Category: News
Trump is proposing a $12B aid package for farmers hit hard by his trade war with China
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is planning a $12 billion farm aid package, according to a White House official — a boost to farmers who have struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China as part of a broader trade war.
According to the official, who was granted anonymity to speak ahead of a planned announcement, Trump will unveil the plan Monday afternoon at the White House.
Farmers have backed Trump politically but his aggressive trade policies and frequently changing tariff rates have come under increasing scrutiny because of the impact on the agricultural sector and because of broader consumer worries.
The aid is the administration’s latest effort to defend Trump’s economic stewardship and answer voter angst about rising costs — even as the president has dismissed concerns about affordability as a Democratic “hoax.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/08/trump-aid-package-farmers-trade-china/
Japón reporta sismo de magnitud 7,2 en su costa norte y emite alerta de tsunami
TOKIO (AP) — Japón reporta sismo de magnitud 7,2 en su costa norte y emite alerta de tsunami.
Trump Expected To Roll Out $12 Billion Farm Aid Program Today
Trump Expected To Roll Out $12 Billion Farm Aid Program Today
The Trump administration on Monday is planning to roll out a $12 billion farm aid package to help producers hurt by the trade war, which will include up to $11 billion in one-time payments to crop farmers under the Department of Agriculture’s newly designed Farmer Bridge Assistance program. The rest of the aid will go to crops not covered by the FBA, Bloomberg reports, citing an anonymous White House official.
The aid comes as farmers express rising frustration over the slow pace of Chinese purchases, which Beijing instituted earlier this year in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs.
The package is expected to be announced around 2pm in Washington during an event featuring farmers who produce cotton, sorghum, soybean, rice, cattle, wheat and potato. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins will also be in attendance, the official said.
Funds for the new program have been authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act, and will be distributed by the Farm Service Agency, according to the report.
The farm aid is similar to what Trump offered during his first term, when the US and China were in a similar trade war, and answers concerns voiced by Republican lawmakers ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Farmers have been dying on the vine as export markets for several crops have dried up – particularly soybeans – which saw purchases from China evaporate until a late October agreement between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, soybean producers have seen purchases gradually ramp up. Last month China made its biggest daily purchase of American soybeans in two years, with the total volume sold to the Asian nation amounting to 2.25 million tons – far less than what American farmers need to sell out of the 12 million tons of US soybeans that the Trump admin said China would purchase by the end of February which Bessent said last week that China is still on track to meet.
On Saturday, US Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer said that China has been complying with the terms of the trade agreement, and that Beijing is about “a third” of the way through its soybean purchase commitments for this growing season.
In 2018 and 2019 Trump distributed $28 billion to farmers to make up for lost business over the tariff dispute at the time, however China began to shift purchases of soybeans to Brazil – which has had lasting consequences until now, when Beijing recently banned Brazilian soybean shipments. Trump touted the move as proof that they had won Beijing back over.
Meanwhile, despite a runup in soybean futures over the past month over a resolution with China, crop prices are still close to 2020 lows, reducing what farmers take in while the cost of fertilizers is still climbing.
The Trump admin first announced farm aid in March, when the USDA announced a plan to pay as much as $10 billion under the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program authorized by Congress in late 2024, designed to help mitigate the impact of increased costs and falling commodity prices.
So far over $9 billion has been paid out as of Nov. 23. The bulk of the funds have gone to corn and soybean farmers.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/08/2025 – 09:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/trump-roll-out-12-billion-farm-aid-program-today
Real Madrid: Eder Militao se perderá varios meses debido a lesión en la pierna izquierda
MADRID (AP) — El defensor del Real Madrid Eder Militão podría perderse al menos tres meses debido a una lesión en la pierna izquierda.
Militão se sometió a pruebas y fue diagnosticado el lunes con una rotura del tendón del bíceps femoral en la pierna. Añadió que queda “pendiente de evolución”.
