Category: News
Tribunal de Filipinas condena a exalcaldesa por tráfico de personas
Por JIM GOMEZ
MANILA, Filipinas (AP) — Un tribunal de Filipinas condenó a una exalcaldesa, que según las autoridades es una ciudadana china, por tráfico de personas por ayudar a establecer un complejo ilegal de juegos de azar online en una provincia del norte del país, donde cientos de chinos y otros ciudadanos extranjeros eran obligados a realizar estafas.
El tribunal regional de la ciudad de Pasig, en el área metropolitana de Manila, sentenció a Alice Guo a cadena perpetua junto a otros siete acusados filipinos y chinos, y los condenó a pagar una multa de dos millones de pesos (34.000 dólares) cada uno y a compensar a varias víctimas de trata que presentaron denuncias.
Guo negó todas las acusaciones en su contra y afirma que es ciudadana filipina.
En los últimos años, en el sudeste asiático han proliferado vastos centros de estafas online, especialmente en las zonas fronterizas de Camboya, Laos y Myanmar. Naciones Unidas estima que cientos de miles de personas han quedado atrapadas en una esclavitud virtual por bandas que las obligan a explotar financieramente a gente en todo el mundo a través de romances falsos, inversiones fraudulentas y esquemas de juego ilegales.
En Filipinas, las organizaciones detrás de las estafas construyeron rápidamente vastos complejos con edificios o alquilaron oficinas de lujo en los distritos financieros de Manila y movieron grandes cantidades de trabajadores sobornando a las autoridades.
Las autoridades de Filipinas sostienen que Guo es una ciudadana china llamada Guo Huaping, que falsificó la ciudadanía para postularse como alcaldesa de Bamban, un pueblo de la región norteña de Tarlac, donde dirigía un extenso complejo ilegal de estafas cerca del ayuntamiento.
“Usaron parcelas de tierra y edificios para albergar a los trabajadores víctimas de la trata y obligarlos a trabajar como estafadores”, dijo el tribunal en su decisión.
El año pasado, el presidente de Filipinas, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., ordenó la prohibición de cientos de empresas de juegos online, en su mayoría dirigidas por chinos, que proliferaron bajo el gobierno de su antecesor, Rodrigo Duterte. Marcos acusó a esas compañías de delitos que incluyen estafa financiera, trata de personas, tortura, secuestro y asesinato.
Desde entonces, muchas han sido allanadas y cerradas, y se rescató y deportó a miles de trabajadores traficados. Pero todavía hay centros de estafas operando, según las autoridades.
“La condena de Alice Guo, también conocida como Guo Hua Ping, es una victoria contra la corrupción, la trata de personas, el cibercrimen y muchos otros delitos transnacionales”, afirmó la senadora Risa Hontiveros. “Pero aún queda mucho por hacer”.
Hontiveros dirigió el año pasado una investigación televisada en el Senado que expuso operaciones clandestinas de estafa online en el país, además de la supuesta participación delictiva de Guo.
Funcionarios de seguridad filipinos y Hontiveros señalaron que los centros de estafas operados por Guo y otros ciudadanos chinos también podrían haber sido empleados para labores de espionaje por parte de Beijing, que ha mantenido conflictos territoriales cada vez más intensos con Filipinas en el mar de China Meridional y se ha opuesto firmemente a la presencia de fuerzas estadounidenses en el país. Filipinas es el aliado más antiguo de Washington en Asia.
“Continuaremos exigiendo responsabilidad a cada agencia gubernamental que falló en sus obligaciones, y continuaremos investigando el alcance total de las operaciones de inteligencia chinas en nuestro país”, declaró Hontiveros. “Y a todos los demás que permitieron el imperio criminal de Alice Guo: Filipinas no es un campo de juego para la explotación, infiltración y espionaje”.
Guo no ha sido acusada de espionaje y niega cualquier conexión con el espionaje.
Bamban está a varios kilómetros (millas) de una base de la fuerza aérea filipina, donde se ha permitido la presencia rotativa de tropas estadounidenses con aviones y armas en virud de un pacto de defensa firmado en 2014.
Guo fue destituida el año pasado por el defensor del pueblo estatal, quien citó una mala conducta grave. Huyó de Filipinas en julio de 2024, pero fue localizada en Indonesia, donde fue arrestada y deportada. Está detenida desde el año pasado.
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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.
