Category: News
With construction complete, downtown Flossmoor plans grand reopening
With months of construction on Flossmoor’s downtown finally concluded, the village will be host a grand reopening at the end of the month.
Flossmoor plans a Small Business Saturday event on Nov. 29, promoting local businesses, ringing in the holiday season and celebrating the end of what has been a long and sometimes disruptive construction project.
“I think it’s going to bring a lot of people that didn’t know everything was all done down here,” said Maureen Mader, owner of Dunning’s Market. “There’ll be a lot of foot traffic. We can all show off our stores in the best light.”
Construction work on the Downtown Flossmoor Streetscape Project began in June, but the project was in the works for nearly 10 years. Traffic analysis and work to obtain funding began in 2017.
“The streetscape project was twofold. One, making our downtown safer for pedestrians, and it’s a very pedestrian heavy part of our village, with the Metra stop there, with all of the restaurants, with it being a crossing for folks going to and from school,” said Mayor Michelle Nelson. “The most important part of that project was slowing cars down to make it safer for pedestrians.”
The second part was to beautify the downtown, which is nearly a century old.
“It was starting to look a little tired and show its age,” Nelson said. “You know, our village is 100 years old. The downtown was substantially built back in 1929, so it was starting to look a little tired.”
Mader said although the construction was “a little bit intrusive,” she and her customers were able to adapt. Dunning’s Market posted regular updates to social media of the status and how people could access its storefront, she said.
“We knew for a long time this was coming, so we had thought about some ways in which to mitigate the intrusion,” Mader said. “There was a downturn, I mean, a little bit of a downturn in business, but mostly people made up for it later in the day or they would order catering.”
Mader said she saw a high degree of community support during the construction.
“They would go out of their way to stop and buy something. They would always check on us, how are you guys doing, are you doing OK,” Mader said. “Everybody was worried about everybody. That’s what I saw.”
A sign hangs in the window of Dunning’s Market, advertising that the business is open despite the recently-concluded road construction, downtown Flossmoor. (Evy Lewis/Daily Southtown)
Javanah Barnes, owner of The Balloon Bar, said she’s happy with the results of the construction.
“Fresh sidewalks, fresh planters. I think it looks great,” Barnes said.
Barnes’ party supplies business occupies one spot in the multi-business Shops at Sterling complex at Sterling Avenue and Flossmoor Road, and she said the different businesses in the building plan to collaborate with special deals for Small Business Saturday.
“It’ll be my first Small Business Saturday with my brick-and-mortar, so we are very excited, we’re working on some deals,” Barnes said.
An awning advertises the Shops on Sterling, a collection of small businesses at Flossmoor Road and Sterling Avenue in downtown Flossmoor. (Evy Lewis/Daily Southtown)
Barnes opened her business in April, not long before work began.
“I think for the most part it wasn’t too bad. They tried to make it very accommodating for the customers by opening up the extra lot,” Barnes said. “Business did get a little slow, but not too dramatically slow.”
The area also had some other news businesses open. Beyond Borders Cafe opened in August, and the nearby Flossmoor Social opened last month.
Nelson said part of the intent behind the Small Business Saturday event is to announce to Flossmoor residents that downtown is once more fully open for business. The plans include a ribbon cutting at 2 p.m.
“Our streets are striped, you can park your car, you can walk along the sidewalk and we don’t have those obstacles that we had for most of the summer,” Nelson said. “Downtown is open! Our small business owners, who are so important to our local economy, they’re excited to see everybody and they’re excited for the Christmas season.”
A customer orders at Dunning’s Market, downtown Flossmoor. (Evy Lewis/Daily Southtown)
The event will also mark the start of the holiday season. There are all-ages activities scheduled at nearby Flossmoor Park, including visits with Santa, caroling and a holiday tree lighting. Santa will arrive by fire truck at 3 p.m. at Flossmoor Park.
Nelson said that although the construction is finished, there are still some finishing touches.
“What you’re not gonna see on Small Business Saturday, and what’ll come next spring or early summer, are native plants that are going to be going in all of the planters where the trees are, as well as big pots with the annual flowers that people are used to seeing,” Nelson said. “So there’s more to come, I wouldn’t say that this is the end of that project, but it is substantial completion.”
Businesses at Flossmoor Commons, at Governors Highway and Vollmer Road, will also participate.
A Flossmoor flag flies through the window of Beyond Borders Cafe, which opened earlier this year in downtown Flossmoor. (Evy Lewis/Daily Southtown)
If you go
Where: Downtown Flossmoor (Flossmoor Road and Sterling Avenue) and Flossmoor Park
When: Nov. 29, all day; ribbon cutting at 2 p.m.; all-ages park activities from 3 to 5:30 p.m.
elewis@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/downtown-flossmoor-construction-grand-reopening/
Yarbrough acuerda contrato de uno año y 2,5 millones para seguir con los Yankees según AP
Po RONALD BLUM
NUEVA YORK (AP) — El lanzador zurdo Ryan Yarbrough acordó un contrato de un año por 2,55 millones para permanecer con los Yankees de Nueva York, dijo el lunes a The Associated Press una persona familiarizada con las negociaciones.