Los medios españoles señalaron que este tipo de lesiones podrían requerir de tres a cuatro meses de recuperación.
Militão salió lesionado durante el primer tiempo del partido que el Madrid perdió en 2-0 ante el Celta de Vigo el domingo por La Liga española. Tuvo que resistir asistir para salir del campo en el estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
El internacional brasileño ha tenido que lidiar con lesiones graves en la rodilla en los últimos años.
Es el último contratiempo que afecta a la plantilla de Xabi Alonso, mermada por lesiones recientemente.
El club Real Madrid tiene seis lesionados, y todos son defensores: Trent Alexander-Arnold (recto anterior del cuádriceps izquierdo), Dani Carvajal (rodilla derecha), David Alaba (sóleo derecho), Ferdinand Mendy (bíceps femoral de la pierna derecha y Dean Huijsen (molestias en la rodilla).
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Fútbol de AP: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Paramount goes hostile in bid for Warner Bros., challenging a $72 billion bid by Netflix
NEW YORK — Paramount has gone hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, challenging Netflix which reached a $72 billion takeover deal with the company just days ago.
Paramount said Monday that it going straight to Warner Bros. shareholders with a $30 per share in cash offer for the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, including its Global Networks segment, asking them to reject the deal with Netflix.
That is the same bid that Warner Brothers rejected in favor of the offer from Netflix in a merger that would alter the U.S. entertainment landscape.
Paramount criticized the Netflix offer, saying it “exposes WBD shareholders to a protracted multi-jurisdictional regulatory clearance process with an uncertain outcome along with a complex and volatile mix of equity and cash.”
Paramount said it had submitted six proposals to Warner Bros. Discovery over a 12 week period.
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry,” Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison said in a statement. “We believe they will benefit from the enhanced competition, higher content spend and theatrical release output, and a greater number of movies in theaters as a result of our proposed transaction,”
On Friday Netflix struck a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max. The cash and stock deal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt. The transaction is expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months, after Warner completes its previously announced separation of its cable operations. Not included in the deal are networks such as CNN and Discovery.
But President Donald Trump said Sunday that the deal struck by Netflix to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/08/paramount-warner-bros-netflix/
Records reviewed by AP detail online monitoring, arrests in New Orleans immigration crackdown
NEW ORLEANS — State and federal authorities are closely tracking online criticism and protests against the immigration crackdown in New Orleans, monitoring message boards around the clock for threats to agents while compiling regular updates on public “sentiment” surrounding the arrests, according to law enforcement records reviewed by The Associated Press.
The intelligence gathering comes even as officials have released few details about the first arrests made last week as part of “Catahoula Crunch,” prompting calls for greater transparency from local officials who say they’ve been kept in the dark about virtually every aspect of the operation.
“Online opinions still remain mixed, with some supporting the operations while others are against them,” said a briefing circulated early Sunday to law enforcement. Earlier bulletins noted “a combination of groups urging the public to record ICE and Border Patrol” as well as “additional locations where agents can find immigrants.”
Immigration authorities have insisted the sweeps are targeted at “criminal illegal aliens.” But the law enforcement records detail criminal histories for less than a third of the 38 people arrested in the first two days of the operation.
Local leaders told the AP those numbers — which law enforcement officials were admonished not to distribute to the media — undermined the stated aim of the roundup. They also expressed concern that the online surveillance could chill free speech as authorities threaten to charge anyone interfering with immigration enforcement.
“It confirms what we already knew — this was not about public safety, it’s about stoking chaos and fear and terrorizing communities,” said state Sen. Royce Duplessis, a Democrat who represents New Orleans. “It’s furthering a sick narrative of stereotypes that immigrants are violent.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the intelligence gathering and referred the AP to a prior news release touting “dozens of arrests.” The agency has not released an accounting of the detainees taken into custody or their criminal histories.
