Category: News
Marina británica intercepta corbeta y petrolero rusos en medio de alza de actividad naval de Moscú
Por DANICA KIRKA
LONDRES (AP) — Un barco patrulla del Reino Unido interceptó una corbeta rusa y un petrolero tras seguirlos a través del Canal de la Mancha, informó el Ministerio de Defensa británico el domingo, añadiendo que la actividad naval rusa alrededor de las aguas del Reino Unido ha aumentado un 30% en los últimos dos años.
En las últimas dos semanas, el barco patrulla HMS Severn interceptó la corbeta rusa RFN Stoikiy y el petrolero Yelnya cuando navegaban por el Canal de la Mancha, indicó el Ministerio. El Severn finalmente entregó las tareas de monitoreo a un aliado no identificado de la OTAN frente a la costa de Bretaña.
Además de los barcos estacionados alrededor de la costa del Reino Unido, las fuerzas británicas han desplegado tres aviones de vigilancia Poseidón en Islandia como parte de una misión de la OTAN para patrullar en busca de barcos y submarinos rusos en el Atlántico Norte y el Ártico, señaló el Ministerio.
La noticia llega pocos días después que el secretario de Defensa, John Healey, dijera a los periodistas que el barco espía ruso Yantar había apuntado con láseres a los pilotos de aviones de vigilancia que monitoreaban sus actividades frente a la costa de Escocia. El Reino Unido describió las acciones del Yantar como “imprudentes y peligrosas”, añadiendo que estaba listo para responder a cualquier incursión en su territorio.
“Mi mensaje para Rusia y para Putin es este: Los vemos. Sabemos lo que están haciendo”, afirmó Healey el miércoles.
La Embajada de Rusia en Londres respondió a los comentarios de Healey acusando al gobierno británico de “fomentar la histeria militarista”, añadiendo que Moscú no tiene interés en socavar la seguridad del Reino Unido.
Healey emitió la advertencia cuando defendía el aumento del gasto en defensa una semana antes que el gobierno publique su nuevo presupuesto.
Aunque el primer ministro Keir Starmer ha prometido grandes incrementos en el gasto militar a la luz de las amenazas de Rusia, China e Irán, el gobierno enfrenta decisiones difíciles mientras considera alzas de impuestos y recortes de gastos para cerrar un déficit de varios miles de millones de libras en sus finanzas.
___
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Seeds planted for Porter County Ag Day revival after dormancy
Porter County Farm Bureau President Bob Wichlinski sent out a tractor beam and harvested a crop of agricultural educators planning to revive Ag Day after years of dormancy.
“We haven’t had an Ag Day for years in Porter County,” he said Friday during an AgEd summit at the Porter County Administration Building, and he wants to restart it.
Wichlinski gathered people representing a diverse group of organizations involved in ag education, including the Porter County Soil and Water Conservation District, the county’s only ag teacher, Shirley Heinze Land Trust, Purdue Extension, Porter County Agricultural Society and Keystone Cooperative.
“Agriculture, we can’t live without it,” Wichlinski said.
The Agriculture Council of America is the principal sponsor of Ag Day nationally and has provided a template for local groups to follow, he said. “The program’s already been done. We just have to figure out to to do it in Porter County.”
Local organizers can show flexibility – including switching the tentative date for Porter County to St. Patrick’s Day instead of March 24, when students will be out of school.
Brad Metzger, representing Keystone Cooperative in Malden, is a first-year 4-H parent. He also worked on the “Co-op Classic,” a major ag ed event.
“It was a big deal. It wasn’t just a trade show,” he said. “I know some young kids got out of school, came down there and spent the day” on Aug. 19, Metzger said. “We had some big speakers just kind of giving an overview of farming.”
The event drew over 1,400 attendees.
“It was our first year. We learned from it. We’re trying to figure it out,” he said. “We got a lot of positive feedback from it,” and now he’s hoping to do it again in 2027 after a similar event in 2026 in southern Indiana.
“It was a mini Farm Progress Show,” said Cheri Birky, representing the Porter County Agricultural Society, more commonly known as the Fair Board.
“Anybody agriculture was there,” Wichlinski said.
Wichlinski is excited about the Ag Day revival but wants to start small and build on it in future years.
But what form should the event take? And where should it be held?
To attract students to join 4-H, teaching them about farming begins in second grade. If they join 4-H in third grade, they can be celebrated as 10-year members, a big deal, when they turn 18 and age out of the organization.
“It’s amazing how many kids didn’t understand where their eggs came from,” said Jen Myers, 4-H youth development educator with Purdue Extension. “There’s a lot of opportunity.”
Nicky Witkowski, a Purdue Extension educator, has a heavy horticulture focus.
Several years ago, she got a grant for a fruit garden in the Hammond schools, developing a curriculum for middle and high school students. Architecture students designed the garden, for example. Now she’s working with the health department on perhaps replicating this experience in Portage, she said.
