(a) program.”
“Providing these small businesses with opportunities is a laudable goal but over decades as it happens the 8(a) program has morphed into swamp code words for DEI race based contracting. And here’s the worst part – in many, many instances these socially disadvantaged businesses don’t even do the work!” Hegseth said, adding, “They take a 10%, 20% sometimes 50 percent fee off the top and then pass the contract to giant consulting firms commonly known as Beltway Bandits. For decades this is what they’ve been doing…for years now. This program, 8(a) has been a breeding ground for fraud. And this administration is finally doing something about it.”
Hegseth revealed that the DoW will begin an audit of every small-business sole-source contract over $20 million. He noted that the DoW accounts for the largest share of 8(a) spending by far, roughly 10 times that of any other agency. As a result, the cleanup, he said, will be more complex but will still accomplish the mission because “We have no room in our budget for wasteful DEI contracts that don’t help us win wars. Period. Full stop. Second, we’re doing away with these pass-through schemes.”
We are taking a sledgehammer to the oldest DEI program in the federal government—the 8(a) program. pic.twitter.com/c9iH8gcqG7
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) January 16, 2026
Late last year, journalist James O’Keefe blew the lid off 8(a), DC’s best-kept secret. O’Keefe went undercover and captured video of an individual linked to ATI Government Solutions bragging about keeping $65 million of a $100 million contract while subcontracting out the work.
Then O’Keefe’s reporting was picked up by Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute and the investigative journalist who broke the Clinton Cash corruption story, who correctly called months ago about how to end the 8(a) waste, fraud, and abuse once and for all:
Congress needs to investigate the program and subpoena ALL contractors suspected of fraud
Every agency that has 8(a) contracts needs to audit those contracts (start with the Pentagon!
The rules need to be rewritten to get rid of DEI focus, level the playing field, and close the “pass-through” loophole
⚖️ Here’s what needs to happen to end the 8(a) waste, fraud, and abuse once and for all:
1. Congress needs to investigate the program and subpoena ALL contractors suspected of fraud
2. Every agency that has 8(a) contracts needs to audit those contracts (start with the Pentagon!)… pic.twitter.com/OnbcfsrpKr
— Peter Schweizer (@peterschweizer) November 26, 2025
Related and excellent reporting by RealClear Investigations’ Benjamin Weingarten:
One Fell Swoop: Lawsuit Eyes Death Blow To Racial Preferences
More here:
SBA Investigating $1.2 Trillion On Payments As Part Of Fraud Probe: Loeffler
Ending the swamp’s corruption will transform business around the DC-VA-MD area and provide new opportunities for legitimate small and medium-sized businesses based on merit and cost, rather than DEI-driven corruption.
We’ll end with Peter Schweizer’s lead researcher, Seamus Bruner, who recently told Morning Wire that the 8(a) corruption his team uncovered was just the tip of the iceberg and that “the Pentagon is where a lot of these billions will be hiding out.”
🔨GREAT WORK, @SecWar!!! Smash the 8a program aka the DEI fraud machine. Last month, I told @MorningWire that the 8 (a) corruption we had uncovered was just tip of the ice berg and “the pentagon is where a lot of these billions will be hiding out.” https://t.co/zzJ4TBqDqo pic.twitter.com/MALUGFHLQn
— Seamus Bruner (@seamusbruner) January 17, 2026
What’s happening is a major, urgent reset of the federal procurement landscape that needs to happen across every agency.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 01/17/2026 – 15:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/hegseth-takes-sledgehammer-nations-largest-dei-program
Board of Peace for Gaza is forming with ambitions for a wider mandate of other conflicts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” which was initially seen as a mechanism focused on ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, is taking shape with ambitions to have a far broader mandate of other global crises, potentially rivaling the United Nations in what would be a major upheaval to the post-World War II international order.
In letters sent Friday to various world leaders inviting them to be “founding members” of the board, Trump says the body would “embark on a bold new approach to resolving global conflict.”
Invitation letters from Trump to Argentine President Javier Milei and Paraguay’s leader Santiago Peña, that were posted Saturday to their official social media accounts note that Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan, which includes the creation of the Board of Peace, was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council and indicates that the panel of world leaders may not confine their work to Gaza.
