Category: News
La UE impulsa candidatura de Ucrania pese a objeciones de Hungría
Por DEREK GATOPOULOS y MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
La Unión Europea entregó el jueves a Ucrania una larga lista de reformas necesarias para unirse al bloque, decidida a impulsar el proceso a pesar de la guerra y las objeciones de Hungría.
Altos funcionarios y diplomáticos de la UE reunidos en Leópolis, en el oeste de Ucrania, declararon que una lista de demandas que cubre aproximadamente la mitad de las reformas requeridas permitiría avanzar mientras las negociaciones formales siguen bloqueadas por Budapest.
La membresía en la UE se ha convertido en el objetivo central del esfuerzo de Ucrania por anclarse a Occidente, ya que las perspectivas de la OTAN se estancan.
Aquí un vistazo a los principales desafíos en el camino de Ucrania hacia la Unión Europea. -Orbán es un obstáculo para las ambiciones de Ucrania El primer ministro húngaro Viktor Orbán insiste en que las conversaciones de adhesión no deberían proceder durante el tiempo de guerra y ha citado los derechos de la minoría húngara en Ucrania y los riesgos económicos. A pesar de estar en desacuerdo con todos los demás estados miembros, Hungría se ha mantenido en esa posición y no envió un representante a la reunión del jueves. Rompiendo con el consenso más amplio de la UE, Budapest también ha mantenido estrechos lazos con Moscú.
Marie Bjerre, ministra de Asuntos Europeos de Dinamarca, indicó que la UE seguía adelante de todos modos. “Es muy claro que somos 26 países miembros que ven un futuro con Ucrania en la UE. No es una cuestión de si, es una cuestión de cuándo”, dijo a los periodistas en Leópolis.
Chipre asume el desafío
Chipre se unió a la UE en 2004 como una isla dividida y podría ofrecer a Ucrania un modelo para la adhesión. La isla asumirá la presidencia rotativa de la UE de Dinamarca el 1 de enero y ha prometido continuar trabajando en la candidatura de Ucrania.
En una declaración a The Associated Press, la viceministra de Asuntos Europeos de Chipre, Marilena Raouna, elogió la “extraordinaria voluntad política” de Kiev para cumplir con las reformas clave.
“A pesar de la guerra de agresión en curso de Rusia, el pueblo ucraniano sigue defendiendo no solo su soberanía”, indicó, “sino también los mismos principios sobre los que se basa nuestra unión: democracia, libertad, dignidad humana y respeto por los derechos fundamentales”.
Una larga lista de tareas pendientes
Ucrania debe alinear su administración con una serie de sistemas, prácticas y normas de la UE antes de unirse al bloque, y las reformas requeridas se dividen en seis subgrupos. Se espera que el proceso tome al menos dos años.
El jueves se acordaron con Ucrania los requisitos detallados dentro de tres de esos subgrupos, que cubren el estado de derecho e instituciones democráticas, el mercado interno y las relaciones exteriores.
El viceprimer ministro de Ucrania, Taras Kachka, reconoció que un reciente escándalo de corrupción había hecho de las reformas una prioridad, añadiendo que el ritmo de alineación ahora dependía de Kiev.
“Hemos encontrado una manera de asegurar que el proceso de ampliación continúe con el mismo ritmo, a pesar de que todavía carecemos de unanimidad formal”, dijo. “Tenemos una comprensión muy clara de los puntos de referencia, lo que está en la lista de tareas pendientes y todo lo demás”.
¿El miembro más grande del bloque?
Ucrania está en la cola oficial de adhesión con otros ocho aspirantes —Albania, Bosnia, Georgia, Moldavia, Montenegro, Macedonia del Norte, Serbia y Turquía— pero las negociaciones están en diferentes etapas y no todas están activas.
Contando el territorio ocupado por Rusia, Ucrania sería el miembro más grande de la UE medido por tamaño de tierra si se uniera, superando a Francia.
Una potencia agrícola e importante geográficamente para la energía, Ucrania como miembro de la UE también contrarrestaría la influencia de Rusia y extendería los valores de la unión hacia el este.
Marta Kos, la comisionada de ampliación de la UE que lideró las conversaciones del jueves, señaló que dar a Kiev un plan claro ayudaría a acelerar el cambio.
“Las reformas están en el centro de este proceso, y nadie puede vetar a Ucrania para que no haga estas reformas”, sostuvo. “Ucrania se convertirá en miembro de la UE, y nadie puede bloquearlo”.
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Hadjicostis reportó desde Nicosia, Chipre.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Australia’s Social Media Ban For Under-16s Comes Into Effect
Australia’s Social Media Ban For Under-16s Comes Into Effect
Authored by Victoria Friedman via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A social media ban for those younger than 16 in Australia came into effect on Dec. 10, with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailing the world’s first restriction of its kind as giving children back their childhoods.
As of Dec. 10, according to the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act, social media platforms must stop under-16s in Australia from signing up for accounts and must begin phasing out existing accounts for underage children.
Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X, and YouTube are now age-restricted platforms in Australia. These platforms are expected to take “reasonable steps” to prevent those younger than age 16 in the country from having or signing up for accounts, according to the Australian eSafety Commissioner website.
Companies failing in this regard face fines of up to AU$49.5 million (US$32.9 million).
The restrictions were brought in amid concerns over mental health, online harms, and screen addiction affecting Australian children.
“Enforcing a minimum account age of 16 will create normative change and give young people a reprieve from powerful and persuasive design features built to keep them hooked, often enabling harmful content and conduct online,” Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement on Dec. 10.
She said that although no single measure is a “silver bullet,” the restrictions are part of a holistic approach that includes education and outreach.
The eSafety Commissioner website states that platforms must use measures for age verification that respect privacy laws and digital rights, suggesting that platforms use “age-related signals” to work out whether someone is underage, such as how long an account has been active, analysis of the user’s language level, and behavioral and interaction signals.
The website states that people who do have to prove their identity will not be forced to use a government ID, saying that the Social Media Minimum Age legislation “specifically prohibits platforms from compelling Australians to provide a government-issued ID or use an Australian Government accredited digital ID service to prove their age.” Platforms may offer it as an option but must also offer a reasonable alternative.
Global Issue
“This is the day when Australian families are taking back power from these big tech companies, and they’re asserting the right of kids to be kids and for parents to have greater peace of mind,” Albanese told ABC News Australia on Dec. 10.
When asked what advice he can give to parents and children concerned about the impact of the loss of social media profiles, the prime minister said families need to have that discussion and talk these issues through.
“We understand that this is going to be difficult,” Albanese said. “But it is so important that young people are given the opportunity to actually grow as young humans and to differentiate, as well, between what is real in human interactions and what they can often be exposed to online.”
The prime minister said that although his country is the first to have enacted such legislation, the impact of social media on children is a global problem. Other countries, including Malaysia and Denmark, as well as various states across the United States, are either bringing in similar controls or attempting to.
“New technology can do wonderful things, but we need to make sure that humans are in control of our own destiny, and that is what this is about, particularly focused on our youngest Australians,” Albanese said.
US, Australian Parents Back Bans
A recent survey found that most parents in Australia and the United States are in favor of social media bans for those younger than 16.
The Family Online Safety Institute found that 65 percent of Australian parents and 58 percent of U.S. parents supported such measures. Support among children aged 10 to 17 was much lower; 38 percent of young Australians and 36 percent of young Americans were in favor.
In its report, published on Dec. 9, the institute found that 52 percent of U.S. parents and 42 percent of Australian parents are confident that social media bans will protect children’s mental health. Lower percentages of American (43 percent) and Australian (33 percent) youth hold the same view.
However, both age groups shared the same beliefs about whether such bans would reduce young people’s overall screen use.
“Many children, 64 percent in the U.S. and 59 percent in Australia, say that with a social media ban in place, they would spend more time on other digital platforms, including video games or text messaging,” the report states.
“This could indicate that total screen time could remain the same, just with a shift to different digital platforms.”
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 – 09:35
https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/australias-social-media-ban-under-16s-comes-effect
Potempa: This Broadway ‘Phantom’ living stage dream
Reader Judy Del Carlo of Cedar Lake wrote to me with a question that has been “haunting” her lately.
“We used to live in Lansing,” Del Carlo said.
Isaiah Bailey plays the title role opposite Jordan Lee Gilbert as Christine in the new North American Broadway tour of “Phantom of the Opera” playing from Dec. 11, 2024 to Feb. 1, 2026 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in Chicago. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)
“Then during Covid, we moved to Cedar Lake. I still get to downtown Chicago for shows and dining and so I’m curious about the return of ‘Phantom of the Opera.’ I’ve seen it three times, including originally when it was on Broadway tour at The Shubert Theater, and then two more times at Cadillac Palace Theatre, once to take my son, and two other times with friends. Is this latest touring production any different?”
Del Carlo is exactly right about a newly launched tour of the iconic Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Phantom of the Opera” haunting the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 121 West Randolph St., Dec. 11 through Feb. 1, 2026 for a limited eight-week run hosted by Broadway in Chicago produced by Cameron Mackintosh with LW Entertainment and NETworks Presentations.
As for unmasking what’s different for this new North American tour, “what’s old is new again” since this run is directed by Seth Sklar-Heyn and based on the original direction by Harold Prince with musical staging and choreography by Gillian Lynne as recreated and adapted by Chrissie Cartwright.
Launched last month in November at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, this “Phantom” features an almost entirely new cast with Isaiah Bailey in the title role and Jordan Lee Gilbert as Christine.
Since 1986, this is the musical that has played to more than 160 million people in 205 cities, 58 territories and 21 languages, all dodging that signature swinging chandelier while hypnotized by the score that includes “The Music of the Night,” “All I Ask of You,” “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again,” “Masquerade” and of course, the iconic title song.
