Category: News
Exfuncionario de Credit Suisse acusado de lavado de dinero en Mozambique
GINEBRA (AP) — Las autoridades suizas han acusado a un exfuncionario de Credit Suisse —ahora parte del gigante bancario suizo UBS— por presunto lavado de dinero en un caso que involucra a empresas estatales en Mozambique, y acusaron al banco de no hacer lo suficiente para detenerlo.
Según las acusaciones, Credit Suisse, que se fusionó con UBS hace dos años, proporcionó préstamos por un total de más de 2.000 millones de dólares a tres empresas estatales en el país africano en 2013. Tres años después, los acuerdos se conocieron como el “Escándalo de la Deuda de Mozambique”, indicó la fiscalía general suiza agregando que había abierto una investigación en 2020.
La acusación presentada el 25 de noviembre se centra en la transferencia en 2013 de casi 7,9 millones de dólares del Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas de Mozambique a una cuenta de Credit Suisse en Suiza. La gran mayoría de los fondos fueron luego transferidos a cuentas en los Emiratos Árabes Unidos, declaró la fiscalía.
Según la acusación, el oficial de cumplimiento de Credit Suisse estaba al tanto de indicios de que los fondos de Mozambique “podrían ser de origen delictivo”, pero recomendó que los directivos del banco no lo reportaran a la agencia suiza anti-lavado conocida como MROS, sino que simplemente “terminaran” la relación comercial.
Credit Suisse no informó el caso a MROS hasta 2019, después de que el Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos anunciara procedimientos penales en relación con los préstamos a Mozambique.
La fiscalía alegó que la negligencia del oficial de cumplimiento, cuyo nombre no fue revelado, permitió que los fondos fueran lavados, y dijo que Credit Suisse no tomó medidas “requeridas y razonables” para detenerlo.
UBS ha sido acusado de ser “penalmente responsable”, señaló la oficina.
En un correo electrónico, UBS aseguró: “Rechazamos firmemente las conclusiones de la Fiscalía General y defenderemos vigorosamente nuestra posición”.
La fiscalía general sostuvo que está llevando a cabo procedimientos penales contra otras dos personas en relación con el caso de Mozambique.
Fue uno de una serie de problemas para Credit Suisse que llevaron a los funcionarios del gobierno suizo y a UBS a organizar la fusión en 2023 de los dos bancos internacionales más grandes de Suiza. UBS ya ha solucionado otros problemas de su ahora extinto exrival, incluyendo el pago de multas por los vínculos de Credit Suisse con el colapsado fondo de cobertura Archegos Capital Management hace dos años.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Sky’s The Limit
Sky’s The Limit
By Benjamin Picton, Senior Market Strategist at Rabobank
Major US indices closed high on Friday evening as trading resumed following the Thanksgiving holiday. The S&P500 was up 0.54%, the Dow up 0.61% and the NASDAQ up 0.65%, but US equity futures are pointed lower this morning and Asian equity markets are showing mixed performance. Bond yields are mostly higher. Yields on US 10s rose 2.1bps to 4.03% while yields on 2-year JGBs reached their highest level in 17 years after BOJ Governor Ueda hinted that he is seriously considering a rate hike this month.
Brent crude is up 1.20% in early trade following news that Ukrainian drones had struck two Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ tankers bound for the Novorossiysk oil terminal in the Black Sea. The terminal itself was later struck by Ukrainian drones, prompting a halt in operations, while Moldova reported incursions of Russian drones into its own airspace in an apparent continuation of Russia’s ‘grey-zone’ tactics that has seen Russian drones violate the airspace of Poland, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Romania and the Baltic states in recent months.
NATO allies have stationed fighter jets in Poland under Operation Eastern Sentry that can be scrambled to shoot down Russian drones, but this is a high cost response to the very cheap probing of NATO’s defences that is being conducted by the Kremlin. This as the Wall Street Journal reports that ‘Russia Gains the Upper Hand in Drone Battle, Once Ukraine’s Forte’ and quotes a Ukrainian drone unit commander who says that Russia is receiving superior supply chain support from China than Ukraine is receiving from the United States and Europe combined.
Ukrainian officials met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Florida to progress talks to end the Russo-Ukrainian war. The Ukrainian delegation was missing erstwhile Zelenskyy Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, who has resigned his position following anti-corruption raids on his home relating to investigations over illegal kickbacks in Ukraine’s energy sector. Rubio told journalists after the meeting that progress had been made but that there was still more work to be done.