“Now it is time to turn all of these dreams into reality,” Trump wrote. “At the heart of the plan is the Board of Peace, the most impressive and consequential board ever assembled, which will be established as a new International Organization and Transitional Governing Administration.”
Other leaders whose governments have confirmed receiving invitation letters include Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It was not immediately clear how many or which other leaders would receive invitations.
Trump’s apparent aspirations to turn to the Board of Peace into an international institution that could provide an alternative to the United Nations is sure to be controversial and opposed by numerous countries, including China and Russia, which hold veto power in the U.N. Security Council and have significant interests in opposing any radical change in the world order.
Smaller nations also are likely to have objections as the U.N. system has given them at least a voice in major international decisions since the end of the Second World War.
A senior U.S. official said an expanded role for the Board of Peace remains “aspirational” but that Trump and his advisers believe it is possible, particularly as the U.S. and others have repeatedly expressed frustration with the United Nations and its associated organizations, commissions and advisory boards.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal Trump administration thinking, did not say the Board of Peace is intended to replace the United Nations but suggested that it could perhaps galvanize the world body into action.
The Trump administration has often been at odds with the United Nations as it zeroed in on eliminating billions of dollars in funding to international organizations and humanitarian assistance at large. Trump and his allies have blasted the world body for not reaching its potential and for “bloated” and redundant agencies that push “woke” ideology.
The letters follow Trump’s post on social media Thursday, saying the Board of Peace had been formed and that the names of its members would be announced “shortly.” Officials say a formal announcement is expected to be made next week during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
It comes after the White House on Friday evening released the names of some of the leaders who will play a role in overseeing next steps in Gaza, including an executive board that will work to carry out the vision of the Board of Peace. Israel’s government objected Saturday, saying it “was not coordinated with Israel and is contrary to its policy.
That executive committee includes Trump administration officials Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Witkoff as well as businesspeople like Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan and others like former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and World Bank President Ajay Banga.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment Saturday on Trump’s ambitions for the Board of Peace nor the letters posted by leaders. The United Nations also did not immediately respond.
Associated Press writers Rob Gillies in Toronto, Cinar Kiper in Istanbul, Farnoush Amiri in New York and Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/17/board-of-peace-gaza-wider-mandate/
Chicago Bears’ plan to protect Caleb Williams vs. LA Rams front could have All-Pro Joe Thuney at left tackle
When the Chicago Bears were formulating how to rebuild the offensive line early in the offseason, a process that began with trades for guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and the addition of center Drew Dalman in free agency, questions loomed at left tackle.
Who was going to protect Caleb Williams’ blind side?
The plan, as it was developed in the weeks and months to come, was to play Thuney at left guard. It turned into a decision that paid huge dividends as Williams’ sack total plunged like the temperature in Chicago of late and the running game took off, finishing the season third in the NFL.
But for the divisional-round playoff meeting against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday evening at Soldier Field (5:30 p.m., NBC-5), Thuney could be the short-term answer at left tackle. Two sources said they believe the Bears are strongly considering shifting Thuney to left tackle with Jordan McFadden or rookie Luke Newman slotting in at left guard.
If so, Thuney would become the fourth player to start at left tackle since the beginning of the season. The Bears have to do something a week after rookie second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo left the wild-card-round victory over the Green Bay Packers in the final two minutes with a left patellar tendon injury.
Thuney, 33, has experience at left tackle as recently as last season when the Kansas City Chiefs, after a series of injuries on the offensive line, used him there in a bid to stabilize the line in front of Patrick Mahomes in Weeks 15 to 17 of the regular season. Thuney then played left tackle in three playoffs games, including the Super Bowl LIX loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
It had been widely assumed Theo Benedet, who replaced Trapilo on the final drive against the Packers, would start against the Rams. Benedet started eight games this season, seven at left tackle, including the regular-season finale at Soldier Field, a 19-16 loss to the Detroit Lions. The offense was held scoreless through three quarters of that game, and while the Lions sacked Williams only once, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was a nonstop problem and registered eight quarterback pressures.