To find out even more of the scoop of what’s new about this “Phantom,” I went right to the man behind the mask, actor Isaiah Bailey, who originally hails from Little Rock, Arkansas and a nice guy I first met last summer in August when he performed in Millennium Park at the annual free Broadway in Chicago Summer Preview Concert.
“You want to know what’s new and my answer is ‘a lot,’ but without any sacrifice to all of the signature favorite moments and scenes of the story,” Bailey told me while chatting by phone Wednesday.
“I first saw ‘Phantom’ in New York on Broadway in 2014 when my friend was playing Christine and there have been plenty of tours because the story and music are so popular. Now I’m living my stage dream. A highlight for this tour compared to the last tour is our traveling set includes the full, expansive impressive grand staircase for the ‘Masquerade’ scene. The last tour used a smaller scale version.”
Bailey is also still getting used to wearing his all-important mask accessory.
“My mask was created just for my face shape, but it’s also a different fit once I have all of my prosthetic make-up on underneath,” he said.
“But I’m getting more comfortable in it while experiencing everything going on around me, from the theatrical haze and fog and lighting special effects to the fire blasts and pyrotechnics. When we met over the summer at the outdoor Broadway in Chicago concert, that night was my first time ever singing the song ‘The Music of the Night’ before any audience. It was a bit scary.”
Bailey’s last visit to Chicago was two years ago as the understudy for Mufasa in the Broadway tour of “The Lion King.”
“I’m really getting used to wearing masks on stage as part of my stage life,” he said.
Tickets to “Phantom of the Opera” range from $59 to $195 with more details at www.BroadwayinChicago.com or www.ThePhantomOfTheOpera.com
Another adventure
Best-selling author Catherine Lanigan is always ready for adventure.
Hailing from LaPorte, she wrote the 1984 novelization of the popular 1984 film “Romancing the Stone” starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas.
She also published the book version of the film sequel’s story, “The Jewel of the Nile,” released in 1985 at the same time the second film hit theaters, reuniting the stars Douglas and Turner from the original movie.
Lanigan’s new 264-page paperback “Magical Midnight” ($19.99), released in March 2024, is perfect for the holidays.
Set during the winter solstice, the story details a magical phenomenon that occurs on the Michaels Family’s Wisconsin dairy farm. When Angel 7777 realizes that many humans have lost hope, she takes on the task of coming to earth to bring estranged Owen Michaels back to his aging father, Gregory. This is an angel who has never been to earth and who is telepathic so must now learn the human language while navigating strong emotions of the heart. With only a few days until Christmas Eve, the angel must return to heaven, choosing between her growing love for Owen and her commitment to the higher forces.
Lanigan will be reading from her new book and answering questions before a book signing event 6-7 p.m. Dec. 18 at The Starke County Public Library Knox Branch, 152 W. Culver Road in Knox. For more information, visit www.scpls.org or call 574-772-7323.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and weekly radio host on WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at philpotempa@gmail.com.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/11/potempa-this-broadway-phantom-living-stage-dream/
Visita del Real Madrid a Alavés pasa a ser una prueba de supervivencia para el técnico Xabi Alonso
BARCELONA (AP) — Dos victorias en ocho partidos.
Ese es el balance del Real Madrid en las últimas cinco semanas y la razón por la que Xabi Alonso se tambalea en la cuerda floja en su primera temporada al mando de su antiguo club.
Alonso parecía haber comenzado bien. Kylian Mbappé anotaba goles por caudales y el equipo ganó sus primeros siete partidos de la temporada. Incluso una derrota ante el Atlético de Madrid quedó semi olvidada tras vencer al Barcelona en el clásico.
Algo salió mal desde entonces. La derrota en Liverpool en la Liga de Campeones el mes pasado fue el punto de partido de la mala racha. Perder en Anfield es aceptable para cualquier club. Pero tres empates consecutivos ante Rayo Vallecano, Elche y Girona en La Liga encendieron las alarmas en un Madrid que se considera el mejor del mundo.
Pero lo peor estaba por venir: la humillante derrota 2-0 ante el Celta de Vigo, seguida del revés 2-1 ante el Manchester City de Pep Guardiola en la Liga de Campeones el miércoles. Ambas derrotas fueron en el Santiago Bernabéu, y los abucheos retumbaron.
Ahora, la continuidad de Alonso está cuestionada, apenas meses después de que saliera del Bayer Leverkusen tras su excepcional etapa en el club alemán que culminó con el título de la Bundesliga en 2024.
El próximo partido del Madrid será la visita a Alavés en el norte de España en La Liga el domingo.
Al sentir las críticas y las dudas, Alonso dijo que no está sorprendido.
“Te toca convivir con ello. Seas entrenador del Real Madrid o de cualquier club, tienes que estar preparado para afrontarlo con entereza, responsabilidad y autocrítica”, dijo Alonso. “Y estamos en ese momento. Pero sabiendo que las cosas pueden cambiar y que todo puede pasar. Hoy, a pesar del resultado, he visto cosas positivas. Tanto colectiva, como individualmente. Y luego hay otras que no han salido tan bien. Pero estamos ahí”.