Few initially arrested had violent criminal records
DHS has publicly detailed only six arrests stemming from the operation — all people with criminal histories — including a man they vaguely said was convicted of “homicide” and another convicted of sexual assault. The agency, which has several hundred agents on the ground in southeast Louisiana, has said it aims to make at least 5,000 arrests in the region over an operation expected to last up to two months.
“Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens harming them, their families or their neighbors,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
DHS and Republican leaders have framed the crackdown as targeting the most violent offenders. But the records reviewed by the AP identify only nine of the 38 people arrested in the first days as having criminal histories that rose beyond traffic violations — information the intelligence bulletins warn “should not be distributed to the media.”
New Orleans City Council President J.P. Morrell said the stated goals of the operation to arrest violent offenders did not align with the reality of what is taking place.
“There’s literally no information being given to the city of New Orleans whatsoever,” Morrell said. “If the goal was for them to come here and augment existing law enforcement, to pursue violent criminals or people with extensive criminal histories, why wouldn’t you be more transparent about who you’ve arrested and why?”
Morrell and other officials have said the crackdown appears to be a dragnet focused on people with brown skin, citing viral videos of encounters such as masked agents chasing a 23-year-old U.S. citizen returning home from the grocery store.
Law enforcement officials have been carefully tracking such footage and public reaction. “For some supporters, the videos with sounds of children crying in the background as their parents are placed under arrest, is weighing heavy on their hearts,” one briefing stated.
Authorities monitoring public sentiment and protests
The records also shed new light on cooperation among state and federal authorities in an operation welcomed by Louisiana’s Republican Gov. Jeff Landry. Both the FBI and Customs and Border Protection have stationed agents at the Louisiana State Analytical and Fusion Exchange, an intelligence and data sharing center that is closely following discussions on the online forum Reddit that local residents have used to exchange information about the immigration raids.
One briefing noted that some “have gone so far as to accuse agents of racially profiling Hispanic areas specifically.” Another flagged social media posts suggesting agents “are not keeping with the mission of targeting criminal immigrants only.” And a third pointed out that critics of the raids “bring up past hurricanes and the work done by immigrants” in their aftermath.
“The chatter is slower during the night, mainly just commenting on posts from earlier in the day,” one of the briefings states. “Once daylight arrives and agencies are back out, the chatter and new posts will pick back up.”
The briefings have identified no threats to law enforcement, but the fusion center has sought to debunk what it called false reports that a pedestrian was fatally struck by law enforcement. “It has been confirmed that this actually did not occur,” the center told law enforcement on Saturday.
One briefing described an incident involving “suspicious persons/protesters” who showed up early Saturday at an ICE facility in St. Charles Parish, where records show the detainees were expected to be processed.
Some local officials said they had been unaware of the state’s role in the online monitoring. Louisiana State Police pledged “operational support” to immigration authorities and warned the public that troopers will arrest anyone who assaults a federal agent or causes criminal damage to property.
“The Louisiana State Police remains vigilant in monitoring social media activity related to protests, activism and other forms of public response,” Trooper Danny Berrincha, a state police spokesperson, wrote in an email to the AP. “Through the LSP Fusion Center, we actively track developments and facilitate the sharing of information and communication among our partner agencies.”
The fusion center also has tracked the tools used by protesters to foil federal immigration enforcement, highlighting social media links to whistle handouts, trainings on filming federal agents and the emergence of a hotline for reporting arrests. The surveillance extended to activist discussions about immigration authorities’ presence near an elementary school and recapped demonstrations inside the New Orleans City Council chambers and elsewhere.
“They can monitor me all they want,” said Rachel Taber, an organizer with the New Orleans-based grassroots advocacy group Union Migrante, which shares crowdsourced reports and videos of the federal immigration enforcement operations. “We are not doing anything illegal.”