Farming is far more advanced than it used to be, including using drones. Witkowski talked with students in grades 2-5 about applicator drones and other technology for precision farming. Coding is needed for these, so that’s a possible career path for students in the agriculture field.
She also wants people to know the difference between field corn, popcorn and sweet corn.
Michelle Benson, Porter County Soil & Water Conservation District director, has programs that focus on adults as well as children.
Among the programs are those helping women who might not be well-versed in farming, especially if they inherited a farm.
Her agency is aided by a board of farmers who help manage what the district does. “Naturally, if you’re a farmer, you’re going to listen more to the guy next door than a guy who pulls up in a suit,” Benson said.
Shirley Heinze Land Trust Conservancy Director Land Trust Conservation Director Alicia Pellegrino said one of the nonprofit’s latest initiatives is working to preserve farmland in Northwest Indiana and promoting opportunities for conservation practices on farmland. There’s a lot of farmland under lease in northern Porter County, she said.
At Meadowbrook Nature Preserve, there are opportunities to see farming practices on a smaller scale, including raised beds near the entrance.
The trick in the next 120 days is to grow an Ag Day program that will be nurtured by all this expertise and be fruitful for the participants, officials said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Big changes to the agency charged with securing elections lead to midterm worries
MINNEAPOLIS — Since it was created in 2018, the federal government’s cybersecurity agency has helped warn state and local election officials about potential threats from foreign governments, showed officials how to protect polling places from attacks and gamed out how to respond to the unexpected, such as an Election Day bomb threat or sudden disinformation campaign
The agency was largely absent from that space for elections this month in several states, a potential preview for the 2026 midterms. Shifting priorities of the Trump administration, staffing reductions and budget cuts have many election officials concerned about how engaged the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will be next year, when control of Congress will be at stake in those elections.
Some officials say they have begun scrambling to fill the anticipated gaps.
“We do not have a sense of whether we can rely on CISA for these services as we approach a big election year in 2026,” said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat who until recently led the bipartisan National Association of Secretaries of State.
The association’s leaders sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in February asking her to preserve the cybersecurity agency’s core election functions. Noem, whose department oversees the agency, replied the following month that it was reviewing its “funding, products, services, and positions” related to election security and that its services would remain available to election officials.
Simon said secretaries of state are still waiting to hear about the agency’s plans.
“I regret to say that months later, the letter remains very timely and relevant,” he said.
An agency in transition
CISA, as the agency is known, was formed under the first Trump administration to help safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure, from dams and power plants to election systems. It has been undergoing a major transformation since President Donald Trump’s second term began in January.
Public records suggest that roughly 1,000 CISA employees have lost their jobs over the past years. The Republican administration in March cut $10 million from two cybersecurity initiatives, including one dedicated to helping state and local election officials.
That was a few weeks after CISA announced it was conducting a review of its election-related work, and more than a dozen staffers who have worked on elections were placed on administrative leave. The FBI also disbanded a task force on foreign influence operations, including those that target U.S. elections.
CISA is still without an official director. Trump’s nomination of Sean Plankey, a cybersecurity expert in the first Trump administration, has stalled in the Senate.
CISA officials did not answer questions seeking specifics about the agency’s role in the recently completed elections, its plans for the 2026 election cycle or staffing levels. They said the agency remains ready to help protect election infrastructure.
“Under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem, CISA is laser-focused on securing America’s critical infrastructure and strengthening cyber resilience across the government and industry,” said Marci McCarthy, CISA’s director of public affairs.
She said CISA would announce its future organizational plans “at the appropriate time.”
Christine Serrano Glassner, CISA’s chief external affairs officer, said the agency’s experts are ready to provide election guidance if asked.
“In the event of disruptions or threats to critical infrastructure, whether Election Day-related or not, CISA swiftly coordinates with the Office of Emergency Management and the appropriate federal, state and local authorities,” she said in a statement.
States left on their own
California’s top election security agencies said CISA has played a “critical role” since 2018 but provided little, if any, help for the state’s Nov. 4 special election, when voters approved a redrawn congressional redistricting map.
“Over the past year, CISA’s capacity to support elections has been significantly diminished,” the California secretary of state’s office said in a statement to The Associated Press. “The agency has experienced major reductions in staffing, funding, and mission focus — including the elimination of personnel dedicated specifically to election security and foreign influence mitigation.”
“This shift has left election officials nationwide without the critical federal partnership they have relied on for several election cycles,” according to the office.
CISA alerted California officials in September that it would no longer participate in a task force that brought together federal, state and local agencies to support county election offices. California election officials and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services did what they could to fill the gaps and plan for various security scenarios.
In Orange County, California, the registrar of voters, Bob Page, said in an email that the state offices and other county departments “stepped up” to support his office “to fill the void left by CISA’s absence.”
Neighboring Los Angeles County had a different experience. The registrar’s office, which oversees elections, said it continues to get a range of cybersecurity services from CISA, including threat intelligence, network monitoring and security testing of its equipment, although local jurisdictions now have to cover the costs of some services that had been federally funded.