La persona habló bajo condición de anonimato porque el acuerdo, el primer movimiento de temporada baja de los Yankees, estaba sujeto a un examen físico exitoso. Yarbrough puede ganar 250.000 adicionales en bonos por rendimiento.
Yarbrough, quien cumplirá 34 años el 31 de diciembre, acordó en marzo un contrato de un año por 2 millones, un día después de ser liberado de un acuerdo de ligas menores con Toronto, y ganó 150.000 en bonos por rendimiento basados en entradas.
Tuvo un récord de 3-1 con una efectividad de 4.36 en ocho aperturas y 11 apariciones como relevista, ponchando a 55 y otorgando 19 bases por bolas en 64 entradas. Yarbrough no lanzó para los Yankees entre el 18 de junio y el 5 de septiembre debido a una distensión en el oblicuo derecho. Fue dejado fuera del roster para las series de postemporada contra Boston y Toronto.
Con ocho años de experiencia en las Grandes Ligas, Yarbrough tiene un récord de 56-41 con una efectividad de 4.22 en 76 aperturas y 139 apariciones como relevista para Tampa Bay (2018-22), Kansas City (2023), los Dodgers de Los Ángeles (2023-24), Toronto (2024) y los Yankees.
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Number of sports bets have dropped — but amount of betting has increased following new Illinois per wager tax
The number of sports bets in Illinois dropped 15% after the state imposed a new tax on every wager, officials said, prompting warnings from licensed gambling operators that more bettors are fleeing to the illegal online market.
There were more than 5 million fewer bets placed in September 2025 than in the same month last year — a 15% decrease — according to statistics from the Illinois Gaming Board.
Despite the drop in the number of bets, the amount of money wagered on sports in September increased 9% from the previous year to a new record high handle of $1.4 billion. That means gamblers on average were spending more per bet, generating $10.6 million in taxes.
The average ticket size for the month ballooned to $46.44, a 28% increase from last year, according to Legal Sports Report. Keith Whyte, former executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling who now consults on gaming issues, has written about the harmful effects of higher taxes pushing gamblers toward the illegal market.
The reduction in the number of bets runs counter to sports betting nationwide, which is generally increasing, said Maura Possley, spokeswoman for the Sports Betting Alliance of Illinois, which represents online and retail gambling companies like Bet MGM, FanDuel and DraftKings.
“This data is a warning sign for Chicago, Illinois, and other state policymakers that overtaxing legal betting will have profound negative ramifications for the sustainability of the legal market and future tax revenues for state coffers,” Possley said.
The new state tax, which was the first in the nation when it took effect in July, levies 25 cents per wager on each company’s first 20 million bets, and 50 cents per bet after that.
The state tax followed a tiered tax increase instituted in 2024, which most affected the biggest online betting companies like FanDuel and DraftKings, potentially adding up to a tax rate of more than 30%. Numerous companies passed on the new tax to consumers in the form of transaction fees. But some companies skip the fee on wagers of $50 or more, or increased their minimum bets.
In addition, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has proposed an extra tax of 10.25% on sports gambling revenue as part of his proposed budget. A proposed state law would prevent municipalities from instituting a tax on sports bets.
The debate over sports betting taxes comes following a letter sent in August by 50 state attorneys general asking the U.S. Department of Justice to crack down on illegal online gambling.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul wrote that illegal gaming fuels criminal enterprises and preys on vulnerable adults and young people.
“These operations also increase the tax burden for all taxpayers, as states are forced to make up for billions in lost gaming revenue,” he wrote. “I urge the DOJ to prioritize enforcement against illegal offshore gaming operations, upholding the rule of law and protecting states and our residents in the process.”
Anti-gambling groups have criticized online gambling, both legal and illegal, as corrosive because it’s constantly available on users’ phones, making it more addictive for problem gamblers. Illinois is one of the biggest sports betting markets in the country, with nearly $11 billon bet this year through October.
Legal online gaming companies were once themselves the object of criticism. Before online sports betting was legalized in Illinois effective in 2020, former Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan had considered online sports fantasy betting as illegal, but the Illinois Supreme Court ruled otherwise.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/sports-bets-illinois-wager-taxes/
EBITDA And The Warnings Of Charlie Munger
EBITDA And The Warnings Of Charlie Munger
Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
This past week, Greg Feirman wrote an interesting article about “The Perils Of Adjusted EBITDA.” Before we get into his discussion, let’s discuss what EBITDA is.