Beth Davis, a spokesperson for Indivisible NOLA, which has organized some of the trainings described in the law enforcement briefings, said it was sad authorities seemed preoccupied with law-abiding citizens. “That they feel threatened by a bunch of community organizers that have nothing other than phones and whistles blows my mind.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/08/new-orleans-immigration-crackdown/
Disputa entre reclusos de una cárcel de Ecuador deja un saldo de 13 muertos, según las autoridades
Associated Press
QUITO (AP) — Una disputa entre reclusos en una cárcel del suroeste de Ecuador que en los últimos meses ha sido escenario de reiterados asesinatos por enfrentamientos de prisioneros dejó un saldo de 13 fallecidos, según informó el lunes el organismo rector de las prisiones.
El Servicio Nacional de Atención Integral a Personas Adultas Privadas de Libertad (SNAI) dijo en un comunicado que los hechos se produjeron el domingo, luego de “una detonación de un artefacto explosivo en los exteriores” de la cárcel de Machala, 373 kilómetros al suroeste de la capital, cuando paralelamente la policía “realizó una intervención y revisión inmediata” de la prisión, donde halló ese número de muertos.
Añadió que “se están haciendo las autopsias y procedimientos de rutina para determinar las causas oficiales de muerte”.
Esa entidad gubernamental no ha dado más detalles de lo ocurrido; tampoco ha señalado la relación de la explosión con los asesinatos, aunque destacó que ocurrió poco antes de descubrir a las víctimas.
La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), un órgano autónomo de la Organización de los Estados Americanos, pidió a inicios de año al estado ecuatoriano adoptar medidas para garantizar el derecho a la vida en las cárceles, que están bajo el control del crimen organizado y son frecuente escenario de matanzas.
El Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (CDH) del país sudamericano ha cuestionado por su lado las muertes en las prisiones y ha hecho reiterados llamados para que los gobiernos de turno declaren la emergencia en el sistema penitenciario a fin de resolver los problemas de hacinamiento y violencia.
Un mes atrás, en la misma prisión 31 reclusos resultaron asesinados en dos revueltas durante el mismo día. En la primera cuatro reos fueron asesinados a tiros y en la segunda 27 murieron por asfixia. Según dijo el SNAI, los hechos se relacionaron con el trasladado de presos a una cárcel de máxima seguridad en otra provincia de la costa y los atribuyó a peleas entre ellos.
En tanto, a finales de septiembre 14 presos fallecieron y otros 14 resultaron heridos en un hecho que las autoridades adjudicaron a una disputa entre bandas criminales.
Desde 2021 Ecuador afronta la peor ola de violencia en su historia, propiciada por grupos delictivos locales aliados con cárteles transnacionales, según las autoridades. Desde entonces se han producido más de una docena de enfrentamientos en los centros penitenciarios, los cuales han dejado en conjunto más de 500 fallecidos.
Desde inicios de 2024 los militares tomaron el control de las cárceles luego de que el gobierno de Daniel Noboa declaró el conflicto armado interno y desplegó a la fuerza pública dentro y fuera de los recintos carcelarios para combatir a bandas de crimen organizado.
Entre los factores que derivan en la violencia dentro de las cárceles en Ecuador, según la CIDH, están la ausencia de control por parte del Estado, los sistemas de autogobierno de los reclusos, la corrupción y el insuficiente personal de seguridad.
El organismo convocó al Estado a adoptar medidas para garantizar los derechos de las personas bajo su custodia, “investigar los hechos, identificar y sancionar a los responsables”.
Tesla Shares Slip After Morgan Stanley Downgrades To Equal-Weight From Overweight
Tesla Shares Slip After Morgan Stanley Downgrades To Equal-Weight From Overweight
Tesla shares slipped about 1.5% in early trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the stock to Equal-weight from Overweight, even as the firm raised its price target to $425 from $410. With Tesla changing hands around $455 into the move, the new target implies modest downside and a more balanced risk-reward profile in the eyes of the bank’s analysts.
The downgrade also coincides with a notable change in coverage leadership. Longtime Tesla watcher Adam Jonas is no longer the primary analyst on the name. Coverage is now being assumed by a broader team led by Andrew S. Percoco.