Partidos clave
Un partido en Alavés normalmente se consideraría una salida cómoda para el Madrid. Pero dado el mal momento de juego y toda la presión sobre Alonso, podría resultar todo lo contrario.
Alavés se ha mostrado firme como local: dos derrotas en ocho partidos en su feudo de Vitoria esta temporada, incluyendo la victoria por 1-0 sobre la Real Sociedad en la pasada fecha.
El líder Barcelona, mientras tanto, ha desplazado al Madrid y tiene una ventaja de cuatro puntos antes de recibir al Osasuna el sábado.
Villarreal se encuentra tercero, un punto detrás del Madrid. Visita a Levante el domingo. El Atlético de Madrid, cuarto en la tabla, recibe a Valencia el sábado.
Jugadores a seguir
Los aficionados del Madrid estarán ansiosos por ver si Mbappé, quien lidera La Liga con 16 goles, estará disponible después de perderse la derrota contra el City, por molestias físicas
“Todavía es demasiado pronto para hablar de si llegará al domingo. Tendremos que ir día a día”, dijo Alonso tras la derrota contra el City.
El siguiente máximo goleador en la liga es Ferran Torres del Barça.
Con sus 11 goles en el torneo doméstico, Torres se ha establecido como la alternativa en caso de una baja de Robert Lewandowski.
Después de que Lewandowski fuera titular en la victoria 2-1 sobre el Eintracht Frankfurt el martes, Torres podría volver al once titular contra Osasuna.
Fuera de acción
El Madrid recibió una fuerte golpe con la lesión del zaguro brasileño Eder Militão, quien podría estar ausente un prolongadao tiempo tras desgarrarse un músculo de la pierna izquierda en la derrota ante Celta.
Los merengues también acusarán las ausencias de Álvaro Carreras y Endrick, suspendidos por despotricar contra el árbitro en el fiasco contra Celta. El defensor Dani Carvajal, quien estaba en el banquillo pero no uniformado para el partido debido a una lesión, también fue sancionado por faltar al respeto a los árbitros en el túnel. Fran García, otro defensor, había sido expulsado previamente..
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Ataque a hospital deja 34 muertos y 80 heridos en Myanmar
BANGKOK (AP) — Un ataque aéreo por parte del ejército de Myanmar destruyó un hospital en una zona controlada por una fuerza armada rebelde, matando a 34 pacientes y personal médico, según un trabajador de rescate local e informes de medios independientes el jueves.
Aproximadamente 80 personas más resultaron heridas en el ataque la noche del miércoles al hospital general en el municipio de Mrauk-U, una zona controlada por el Ejército Arakan étnico en el estado occidental de Rakhine.
La junta militar que gobierna el país no ha reportado ningún ataque en la zona.
Wai Hun Aung, un alto funcionario de los servicios de rescate en Rakhine, dijo a The Associated Press que un caza lanzó dos bombas a las 9:13 de la noche, una de las cuales impactó en la sala de recuperación del hospital y la otra cayó cerca del edificio principal del hospital.
Afirmó que llegó al hospital temprano el jueves para brindar asistencia y registró la muerte de 17 mujeres y 17 hombres. Comentó que la mayor parte del edificio del hospital fue destruida por las bombas, y los taxis y motocicletas cerca del hospital también resultaron dañados.
Medios en línea con sede en Rakhine publicaron fotos y videos que muestran edificios dañados y escombros, incluyendo equipo médico.
El hospital ha sido la principal fuente de atención médica para las personas en Rakhine, donde la mayoría de los hospitales han cerrado debido a la guerra civil en curso en Myanmar, dijo Wai Hun Aung.
Fue reabierto después de que los médicos se reunieran en Mrauk-U para proporcionar servicios médicos.
Mrauk-U, ubicada a 530 kilómetros (326 millas) al noroeste de Yangon, la ciudad más grande del país, fue capturada por el Ejército Arakan en febrero del año pasado.
El Ejército Arakan es el ala militar del movimiento étnico minoritario Rakhine, que busca autonomía del gobierno central de Myanmar. Comenzó su ofensiva en Rakhine en noviembre de 2023 y ha capturado un cuartel general regional del ejército y 14 de los 17 municipios de Rakhine.
Rakhine, anteriormente conocida como Arakan, fue el sitio de una brutal operación de contrainsurgencia del ejército en 2017 que llevó a unos 740.000 musulmanes rohingya minoritarios a buscar seguridad al otro lado de la frontera en Bangladesh. Todavía existe tensión entre los budistas Rakhine y los rohingya.
El gobierno paralelo llamado Gobierno de Unidad Nacional, establecido por legisladores electos que fueron impedidos de ocupar sus escaños en 2021, condenó el ataque aéreo.
La organización instó a la comunidad internacional a presionar al ejército para que detenga sus acciones, tome medidas contra los perpetradores y proporcione asistencia humanitaria lo antes posible.