EBITDA is an acronym that stands for “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.” Over the years, EBITDA has become a go-to metric for evaluating corporate performance as it offers a simple way to assess a company’s profitability by removing non-cash charges and financing effects. However, the problem with EBITDA is that simplicity often comes at the cost of accuracy. Why do I say that? Because EBITDA ignores critical costs, such as depreciation, which can distort a company’s true economic picture in capital-intensive industries. When companies extend the lives of their assets to reduce depreciation expenses, EBITDA increases, even though the underlying cash outflows remain unchanged.
Read that last part again, because this is where Greg’s commentary hits home. Historically, capital expenditures tend to surge following recessions and economic downturns. This makes sense as companies expend capital to ramp up production as economic growth returns. You will notice a high correlation between economic and capital expenditures (CapEx) growth rates. Notably, this is particularly relevant in the AI sector, where firms are investing billions into chips, servers, and data centers, which will likely coincide with an increase in economic activity.
This is also where Greg’s comments are most relevant.
“On Monday morning, Michael Burry tweeted out more details about his AI Bubble thesis. He claims that the AI hyperscalers are “understating depreciation” by extending the period over which they are depreciating the Nvidia chips and all the other capital equipment they are buying to build out AI. This morning Jim Chanos applied the same logic to CoreWeave (CRWV). The first thing to understand is that Net Income is an accounting number. It is not the amount of cash that the company actually earns because it reflects certain approximations – one of the most important of which is depreciation.“
As Greg notes, a good example is CoreWeave (CRWV), which reported earnings this past week.
“Adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to $838 million from $379 million a year ago. On the surface, then, they are a profitable company – at least on this metric. But they backed out $630 billion in Depreciation and Amortization from their GAAP Net Loss of $110 million to arrive at that number. It’s only when we turn to the Cash Flow statement that we understand the how CoreWeave is financing their operations. Cash Flow from Operations in the first 9 months of 2025 was $1.5 billion. CapEx was $6.25 billion. Those are cash figures, not accounting ones. In other words, Free Cash Flow for the first nine months of the year was -$4.75 billion. That’s right: CRWV has burned up nearly $5 billion so far this year. How are they financing this? By selling debt. Essentially the whole difference is made up by their net debt issuance of ~$4.5 billion.”
This reveals the disconnect: EBITDA suggests “operating profitability looks good,” but the cash flow dynamics tell a very different story. If you rely only on EBITDA, you may miss the fact that the business is burning cash, depending on borrowing, or stretching asset lives unrealistically.
As Greg concluded:
“Clearly, the hyperscalers are spending an enormous amount of money on Nvidia chips and the other capital equipment required to build out AI. Their thesis is that the ROI on these investments over the long term will be excellent. If AI is truly the game changer many say it is, the returns may well outweigh any current concerns about the accounting. If not, a lot of this CapEx may be malinvestment and have to be written down in the future.
The overall point is that we are operating in the dark here because we don’t know the future returns on investment and we don’t know the appropriate rate to depreciate these huge Capital Expenditures to get the right Net Income numbers in the present.”
This is why investors need to be more realistic about understanding earnings reports and be cautious of the metrics they use to invest in companies. There are several pitfalls associated with EBITDA that you should be aware of. For example:
It ignores capital expenditures (CapEx) and replacement needs.
It omits changes in working capital—such as inventory, receivables, and payables—which can erode cash even when EBITDA is positive.
It may mask interest and debt burdens—two very real cash drains. Since interest is excluded, two companies with similar EBITDA may have vastly different risk profiles.
It allows for subjective “adjustments” (adjusted EBITDA) that reduce comparability across companies and time periods.
It may mislead in asset‑intensive sectors where hidden replacement or upgrade costs are large.
However, it isn’t just EBITDA, but earnings in general, that require closer inspection.
Earnings Aren’t What You Think
Just like the hit series “House of Cards,” Wall Street earnings season has become rife with manipulation, deceit, and obfuscation that could rival the dark corners of Washington, D.C. What is most fascinating is that so many individuals invest hard-earned capital based on these manipulated numbers. The failure to understand the “quality” of earnings, rather than the “quantity,” has always led to disappointing outcomes at some point in the future.
As Drew Bernstein recently penned for CFO.com:
“Non-GAAP financials are not audited and are most often disclosed through earnings press releases and investor presentations, rather than in the company’s annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Once upon a time, non-GAAP financials were used to isolate the impact of significant one-time events like a major restructuring or sizable acquisition. In recent years, they have become increasingly prevalent and prominent, used by both the shiniest new-economy IPO companies and the old-economy stalwarts.”
In the 1980s and early 1990s, companies typically reported GAAP earnings in their quarterly releases. If an investor dug through the report, they would find “adjusted” and “pro forma” earnings buried in the back. Today, GAAP earnings are buried in the back, hoping investors will miss the ugly truth.