Some other states that held elections this month also said they did not have coordination with CISA.
Mississippi’s secretary of state, who heads the national association that sent the letter to Noem, did not directly respond to a request for comment, but his office confirmed that CISA was not involved in the state’s recent elections.
In Pennsylvania, which held a nationally watched retention election for three state Supreme Court justices, the Department of State said it is also relied more on its own partners to ensure the elections were secure.
In an email, the department said it was “relying much less on CISA than it had in recent years.” Instead, it has begun collaborating with the state police, the state’s own homeland security department, local cybersecurity experts and other agencies.
Looking for alternatives
Simon, the former head of the secretary of state’s association, said state and local election officials need answers about CISA’s plans because officials will have to seek alternatives if the services it had been providing will not be available next year.
In some cases, such as classified intelligence briefings, there are no alternatives to the federal government, he said. But there might be ways to get other services, such as testing of election equipment to see if it can be penetrated from outside.
In past election years, CISA also would conduct tabletop exercises with local agencies and election offices to game out various scenarios that might affecting voting or ballot counting, and how they would react. Simon said that is something CISA was very good at.
“We are starting to assume that some of those services are not going to be available to us, and we are looking elsewhere to fill that void,” Simon said.
Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/23/changes-agency-charged-with-securing-elections/
La habilidad de McCaffrey transforma la ofensiva de los 49ers antes del juego contra los Panthers
Por JOSH DUBOW
SANTA CLARA, California, EE.UU. (AP) — Después de que los 49ers de San Francisco hicieron un gran trato para adquirir a Christian McCaffrey hace tres años, el equipo llegó a tener una ofensiva productiva bajo el mando del entrenador Kyle Shanahan.
La incorporación de uno de los mejores corredores de la NFL elevó la ofensiva a otro nivel que se exhibirá cuando los 49ers(7-4) enfrenten a los Panthers (6-5) el lunes por la noche por primera vez desde ese intercambio en 2022.
“Ver cómo ha evolucionado nuestra ofensiva desde que conseguimos a Christian, las cosas que hemos hecho aquí en los últimos tres años que nunca hicimos solo por la habilidad de Christian y lo que puede hacer en el juego de pase. Es bastante increíble”, admitió el ala cerrada George Kittle. “Ver la evolución de nuestra ofensiva ha sido realmente genial”.
Cuando los Niners adquirieron a McCaffrey a cambio de cuatro selecciones de draft en lo que él describió como un intercambio “agridulce” en octubre de 2022, el equipo estaba en un pequeño bache ofensivo, ocupando el décimo lugar en la liga en yardas por jugada y el decimonoveno en anotaciones.
San Francisco se movió al top cinco en ambas categorías una vez que McCaffrey entró en la alineación titular en su segundo juego, cuando logró la rara hazaña de correr para un touchdown, atrapar un pase de TD y lanzar para una anotación en una victoria sobre los Rams.
“Sabíamos que sería emocionante conseguir un jugador como él. Desde que lo conseguimos, creo que los jugadores evolucionaron en la ofensiva”, admitió Shanahan. “Siempre, cuando obtienes ciertos tipos de jugadores, es cuando las ofensivas cambian. Siempre quieres atacar las defensas y esas cosas, y hay solo tantas maneras de hacerlo, pero cuando obtienes diferentes tipos de jugadores, las ofensivas se expanden, y creo que él ha cambiado nuestra ofensiva desde que llegó aquí”.
McCaffrey ha logrado eso siendo al menos una amenaza como receptor, ya sea en rutas desde el backfield o cuando se alinea abierto o en el slot, como lo es como corredor.
McCaffrey, hijo del exreceptor estrella de la NFL Ed McCaffrey, se enorgullece mucho de su habilidad como receptor, incluso si nunca jugó oficialmente como receptor.
“Siempre fue algo en lo que trabajé toda mi vida”, dijo. “Siempre jugué como corredor. Nunca jugué como receptor, pero tuve la suerte de estar en equipos, incluso en la liga infantil, donde me lanzaban el balón. Y así fue algo natural y disfruté hacerlo. Era otra forma de tener el balón en mis manos”.
McCaffrey ayudó a llevar a los 49ers al juego por el título de la NFC en su primera temporada. Al año siguiente los Niners llegaron al Super Bowl cuando lideró la NFL con 2.023 yardas desde la línea de golpeo y 21 TDs en el camino a ser seleccionado como Jugador Ofensivo del Año de la NFL por la AP.
Su temporada 2024 se vio truncada por lesiones, pero McCaffrey está de vuelta en buena forma esta temporada, liderando la NFL con 1.439 yardas desde la línea de golpeo mientras está en camino a otra temporada con 1.000 yardas por tierra y por recepción.
“Un tipo como Christian, que es un corredor increíble, pero luego también es un receptor realmente bueno. Entonces, ¿a quién le dedicas a él?”, se preguntó el coordinador defensivo de los 49ers, Robert Saleh. “Muchas veces tienes que dedicarle un linebacker. Lo he dicho hace mucho tiempo que está empezando a ponerse al día un poco, pero sentí que la evolución del corredor superó con creces la evolución del linebacker”.