Witkoff is set to travel to Moscow today to meet with President Putin to progress a deal. Yermak’s departure may have placed Zelenskyy further on the back foot in the bargaining process as his image is tarnished by whiffs of corruption at the heart of his government. President Trump speculated as much aboard Air Force One, where he told journalists that he thought there was a “good chance” of a deal to end the war being signed, but that the Ukrainian corruption scandal was “not helpful”.
While negotiations over the fate of Ukraine continue, another risk event for energy markets continues to unfold in Venezuela. President Trump took to Truth Social over the weekend to declare “THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” This comes following the largest US deployment of military assets to the region in decades and series of missile strikes on small boats thought to be engaged in drug smuggling.
The purpose of US pressure on Venezuela has very likely now expanded from enforcement action against drug trafficking to efforts toward regime change (see here for RaboResearch’s further thoughts). Donald Trump told journalists aboard Air Force Once that he had been in contact with Venezuelan President Maduro over the phone, but didn’t disclose details of the conversation. He had previously indicated that the US would soon begin land strikes in Venezuela. “If we can save lives, if we can do things the easy way that’s fine. If we have to do it the hard way, that’s fine too.”
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/01/2025 – 11:25
Sen. Adriane Johnson honors ’30 Wonders of 30th District’: ‘Businesses are the heartbeat of our community’
Ballet Folklorico Tayahua (BFT) founder and CEO Lupita Muñoz was a newly arrived teenage immigrant from Mexico in the mid-1980s when she was walking down Genesee Street in Waukegan and saw the Genesee Theatre for the first time.
Amanda Diaz-Bahena, Muñoz’s daughter and BFT’s director of youth development programs, said when her mother got her first glimpse of the theater, she knew it was a place she wanted to perform. Approximately 30 years later, she got her wish when dancers from BFT were part of a performance.
“We started out dancing in driveways and garages,” Diaz-Bahena said. “We’ve performed on the Genesee stage (several) times. In 2018, we purchased the BFT Cultural Center at 32 North Genesee.”
Ballet Folklorico was one of 30 companies voted onto the “30 Wonders of the 30th District Business Edition” list sponsored by state Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, on Nov. 16 in Vernon Hills, recognizing achievement in her Illinois State Senate District.
First choosing 30 Wonders of the 30th District in 2023, Johnson said people nominated and then voted for a selection of places from those with historic value, like the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie, to parks where people can relax, exercise or watch children play.
In 2024, Johnson said the focus was on people. They came from all walks of life, from environmental stewardship to law enforcement, to very young achievers, to experienced individuals. Some were students who achieved beyond the classroom.
When Johnson began soliciting nominations and then votes for the nominees this year, businesses, large and small, were included in the category.
Just as different categories of people were elected last year, businesses were put in four categories — micro with 10 or fewer employees, small companies with 11 to 49 workers, medium-sized concerns employing 50 to 249, and large with 250 or more.
“Businesses are the heartbeat of our community,” Johnson said. “The creativity and imagination shown by these entrepreneurs make the 30th District a wonderful place to live, work and grow. We not only want to recognize them but express our gratitude. Small businesses are the job creators.”
Selecting the 30 wonders was a months-long effort. Johnson said there was an open nominating process in which people proposed choices to make the ballot. There were more than 100. After a review by Johnson and her staff, the ballots were made available.
“The businesses with the most votes were selected,” Johnson said.
Of the 30 companies making the list, 12 are Waukegan-based. Others are from around Lake County — part of the district is in Cook County — including North Chicago, Vernon Hills, Buffalo Grove, Mundelein and Gurnee.
Waukegan businesses included BFT, Dandelion Gallery and Studio, We Simply Care Transport & Services, AAUW Preschool, January Accounting Services, The Antmound Foundation, The Ritacca Laws Firm, Waukegan Mail Depot, Drip and Culture, Family First Center of Lake County, NIRCO and the UMMA Center.
Initially started to “preserve Mexican Folklorico dance and give our students the gift of artistic expression,” Diaz-Bahena said BFT has become much more. It is an international dance company with adult and children’s groups. It has a social purpose.
“We work with at-risk youth,” Diaz-Bahena said. “We work on their development and help our kids navigate through it on the dance floor (and) values of discipline, teamwork, respect and pride in their roots.”
Along with performing at events around Waukegan and Lake County, Diaz-Bahena said BFT has performed from Disneyland to Soldier Field, as well as in Mexico, Colombia, Texas, New York and beyond.