Russian Spy Ship Breached UK Waters, Aimed Lasers At Military Pilots, Britain Says
Russian Spy Ship Breached UK Waters, Aimed Lasers At Military Pilots, Britain Says
The British government issued a warning to Moscow on Wednesday, putting the Kremlin on notice over a Russian naval vessel allegedly having entered British territorial waters and aiming lasers at UK pilots.
Defense Secretary John Healey accused the Yantar, a special purpose intelligence collection ship, of its second intrusion into UK waters this year, following a similar incident last January. “At the moment, the Yantar is positioned just off U.K. waters north of Scotland, after moving through the wider surrounding area over recent weeks,” Healey told a press briefing held at at Downing Street.
The UK military scrambled aerial assets in response, including Royal Air Force jets as well as a naval frigate, in order to “track and monitor the vessel,” during which time “the Yantar directed lasers at our pilots.“
He condemned the use of the lasers against UK aircraft as “extremely dangerous” and then said he was addressing a warning Russian President Vladimir Putin directly: “We see what you’re doing. We are fully aware. And if the Yantar continues south this week, we are prepared,” he said.
Further according to the BBC:
Healey said the laser incident took place whilst the Yantar was being followed by a Royal Navy frigate and RAF Poseidon P-8 planes deployed to “track the vessel’s every move”. It is understood the episode occurred within the last two weeks.
Speaking at a news conference in Downing Street, the defense secretary added he had changed the Royal Navy’s rules of engagement so that it could follow the Yantar more closely “when it is in our wider waters”.
Western allies believe Russian naval ‘research vessels’ like the Yantar are assisting with Moscow-backed ‘sabotage campaigns’ in northern European waters. For example the last couple years have seen allegations of Russian vessels cutting telecoms cables under the North Sea and elsewhere.
Healey’s warning of being ‘prepared’ to act could be the closest London has recently come to threatening direct military action against a Russian naval asset.
Such action could start with an attempt to intercept or chase the vessel away from British waters, or even fire warning shots or more if things should escalate.
A response to the accusations was issued by the Russian Embassy in London. It said Russia isn’t interested in sabotaging anything in regional waters. “London, with its Russophobic path and increasing militaristic hysteria leads to further degradation European security, providing the premise for new dangerous situations,” it said.
Would appear an RAF voyager and Typhoons have been active in the potential area of the Yantar. https://t.co/ik2ZCu7IkU pic.twitter.com/UvAiB7E0bn
— Civic Intelligence (@CivIntelUK) November 19, 2025
“We call on the British side to hold off taking any destructive steps which might aggravate the crisis situation on the European continent,” the embassy added. Russian officials and institutions have been under intense scrutiny in the UK ever since the Ukraine war began, and relations are steadily worsening.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 11/20/2025 – 04:15
Erupción volcánica obliga a rescatar a más de 170 escaladores en el monte Semeru, Indonesia
Por NINIEK KARMINI
YAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Las autoridades de Indonesia dijeron el jueves que ayudaron a regresar a más de 170 escaladores que quedaron atrapados en la víspera por la repentina erupción del monte Semeru, mientras que la actividad sísmica del volcán más alto de la isla de Java indicaba que la erupción continuará.
Unas 178 personas —incluyendo escaladores, porteadores, guías, funcionarios de turismo y turistas— comenzaron su ascenso al monte de 3.676 metros (12.060 pies) en el distrito de Lumajang, en la provincia de Java Oriental, el miércoles y quedaron varados en la zona de acampada de Ranu Kumbolo.
“Están a salvo y se les está ayudando a regresar”, dijo Priatin Hadi Wijaya, jefe del Centro de Vulcanología y Mitigación de Desastres Geológicos, en una videoconferencia de prensa.
Hetty Triastuty, otra funcionaria del centro, añadió que Ranu Kumbolo es un punto seguro que está fuera de la zona principal de peligro de ocho kilómetros (cinco millas) desde el cráter. La zona de acampada se ubica en la ladera norte del monte, que no está en la trayectoria de la nube caliente que se observó que se desplazaba hacia el sur-sureste. Los escaladores, sin embargo, podrían haber estado expuestos a la ceniza volcánica.
El monte Semeru, en la provincia de Java Oriental, causó nubes abrasadoras de ceniza caliente y una mezcla de rocas, lava y gas que recorrieron hasta 13 kms (ocho millas) por sus laderas sin descanso desde el mediodía hasta el anochecer del miércoles, mientras una gruesa columna de nubes calientes se elevó dos kms (1,2 millas) al cielo, lo que hizo que los científicos elevasen la alerta por el volcán al nivel más alto, indicó Muhammad Wafid, jefe de la Agencia de Geología de Indonesia.