These “adjusted or pro forma earnings” exclude items that a company deems “special, one-time, or extraordinary.” The problem is that these “special, one-time” items appear “every” quarter, leaving investors with a muddier picture of what companies are really making. This growing divergence between the earnings calculated according to accepted accounting principles and the “earnings” touted in press releases and analyst research reports has put investors at a disadvantage in understanding precisely what they are paying for.
As BofAML stated:
“We are increasingly concerned with the number of companies (non-commodity) reporting earnings on an adjusted basis versus those that are stressing GAAP accounting, and find the divergence a consequence of less earnings power.
Consider that when US GDP growth was averaging 3% (the 5 quarters September 2013 through September 2014) on average 80% of US HY companies reported earnings on an adjusted basis. Since September 2014, however, with US GDP averaging just 1.9%, over 87% of companies have reported on an adjusted basis. Perhaps even more telling, between the end of 2010 and 2013, the percentage of companies reporting adjusted EBITDA was relatively constant, and since 2013, the number has been on a steady rise.
So, why do companies regularly report these Non-GAAP earnings? Drew has the answer:
“When management is asked why they resort to non-GAAP reporting, the most common response is that these measures are requested by the analysts and are commonly used in earnings models employed to value the company. Indeed, sell-side analysts and funds with a long position in the stock may have incentives to encourage a more favorable alternative presentation of earnings results.”
How much of a difference are we talking about? About $3.59/share in earnings, where revenue comprises only about 25% of the result.
But here is the real question:
“If non-GAAP reporting is used as a supplemental means to help investors identify underlying trends in the business, one might reasonably expect that both favorable and unfavorable events would be “adjusted” in equal measure.”
However, research presented by the American Accounting Association suggests that companies engage in “asymmetric” non-GAAP exclusions of mostly unfavorable items as a tool to “beat” analyst earnings estimates.
So, why has there been such a rise in all these accounting gimmicks? Money, of course.
Better Earnings = Higher Stock Prices = Higher Compensation via Stock Buybacks
Why Munger Said “EBITDA is BullS***”
Wall Street is an insider system where the practice of legally manipulating earnings to create the best possible outcome and increase executive compensation has run amok. The adults in the room, a.k.a. the Securities & Exchange Commission, have “left the children in charge,” but will most assuredly leap into action to pass new regulations to rectify reckless misbehavior AFTER the next crash.
For investors, the manipulation of EBITDA and earnings not only skews valuation analysis but also specifically impacts any analysis involving earnings, such as P/E ratios, EV/EBITDA, and PEG.
Ramy Elitzur, via The Account Art Of War, expounded on the problems of using EBITDA.
“One of the things that I thought that I knew well was the importance of income-based metrics such as EBITDA, and that cash flow information is not as important. It turned out that common garden variety metrics, such as EBITDA, could be hazardous to your health.”
The article is worth reading and chock-full of good information; however, here are the four crucial points:
EBITDA is not a good surrogate for cash flow analysis because it assumes that all revenues are collected immediately and all expenses are paid immediately, leading to a false sense of liquidity.
Superficial common garden-variety accounting ratios will fail to detect signs of liquidity problems.
Direct cash flow statements provide a more detailed insight into the operating cash flows than indirect cash flow statements. Note that the vast majority (well over 90%) of public companies use the indirect format.
EBITDA, just like net income, is very sensitive to accounting manipulations.
The last point is the most critical. As Charlie Munger once stated:
“I think there are lots of troubles coming. There’s too much wretched excess. I don’t like when investment bankers talk about EBITDA, which I call bulls*** earnings. It’s ridiculous. EBITDA does not accurately reflect how much money a company makes, unlike traditional earnings. Think of the basic intellectual dishonesty that comes when you start talking about adjusted EBITDA. You’re almost announcing you’re a flake.”
In a world of adjusted earnings, where every company consistently outperforms its peers, investors often lose sight of what truly matters in investing.
“This unfortunate cycle will only be broken when the end-users of financial reporting — institutional investors, analysts, lenders, and the media — agree that we are on the verge of systemic failure in financial reporting. In the history of financial markets, such moments of mental clarity most often occur following the loss of vast sums of capital.” – American Accounting Association
Imaginary worlds are nice, but it’s just impossible to live there.
Where To Look Instead
So, if “operating earnings” and EBITDA are enough, where should you look? The answer is to focus on metrics that reflect real cash generation and sustainable operations. Free cash flow, which is operating cash flow minus capital expenditures, is one of the most important. It shows what’s left over after a business funds its maintenance and growth needs. A positive free cash flow tells you the company is generating more cash than it needs to sustain itself. A negative one warns that it’s living on borrowed money.