Myanmar ha estado en crisis desde que el ejército tomó el poder en 2021, desencadenando una amplia oposición popular. Muchos opositores al régimen militar han tomado las armas desde entonces, y grandes partes del país están ahora envueltas en conflicto.
El gobierno militar ha intensificado los ataques aéreos antes de las elecciones planeadas para el 28 de diciembre contra la Fuerza de Defensa del Pueblo armada pro-democracia, que está estrechamente asociada con el Gobierno de Unidad Nacional. Los opositores al régimen militar afirman que las elecciones no serán ni libres ni justas, y son principalmente un esfuerzo por legitimar que el ejército retenga el poder.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/11/ataque-a-hospital-deja-34-muertos-y-80-heridos-en-myanmar/
West Side’s Tyler Crews is a different player this season. After wake-up call, 6-foot-10 center ‘buckled down.’
Until this past offseason, West Side’s Tyler Crews wasn’t ready to even scratch the surface of his ability.
But in the 6-foot-10 center’s final season with the Cougars, who have seven seniors and a group of underclassmen that includes promising freshmen Prentiss Gates and DeShawn Clay Jr., something has clicked.
“This year, it’s different for me,” Crews said. “I see it differently. I feel like I have to be a leader. I’m mature. I’m finally a basketball player. But this year is not just about me, though. It’s about getting my younger guys together and letting them know what I’ve seen and what I’ve been through and everything they need to know so next year and down the line, they know what to do and what it takes to win.
“I just want to give back to the team for all the knowledge and hard work and time my coaches gave me, put into me, and I wasn’t ready for it. But now I feel I can give back to them by being a leader and being a role model and being a mentor and making sure everybody under me understands what they have to do and what they have to be to win. That would be such an awesome feeling, just to win.”
West Side coach Chris Buggs believes in Crews.
“The sky’s the limit for him,” Buggs said. “I told him he can take care of his family if he takes it seriously, with the way the NCAA and NIL is. Just him being humble and learning and working hard, he can definitely play at a high level at some point in his career.”
Crews has begun to show the range of his talent this season. He was averaging 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots for the Cougars (1-2) before their loss at Lake Central on Tuesday. His performance has come after he suffered a broken right thumb less than two months ago. He got cleared to play right before the season started.
“He’s really having an impact on defense, and he’s going to do even a lot better when he’s fully healthy,” Buggs said.
Another injury, a hyperextended right knee last season, served as something of a turning point for Crews. He said he had been “very immature” as a sophomore and “was lacking knowledge of basketball and didn’t understand what I needed to do to get on the court.”
Crews then opened last season as a starter. But after he returned from the injury that cost him eight games over the course of about a month, he barely played the rest of the way. He didn’t play at all in the Class 3A sectional, which ended for West Side with a loss to East Chicago Central in the championship game. His lack of minutes and the team’s defeat struck a nerve.
“I wasn’t there to step up for my team,” Crews said. “Now I feel like I can. Last year, I didn’t, and it just hurt. It hurt to lose and not be able to do anything about it. Not to say I wasn’t included, but I felt like a ghost. I’m almost 7-foot, and it’s frustrating that I’m the tallest guy in the area and I can’t produce for my team and make an impact for us to win.
“It was just a frustrating feeling, but I understand. I wasn’t ready for a big moment like that, a big game like that. If I went out there, I probably would’ve froze. I just wasn’t there yet to the point where my coach could have trust in me. If my coach can’t trust me, then I can’t play. It’s 100% on my end. I had to grow and develop from that.”
Crews has learned to trust his coaches too.
“Now I understand they’re telling me the truth,” he said. “They’ve been there. They’ve sent guys to the highest levels. They’ve worked with guys at the highest levels. They have contact with guys at the highest levels. So it’s best for me to listen. Now I just understand how good of a program this is, the connections.
“My coaches really just are blessings. To have the love and patience for us, they’ll really risk it all for us, and I really appreciate that. If you come to West Side and you work hard and you listen to the coaches and do what they ask you to do, you’re guaranteed to go to school.”
West Side’s Tyler Crews (34) tries to block a shot by Morton’s Jordan Nix (2) during a Great Lakes Athletic Conference game in Hammond on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
So Crews went to work in the weight room. He gained 15 pounds to get to 235.
“At first, I used to see it like, ‘It’s too hard,’” he said. “But now I see it like, ‘This is my future.’ I see my future and what I can be, my potential. I have to live in there if I’m going to make it where I want to make it.”
Crews arrived at West Side with limited basketball experience. He said he began playing the sport when he was 11 years old, but that didn’t last long.
“I was working hard,” Crews said. “I was heavy. I was losing weight, but I gave up. So I stopped playing basketball. I never really played a lot of basketball.”
Crews gave it another try in middle school. But he played only sporadically as a 6-6, 245-pounder.
“When we first got him, he was a wide body,” Buggs said. “We figured he would grow. Then he lost so much weight. He couldn’t hold any of it. He was weak and uncoordinated. He just wasn’t ready to play last year.