Según Wafid, una serie de corrientes de densidad piroclástica descendieron por las laderas y se observaron avalanchas incandescentes de material volcánico por el valle del río Besuk Kobokan, en el flanco sur.
“La actividad sísmica del monte Semeru indicó que la erupción continuaba a un nivel alto con un número creciente de señales que indican avalanchas”, manifestó.
Además, advirtió a la población que se mantenga alejada de una zona a lo largo del río Besuk Kobokan, que es la trayectoria del flujo de lava, ya que el gas abrasador descendía por las laderas del Semeru, y agregó que las autoridades están considerando ampliar la zona de peligro más allá de los ocho kms actuales.
Casi 1.000 residentes en tres aldeas más en riesgo en el distrito de Lumajang fueron evacuados a refugios gubernamentales, indicó Abdul Muhari, portavoz de la Agencia Nacional de Mitigación de Desastres. No se han reportado víctimas.
Videos publicados en redes sociales mostraron una densa nube de ceniza que se extendía por plantaciones y un valle boscoso hacia un río cruzado por un puente.
Las erupciones registradas a lo largo del día cubrieron varias aldeas de una espesa ceniza volcánica y bloquearon la luz solar. La prensa local reportó que algunos residentes estuvieron expuestos a un olor a azufre y que dos motociclistas chocaron debido a la ceniza caliente en un puente, que les provocó quemaduras graves.
El monte Semeru, también conocido como Mahameru, ha entrado en erupción en numerosas ocasiones en los últimos 200 años. Pero, como ocurre con muchos otros de los 129 volcanes activos en el archipiélago, decenas de miles de personas siguen viviendo en sus fértiles laderas.
La última gran erupción de Semeru fue en diciembre de 2021, y dejó 51 fallecidos y varios cientos de quemadas en aldeas que quedaron sepultadas bajo capas de lodo. Más de 10.000 personas tuvieron que evacuar la zona entonces y el gobierno trasladó unas 2.970 viviendas fuera de la zona de peligro.
Indonesia, un archipiélago con más de 280 millones de habitantes está en el llamado “Anillo de Fuego” del Pacífico, una serie de fallas en forma de herradura, propenso a registrar sismos y actividad volcánica.
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Los periodistas de The Associated Press Edna Tarigan y Dita Alangkara en Yakarta contribuyeron a este despacho.
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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.
Tea And Cocoa May Offset Health Risks Of Excessive Sitting
Tea And Cocoa May Offset Health Risks Of Excessive Sitting
Authored by George Citroner via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
We’re often advised to move more—whether through exercise or simply standing up—to counteract the adverse effects of prolonged sitting. But what if you could get the benefits of standing up simply by eating and drinking certain foods?
New research from the University of Birmingham, recently published in The Journal of Physiology, suggests that eating foods high in flavanols—such as tea, berries, apples, and cocoa—may help protect blood vessels from the damage caused by prolonged periods of sitting.
Sitting Increases Cardiovascular Risk
If you’re a young adult, chances are you’re sitting for about six hours a day—whether at a desk, in a car, or on the couch. All that sitting takes a toll on your blood vessels, raising your risk of heart disease, according to researchers.
Previous research has shown that even a 1 percent dip in how well your arteries expand and contract bumps up your risk of heart disease, stroke, and heart attacks by 13 percent.
The researchers set out to discover whether eating flavanol-rich foods could help offset such damage. Flavanols are naturally occurring compounds found in fruits, tea, nuts, and cocoa beans.
Lead author Catarina Rendeiro, assistant professor in nutritional sciences at the University of Birmingham, and her team recruited 40 healthy young men—half of them physically fit, and half not. Before having the participants sit for two hours, the researchers gave them drinks: some were given a high-flavanol cocoa beverage containing 695 milligrams of flavanols, while others received a low-flavanol version with just 5.6 milligrams.
The team then tracked what happened to the participants’ blood vessels during the two hours of sitting, measuring everything from artery flexibility to blood pressure, blood flow, and how well oxygen reached their leg muscles.
High Flavanol Drink Prevented Damage
After sitting for two hours, men who drank the low-flavanol cocoa experienced stiffening of their arteries, increased blood pressure, and decreased blood flow and muscle oxygenation, regardless of their level of physical fitness.