You should also examine trends in working capital, specifically, changes in receivables, payables, and inventory, to determine if the company is overextending itself to maintain operations. Asset lives and depreciation schedules should be realistic, not inflated to improve margins. Debt levels and interest costs matter too. EBITDA ignores both, but if a company’s cash flow can’t cover its debt service, that’s a red flag.
Here are the key metrics to prioritize over EBITDA:
Free Cash Flow (operating cash flow minus CapEx)
CapEx trends and whether they are delivering returns
Depreciation policy and asset life assumptions
Working capital changes in inventory, receivables, and payables
Debt and interest obligations
Reconciliation of EBITDA to net income and cash flow
When companies show a large gap between EBITDA and these real-world numbers, investors should be skeptical. In a capital-intensive sector like AI, where the future remains uncertain, the risks of relying on EBITDA are amplified. It may look clean on paper, but it can leave you blind to the business’s real financial health.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 11/17/2025 – 14:40
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/ebitda-and-warnings-charlie-munger
Suspenden a líder de Iglesia anglicana conservadora por acusaciones de conducta sexual inapropiada
Por PETER SMITH
El líder principal de la Iglesia Anglicana en América del Norte (ACNA, por sus siglas en inglés) ha sido suspendido del ministerio para que enfrente acusaciones de conducta sexual inapropiada y otros comportamientos impropios.
La suspensión del arzobispo Stephen Wood entró en vigor el domingo y fue anunciada el lunes por el nuevo decano y líder interino de la denominación, quien asumió el cargo luego que su predecesor renunciara el fin de semana en otra agitación en la jerarquía de la Iglesia. La ACNA se formó en 2009 por conservadores que se separaron de la Iglesia Episcopal de Estados Unidos y su contraparte canadiense debido a tendencias liberalizadoras en esas Iglesias.
La suspensión de Wood, aprobada por otros obispos superiores, no implica culpabilidad o inocencia de ningún cargo contra Wood, afirmó el obispo Julian Dobbs, el nuevo decano de la ACNA.
Un ministro puede ser suspendido cuando “se determina que es en el mejor interés de la Iglesia”, explicó Dobbs en un comunicado.
Wood fue acusado el mes pasado en un pliego de cargos, o una lista de acusaciones compilada por miembros de la Iglesia. El pliego de cargos aún no se ha hecho público, pero un artículo de investigación del diario The Washington Post indicó que la denuncia alegaba conducta sexual inapropiada por parte de Wood antes que se convirtiera en arzobispo el año pasado, en sus roles como pastor y obispo regional.
El pliego de cargos también incluye acusaciones de que intimidó a empleados y plagió sermones, según el Post, medio que luego publicó que una segunda mujer ha acusado formalmente a Wood de acoso sexual.
Wood, un padre de familia casado con cuatro hijos, ha negado toda conducta impropia. Anteriormente tomó una licencia voluntaria con goce de sueldo. Continuará recibiendo su salario durante su suspensión, según la portavoz de la ACNA, Kate Harris.
Bajo las reglas de la ANCA, cuando los miembros de la Iglesia presentan un pliego de cargos contra un clérigo, una junta de investigación determina si se debe llevar el asunto a un juicio eclesiástico.
Desde entonces, se ha formado una junta, pero tomará tiempo determinar si hay motivos para un juicio eclesiástico, detalló Harris.
Wood se recusó de nombrar a la junta en su propio caso, delegando la tarea al entonces decano de la Iglesia, el obispo Ray Sutton, quien luego se recusó de esa tarea. Sutton también había sido nombrado para asumir las funciones de Wood como arzobispo durante su licencia.
Sin embargo, Sutton renunció como decano el sábado, argumentando que es “imprudente” continuar en múltiples roles, incluido el de obispo regional, cuando también lidia con problemas de espalda tras una cirugía.
En un comunicado emitido por la Iglesia, Sutton también se disculpó por haber negado previamente que “participó en una conversación sobre el nombramiento de una Junta de Investigación favorable al obispo. Mi intención era expresar que no podía recordar que tal conversación hubiera tenido lugar, y me disculpo por haberlo afirmado incorrectamente”.
Wood también es obispo de la Diócesis de las Carolinas. Durante su suspensión, esa diócesis será dirigida por el obispo interino David Bryan.
La ACNA informa que tiene alrededor de 130.000 miembros en aproximadamente 1.000 congregaciones en Estados Unidos y Canadá.
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La cobertura de religión de The Associated Press recibe apoyo a través de la colaboración de la AP con The Conversation US, con financiamiento de Lilly Endowment Inc. La AP es la única responsable de este contenido.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Controversia en Gran Bretaña por propuesta de endurecer normas de asilo
Por BRIAN MELLEY
LONDRES (AP) — El plan del gobierno británico para endurecer su sistema de asilo encontró una fuerte resistencia el lunes desde dentro de su propio partido, pero estaba recibiendo cierto apoyo de rivales políticos, lo que indica cuán divisivo se ha vuelto el tema de la inmigración.