“His freshman year was his first time really playing organized basketball. He played a little bit in middle school, but not very much. He was really behind, really trying to learn. He reminds me of Mason Nicholson, a kid I had before who started a little later. Everything was really new and everything was fast-paced. He couldn’t catch up to it. But now over time, he’s finally starting to pick it up.”
Crews could continue on that path. The Cougars have numerous players in college, including a pair of big men, 2021 graduate Nicholson and 2022 graduate Jalen Washington, who was an elite recruit out of high school. They’re teammates at Vanderbilt.
“Jalen and Mason come back every winter, every summer,” Buggs said. “I know people were talking to him, ‘Go here.’ But he stuck it out, and it came to fruition. He realized, ‘My future is here.’ It gave him hope that ‘If I work hard, I’ll be where they are.’ He’s turned it around. He’s going to be there.”
Indeed, Crews has lofty aspirations.
“I want to play high-major Division I basketball,” he said. “But I also know I messed up some opportunities when I was younger. I can still make it, and I would do anything to make it to that level. But if I have to go juco or DII, I’ll still work to play at that high level.
“I want to take care of my parents, my family, give back to the program and the community. I want to be able to say, ‘I went here, listened to the coaches and it all worked out.’ I want to be a real example and just somebody they can look up to.”
In a way, Crews has already become an example for West Side.
“When he didn’t get what he wanted right away, he didn’t all of a sudden just give up,” Buggs said. “He stuck with it. He buckled down and got better. He got stronger and more coordinated. He trusted us coaches. There were some hard conversations at times, but he just kept working hard and sticking with it, and this could be a breakout year for him. His best basketball is in front of him, for sure.
“I’m more proud of him than I’ve been in a long time for a basketball player. He really signifies what a player should be now. Wait your turn, work hard, and then when it comes to you and you get success, you’ll be more humble. That’s what I really like about him. I know he’s going to have great success in the future, and I’m just happy that I know when he has it, he’ll have a lot of humility because he knows where he came from.”
West Side’s Tyler Crews (34) jogs up the court during a Great Lakes Athletic Conference game against Morton in Hammond on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)
Crews has impressed West Side senior guard Julian Holmes too.
“He’s come a long way,” Holmes said. “When I first walked into the gym with Tyler, I didn’t know. I just saw a big, tall dude walking around. But he came in, it was hard for him at first, emotional. He was a kid that barely played basketball, trying to develop. But the development process, I’ve seen him put in the work, and I really admire the effort he’s put in to now being able to be a big star on our team.”
Crews has big plans for the Cougars, who haven’t won a sectional title since 2021, when they advanced to semistate and lost in overtime to eventual Class 4A state champion Carmel.
“It’s just continuing to learn and develop so we can go downstate and win,” Crews said. “Everyone is starting to understand what they need to do as a basketball player. Everyone is humble. Everyone is hardworking on the court and in the classroom. We have trust, leaders, accountability, integrity in everything we do.
“All of these past years, we haven’t won anything. We haven’t cut a net yet. But this year, it really means something. It’s really a statement for the team. I just want to win for this team. The coaches, everything they do, all the decisions they make for us, I want to win for them. I want to win for my brothers. I want to win for West Side. Not for the titles, but for the school.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/11/basketball-gary-west-side-tyler-crews/
US-Backed Opposition Leader Secretly Whisked Out Of Venezuela, Appears In Oslo To Urge Regime Change
US-Backed Opposition Leader Secretly Whisked Out Of Venezuela, Appears In Oslo To Urge Regime Change
As the main opposition figurehead and rival to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, she’s reportedly been in hiding for many months. María Corina Machado hasn’t appeared in public for nearly a year, after she was briefly detained all the way back on Jan. 9 in Caracas.
Fearing another arrest where she could go away to prison for good, Machado has avoided public political or or protest events, even as her star was rising internationally with her being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
But there are reports she was safely whisked out of the country while Caracas authorities were distracted and preoccupied with Wednesday’s US seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker.
After this, Machado popped up in Oslo, Norway – where she announced while appearing on a hotel balcony that many people had “risked their lives” to get her there. “I am very grateful to them, and this is a measure of what this recognition means to the Venezuelan people,” she said. The purported details sound straight out of a Hollywood movie:
The Wall Street Journal, though, said she wore a wig and a disguise when she began her journey on Monday. First, she left her hideout in a Caracas suburb where she had been living for nearly a year, heading for a coastal fishing village.
Two people helped her flee. The trio passed 10 military checkpoints, avoiding capture each time, on a nerve-wracking 10-hour trip, before reaching the coast around midnight, the newspaper said. They then began a perilous trip across the open Caribbean Sea to Curacao in an open wooden fishing skiff.
According to the WSJ, the US military was informed of her crossing, to avoid the boat being targeted by airstrikes. Machado confirmed on Thursday that she had US support.