Deanna Cruz, the co-founder and president of Dandelion Gallery, said she and the artists who are part of the business took over the gallery in downtown Waukegan five years ago. Though the artists there create art, teach it and display it, they go beyond art itself.
“We offer creative wellness,” Cruz said. “There is play therapy, art therapy, mindfulness, yoga and different forms of meditation. We want to get rid of the stigma. People feel they’re being helped in a group setting.”
Cruz said the artists at the gallery take their efforts, including teaching, throughout Lake County as well as some places in Cook and McHenry counties and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
Alicia Harris of Waukegan left the corporate world five years ago to start We Simply Care Transport & Services. She and her three employees, “help seniors and individuals with disabilities get to medical appointments” and some other needed places.
Since starting her business in June of 2023, Harris said she has transported more than 3,000 people 21,000 aggregate miles. They get people to doctors’ appointments and other non-emergency medical transportation, like kidney dialysis.
“Everything we do is prescheduled,” Harris said. “We take them to their appointment and bring them home when they’re done. We ask them a series of questions so they don’t have to wait so long.
Other businesses that were designated members of the 30 Wonders of the 30th District include Salvadores Sin Fronteras of North Chicago, Kenneth Smith Photography of North Chicago, Nothing Bundt Cakes of Vernon Hills and Our Shining Star Foundation of Lake County.
More designees include Pamdell Printing of North Chicago, Sweet Treats by Ava Marie of Lake County, Tax Lady 1040 of Mundelein, We Care for You Nursing Agency of Lake County, Crossroads Restaurant & Bar of Mundelein, Holcomb Hollow of Mundelein and Reading Power Inc. of Lake County.
Additional designees include Simply Bee of Vernon Hills, Community Trust Credit Union of Gurnee, StudioNorth of North Chicago, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh of Buffalo Grove, Medline Foundation of Vernon Hills and Rust-Oleum Corporation of Vernon Hills.
Johnson said she and her staff also take a look at different businesses in the 30th District and chose four to be wonderful mentions — Eggsperience of Wheeling, Tighthead Brewery of Mundelein and both Mikan Technology and Serenity Estates of Lincolnshire.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/01/30-wonders-30th-district/
Localizan con vida a dos agentes federales que habían desaparecido en el occidente de México
Associated Press
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (AP) — Las autoridades mexicanas informaron el lunes que fueron localizados con vida dos agentes de la Secretaría de Seguridad que habían desaparecido la semana pasada mientras realizaban labores de inteligencia e investigación en la zona metropolitana de Guadalajara, al occidente de México, que será una de las sedes de la Copa del Mundo 2026.
El secretario de Seguridad federal, Omar García Harfuch, dijo en su cuenta de X que fueron encontrados los dos agentes que habían sido detenidos el 25 de noviembre en el municipio de Zapopan del estado de Jalisco, pero no ofreció detalles.
La Secretaría de Seguridad indicó en un breve comunicado que ambos presentaban diversas lesiones y que estaban recibiendo atención médica.
Las autoridades no informaron si los dos los agentes estaban trabajando en alguna investigación específica en Jalisco, donde opera el poderoso Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación.
Gracias a labores de seguimiento, las fuerzas de seguridad localizaron abandonado el automóvil de los agentes en el Paseo de los Virreyes del municipio de Zapopan, que forma parte de la zona metropolitana de Guadalajara y que está a unos 10 kilómetros del estadio Akron donde se disputarán en marzo algunos de los partidos de torneo de repechaje y en junio se jugarán cuatro partidos de la fase de grupos del Mundial.
La Copa Mundial se celebrará entre el 11 de junio y el 19 de julio en 16 ciudades de México, Estados Unidos y Canadá. En el caso de México los partidos se jugarán en el estadio Azteca de la Ciudad de México, el Akron de Guadalajara, y el estadio BBVA de Monterrey.
France & UK Still Insist On Sending Troops To Ukraine, In Effort To Sabotage Trump Peace Plan
France & UK Still Insist On Sending Troops To Ukraine, In Effort To Sabotage Trump Peace Plan
As we reported earlier, the important Miami meeting wherein American and Ukrainian delegations hammered out a revised ceasefire draft for some five hours on Sunday did not have European participation. But this is where the real deal-making is taking place. Trump envoy Steve Witkoff is en route to Moscow, where he’s expected to meet with President Putin on Tuesday, in order to present where things stand on the peace plan.