Antes de que la secretaria del Interior Shabana Mahmood siquiera publicara los detalles del plan para hacer que el Reino Unido sea menos atractivo para los solicitantes de asilo y facilitar la expulsión de migrantes, ya estaba tratando de sofocar la reacción de parlamentarios del Partido Laborista de centro-izquierda que la acusaron de intentar cortejar a la extrema derecha.
“Es vergonzoso que un gobierno laborista esté destruyendo los derechos y protecciones de personas que han soportado traumas inimaginables”, declaró Nadia Whittome, parlamentaria laborista por Nottingham.
Calificó las políticas propuestas como “crueles” y “distópicas”. “¿Es así como querríamos ser tratados si estuviéramos huyendo por nuestras vidas? Por supuesto que no”.
Mahmood indicó que sus planes, que en parte publicó durante el fin de semana, podrían reparar un sistema de asilo estropeado y unir a un país dividido sobre un tema candente que ha ayudado a impulsar el ascenso del Reform UK, un partido antiinmigrante.
“Tenemos un problema que es nuestro deber moral solucionar: nuestro sistema de asilo está roto”, señaló Mahmood en la Cámara de los Comunes.
“La ruptura de ese sistema de asilo está causando una gran división en todo nuestro país”, añadió.
Agregó que la nueva política disuadiría a los migrantes que no se quedan en el primer país sino que van por distintos países buscando el lugar más atractivo para establecerse.
La lucha por detener los barcos
Detener el flujo de migrantes que cruzan peligrosamente el Canal de la Mancha para ingresar al país sin autorización ha desconcertado a gobiernos sucesivos que han intentado una variedad de enfoques con poco éxito.
El plan del anterior gobierno conservador de centro-derecha para enviar a los recién llegados a Ruanda para el procesamiento de asilo fue impugnado en los tribunales y desechado por el primer ministro Keir Starmer cuando fue elegido el año pasado. Starmer ha prometido tomar medidas enérgicas contra las bandas de traficantes de migrantes y lanzó un programa piloto de “uno entra, uno sale” para devolver a algunos migrantes a Francia a cambio de migrantes con solicitudes de asilo legítimas.
El tema de la migración se volvió más volátil políticamente este verano cuando se llevaron a cabo protestas que ocasionalmente se volvieron violentas frente a hoteles que alojaban a solicitantes de asilo después de que un migrante fuera arrestado por agresión sexual al intentar besar a una niña de 14 años.
Más de 39.000 migrantes han llegado en barco al Reino Unido este año, superando a los casi 37.000 que llegaron en 2024, según las últimas cifras del Ministerio del Interior. Sin embargo, el número aún está por debajo de los casi 40.000 que habían llegado a este punto del año en 2022, que registró el número más alto de la historia.
Aunque las llegadas en pequeños botes han crecido, son una fracción de la inmigración total, con la mayoría de las personas ingresando al Reino Unido legalmente, con visas. La migración neta —el número de personas que ingresan al Reino Unido menos las que se fueron— superó las 900.000 en el año que terminó en junio de 2023, impulsada en gran medida por cientos de miles de personas que huyen de la guerra en Ucrania y la represión de China en Hong Kong. La migración neta disminuyó a 431.000 en el año hasta junio de 2025, según la Oficina de Estadísticas Nacionales, una caída del 49,9% desde 860.000 un año antes.
Gobierno británico podría retirar apoyo a solicitantes de asilo
Las nuevas reformas, siguiendo el modelo de Dinamarca, revocarían el deber legal del Reino Unido de proporcionar apoyo a los solicitantes de asilo, permitiendo al gobierno retirar la vivienda y las asignaciones semanales que ahora están garantizadas. También se podrían negar beneficios a las personas que tienen derecho a trabajar pero no lo hacen, y a aquellos que infringen la ley o trabajan ilegalmente.
El estatus de refugiado también sería revisado regularmente para ver si las personas pueden ser repatriadas de manera segura. También tendrán que esperar 20 años, en lugar de cinco, para establecerse permanentemente.
También se designarían formas seguras para que los migrantes soliciten asilo sin tener que arriesgarse a cruzar el canal en balsas inflables sobrecargadas.
Mientras que algunos oponentes políticos denunciaron que las propuestas de Mahmood no van lo suficientemente lejos, la líder del Partido Conservador, Kemi Badenoch, ofreció su apoyo.
“Lo que estamos viendo del gobierno laborista son pasos en la dirección correcta, por lo que queremos alentarlos en esa dirección correcta”, manifestó Badenoch.
Observando las disputas internas del Partido Laborista, Richard Tice, líder adjunto de Reform UK, bromeó diciendo que Mahmood suena como si estuviera “presentando una solicitud para unirse a Reform”.