Percoco and his colleagues frame Tesla as a clear global leader in electric vehicles, manufacturing, renewable energy and real-world artificial intelligence, but argue that the stock price has caught up with their base-case outlook for now. They assume coverage at Equal-weight with a $425 price target, which the team says implies roughly 6% downside from the prior close. Their stance is that Tesla is “deserving of a premium valuation” given its leadership position, but that “high expectations on the latter have brought the stock closer to fair valuation.” In practical terms, that means they expect a choppy trading environment over the next 12 months as they see downside risk to near-term estimates while many non-auto AI and robotics catalysts already appear reflected in the shares.
A central part of the new report is a complete refresh of Morgan Stanley’s sum-of-the-parts valuation framework for Tesla. Percoco’s team breaks the company into five pillars: the core auto business, the energy segment,
Network Services (including Full Self Driving), the Tesla Mobility robotaxi platform, and the Optimus humanoid robot business. In the new model, they assign roughly $55 per share of value to autos, $40 to energy, $145 to Network Services, $125 to robotaxis and $60 to humanoids, adding up to the $425 target. The mix reflects a deliberate shift: less credit for the auto and energy segments, and more emphasis on high-margin, software-driven and AI-enabled businesses.
On autos, the analysts still describe Tesla’s vehicle business as the financial engine that funds expansion into autonomy and robotics, but they have turned more cautious on the global EV backdrop. Their 2026 auto volume forecast now sits materially below the Street, and they have reduced long-term delivery assumptions through 2040 in light of a slower U.S. adoption curve and intensifying competition globally, particularly from Chinese manufacturers.
That feeds into a lower standalone valuation for the auto business than in Jonas’s prior framework, even though Tesla is still expected to maintain a meaningful share of the global EV market and improve margins over time.
By contrast, the team leans heavily into Network Services and Full Self Driving as key value drivers. They characterize FSD as the “crown jewel” of Tesla’s auto franchise and call its leading-edge personal autonomy platform “a real game changer,” arguing it will remain a significant competitive advantage over both EV and legacy peers as the system moves toward more hands-off, eyes-off functionality. In their long-term view, an expanding installed base of Teslas and rising penetration of FSD, charging, maintenance and content subscriptions create a high-margin, recurring revenue stream that justifies the $145 per share valuation they place on Network Services.
The robotaxi business, branded as Tesla Mobility in the report, is another important piece of Percoco’s long-term story. Working with Morgan Stanley’s global autos and internet teams, they have built a bottom-up, city-level model of autonomous ride-hailing in the U.S. The note argues that Tesla’s camera-only, vertically integrated approach can drive a structurally lower cost per mile than sensor-heavy peers, though it also acknowledges regulatory and weather-related hurdles to scaling the service. In the base case, the analysts assume a steadily growing robotaxi fleet and falling per-mile costs that eventually undercut traditional rideshare economics, supporting the $125 per share value they attach to this segment.
The energy business remains a structural growth driver in the model as well, supported by rising electricity demand from AI data centers and electrification, plus accelerating deployment of battery storage. However, Percoco and his team have dialed back their earlier assumptions on storage growth and terminal margins to align more closely with Morgan Stanley’s global clean-tech forecasts. Tesla is still credited with a leadership position in energy storage systems and a meaningful slice of future global deployments, but the resulting valuation contribution is more conservative at roughly $40 per share.
Perhaps the most speculative, but also most eye-catching, part of the note is the explicit valuation assigned to humanoid robots via Tesla’s Optimus program. The analysts draw on Morgan Stanley’s global humanoid research, which envisions a multi-trillion-dollar annual market for humanoid robotics by mid-century. In that context, they argue that Tesla’s advantages in AI training data, custom silicon, manufacturing scale and energy give it a credible shot at becoming a major player. Their model envisions Optimus scaling over decades to a large installed base of commercial and household robots with attractive margins. Even so, they haircut their own discounted cash flow output by 50% to reflect the early-stage uncertainty, landing at $60 per share of value inside the overall price target.