“Machado arrived in Curacao around 3:00 pm (1900 GMT) on Tuesday. She was met by a private contractor who specializes in extractions and was supplied by the Trump administration,” according to the WSJ account.
Her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, had accepted the Nobel Prize in her place as she had missed the award ceremony – apparently by a mere hours. But Thursday’s appearance can be thought of as her post-award press conference.
To be expected, she used the opportunity to again call for regime change in her own country, calling it a “criminal hub”. She’s calling on the international community to intervene and “cut those sources.”
“The regime is using the resources — the cash flows that come from illegal activities, including the black market of oil — not to give food for hungry children, not for teachers who earn $1 a day, not to hospitals in Venezuela that do not have medicine or water, not for security. They use those resources to repress and persecute our people,” she said.
The 2025 peace laureate Maria Corina Machado arrived safely in Oslo, Norway in the early morning of 11 December.
It was the first time in two years that she was able to embrace her daughter Ana (depicted in the first image) and the rest of her family. She was welcomed by an… pic.twitter.com/YnDmgF6aQt
— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) December 11, 2025
And the mainstream media is fawning over her, with the NY Times hailing her as the “de facto spokeswoman for democracy in Venezuela.” But given the US military is parked just off Venezuela’s coast, this all seems less some kind of organic democratic uprising and much more obviously a brazen Washington orchestrated regime change op.
As an example of her own regime change rhetoric, geared toward the overthrow of President Maduro:
Reporter: Would you welcome a U.S. military intervention in Venezuela?
Machado: Venezuela has been already invaded. We have the Russian agents, we have the Iranian agents. We have terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, operating freely in accordance with the regime.
She’s of course giving the neocons and hawks what they want to hear, as this narrative of “Middle Easts terrorists” setting up shop in Venezuela has long been a talking point among Republicans especially. But evidence is thin to non-existent, and exists more in the imaginations of 24/7 Fox News consumers.
Machado also expressed support for the US military intercepting and seizing Venezuelan oil tankers, and sanctioning her country:
Mr. Maduro’s largest corporate partner is Chevron, the American energy company, which has continued to export Venezuelan oil to the United States despite Mr. Trump’s military escalation.
In response to questions about the seizure of the oil tanker, Ms. Machado said that she supported cutting the funds of Mr. Maduro’s government. She added that he finances himself with gold smuggling, human trafficking, drugs and illegal oil sales.
Just like the US-led regime change playbook says…
NOW – Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado: “We will turn Venezuela into that energy, technological, and democracy hub of the Americas… we will host all of you in a bright, democratic, and free country, and it’s going to be soon.” pic.twitter.com/aRIP1psbLj
— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) December 11, 2025
Machado outside her hotel in Oslo smiles while crowds chanted “President! President!” She declared, “I want you all back in Venezuela.” She may soon get her wish in the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
Her daughter has promised that “she will be back in Venezuela very soon.” Machado has said it is her “duty” to return to Venezuela with her Nobel award, and she’s willing to do so whether or not Maduro remains in power.
Meanwhile, there has actually been some local opposition to the oppositionist evident on the streets of Norway…
Norwegian peace groups demonstrate in Oslo against the Nobel Prize award to rabid warmonger, coup plotter and corporate front woman Maria Corina Machado pic.twitter.com/JelS2HW69P
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) December 10, 2025
Indeed many are not buying this carefully curated narrative: “We know that our regime is supporting itself thanks to other authoritarian regimes. We need the support of all democracies in the world,” Machado said. “That’s why we are certainly asking the world to act.” Iraq, Libya, Syria 2.0 coming?
Tyler Durden
Thu, 12/11/2025 – 09:15
Officers injured in overnight crash on Lower Wacker Drive
Two officers suffered minor injuries in an overnight crash on Lower Wacker Drive, Chicago police said.
Shortly after 1:30 a.m., officers were responding to a call in an a police vehicle in the 500 block of East Lower Wacker Drive when they attempted to avoid striking another vehicle and struck a raised center median, police said.
Both officers suffered minor injuries and were taken to an area hospital where they were listed in fair condition, police said.
No other vehicles were reported damaged in the crash.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/11/officers-injured-crash-lower-wacker-drive/
No. 23 Nebraska matches best start in school history at 10-0. Up next: No. 13 Illinois on Saturday.
LINCOLN, Neb. — Rienk Mast had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and No. 23 Nebraska took over the game midway through the first half and cruised to a 90-60 win over Wisconsin on Wednesday night.
Ranked in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2018, Nebraska (10-0, 1-0 Big Ten) matched its best start in school history. Nebraska also opened the 1977-78 season with 10 straight wins.
Wisconsin (7-3, 1-1) lost its second straight road game, scoring its fewest points of the season.
Tied at 21 midway through the first half, Nebraska outscored Wisconsin 26-10 in the last 10 minutes and shut out the Badgers in the final 3:50, closing out the half on a 10-0 run and going up 47-31.
Wisconsin hit just 33% of its first-half shots and just 21% from 3-point range. Nebraska hit 55% percent of its shots, 40% from 3.