McCaffrey es uno de los cinco jugadores en la historia con al menos 5.000 yardas por tierra y por recepción y ha establecido un récord de la NFL con 17 juegos en su carrera con al menos una carrera de TD y una recepción de TD.
Lidera la NFL esta temporada con 1.439 yardas desde la línea de golpeo y ocupa el segundo lugar empatado con 11 TDs. Ocupa el segundo lugar en la liga con 74 recepciones, noveno con 732 yardas por recepción y sus 80 primeros intentos por tierra y por recepción están empatados como los más altos por cualquier jugador en 11 juegos desde que Arian Foster tuvo 91 en 2010.
Eso debería poner una gran presión en una defensa de Carolina que estará sin los linebackers Trevin Wallace y Christian Rozeboom.
___
Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Brasil: Bolsonaro dice que tuvo “alucinaciones” y trató de abrir su monitoreo de tobillo
Por MAURICIO SAVARESE y LUCAS DUMPHREYS
BRASILIA, Brasil (AP) — En su primer día completo en la cárcel, el expresidente brasileño Jair Bolsonaro le dijo a una jueza el domingo que había violado su monitoreo de tobillo el día anterior durante su arresto domiciliario debido a un colapso nervioso y alucinaciones causadas por un cambio en su medicación.
El juez del Supremo Tribunal de Brasil, Alexandre de Moraes, ordenó el encarcelamiento preventivo del líder de 70 años el sábado tras considerar que existe riesgo de fuga. Bolsonaro fue sentenciado a 27 años de prisión en septiembre por intentar un golpe de Estado para permanecer en la presidencia después de su derrota electoral en 2022.
(Bolsonaro) “dijo que tuvo ‘alucinaciones’ de que había algún tipo de espionaje en el monitor de tobillo, por eso intentó destaparlo”, dijo la jueza asistente Luciana Sorrentino, según se informó en un documento de la corte publicado el domingo poco después de reunirse vía internet con el expresidente.
Sorrentino añadió que Bolsonaro le aseguró que “no recordaba haber tenido un colapso de esta magnitud en otra ocasión” y especuló que podría haber sido causado por un cambio en su medicación la semana pasada. Él una vez más negó que tuviera la intención de escapar.
El documento también dice que Bolsonaro le dijo a la jueza que no ha dormido bien y que sentía “cierta paranoia” que estimuló su curiosidad por abrir el dispositivo de monitoreo de tobillo.
De acuerdo con el documento, Bolsonaro “dijo que estaba con su hija, su hermano mayor y un asistente en su casa y ninguno de ellos vio lo que estaba haciendo con el monitoreo del tobillo”. “Dijo que comenzó a tocarlo tarde en la noche y se detuvo alrededor de la medianoche”.
De Moraes recibió información de que el monitor de tobillo del líder de extrema derecha fue violado a las 12:08 de la mañana del sábado. La orden de arresto llegó horas después.
Un panel del Tribunal Supremo dictaminó en septiembre que Bolsonaro intentó llevar a cabo un golpe de Estado y mantenerse en la presidencia tras su derrota ante Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva en 2022.
El lunes, el mismo panel votará sobre la orden de arresto preventivo.
La reunión de Bolsonaro con una jueza asistente el domingo fue un procedimiento para discutir la legalidad de su encarcelamiento, pero también proporcionó otra oportunidad para que sus abogados argumentaron que debería permanecer bajo arresto domiciliario debido a su mala salud. De Moraes ha rechazado previamente solicitudes similares.
De Moraes autorizó que Bolsonaro fuera visitado por la ex primera dama Michelle Bolsonaro, quien estaba fuera de Brasilia cuando los agentes de la policía federal detuvieron a su esposo.
Lula hizo sus primeros comentarios sobre el encarcelamiento de su predecesor en la reunión del grupo de naciones del G20 en Sudáfrica. Lula dijo a los periodistas: “El tribunal decidió, eso está resuelto. Todos saben lo que hizo”.
Fuera de la sede de la policía federal, algunos manifestantes a favor de Bolsonaro sostenían pancartas pidiendo la destitución de Lula y de Moraes de sus cargos, mientras que los detractores del expresidente celebraban su encarcelamiento.
_____
Savarese informó desde Sao Paulo, Brasil.
_____
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Ukraine and Western allies meet in Geneva to discuss US peace plan
GENEVA — Top Ukrainian envoys met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Geneva Sunday to discuss President Donald Trump’s proposal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Speaking to journalists, Rubio described that first session of talks as “probably the most productive and meaningful meeting” since the Trump administration came to power. He also said that both delegations would meet again in a second meeting later on Sunday night.
“This will ultimately have to be signed off by our presidents, although I feel very comfortable about that happening given the progress we’ve made,” said Rubio, who was joined at the talks by Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Russia will also need to approve the final peace plan, Rubio said.