All of these pieces roll into a wide risk-reward range that Percoco and his colleagues lay out in the report. Their bull case, which assumes stronger EV growth, higher attach rates and margins in software and services, faster robotaxi scaling and a more favorable outcome for humanoids, reaches $860 per share. Their bear case, which bakes in tougher competition, more muted EV and energy growth, slower autonomy adoption and zero value for Optimus, falls to $145.
Against that backdrop, with the stock already discounting much of the AI and robotics upside and short-term earnings risk skewed to the downside, the new team is content to move Tesla to Equal-weight and “wait for a better entry.”
For investors, the immediate takeaway is that Morgan Stanley still views Tesla as a central player in what the firm has elsewhere dubbed the “Muskonomy” of interconnected AI and automation businesses, but is no longer willing to recommend the shares as a clear buy at current levels.
The downgrade from Overweight to Equal-weight, the shift to a team led by Andrew S. Percoco, and the sharper distinction between near-term headwinds and long-term AI optionality together help explain why the stock is trading lower in response this morning, even with the firm’s official price target moving higher.
Premium members can access the full 75 page note in the usual place.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/08/2025 – 09:25
Bloomberg lanza proyecto para impulsar colaboración entre ciudades
Por GLENN GAMBOA
Michael R. Bloomberg ha creído que los alcaldes tienen mucho que enseñarse entre sí desde que fue alcalde de la ciudad de Nueva York y ha apoyado el esfuerzo de compartir buenas ideas municipales a través de su organización sin fines de lucro Bloomberg Philanthropies desde que dejó el cargo en 2013.
Sin embargo, a medida que más naciones se hunden en lo que el empresario de medios y filántropo llama “batallas ideológicas y recriminaciones”, Bloomberg dice que los alcaldes pueden hacer aún más. Está ampliando su apoyo a nivel internacional con la Iniciativa de Liderazgo de Ciudades Europeas de Bloomberg LSE, una colaboración con la London School of Economics and Political Science y la Hertie School en Berlín. Y otros filántropos están invirtiendo en construir gobiernos municipales más fuertes para fortalecer las comunidades urbanas.
“Los alcaldes son más importantes que nunca porque las ciudades son más importantes que nunca”, afirmó Bloomberg a The Associated Press en un comunicado. “Por primera vez en la historia del mundo, una mayoría creciente de la población mundial vive en ciudades, y las ciudades están en el corazón de muchos de los mayores desafíos que enfrentan los países, incluyendo la expansión de oportunidades económicas”.
La nueva iniciativa internacional, establecida por una inversión de 50 millones de dólares de Bloomberg Philanthropies, reúne a 30 alcaldes y 60 altos funcionarios de 17 países, representando a más de 21 millones de residentes.
Después de una reunión en octubre, algunos ya ven el potencial.
Oliver Coppard, alcalde de South Yorkshire, Inglaterra, aprovechó la oportunidad de trabajar nuevamente con Bloomberg Philanthropies. Coppard aprendió mucho en la Iniciativa de Liderazgo de Ciudades de Bloomberg Harvard, que se centra en capacitar a alcaldes estadounidenses, pero ofrece el 25% de sus plazas a alcaldes internacionales. E incluso él se sorprendió de cuánto tenía en común con la primera clase internacional de alcaldes. Todos buscan formas de agilizar sus ciudades, lidiar con las redes sociales y comunicarse mejor con sus comunidades.
“Realmente fue sorprendente”, comentó Coppard. “Hay un montón de áreas donde todos sentimos que, a pesar del contexto muy diferente en el que trabajamos, enfrentábamos desafíos muy similares”.
La importancia de demostrar, no confiar, para los alcaldes
A pesar de las diversas ideologías políticas y puntos de vista de una amplia gama de países, Coppard dijo que lo que unía a los alcaldes era el deseo de servir mejor a sus comunidades a través de la atención médica, el transporte y la comunicación.