The Miami meeting reportedly focused on where the new de facto border would be in the east, after the 19-point plan featured significant territorial concessions in the Donbass and Crimea. As for Europe, is still touting a “coalition of the willing” which are vowing ongoing military support to the Zelensky government.
At this moment, France and the United Kingdom especially are continuing to push for the deployment of troops from NATO-member states to Ukraine as part of their version of peace settlement, despite this being very obviously unacceptable to Moscow.
Image source: British prime minister’s office, 10 Downing St
Last week Politico reported that when US Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined a discussion involving the coalition of the willing via phone call, he made clear to all that the White House wants a peace agreement in place before committing to any long-term security guarantees for Kiev.
But UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer tried to push back, arguing that a “multinational force” would be essential for ensuring Ukraine’s future security.
Bloomberg then followed with a report saying that UK officials have already selected the military units they plan to deploy, based on several reconnaissance trips to Ukraine.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron proposed that such troops could operate in the capital area or western regions of the country, far from the front lines. But this would flagrantly cross all Russia’s red lines. NATO troops on its doorstep was key Putin’s decision-making in launching the ‘special military operation’ in the first place.
It must be recalled that the original US-drafted 28-point peace plan, which leaked to the press and more recently was condensed down to 19 points, included an explicit prohibition on deploying NATO troops to Ukraine.
The European-proposed counter-plan, which was also quickly leaked to the media, greatly softened that stance and laid out that instead of a blanket ban, NATO would not “permanently station troops under its command in Ukraine in peacetime.”
At a moment Trump’s peace plan advances, and with Witkoff on his way to meet with President Putin, hawks in Europe are growing even more hawkish:
⚡️BREAKING: NATO may carry out a preemptive strike against Russia
For the first time, the alliance is discussing the possibility of a preemptive strike on Russia in response to its hybrid attacks. Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the head of NATO’s Military Committee, told… pic.twitter.com/57RgfyNZpn
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) December 1, 2025
Such intentionally vague language leaves open the possibility of NATO troop rotations into Ukraine. The Kremlin has time and again said it would not tolerate this, and such a move would lead to direct war with the West.
Europe’s plan also seeks to leave open a Ukrainian path to NATO, but this is also a sticking point which the US plan leaves out, given it would of course be dead on arrival if presented to Putin.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/01/2025 – 11:05
CIDH advierte sobre crisis institucional que pone en riesgo la gobernabilidad en Guatemala
Por SONIA PÉREZ D.
CIUDAD DE GUATEMALA (AP) — La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos advirtió el lunes sobre una crisis institucional que pone en riesgo la gobernabilidad en Guatemala por la persecución judicial a operadoras de justicia, periodistas, defensores de derechos humanos y líderes sociales.
En un informe al que tuvo acceso The Associated Press, la CIDH indicó que durante una visita al país realizada entre el 22 y el 26 de julio “verificó de primera mano la crisis que atraviesa el sistema de justicia en Guatemala, derivada de una serie injerencias sistemáticas dirigidas a socavar la independencia judicial”.
La Comisión, con sede en Washington, indicó que esta criminalización es posible porque el Ministerio Público, algunos sectores del Poder Judicial y otros actores “manipulan el aparato judicial con el objetivo de perpetuar la impunidad y la corrupción”.
No es la primera vez que instituciones internacionales denuncian una criminalización por parte de la Fiscalía. Ya en 2024 la Relatora Especial sobre la Independencia de los Magistrados y Abogados de Naciones Unidas, Margaret Satterthwaite, cuestionó al Ministerio Público guatemalteco por perseguir a funcionarios judiciales, líderes sociales y periodistas por sus denuncias contra la corrupción.
El Ministerio Público es dirigido desde 2018 por María Consuelo Porras, sancionada por 42 países, entre ellos Estados Unidos que le ha prohibido a ella y a varios de sus fiscales la entrada a sus territorios por socavar la democracia en el país centroamericano y obstaculizar la lucha anticorrupción.
Desde 2022, durante el gobierno del expresidente Alejandro Giammattei (2020-2024) —que nombró para un segundo período a Porras—, al menos 100 operadores de justicia, activistas y periodistas que investigaron la corrupción y crímenes de lesa humanidad se han exiliado.
El informe de la CIDH indicó que el Ministerio Público utiliza a sus fiscalías para acciones penales selectivas en colusión con personas u organizaciones que interponen denuncias que son aceptadas sin control riguroso de su legalidad.