The head of the Ukrainian delegation, presidential chief of staff Andrii Yermak, also confirmed an initial session of talks had concluded and that a second meeting would soon take place. “I want to confirm that we had a very productive first session with the distinguished American delegation. We have made very good progress and are moving forward to a just and lasting peace,” he said. “Very soon today the second meeting will take place, where we will continue to work on joint proposals with the engagement of our European partners. Final decisions will be taken by our Presidents.”
Before the meeting, Trump on Sunday used a lengthy online post to blast Ukraine for a lack of gratitude for U.S. military assistance, while notably shying away from criticizing Russia.
“With strong and proper U.S. and Ukrainian LEADERSHIP,” Trump wrote, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “would have NEVER HAPPENED.”
Trump also took a swipe at U.S. allies in Europe, writing, “UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA.”
After Trump’s post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was “grateful” for U.S.-led efforts on security, but stressed that “the crux of the entire diplomatic situation is that it was Russia, and only Russia, that started this war.”
“Ukraine is grateful to the United States, to every American heart, and personally to President Trump for the assistance that – starting with the Javelins – has been saving Ukrainian lives. We thank everyone in Europe, in the G7, and in the G20 who is helping us defend life. It is important to preserve the support.
“It is important not to forget the main goal – to stop Russia’s war and prevent it from ever igniting again.”
“The leadership of the United States is important, we are grateful for everything that America and President Trump are doing for security, and we remain as constructive as possible,” Zelenskyy said in a post on Telegram.
Ukraine and allies have ruled out territorial concessions
The 28-point blueprint drawn up by the U.S. to end the nearly four-year war has sparked alarm in Kyiv and European capitals. Zelenskyy has said his country could face a stark choice between standing up for its sovereign rights and preserving the American support it needs.
The proposal, originating from negotiations between Washington and Moscow, acquiesces to many Russian demands that Zelenskyy has categorically rejected on dozens of occasions, including giving up large pieces of territory.
The Ukrainian leader has vowed that his people “will always defend” their home.
Before convening with U.S. officials, Yermak and his team also met with national security advisers from the U.K., France and Germany. The allies have rallied around Kyiv in a push to revise the plan, which is seen as favoring Moscow.
Speaking before Sunday’s talks, Alice Rufo, France’s minister delegate at the Defense Ministry, told broadcaster France Info that key points of discussion would include the plan’s restrictions on the Ukrainian army, which she described as “a limitation on its sovereignty.”
“Ukraine must be able to defend itself,” she said. “Russia wants war and waged war many times in fact over the past years.”
On Sunday, Zelenskyy said that there was an understanding the U.S. would take into account “a number of elements” in a peace deal that are important for Ukraine, but did not elaborate further.
“There have already been brief reports from the team about the results of the first meetings and conversations,” he said. “There is now an understanding that the American proposals may take into account a number of elements based on the Ukrainian vision and are critically important for Ukraine’s national interests.”
Previously, Trump said the U.S. proposal was not his “final offer.”
“I would like to get to peace. It should have happened a long time ago. The Ukraine war with Russia should have never happened,” Trump told reporters outside the White House on Saturday. “One way or the other, we have to get it ended.”
Trump didn’t explain what he meant by the plan not being his final offer and the White House didn’t respond to a request for clarification.
Rubio’s reported comments cause confusion
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday that Warsaw was ready to work on the plan with the leaders of Europe, Canada and Japan, but also said that it “would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created.”
Some U.S. lawmakers said Saturday that Rubio had described the plan as a Russian “wish list” rather than a Washington-led proposal.
The bipartisan group of senators told a news conference that they had spoken to Rubio about the peace plan after he reached out to some of them while on his way to Geneva. Independent Maine Sen. Angus King said Rubio told them the plan “was not the administration’s plan” but a “wish list of the Russians.”
A State Department spokesperson denied their account, calling it “blatantly false.”
Rubio himself then took the extraordinary step of suggesting online that the senators were mistaken, even though they said he was their source for the information. The secretary of state doubled down on the assertion that Washington was responsible for a proposal that had surprised many from the beginning for being so favorable to Moscow.
On Sunday, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said the peace plan appeared to be “almost a series of Russian talking points,” had made Europeans “feel like they’ve been totally left high and dry” and had led to “ferocious pushback.”
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner told ABC’s “This Week” that he thought Trump was “seeing this one-sided plan kind of blow up in his face.”
“My hope is he’ll come back and be a bit more reasonable,” Warner said.
Possibility for additional talks
Meanwhile. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that he would hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. He said he would talk to the Russian leader about reviving a previous deal from July 2022 that allowed Ukraine to safely ship exports of grain via the Black Sea.
The agreement stayed in place until the following year, when Putin refused to extend it, saying that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn’t been honored.
“We had a grain corridor endeavor to open the path to peace,” Erdogan said, “Unfortunately we were only partially able to succeed. Tomorrow I will be asking Putin to revisit the endeavor.”