The Bears brought Braxton Jones, who started the first four games of the season at left tackle, back from injured reserve to the 53-man roster this week after he spent two months recovering from a knee injury. The coaching staff has been positive about his comeback, but sources indicate Plan B — with Trapilo on the shelf — could very well be Thuney.
The Rams present a formidable challenge as most of the resources they have invested on defense are on the line. Outside linebackers Jared Verse (67) and Byron Young (54) and defensive tackle Kobie Turner (52) give them three players with more than 50 quarterback pressures. Add in defensive end Braden Fiske and nose tackle Poona Ford and the Bears will need to block it up to provide Williams with time to attack a secondary that has been susceptible, especially in the second half of the season.
“I think collectively this front five is as good as we’ve seen in its entirety,” offensive line coach Dan Roushar said Thursday.
McFadden, 26, who began the season on the practice squad, was elevated to the game-day roster for the Nov. 23 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers when Trapilo made his first start at left tackle. The Bears bumped up McFadden again the next week and then promoted him to the 53-man roster.
“Jordan was up and active and he would have been a guy if his number was called we would have had a lot of confidence in as well,” coach Ben Johnson said following the Steelers game. “Whether it’s out at tackle or inside at guard. It’s a big credit there to our O-line coaches and the job that they’ve done all year long getting these guys ready to play.”
McFadden has appeared in seven games this season, mostly on special teams, and has two career starts in 2023 with the Los Angeles Chargers. Newman, a sixth-round pick from Michigan State, was brought back to the 53-man roster after a stint on IR with a sprained foot. He played 22 snaps against the Steelers when Jackson had an eye injury evaluated.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid was on the SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go” before the Super Bowl last January when he was asked about moving Thuney to left tackle.
“He doesn’t say a word about it,” Reid said. “He doesn’t complain. And that’s a whole different world out there. There’s no security blanket when you’re on that side there on your outside. That’s a tough spot. But he just steps in and goes and never blinks on it.”
Chiefs players voted Thuney the team MVP for last season probably, in part, because of his selfless position switch.
“Very humbling,” Thuney said when the Bears introduced him with Jackson as the first two big pieces of the O-line makeover. “Whenever your teammates vote that for you. As an offensive lineman, you kind of just want to play wherever you can out there. You just want to be on the field with the guys.
“They asked me to play left tackle and I said, ‘Yeah, no problem.’”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/17/chicago-bears-joe-thuney-left-tackle/
NASA’s new moon rocket heads to the pad ahead of astronaut launch as early as February
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s giant new moon rocket headed to the launch pad Saturday in preparation for astronauts’ first lunar fly-around in more than half a century.
The out-and-back trip could blast off as early as February.
The 322-foot (98-meter) rocket began its 1 mph (1.6 kph) creep from Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building at daybreak. The four-mile (six-kilometer) trek could take until nightfall.
Thousands of space center workers and their families gathered in the predawn chill to witness the long-awaited event, delayed for years. They huddled together ahead of the Space Launch System rocket’s exit from the building, built in the 1960s to accommodate the Saturn V rockets that sent 24 astronauts to the moon during the Apollo program. The cheering crowd was led by NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman and all four astronauts assigned to the mission.
“What a great day to be here,” said Reid Wiseman, the crew commander. “It is awe-inspiring.”
Weighing in at 11 million pounds (5 million kilograms), the Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule on top made the move aboard a massive transporter that was used during the Apollo and shuttle eras. It was upgraded for the SLS rocket’s extra heft.
The first and only other SLS launch — which sent an empty Orion capsule into orbit around the moon — took place back in November 2022.
“This one feels a lot different, putting crew on the rocket and taking the crew around the moon,” NASA’s John Honeycutt said on the eve of the rocket’s rollout.
Heat shield damage and other capsule problems during the initial test flight required extensive analyses and tests, pushing back this first crew moonshot until now. The astronauts won’t orbit the moon or even land on it. That giant leap will take come on the third flight in the Artemis lineup a few years from now.
Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and Christina Koch — longtime NASA astronauts with spaceflight experience — will be joined on the 10-day mission by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot awaiting his first rocket ride.