Es exactamente lo que James Anderson, jefe de programas de Innovación Gubernamental en Bloomberg Philanthropies, esperaba que encontraran. Pero dice que abordar esos problemas tiene implicaciones más amplias que requieren más participación filantrópica.
“Todos estos alcaldes están reconociendo que los gobiernos locales se han convertido en el baluarte de la legitimidad democrática”, expresó Anderson. “Sienten la carga de eso. Y quieren nuevas y mejores formas de reconstruir la confianza y un sentido entre sus ciudadanos de que el gobierno, en particular el local, los ve y puede responder a sus necesidades de manera impactante”.
Anderson indicó que los alcaldes también entienden que tienen que mostrar cómo el gobierno funciona para su comunidad. La seguridad pública, la recolección de basura y el despeje de nieve han adquirido un nuevo significado.
“Estamos en un momento donde la confianza en las instituciones es muy baja”, manifestó. “Este es un momento de la importancia de demostrar resultados y no depender de la confianza ciega. Y los alcaldes reconocen que eso significa que necesitan gobernar de manera diferente”.
Joseph Deitch, fundador de la Elevate Prize Foundation, cree que la filantropía también debe apoyar a los alcaldes y sus ciudades de manera diferente.
“Hoy en día, hay tanta polarización”, declaró. “Todos están defendiendo su rincón. Entonces, ¿dónde podemos encontrar un terreno común? Creo que uno de esos lugares es el amor por nuestras ciudades”.
Lanzamiento del programa en Miami
Para cultivar un vínculo más fuerte con esos lugares, Deitch ha lanzado Elevate Cities, una nueva iniciativa que celebra lo que hace especiales a las ciudades y reúne a líderes comunitarios para mejorarlas. La iniciativa comenzará en el hogar actual de Deitch con Elevate Miami, aunque espera expandirla rápidamente a otras ciudades.
En noviembre, Elevate Miami otorgó subvenciones sin restricciones de 25.000 dólares a tres diferentes organizaciones sin fines de lucro de Miami para aumentar su impacto en la ciudad. Más adelante este mes, habrá un proyecto en toda la ciudad para presentar a los residentes de Miami las organizaciones sin fines de lucro de la zona. Y en enero, Elevate Miami lanzará un concurso para escribir una canción de amor a la ciudad.
Kim Coupounas, CEO de Elevate Cities, dice que lograr que las personas reconozcan todas las cosas positivas que suceden alrededor de su ciudad facilita cultivar el orgullo cívico. También facilita que los líderes municipales obtengan apoyo de la comunidad.
“Realmente estamos tratando de involucrar a toda la ciudad”, comentó. “Hay tanto potencial y posibilidad que puede cobrar vida porque nos unimos y reconocemos en qué buen lugar vivimos y qué más puede suceder aquí”.
Bloomberg indicó que espera que la nueva Iniciativa de Liderazgo de Ciudades Europeas de Bloomberg LSE y otros programas que apoyan a los líderes municipales ayuden a difundir buenas ideas y la diversidad de puntos de vista necesarios para probar nuevas estrategias para sus ciudades.
“Si los alcaldes quieren hacer grandes cosas, no pueden solo jugar a lo seguro”, afirmó.
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La cobertura de la Associated Press de temas filantrópicos y organizaciones sin fines de lucro cuenta con apoyo de The Conversation US, con fondos de la Lilly Endowment Inc. La AP es la única responsable del contenido.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
“The Days Of Censoring Americans Online Are Over”: Senior US Diplomats Slam EU’s “Attack” On American Tech Platform X
“The Days Of Censoring Americans Online Are Over”: Senior US Diplomats Slam EU’s “Attack” On American Tech Platform X
Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and several other senior U.S. officials have criticized the internet policies of the European Union (EU), likening them to censorship, after the governing bloc last week levied Elon Musk’s social media platform X with a $140 million fine for breaching its online content rules.