Dos casos paradigmáticos son la detención del periodista José Rubén Zamora, que lleva más de tres años preso sin juicio ni condena, procesado en dos casos distintos por lavado de dinero —en el que un juez no le permitió presentar pruebas de descargo— y por supuestamente mentir en el primer caso.
El segundo es el de los líderes indígenas Luis Pacheco y Héctor Chaclán, exmiembros de una organización indígena y campesina que lideró las protestas de 2023 contra la fiscal Porras por tratar de impedir que asumiera la presidencia Bernardo Arévalo, que había ganado la segunda vuelta electoral. Ambos llevan casi ocho meses en prisión.
El informe advirtió además sobre un escenario de “connivencia de los poderes Legislativo y Judicial orientado a restringir la autoridad del Poder Ejecutivo”. Varias organizaciones han denunciado que funcionarios legislativos y judiciales se protegen mutuamente cuando hay acusaciones de corrupción.
El estudio también reportó los problemas que atraviesan los pueblos indígenas, que viven en condiciones menos favorables que el resto de la población, con limitaciones al acceso a servicios básicos, energía eléctrica, saneamiento y limitadas oportunidades laborales y productivas. A su vez destacó que mujeres, niñas y comunidades LGBTI son víctimas de la violencia.
El reporte dio 43 recomendaciones para hacer frente a los desafíos en materia de institucionalidad democrática e independencia judicial, basados en la protección y garantía de los derechos humanos, la lucha contra la impunidad, la memoria histórica y la reparación integral de las víctimas. Asimismo sugirió un examen independiente sobre el funcionamiento del Ministerio Público y su impacto en los derechos humanos en los últimos siete años —el período de Porras—, con el fin de proponer reformas a su ley de creación.
Organizaciones civiles anunciaron en noviembre la creación de una “Plataforma Guatemala contra la Persecución Política” con el fin de registrar y documentar la criminalización con miras a juicios y demandas locales e internacionales.
Desde 1982 la CIDH ha realizado 12 visitas a Guatemala y ha publicado ocho informes especiales y 16 de seguimiento sobre la situación general del país.
Ventas de “Ciberlunes” podrían romper récord pese a incertidumbre económica
Por WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS
NUEVA YORK (AP) — Las ofertas promocionadas como algunas de las mejores de la temporada festiva probablemente mantendrán a la gente en Estados Unidos pegada a sus computadoras y teléfonos mientras el maratón de compras posterior al Día de Acción de Gracias concluye con el Ciberlunes.
No es un secreto que comprar cosas en línea es ahora una parte fundamental de las rutinas diarias de muchas personas. Y año tras año, esas compras aumentan durante la fiebre de regalos de las fiestas. Los expertos calculan que los consumidores impulsarán un gasto récord en Ciberlunes este año, a pesar de la incertidumbre económica general.
Adobe Analytics estima que los compradores en Estados Unidos gastarán 14.200 millones de dólares en línea el lunes, o un 6,3% más que en 2024. Se espera que el gasto alcance su punto máximo entre las 8 p.m. y 10 p.m. hora local, cuando Adobe anticipa que 16 millones de dólares pasarán por los carritos de compras en línea cada minuto a nivel nacional.
Los consumidores Unidos ya gastaron 11.800 millones de dólares en línea durante el “Viernes Negro”, 6.400 millones el Día de Acción de Gracias y otros 11.800 millones durante el fin de semana, superando las previsiones de Adobe. Las compras realizadas durante la “Cibersemana” —los cinco días principales de compras entre el Día de Acción de Gracias y el Ciberlunes — proporcionan una fuerte indicación de cuánto están dispuestos a gastar los compradores para las fiestas.
“La Cibersemana ha comenzado con fuerza”, observó Vivek Pandya, analista principal en Adobe Digital Insight. “Los descuentos están previstos a mantenerse elevados durante el Ciberlunes, que anticipamos seguirá siendo el mayor día de compras en línea de la temporada y del año”.
Se espera que las ofertas en electrónica y ropa alcancen su punto máximo el lunes con un 30% y un 26% de descuento sobre los precios promedio listados, según las últimas estimaciones de Adobe. Pero otras categorías también tendrán descuentos significativos, incluidos los juguetes, que Adobe calcula tendrán un descuento de 27% sobre los precios listados.
Mientras tanto, la empresa de software Salesforce —que rastrea el gasto digital de una variedad de minoristas, incluidos los supermercados— estima que las ventas en línea del Ciberlunes totalizarán 13.400 millones de dólares en Estados Unidos y 53.700 millones a nivel mundial.