Erdogan’s new diplomatic push comes just days after he met with Zelenskyy in Ankara.
Davies reported from Manchester, England. Associated Press writers Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw, Poland; Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine; Cinar Kiper in Istanbul; Thomas Strong in Washington; and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/23/ukraine-western-allies-us-peace-plan/
Rubio Confirms Ukraine Peace Plan Authored By US As Leaders Meet In Geneva
Rubio Confirms Ukraine Peace Plan Authored By US As Leaders Meet In Geneva
Officials from the United States, Europe, and Ukraine met in Geneva on Nov. 23 to discuss Washington’s draft plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
President Trump said on Nov. 21 that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had until Thursday to approve the 28-point plan, which would compel Ukraine to renounce ambitions to join NATO, accept limits on its military, and cede territory.
European allies said they were not consulted while Washington was drafting the plan, leading to some confusion as to which parties were involved in formulating it.
Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) told MSNBC that he believed the plan was “basically drafted by Putin.”
As Ryan Morgan reports for The Epoch Times, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, on Nov. 22, disputed claims that President Donald Trump’s latest plan to end the fighting in Ukraine amounts to a wish list for Russia.
“The peace proposal was authored by the U.S.,” Rubio wrote in a post on X on Saturday evening.
Rubio added that the proposal incorporated input from both the Russian and Ukrainian sides in the conflict, but his choice of words was careful:
“It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”
Earlier on Saturday, PBS NewsHour correspondent Nick Schifrin reported that Rubio had made indications to Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Angus King (I-Maine) that a leaked version of the 28-point proposal was not produced by the Trump administration.
“MORE from [King]: ‘The leaked 28-point plan, which, according to [Rubio], is not of the administration’s position–it is essentially the wish list of the Russians,” Schifrin wrote in a post on X on Saturday night.
Even before Rubio responded, State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott said the allegations Schifrin was raising were “blatantly false.”
“As Secretary Rubio and the entire Administration has consistently maintained, this plan was authored by the United States, with input from both the Russians and Ukrainians,” Pigott wrote in an X post.
While the White House has yet to formally release the proposal, The Associated Press and other publications have published draft versions of the 28-point plan.
As we detailed previously, among other items, the published draft points indicated the United States would recognize Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk as de facto territories of Russia, and freeze the conflict along the current battle lines in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, effectively locking in Russian territorial gains throughout the course of the nearly four-year conflict.
The plan also appears to rule out Ukrainian entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and NATO will agree not to expand any further, while Russia will agree not to invade any more countries. Further, the plan states Ukraine will receive security guarantees, but will also have to cap the size of its military force.
Zelenskyy celebrated Sunday’s meeting in Geneva and said, “It is good that diplomacy has been reinvigorated and that the conversation can be constructive.”
“The Ukrainian and American teams, as well as the teams of our European partners, are in close contact, and I do hope that there will be a result. The bloodshed must be stopped, and we must ensure that the war is never reignited,” he wrote on social media.
“I am awaiting the results of today’s talks and hope that all participants will be constructive. We all need a positive outcome.”
The Ukrainian president had individually thanked all of Kyiv’s allies present at the meeting in Geneva in various posts on X late Saturday and early on Sunday.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he would have a phone call with Putin on Monday to discuss efforts to end the war in Ukraine, adding that he would also request the resumption of a deal for safe passage of grains in the Black Sea. Turkey, a NATO member, has kept up cordial relations with both Ukraine and Russia during the nearly four-year-long war, offering military assistance to Ukraine but not joining the West in sanctioning Moscow. Turkey has hosted three rounds of peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul and has offered to also host a leaders meeting. During a press conference at the G20 summit in South Africa on Sunday, Erdogan said the 2022 Black Sea grain deal that was negotiated between Turkey and the United Nations could demonstrate a path forward for a peaceful end to the war in Ukraine.
“We were able to succeed in this up to a certain point and it did not continue after. Now, during the discussions we will have tomorrow, I will again ask Mr. Putin about this. I think it would be very beneficial if we can start this process,” he said.
Faced with a Thanksgiving holiday deadline, European officials are racing to buy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy more time with their own counter-proposal.
@DD_Geopolitics has posted the full text of Europe’s 24-point counter-proposal for a “peace plan.”
1. End the war and create arrangements meant to prevent any repeat, establishing a permanent framework for “lasting peace and security.”
2. Both sides commit to a full, unconditional ceasefire — in the air, on land, and at sea.
3. Immediate talks begin on the technical setup for monitoring the ceasefire, with U.S. and European participation.
4. A U.S.-led international monitoring mission is introduced, relying mainly on satellites, drones, and remote tools, with an on-the-ground component to investigate alleged violations.
5. A mechanism is created for filing and investigating ceasefire violations and discussing “corrective measures.”
6. Russia must “unconditionally” return all deported or “illegally displaced” Ukrainian children, under international supervision.