Dijo que esperaría a ver qué se propone antes de comprometer el apoyo del partido, que tiene un creciente apoyo en las encuestas pero solo cuenta con cinco de los 650 escaños en la Cámara.
El Partido Laborista niega cortejar a la extrema derecha
La aceptación parcial por parte de figuras de la derecha probablemente creará más consternación en el Partido Laborista, ya que el partido enfrenta terribles números en las encuestas en medio de rumores de que Starmer podría enfrentar posibles desafíos de liderazgo apenas 18 meses después de una victoria electoral aplastante.
El portavoz de Starmer, Tom Wells, tuvo que negar repetidamente que el plan del gobierno busca ganarse el favor de la extrema derecha.
“Somos un país abierto, tolerante y generoso, pero debemos restaurar el orden y el control”, expresó Wells. “Si no lo hacemos, perderemos el consentimiento público para dar refugio en absoluto”.
El Ministerio del Interior apuntó que la nueva política se basó en el éxito de Dinamarca al reducir sus solicitudes de asilo al punto más bajo en 40 años y eliminar al 95% de aquellos que buscaron establecerse allí.
Dinamarca fue una vez un refugio para los refugiados. Pero a medida que aumentaba la migración masiva de personas que huyen de conflictos, hambrunas y pobreza, ha impuesto límites estrictos a los recién llegados que han atraído críticas internacionales por desalentar a las personas que buscan refugio.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Fire on back deck of Naperville home displaces four people
A fire early Monday morning at a home in Naperville left two adults and two children displaced, according to a news release from the Naperville Fire Department.
Authorities received a call around 1:09 a.m. reporting on a fire on the back deck of a home in the 700 block of Kaiser Court. The caller confirmed that everyone had safely evacuated the building and that one of the homeowners was attempting to extinguish the fire with a garden hose. A general alarm response was dispatched, consisting of 10 pieces of fire apparatus and 24 personnel, the release said.
The first fire unit arrived around 1:15 a.m. to the scene. Upon arrival, firefighters found a fire on the back deck of the home extending into the attic. Hose lines were quickly deployed to the rear of the home to contain and extinguish the deck fire, while additional crews went to the attic to check for and stop any fire extension, the release said.
The fire was brought under control and declared extinguished at 1:35 a.m., with crews remaining on the scene for about an additional 20 minutes to check for any remaining hot spots.
There were no injuries as a result of the fire, but the Naperville Transportation, Engineering and Development team has declared the building to be uninhabitable. Damages are estimated at more than $50,000. Improper disposal of charcoal coals was determined to be the cause of the blaze, the release said.
The Naperville Fire Department was assisted at the scene by the Naperville Police Department and the Naperville Department of Transportation, Engineering, and Development.
cstein@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/naperville-fire-displaces-four-people/
Federal judge certifies class in lawsuit over conditions at Broadview ICE processing center
A federal judge has allowed a lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview to proceed as a class action, authorizing two former detainees to represent potentially hundreds of current and future immigration arrestees processed at the west suburban facility.
The complaint, filed in October, accused Department of Homeland Security officials of cramming people into dirty holding cells and not providing enough food and water, among other problems, as they sought to boost immigration arrests during the Operation Midway Blitz enforcement operation. It also claims that officials blocked attorney access at the site and coerced people into signing voluntary deportation forms.
The Tribune got a rare look inside Broadview’s ICE processing center in 2009. Here’s what we saw.
It was filed on behalf of Pablo Moreno Gonzalez and Felipe Agustin Zamacona, who were detained there for several days in October. The two men sought to represent a class of detainees, but the class-action status needed approval from a judge.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman on Monday handed the win to the plaintiffs, even though the government argued that detainees had differing experiences there, given that some were only held for a few hours.
But Gettleman found that the plaintiffs overcame that hurdle, while also meeting requirements around numbers of potential class members.
“Plaintiffs state that, according to ICE data, ICE detained 5,202 individuals at Broadview between January 1, 2025, and July 28, 2025,” Gettleman’s order said. “These figures are from the period prior to the announcement of ‘Operation Midway Blitz,’ which caused a dramatic increase in immigration enforcement in the Chicago area.”
The class is likely more than 1,000 people, the judge found.
The class certification came days after a federal magistrate judge and a cadre of attorneys became some of the only outsiders in recent months to tour the facility, which is now under a temporary restraining order that requires the government to improve conditions there.
After a full-day hearing earlier this month during which detainees described overcrowded cells and scant food, Gettleman found that conditions at the facility — which was not built to house people overnight — did not “pass constitutional muster.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/broadview-class-action-certification/
West Aurora School District staff helps during annual Aurora Holiday Food Drive
As the Aurora Holiday Food Drive continues, the Aurora community is coming together to make it a happy Thanksgiving for those in need.