Aunque la cantidad de dinero por compras en línea previsiblemente alcanzará nuevos máximos, los precios minoristas en aumento también pueden contribuir a una cifra récord. Los consumidores pueden estar comprando menos artículos en total. Los expertos dicen que los presupuestos más ajustados están haciendo que muchos compren con más precisión que en años anteriores, como enfocarse en unas pocas compras de “alto valor” y distribuir lo que compran a lo largo de días de promociones con la esperanza de obtener el máximo provecho por su dinero.
Las empresas y los hogares han observado con ansiedad los impactos financieros de los aranceles del presidente Donald Trump sobre las importaciones extranjeras. Los trabajadores tanto del sector público como privado también están lidiando con ansiedades sobre la seguridad laboral en medio de despidos corporativos y los efectos posteriores al cierre gubernamental de 43 días.
Para la temporada festiva de noviembre a diciembre en general, la Federación Nacional de Minoristas estima que los compradores gastarán más de 1 billón de dólares por primera vez este año. Pero la tasa de crecimiento se está desacelerando, con un aumento anticipado del 3,7% al 4,2% año tras año, en comparación con el 4,3% durante la temporada festiva del año pasado.
Al mismo tiempo, la deuda de tarjetas de crédito y las morosidades en otros préstamos a corto plazo han estado aumentando. Cada vez más compradores recurren a planes de “compra ahora, paga después”, que les permiten retrasar los pagos en decoraciones festivas, regalos y otros artículos.
Los préstamos de “compra ahora paga después” están previstos a impulsar 20.200 millones de dólares en gasto en línea esta temporada festiva, según Adobe, un 11% más que el año pasado. La firma predijo que los préstamos de “compra ahora paga después” superarían un nuevo hito de 1.000 millones de dólares el Ciberlunes, la gran mayoría involucrando compras realizadas en dispositivos móviles.
En general, los dispositivos móviles se han convertido en la plataforma de compras dominante a la que los consumidores recurren para las fiestas. Adobe espera que los teléfonos inteligentes, la tecnología portátil y otros dispositivos electrónicos de mano representen el 58% del gasto en línea esta temporada.
Hace cinco años, la mayoría de las compras en línea se realizaban en computadoras de escritorio.
Los servicios de compras impulsados por inteligencia artificial están previstos a jugar un papel en lo que los consumidores eligen comprar. Para el Viernes Negro, Salesforce estimó que los asistentes de IA y los agentes digitales contribuyeron con 14.200 millones de dólares del total de 79.000 millones que dijo se gastaron en línea a nivel mundial.
Durante la temporada festiva, los productos más vendidos incluirán consolas de videojuegos como la Nintendo Switch 2 y juguetes convertidos en declaraciones de moda como las muñecas Labubu, dijo Adobe. La compañía de análisis anticipa que las ediciones más recientes de populares productos electrónicos de consumo, incluidos el iPhone 17, Google Pixel 10 y Samsung Galaxy S25, también verán una alta demanda.
Para muchos, el Ciberlunes se anuncia como la “última llamada” para aprovechar los descuentos más profundos en los días posteriores al Día de Acción de Gracias. Pero su alcance ha crecido a lo largo de los años.
El Ciberlunes tiene ya dos décadas, remontándose a cuando la Federación Nacional de Minoristas acuñó el término por primera vez en 2005. Hoy en día, las ventas continúan surgiendo a lo largo de la semana, aprovechando el entusiasmo que la industria ha construido para impulsar el gasto del consumidor.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Mom-and-pop stores in Aurora area in spotlight during Small Business Saturday
It may have been blustery and snowy in the Fox Valley on Saturday, but Batavia resident Erin Hetland thought it was important to get out and support local businesses.
“I think, especially in this community, we have a lot of great small businesses that have been here and established for a really long time and so, especially on Third Street, I love to come out and shop,” Hetland said as she made a purchase at Graham’s Fine Chocolates in Geneva on Small Business Saturday, a national event with many stores participating throughout the Aurora area.
“This is a way of giving back to the community and taking a stand against some of the corporate greed that’s out there,” Hetland said of supporting small businesses. “I’ve been a loyal Graham’s customer for many decades.”
Business owners like Diane Dewell, owner of Industrial Treasures, which has been open in St. Charles for over four years, said Small Business Saturday is an important day “for mom-and-pop stores around the country.”