They will be the first people to fly to the moon since Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt closed out the triumphant lunar-landing program in 1972. Twelve astronauts strolled the lunar surface, beginning with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969. Only four moonwalkers are still alive; Aldrin, the oldest, turns 96 on Tuesday.
“They are so fired up that we are headed back to the moon,” Wiseman said. “They just want to see humans as far away from Earth as possible discovering the unknown.”
NASA is waiting to conduct a fueling test of the SLS rocket on the pad in early February before confirming a launch date.
“We’ve, I think, zero intention of communicating an actual launch date” until completing the fueling demo, Isaacman told reporters.
The space agency has only five days to launch in the first half of February before bumping into March.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/17/nasas-new-moon-rocket/
Reportan más de 20 muertos en choque entre disidencias de ex-FARC en sureste de Colombia
Associated Press
BOGOTÁ (AP) — Un enfrentamiento entre dos disidencias de las extintas Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) dejó más de dos decenas de muertos en el sureste del país andino, informó el sábado el ejército colombiano.
Tropas de una brigada militar se ha desplegado en la zona rural El Retorno, en el departamento del Guaviare, al tiempo que realizan sobrevuelos para establecer “las implicaciones” del choque violento entre disidencias de la desaparecida guerrilla que no se acogieron al acuerdo de paz con el estado en 2016.
La oficina de prensa del ejército de Colombia indicó a The Associated Press que la cifra preliminar es de 27 cuerpos, pero no se entregaron detalles sobre el destino de los mismos.
Fotografías y videos reproducidos por medios colombianos mostraron cuerpos enfilados sobre el piso, aunque las autoridades no se han pronunciado al respecto.
El reporte del ejército precisa que los cuerpos corresponden a integrantes del grupo armado residual Martín Villa del Bloque Amazonas, comandado por alias “Iván Mordisco” y que se ha enfrentado en las últimas horas con la estructura Isaías Carvajal del Bloque Jorge Suárez Briceño, al mando de alias “Calarca”.
El combate se da “por el control territorial” de las rutas de movilidad y economías ilícitas en el sur del Guaviare, agregó el ejército colombiano.
La institución señaló que se han reforzado las medidas para la protección de la población en esa zona del país andino.
Néstor Gregorio Vera Fernández, alias “Iván Mordisco”, es uno de los más buscados de Colombia y comanda las disidencias del Estado Mayor Central (EMC), que abandonó el año pasado la mesa de negociación de paz con el gobierno de Gustavo Petro.
En tanto, Alexander Díaz Mendoza, alias “Calarca”, quedó al mando del autodenominado Estado Mayor de Bloques y Frentes (EMBF) tras una ruptura con el EMC en torno a los diálogos de paz, en los que se mantiene en medio de cuestionamientos por supuestas infiltraciones.
Petro, primer mandatario de izquierda en la historia del país andino, abrió varias mesas de negociación con las disidencias de las FARC y otros grupos armados buscando menguar la violencia y acabar por desarmarlas. Sectores de oposición cuestionan su política de paz señalando que alienta la “impunidad”.
Australia 2026: El tenis femenino tiene a Coco, Sabalenka, Swiatek. Los hombres tienen a ‘Sincaraz’
Por HOWARD FENDRICH
Con Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek y Madison Keys repartiéndose los cuatro títulos de Grand Slam la temporada pasada, el tenis femenino ofrece hoy en día mucho más interés que el monopolio de “Sincaraz” entre los hombres.
De hecho, siete de los últimos nueve años terminaron con diferentes campeonas femeninas en cada torneo importante.
El número uno mundial Carlos Alcaraz, quien debutará en el Abierto de Australia cuando la acción comience el domingo, y Jannik Sinner, bicampeón defensor en el Melbourne Park, se han combinado para ganar los últimos ocho trofeos de Slam masculinos.
Incluso se han enfrentado en las finales de los últimos tres grandes, haciendo de 2025 la primera temporada desde 1964, cuando Roy Emerson y Fred Stolle lo hicieron, en la que los mismos dos hombres se enfrentaron en tres partidos por el campeonato de un Slam.
“La rivalidad con Alcaraz y Sinner es grandiosa”, dijo nada menos que Roger Federer.