7. Full prisoner exchange under the “all for all” principle. Russia must also release all civilian detainees.
8. After the ceasefire stabilizes, both sides take humanitarian steps, including allowing family visits across the line of contact.
9. Ukraine’s sovereignty is reaffirmed; Ukraine cannot be forced into neutrality.
10. Ukraine receives legally binding security guarantees from the U.S. and others — effectively an Article 5-style arrangement.
11. No restrictions are placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or its defense industry, including foreign military cooperation.
12. Security guarantors form an ad-hoc group of European and willing non-European states. Ukraine decides which foreign forces, weapons, and missions it allows on its territory.
13. Ukraine’s NATO membership depends only on internal Alliance consensus.
14. Ukraine becomes an EU member.
15. Ukraine remains a non-nuclear state under the NPT.
16. Territorial issues are addressed only after a full unconditional ceasefire.
17. Territorial negotiations start from the current line of control.
18. Once agreed, neither Russia nor Ukraine may alter territorial arrangements by force.
19. Ukraine regains control of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (with U.S. involvement) and the Kakhovka Dam, under a special transfer mechanism.
20. Ukraine receives unhindered access on the Dnieper River and control of the Kinburn Spit.
21. Ukraine and its partners conduct unrestricted economic cooperation.
22. Ukraine is fully rebuilt and financially compensated — including through frozen Russian sovereign assets, which remain blocked until Russia pays compensation.
23. Sanctions imposed on Russia since 2014 may be partially and gradually eased only after a “sustainable peace,” with automatic snap-back if the deal is violated.
24. Separate talks begin on European security architecture with all OSCE states.
@DD_Geopolitics editorial seemed to sum thinsg up well:
“As delusional as you’d expect from Delulu Land. They still haven’t grasped that the side losing the war isn’t the one that gets to make demands.”
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy is battling a corruption scandal that threatens to engulf his powerful chief of staff, Andriy Yermak. So he’s feeling the heat, too, back home.
Finally, while speaking with reporters earlier in the day, Trump said the current plan doesn’t represent his final offer.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 11/23/2025 – 13:25
Assan Ouedraogo, de 19 años, anota para Leipzig tras debutar con Alemania
Por CIARÁN FAHEY
BERLÍN (AP) — Assan Ouedraogo añadió a su creciente reputación con un brillante gol en la victoria el domingo 2-0 del Leipzig sobre Werder Bremen en la Bundesliga.
Ouedraogo, de 19 años, quien debutó con Alemania en la clasificación para la Copa del Mundo la semana pasada, disparó de zurda para abrir el marcador a los 63 minutos. Fue su tercer gol de la temporada.
Los visitantes amenazaron con el empate hasta que Xaver Schlager aseguró la victoria a los 80 minutos, ayudando a que el equipo de Ole Werner volviera a encarrilarse después de que una derrota ante Hoffenheim pusiera fin a su racha de ocho partidos sin perder antes del parón internacional.
Werner anteriormente entrenó a Bremen, donde fue despedido tras negarse a extender su contrato.
El Unión de Berlin enfrenta más tarde al St. Paul.
Bayern Munich igualó su récord de 43 rondas consecutivas en la cima el sábado.
___
Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Cracker Barrel Marketing ‘Expert’ Resigns From Board After Failed Rebrand
Cracker Barrel Marketing ‘Expert’ Resigns From Board After Failed Rebrand
Authored by Jacki Thrapp via The Epoch Times,
A board member who was part of Cracker Barrel’s controversial and short-lived rebrand has resigned.
Multicultural marketing expert Gilbert Dávila stepped down from his seat on the board of directors for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. on Nov. 20 as shareholders voted to shrink the governing body from 10 to nine directors.
“We thank our shareholders for their strong show of support today, electing 9 of 10 of the Company’s recommended director nominees, including the Company’s CEO, Julie Masino,” according to a statement issued on Nov. 20.
The Tennessee-based company’s 2025 Annual Meeting on Nov. 20 passed “every” proposal submitted to shareholders, including its incentive plan and executive compensation practices.
However, when the plan was made public, it was revealed that Dávila no longer had a seat at the table. Investors criticized Dávila for being part of a rebranding attempt that backfired over the summer, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The board of directors thanked Dávila for being a part of the team since 2020.
“We also thank outgoing independent director, Gilbert Dávila, who has been a valued member of the Board through his five years of service to Cracker Barrel,” the Cracker Barrel board wrote in the Nov. 20 statement.
“Over that time, Gilbert helped oversee the formation of our strategic plan and led our Compensation Committee with skill and dedication. We are grateful for his many contributions.”
The statement did not explain exactly why Dávila is stepping down.
“We are more focused than ever on delivering high-quality food and experiences to our guests while staying true to the heritage that makes Cracker Barrel so special, ensuring we are here to welcome families around our table for generations to come,” the company added.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Dávila for comment.
Dávila’s departure from the company is a partial win for Cracker Barrel investor Sardar Biglari, who criticized the former board member and CEO Julie Felss Masino for what he called a “rebranding and remodeling fiasco.”