“We can’t really compete with the big-box stores and we have something different to offer – personal service, individually-selected items, things that you can’t find anywhere else,” Dewell said. “The majority of businesses in the country are small businesses and make up a large part of the local economy. Local people like to shop small and we get a lot of people from out of town who are visiting.”
Small Business Saturday was founded by American Express back in 2010, and continues to find itself placed just after Black Friday.
According to the American Express website, Small Business Saturday “has helped generate over $210 billion in reported sales” for small businesses over its history and continues to promote consumers shopping at small, local stores.
Shannon Peppeard, owner of the Pep Line, a home goods store in St. Charles, said that she and another local business owner “created the Small Business Saturday here in St. Charles” years ago.
“We started with a number of local businesses around the area because we didn’t have something like this in St. Charles and did it for a couple years on our own and then the St. Charles Business Alliance asked to kind of take it over and give it a bigger platform,” Peppeard said. “We met with them and this is the second year they’ve been taking it over for St. Charles.”
Peppeard said “the community has embraced” small businesses.
“I can’t tell you how many times people come in – not just on Small Business Saturday, but it might be the first time on Small Business Saturday and have come and definitely supported the shop through the year,” she said. “People realize the importance of the collective influence – they tell me they came here deliberately instead of something like the Pottery Barn because they wanted to support your business and everything you bring to the community.”
In Aurora, business owner Juan Almaraz of Dapper Brews Coffee said he wanted to be part of Small Business Saturday “because we live in our community, we earn in our community and we spend in our community and it’s very important to keep the local economy vibrant.”
“It’s been a bad day weather-wise today but there have been local folks in the area who have been in and know it’s Small Business Saturday and came in just to spend locally,” he said on Saturday. “They’ve bought gift cards, bags of coffee for folks as stocking stuffers – folks are aware of it.”
Joanne Scara of Batavia shops in St. Charles at the Trend + Relic store on Small Business Saturday on Nov. 29, 2025. (David Sharos/For The Beacon-News)
Steve Warrenfeltz, owner of Kiss the Sky record shop in Batavia who has been a small business owner for 30 years, said “anything that draws attention to small businesses is really important.”
“The more that organizations focus on small businesses, the more successful we’re going to be,” he said. “Here in Batavia, we’re a prime example of the impact the Chamber of Commerce and MainStreet Batavia have on the businesses that are here. Look at our downtown – it’s become small business heaven.”
Joanne Scara of Batavia was shopping in St. Charles at the Trend + Relic store which was participating in Small Business Saturday and said she loves “to support small business. It really makes up the town.”
“There’s a lot of businesses out there but it’s the small ones – as a customer, I always like to know if there is a story behind something,” Scara said. “When the maker is there or the person that bought that merchandise, I like to know the story behind it. It just makes it more personal and down home. It makes you feel like you’re a part of a real community.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
Multiple Failures In Vetting Process Of Afghans, Says Tom Homan
Multiple Failures In Vetting Process Of Afghans, Says Tom Homan
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times,
There has been a massive failure in the vetting process that allowed Afghan nationals to enter the United States under the Biden administration, border czar Tom Homan said in a Nov. 30 interview with Fox News.
When the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021, the Biden administration initiated the Operation Allies Welcome program to resettle thousands of Afghan nationals in America, which included those who worked alongside U.S. authorities in Afghanistan over the previous two decades.
“It’s the biggest national security failure in the history of the nation,“ Homan said, noting that the DHS Inspector General came out with a report at the time stating multiple failures in the vetting process.
“People need to understand, in these third-world nations, they don’t have systems like we do. So, a lot of these Afghans, who did get here to get better, they had no identification at all. Not a single travel document, not one piece of identification. And we’re going to count on the people that run Afghanistan, the Taliban, to provide us any information who the bad guys were or who the good guys are? Certainly not.”
On Nov. 26, a gunman shot two West Virginia National Guard members. One of the victims has since died, while the second remains in critical condition. The suspected shooter was identified as 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal from Afghanistan, who entered the country as part of Operation Allies Welcome. In 2022, the operation was renamed Enduring Welcome.
More than 190,000 Afghan nationals were resettled in the United States as part of the effort, according to the State Department.
A 2022 report from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS’s) Office of Inspector General, mentioned by Homan in the interview, said that the Biden-era DHS failed to fully vet some of the 80,000 Afghans allowed entry into the United States at the time.
An audit of 88,977 evacuee records inspected by authorities found that more than 11,000 recorded their birth date as Jan. 1. In addition, 7,800 had missing or invalid travel document numbers, the report said.