Alcaraz y Sinner se enfrentaron seis veces el año pasado, todas en una final (Alcaraz ganó cuatro).
Contrasta eso con la número uno Sabalenka y la número dos Swiatek, cuyo único encuentro en 2025 fue en las semifinales del Abierto de Francia.
“No se trata solo de mí e Iga. Es Coco, Elena (Rybakina), Jessica (Pegula). Simplemente no quiero olvidar a nadie ahora mismo”, dijo Sabalenka, quien conquistó el Abierto de Australia en 2023 y 2024 y juega el domingo. “Es una locura pensar que solo jugamos una vez el año pasado”.
Esto es lo que más se debe saber sobre el Abierto de Australia 2026, el primer gran torneo de tenis de la temporada.
Los jugadores aún quieren más dinero y más voz en los Slams
Cada cita de Grand Slam tiende a ofrecer premios récord, y ese es el caso en el Abierto de Australia 2026, donde aumentó un 16% desde 2025 a aproximadamente $75 millones.
Sin embargo, los jugadores de tenis buscan más, junto con mayores beneficios y una mayor participación en cómo se manejan los cuatro torneos más prestigiosos y lucrativos.
Keys, la campeona defensora en Melbourne, dijo que está “cautelosamente optimista” sobre futuros avances.
“Todos nos necesitamos”, dijo.
Gauff dijo que los jugadores “están agradecidos por el progreso que se ha logrado”, pero señaló: “El porcentaje… de ingresos… aún no está donde nos gustaría”.
Serena Williams no regresó, pero Venus está en Australia
Serena Williams, de 44 años, despertó interés en un posible regreso al registrarse en el programa antidopaje del deporte, un requisito para regresar del retiro, pero publicó en las redes sociales que no planeaba competir nuevamente. Su hermana mayor Venus, de 45 años, nunca anunció que se retiraba y regresó al circuito el pasado julio después de una ausencia de 16 meses; el Abierto de Australia es su segundo torneo de Grand Slam consecutivo.
Venus, quien recientemente se casó, no ha jugado en Melbourne Park desde una derrota en la segunda ronda en 2021. Será su 22ª presentación en el cuadro. Jugará contra Olga Danilovic el domingo.
Stan Wawrinka está jugando su último año en el circuito
No hay forma de saber cuánto tiempo más seguirá Venus, siete veces campeona de individuales de Grand Slam, pero otro poseedor de múltiples títulos dice que esta es su última temporada: Stan Wawrinka, de 40 años.
Al igual que Williams, Wawrinka recibió una invitación de los organizadores.
“No fue en absoluto una decisión difícil. Fue bastante fácil”, dijo Wawrinka sobre retirarse después de 2026.
Ganó el Abierto de Australia 2014, el Abierto de Francia 2015 y el Abierto de Estados Unidos 2016, derrotando a Rafael Nadal o Novak Djokovic en cada final.
Tres jugadores que se esperaba desafiaran a Alcaraz y Sinner se bajaron
Después del estrellato del trío de Federer-Nadal-Djokovic, la gente se ha preguntado quién podría dar un paso adelante para desafiar el dominio de Alcaraz y Sinner. Tres jóvenes vistos como posibles contendientes, Holger Rune, Jack Draper y Arthur Fils, están lidiando con largas ausencias por lesiones y se perderán el Abierto de Australia.
Rune, un danés de 22 años que llegó a ser el número cuatro y tres veces cuartofinalista en grades, se rompió el tendón de Aquiles izquierdo en octubre.
Draper, británico de 24 años, que alcanzó el cuarto puesto del ranking y semifinalista del Abierto de Estados Unidos 2024, ha disputado apenas dos partidos desde principios de julio debido a un hematoma óseo en su brazo izquierdo.
Fils, francés de 21 años, un joven de 21 años que alcanzó la cuarta ronda de Wimbledon en 2024, ha participado en tan solo un torneo desde que se retiró antes de un partido del Abierto de Francia en mayo debido a una fractura por estrés en la parte baja de la espalda.
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El escritor de deportes de AP John Pye en Melbourne contribuyó a este informe.
Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