The rebranding outraged consumers beginning on Aug. 19 when Cracker Barrel announced it would remove the farmer leaning on a barrel from its logo.
The company’s market capitalization crashed by almost $100 million in 24 hours, prompting it to reverse its announcement and keep the original logo.
“The board has failed in every acquisition and in the opening of new stores, hired the wrong CEO, and approved a ‘Strategic Transformation Plan’ that has not only failed but has subjected the company to market ridicule and set the company back years in terms of its financial and stock price performance,” Biglari alleged in a letter filed with the SEC on Nov. 6.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 11/23/2025 – 12:50
“Wicked: For Good” supera a la original con un debut global de $226 millones
Por LINDSEY BAHR
La apuesta de Universal Pictures con la película en dos partes “Wicked” continúa desafiando la gravedad en la taquilla. Apenas un año después de que la primera parte atrajo a multitudes a los cines de todo el país, aún más personas compraron entradas para el fin de semana de estreno para ver la épica conclusión, “Wicked: For Good”. Según las estimaciones del estudio el domingo, “Wicked: For Good” recaudó 150 millones de dólares en los cines de América del Norte en sus primeros días en cartelera y 226 millones de dólares a nivel mundial.
No solo es el mayor estreno de una adaptación de un musical de Broadway, superando el récord establecido por el lanzamiento de 112 millones de dólares de la primera película, sino que también es el segundo mayor debut del año, detrás de “A Minecraft Movie” con 162 millones de dólares.
“Los resultados son simplemente fantásticos”, dijo Jim Orr, quien dirige la distribución doméstica para Universal. “Algunas películas pueden dar un falso positivo cuando las entradas se ponen a la venta anticipadamente, pero estos resultados hablan por sí mismos”.
Universal comenzó a estrenar “Wicked: For Good” en los cines a principios de esta semana, con preestrenos el lunes (6,1 millones de dólares en 1.050 cines) y el miércoles (6,5 millones de dólares en 2.300 cines). Para el viernes, se estaba proyectando en 4.115 ubicaciones en América del Norte y había recaudado 68,6 millones de dólares. Las proyecciones en IMAX representaron 15,5 millones de dólares, o el 11%, de su recaudación doméstica, un récord de noviembre para la compañía.
El CEO de IMAX, Rich Gelfond, dijo en un comunicado que la fuerte participación de mercado muestra que “nuestro impulso se extiende a demos y géneros más allá de nuestro núcleo tradicional, incluidas las familias”.
Al igual que con la primera película, las mujeres impulsaron el fin de semana de estreno, representando alrededor del 71% de los compradores de entradas según las encuestas de salida de PostTrak. Los críticos estuvieron algo divididos sobre el capítulo final, pero el público no: un abrumador 83% del público dijo que definitivamente la recomendaría a sus amigos. En cuanto al tráfico de personas, el rastreador de taquilla EntTelligence estima que unos 2 millones más asistieron al primer fin de semana de “Wicked: For Good” que al de “Wicked”.
Jon M. Chu dirigió ambas películas de “Wicked”, protagonizadas por Cynthia Erivo y Ariana Grande. La primera película recaudó más de 758,7 millones de dólares a nivel mundial y recibió 10 nominaciones al Oscar (ganando dos, por vestuario y diseño de producción). La pregunta es cuán alto puede llegar “Wicked: For Good”. En conjunto, las dos películas costaron alrededor de 300 millones de dólares para producir, sin incluir los costos de marketing y promoción.
“La primera película allanó el camino”, dijo Orr. “Realmente se ha convertido en un evento cultural al que creo que el público acudirá en masa a los cines durante bastante tiempo”.
Otros dos filmes también se estrenaron en amplia distribución este fin de semana, pero más abajo en las listas detrás de un buffet de películas ya en cartelera. Searchlight Pictures estrenó su película de Brendan Fraser “Rental Family” en 1.925 cines, donde recaudó 3,3 millones de dólares. La película de acción finlandesa “Sisu: Road to Revenge”, un lanzamiento de Sony, también se proyectó en 2.222 cines. Recaudó un estimado de 2,6 millones de dólares.
El segundo lugar fue para “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” con 9,1 millones de dólares en su segundo fin de semana, seguido por “Predator: Badlands” con 6,3 millones de dólares en su tercer fin de semana.
A continuación, las películas más vistas de viernes a domingo en cines de Estados Unidos y Canadá, según Comscore:
1. “Wicked: For Good”, 150 millones
2. “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t”, 9,1 millones
3. “Predator: Badlands”, 6,3 millones
4. “The Running Man”, 5,8 millones
5. “Rental Family”, 3,3 millones
6. “Sisu: Road to Revenge”, 2,6 millones
7. “Regretting You”, 1,5 millones
8. “Nuremberg”, 1,2 millones
9. “Black Phone 2”, 1 millones
10. “Sarah’s Oil”, 711.542 dólares ______
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