More than 36,000 records listed “facilitation document” as the travel document type, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was unable to define what the “facilitation document” was, according to the DHS.
The Epoch Times reached out to the DHS Office of Inspector General for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Inspector General Joseph V. Cuffari was confirmed by the Senate to his post in 2019 during the first Trump administration.
Following the attack on the two National Guard members, the State Department announced on Nov. 28 that it had “IMMEDIATELY paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports.”
On the same day, Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph B. Edlow said in an X post that the agency had halted all asylum decisions “until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.”
President Donald Trump said the asylum restriction applies to 19 nations, which he had labeled as “countries of identified concern” via a presidential action in June. The list includes Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, and Turkmenistan.
In the interview, Homan said approximately 10.5 million illegal immigrants had crossed into the United States under the previous administration.
This figure does not include the hundreds of thousands who came via the CHNV program and the more than 2 million known gotaways, he said.
CHNV was a Biden-era parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans, while gotaways refers to illegal immigrants who evaded U.S. border patrol and law enforcement authorities after crossing the border.
Since the Afghans were allowed entry via government programs, there are at least photographs and fingerprints of some of these individuals, Homan said, adding that the government has no details on the millions of gotaways.
The current administration’s policies have ensured “the most secure border in the history of this nation,” Homan said.
“Now we know who’s coming, now we clear who’s coming. We don’t have 10,000, up to 12,000 people a day, entering this country illegally,” he added.
In a Nov. 13 statement, the CBP said the Trump administration delivered the sixth straight month of zero releases at the border in October. There were 7,899 Border Patrol apprehensions on the southwest border, approximately 95 percent lower than the monthly average of the prior administration.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 12/01/2025 – 10:45
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/multiple-failures-vetting-process-afghans-says-tom-homan
Extorsionadores incendian dos autobuses del transporte público en la capital de Perú
Associated Press
LIMA (AP) — Dos autobuses de una empresa del transporte público fueron incendiados el lunes en la capital de Perú pese al estado de excepción que rige en Lima y en el puerto cercano de El Callao y que permite desde octubre que los militares patrullen las calles.
Los buses de la empresa “Estrella” estaban estacionados sin pasajeros junto al depósito de vehículos de la compañía cuando dos hombres llegaron en una motocicleta y los prendieron fuego durante la madrugada, indicaron diversos choferes a las señales en vivo de varias televisoras locales.
Los choferes mostraron una nota extorsiva enviada a sus teléfonos móviles en la que les pedían una “colaboración” diaria a cambio de no agredirlos. En la nota los delincuentes colocaron un número de cuenta asociada a una billetera digital del Banco de Crédito, el banco más grande de Perú. La empresa de transportes no respondió una solicitud de comentarios de The Associated Press.
La prensa local ha informado en 2025 sobre al menos 14 buses incendiados como un método de presión para obligarlos a pagar extorsiones, sobre todo en Lima y la región La Libertad. También hay reportes de explosiones de buses que han dejado heridos a pasajeros y asesinatos de choferes.
Entre enero y agosto han sido asesinados 180 transportistas, entre choferes de buses, minibuses, moto taxistas, taxistas y personal que se encarga de cobrar los pasajes, según datos oficiales del Observatorio del Crimen y la Violencia.
El presidente interino José Jerí puso en vigor en octubre un estado de excepción para combatir a la delincuencia. En noviembre el gobierno anunció que la mitad de la policía de Lima iba a trabajar en inteligencia para combatir las extorsiones en autobuses. Pese a esas medidas, los delitos no han disminuido.
El ataque contra los buses sucede a otro hecho de violencia ocurrido la noche del domingo cuando un hombre fue asesinado a dos cuadras de la casa del presidente interino. La víctima, Sergio Bolaños, de 29 años, recibió 15 disparos ejecutados por hombres armados en una vía clave de Lima.
El 15 de agosto la casa de Bolaños, en la región La Libertad, fue atacada con explosivos que provocaron daños a otras 25 viviendas y dejaron 10 heridos. El jefe de la policía, Oscar Arriola, indicó el domingo a la prensa que Bolaños tenía nexos con la minería ilegal.
Desde el inicio del gobierno de Jerí el 10 de octubre han ocurrido 268 homicidios, un promedio de 5,36 por día —el mayor desde 2016—, según datos oficiales del Sistema de Información de Defunciones (SINADEF).