Members of the West Aurora School District teachers association, and West Aurora office professionals, recently packaged more than 250 boxes of food designed to complete a full Thanksgiving dinner.
The boxes – which included green bean casserole, stuffing, corn, cranberries and even brownies – were designed to go with more than 900 turkeys the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry obtained to give to clients.
“Each building focused on one item,” said Stacy Krisch, an office professional in the principal’s office at Greenman Elementary School, where they focused on the brownies. “We packaged more than 250 bags of food.”
The food pantry had the 900 turkeys, but Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry Director Katie Arko said budget cuts limited the number of side dishes the pantry could afford.
Different organizations mobilized to collect those Thanksgiving “fixings” so the pantry could distribute 900 full dinners.
Aurora’s faith community, led by seven different churches, collected about 150 boxes of the side dishes, and the West Aurora educators have now pitched in 250 more.
Heather Short, the pantry’s development and communications director, called word of the West Aurora donation “wonderful news” and an “incredible donation.”
While these recent donations are specifically for the Thanksgiving dinners, it illustrates the nature of the Holiday Food Drive, which is in its 18th year. It is designed to help replenish the shelves at the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry for the coming year, and is often a number of individual drives by organizations under the umbrella of the bigger drive.
The drive runs through Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving. The pantry serves more than 1,500 families a week, and Arko said that rises during the holiday season.
Part of the food drive is also getting volunteers, some to work two-hour shifts at one of the participating grocery stores handing out flyers to promote the sale of bags of food at the stores, and also to collect food.
West Aurora School District teachers and office staff members look at bags of Thanksgiving dinner side dishes they assembled to donate to the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry as part of the annual Aurora Holiday Food Drive. (West Aurora School District)
One area where the pantry needs volunteers is for its delivery service, which has increased. The pantry will assemble bags and deliver them, but to do so means more volunteers to make the deliveries.
The basic drive still works essentially like it always has. People can buy $5, $10 or $15 bags of groceries for the drive at participating grocery stores whenever they shop.
The stores involved are: Prisco’s Family Market, 1108 Prairie St., Aurora; Cermak Fresh Market, 1250 N. Lake St., Aurora; and Food Market La Chiquita, 1525 Douglas Road, Montgomery.
People can also donate to the drive online, through the food pantry website, www.aurorafoodpantry.org/holidayfooddrive/
The food drive is sponsored by a number of Aurora businesses and individuals, including: Dolan & Murphy; Sue Scheuerman; CyrusOne; Konen Insurance; Aetna; Gerald Subaru of Naperville; Aurora Bank & Trust; Douglas Carpet One; Jakes, Inc.; Ald. Jonathan Nunez, 4th Ward; Sam’s Club; Factor; Old National Bank; Bob’s Discount Furniture Charitable Foundation, Inc.; Aurora Generation; Aurora Fastprint; Mercy Medical Center; and Mendel Plumbing & Heating.
Steve Lord is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
Etiopía confirma 3 muertes por el virus de Marburgo en nuevo brote
Associated Press
ADÍS ABEBA, Etiopía (AP) — Etiopía confirmó el lunes tres muertes por el virus hemorrágico de Marburgo que ha sido detectado en una zona vecina a Sudán del Sur.
La ministra de Salud, Mekdes Daba, dijo que el gobierno de Etiopía, que declaró un brote de Marburgo el viernes, había realizado pruebas en 17 casos sospechosos en el sur del país. El brote se reportó en la región de Omo.
La ministra indicó que no había casos activos, pero el gobierno estaba tomando medidas preventivas. Un equipo de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) y de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés) de África ha sido enviado para apoyar con las pruebas y el control del brote.
El Ministerio de Salud de Sudán del Sur emitió el domingo un aviso de salud pública a los residentes de cuatro condados para que se laven las manos con frecuencia y eviten el contacto con fluidos corporales a fin de prevenir la propagación del virus. El director general de CDC África, Jean Kaseya, calificó la semana pasada el brote como una preocupación porque Sudán del Sur tiene un “sistema de salud frágil”.
El virus de Marburgo se origina en murciélagos frugívoros y se propaga entre personas a través del contacto cercano con los fluidos corporales de individuos infectados o con superficies contaminadas, como sábanas sucias. Sin tratamiento, el Marburgo puede ser fatal en hasta el 88% de las personas que se enferman.
Los síntomas incluyen fiebre, dolores musculares, diarrea, vómitos y, en algunos casos, la muerte por pérdida severa de sangre. No hay una vacuna o tratamiento autorizado para el Marburgo.
Según la OMS, en el pasado se han registrado brotes y casos individuales de Marburgo en Ruanda, Tanzania, Guinea Ecuatorial, Angola, Congo, Kenia, Sudáfrica, Uganda y Ghana.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