On Dec. 5, EU tech regulators fined X 120 million euros (about $140 million) following a two-year investigation under the Digital Services Act, concluding that the social platform had breached multiple transparency obligations, including the “deceptive design of its ‘blue checkmark,’ the lack of transparency of its advertising repository, and the failure to provide access to public data for researchers.”
The EU accused X of converting its verified badges into a paid feature without sufficient identity checks, arguing that this deceived users into believing the accounts were authentic and exposed them to fraud, manipulation, and impersonation.
This meant the platform had failed to meet the Digital Services Act’s accessibility and detail standards, leaving out key information that prevented efforts to track coordinated disinformation, illicit activities, and election interference, according to the EU.
Even before the EU’s fine was announced, U.S. Vice President JD Vance suggested it amounted to punishing X for “not engaging in censorship.”
Rumors swirling that the EU commission will fine X hundreds of millions of dollars for not engaging in censorship. The EU should be supporting free speech not attacking American companies over garbage.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) December 4, 2025
On Dec. 5, Rubio wrote in a post on X that the fine was not “just an attack on @X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments.”
“The days of censoring Americans online are over,” Rubio wrote.
The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on @X, it’s an attack on all American tech platforms and the American people by foreign governments.
The days of censoring Americans online are over.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) December 5, 2025
On Dec. 6, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said the EU’s policies are threatening the trans-Atlantic partnership.
“The nations of Europe cannot look to the US for their own security at the same time they affirmatively undermine the security of the US itself through the (unelected, undemocratic, and unrepresentative) EU. This fine is just the tip of the iceberg,” he wrote on X.
In a follow-up post, Landau said his recent trip to Brussels for NATO’s ministerial meeting left him feeling that there is a “glaring inconsistency between [the United States’] relations with NATO and the EU.”
“When these countries wear their NATO hats, they insist that Transatlantic cooperation is the cornerstone of our mutual security,” he said.
“But when these countries wear their EU hats, they pursue all sorts of agendas that are often utterly adverse to US interests and security—including censorship. … This inconsistency cannot continue.”
My recent trip to Brussels for the @NATO Ministerial meeting left me with one overriding impression: the US has long failed to address the glaring inconsistency between its relations with NATO and the EU. These are almost all the same countries in both organizations. When these…
— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) December 6, 2025
U.S. Ambassador to the EU Andrew Puzder called the EU’s fine on X “regulatory overreach targeting American innovation.”
The EU also charged Meta and TikTok with breaching its Digital Services Act transparency guidelines in October and then accused Temu, a Chinese online marketplace, of violating guidelines intended to prevent sales of illegal products.
TikTok, however, was able to avoid the fines levied on X by making concessions to the EU.
Meta’s Facebook and Instagram were accused of failing to offer a user-friendly and easily accessible procedure for reporting illegal content, including child sexual abuse material and terrorist content, which the parent company denied.
Then on Dec. 4, the European Commission said it had opened an antitrust investigation into Meta to determine whether the company’s policy blocking third-party artificial intelligence tools on WhatsApp violates the EU’s competition regulations.
Helmut Brandstätter, a member of the European Parliament, shot back at Vance’s post condemning the EU’s decision to fine X.
“There is No censorship in Europe, and everybody has to follow our rules,” he wrote on X on Dec. 5.
“[U.S. President Donald Trump] fights the free press, suing newspapers and TV stations. So leave us alone.”
In response, Under Secretary of State Sarah B. Rogers posted a video to X in which she referenced the German woman who was recently given a harsher jail sentence than a convicted rapist after calling the latter a “disgraceful rapist pig.”
The woman was convicted of insults and criminal threats under German law and sentenced to a weekend in jail, while the rapist received a suspended sentence without prison time because of his age.
“So which is it, Mr. Bronstetter, is there no censorship in Europe? Or do we all have to follow your rules?” Rogers said.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/08/2025 – 09:10