Nebraska went up 61-39 on Mast’s hook shot with 15:39 remaining and took a 33-point lead on Brandon Frager’s 3-pointer that made it 84-51 with 5:25 left.
Wisconsin was just 7 for 32 on 3-point attempts and finished just 34% from the field for the game. Nebraska hit 54% of its shots and was 11 for 30 from 3.
Frager finished with 15 points. Pryce Sandfort and Berke Buyuktuncel had 14 each and Sam Hoiberg scored 12.
Nick Boyd led Wisconsin with 20 points. Nolan Winter finished with 12.
Up next
Wisconsin hosts Villanova on Friday
Nebraska visits No. 13 Illinois on Saturday
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/11/nebraska-basketball-best-start-in-school-history/
Michael Jordan’s antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR highlights family ties to motorsports
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The theme of family ties in motorsports has been woven through Michael Jordan’s federal antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR, with witness after witness testifying to their emotional connections to the top motorsports series in the United States.
It began on the opening day when three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin broke down in tears talking about his dying father introducing him to racing and financially leveraging the entire family to help his son make it to NASCAR.
Next came Jordan himself, a basketball Hall of Famer who was actually raised going on family “weekend vacations” to NASCAR races across the South with his Richard Petty-loving father. So began a love affair that led him to partner with Hamlin to launch 23XI Racing in 2021.
Bob Jenkins formed Front Row Motorsports after falling in love with NASCAR as a teenager in East Tennessee and he’s hoped to hand the team down to his four sons.
Joe Gibbs Racing is a family business, the daughter-in-law of the Hall of Fame NFL coach testified, and Richard Childress said his 60-year-old team is meant to go to his grandsons, both current Cup Series drivers.
And then there is NASCAR itself: Bill France Sr. founded the sport in 1948 and to this day it is privately owned by the Florida-based France family. His youngest son is chairman, his granddaughter vice chair and great-grandson an executive on NASCAR’s board of directors.
It was core principles that Bill France passed down to his two sons that shaped the hardline stance Jim France took with teams as NASCAR chairman in negotiations for the 2025 revenue-sharing agreement.
The teams wanted charters — the equivalent of a franchise in other sports — to become permanent and not renewable. In NASCAR, a charter guarantees cars a spot in the 40-car field each week, as well as specified financial terms, and Jim France never considered permanency an option.
Jim France testified Wednesday, the eighth day of the trial, that he relied on the core principles drilled into his head over dinner growing up in negotiations. His mother, credited with helping her husband build NASCAR from nothing, told her two sons to always pay their bills. Bill France Sr. advised them “do what you say you’re going to do.”
“I’ve just seen so much change over the years and things are changing at a fast pace and I don’t know how to put something in place — I don’t know how we could come to an agreement that covers forever,” he testified.
He later tied it directly to his parents’ advice.
“I don’t have a sightline for the future and I don’t feel comfortable making a promise I can’t keep forever,” he testified.
That thinking aligned with Tuesday testimony from NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps, who gave NASCAR’s version of the chaotic Sept. 6, 2024, final agreements presented to teams late that Friday afternoon with an end-of-day deadline to sign the 112-page document or forfeit their charters.
Phelps testified the delay in sending the final drafts was because France had promised Roger Penske, owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar and teams in multiple racing series including NASCAR, that France would personally speak to Penske before the agreements were delivered. France tried to call Penske several times that day and Phelps testified Penske didn’t answer.
It wasn’t until after the two had finally spoken that the charters were sent to teams, at close to 5 p.m., with a midnight deadline.
“Jim is a man of his word,” Phelps testified.
Michael Jordan, co-owner of 23XI Racing, sits in his pit box during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 6, 2024, in Talladega, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)
23XI Racing, which is owned by Jordan, Hamlin, and Jordan’s financial adviser, Curtis Polk, and Front Row, owned by Jenkins, were the only two teams out of 15 organizations that refused to sign. They sued instead.
Multiple team owners have described that day on the opening weekend of the 2024 playoffs as an ultimatum from NASCAR as they found the offers to be “take-it-or-leave-it” and they signed with “a gun to our head.” Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress testified Tuesday his team would have gone out of business if he didn’t sign the agreement.
France had a better showing on the stand Wednesday than he did the day before as plaintiffs attorney Jeffrey Kessler had to repeat many questions and France said on numerous topics that he was either unable to recall, did not remember, or was not sure.
It happened again, one time on Wednesday, when Kessler asked France if anyone can take NASCAR away from the family. France referenced back to the COVID-19 pandemic, when NASCAR shut down for nearly two months before leveraging its ownership of racetracks to become the first sport back up and running — albeit without fans in the grandstands.
“I don’t know,” he slowly said. “We were in business in 2020 of March and we woke up weren’t in business. I don’t know how to answer that.”
NASCAR is expected to conclude its defense Friday.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/11/michael-jordan-nascar-lawsuit-family-ties/