Conversely, those who drank the high-flavanol drink did not exhibit the same declines, suggesting that flavanols can prevent blood vessel damage associated with prolonged sitting.
“Our experiment indicates that higher fitness levels do not prevent the temporary impairment of vascular function induced by sitting when only drinking low-flavanol cocoa,” study co-author Sam Lucas, a professor of cerebrovascular and exercise physiology at the University of Birmingham, said in a statement. He noted that after drinking the high-flavanol drink, “both fitter and less-fit participants kept their FMD [flow-mediated dilatation] the same as it was before sitting for two hours.”
The study is the first to find that fitness levels do not influence how flavanols affect blood vessels, meaning everyone may benefit from flavanol intake regardless of physical fitness.
Rendeiro told The Epoch Times that the main mechanism by which flavanols work in the blood vessels is by boosting the availability of nitric oxide—a molecule that helps blood vessels relax and expand.
More specifically, she said, evidence from human and cellular models suggests that the flavanol epicatechin and its breakdown products can increase the bioavailability of nitric oxide.
The study did not include women, Rendeiro said, because hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle may influence flavanol effects.
“At the moment, we are not able to know whether these benefits would be apparent in women as well,” she said. ”This needs to be the focus of a future study.”
Estrogen, which rises during ovulation and falls when menstruation begins, has a vasodilatory effect on the vessels, which is generally associated with better blood vessel health, “so it is possible [the] benefits of flavanols may be more apparent during certain stages of the menstrual cycle versus others.”
Many Sources of Flavonols Available
“It is actually quite easy to add high flavanol foods to your diet,” doctoral student Alessio Daniele noted in the statement. He pointed out that there are cocoa products available in supermarkets and health stores that are processed through methods that preserve flavanol levels.
“If cocoa isn’t your thing,” (ZH: wtf) he said, “fruits like apples, plums and berries, nuts, and black and green tea are all common kitchen staples and are readily available.”
Rendeiro said that her research shows consuming high-flavanol foods and drinks during periods spent sitting down is a good way to reduce some of the impact of inactivity on the vascular system, but that breaking up sitting with standing or short walks should be our “main strategy.”
“However, in situations in which that is not possible, using healthy dietary strategies rich in flavanols may help mitigate some of the negative effects of sitting on vascular function.”
* * * Oh you thought this was an ad? Nope. Enjoy your chocolate and tea sirs and ma’ams.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 11/20/2025 – 03:30
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/tea-and-cocoa-may-offset-health-risks-excessive-sitting
Choque de trenes en República Checa deja decenas de heridos
Associated Press
PRAGA (AP) — Un tren expreso colisionó el jueves contra otro tren de pasajeros en el sur de República Checa y causó docenas de heridos, según las autoridades.
El accidente ocurrió cerca de la ciudad de Ceske Budejovice alrededor de las 6:20 de la mañana.
Dos personas sufrieron lesiones graves y unas 40 más padecían heridas leves, explicó el servicio regional de rescatistas.
El tráfico entre Ceske Budejovice y la ciudad de Plzen quedó suspendido y no se espera que se reanude hasta por la tarde.
Las autoridades estaban investigando la causa del siniestro.
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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.
Qué saber sobre Larry Summers, que tomó una excedencia en Harvard por los emails de Epstein
Por STEVEN SLOAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Larry Summers llegó a tener tanto poder que se le denominó miembro del Comité para Salvar el Mundo. Ahora, está cada vez más aislado.
Summers, de 70 años, solicitó el miércoles una excedencia de su puesto de docente en la Universidad de Harvard tras la publicación, la semana pasada, de correos electrónicos que mostraban que tenía una relación amistosa con Jeffrey Epstein mucho después de que el financiero se declarara culpable de solicitar los servicios sexuales de una menor en 2008.
El ex secretario del Tesoro de Estados Unidos, que fue candidato a dirigir la Reserva Federal, ya había comenzado a retirarse de la vida pública tras la divulgación de los emails. Pero la decisión de dejar de dar clase en la universidad de la que fue presidente es especialmente llamativa para alguien que fue una figura destacada —y a veces polémica— en Washington y en el ámbito académico.
A continuación, lo que debe saber acerca de Summers.
Correos electrónicos recientes revelaron vínculos con Epstein
Los emails publicados la semana pasada mostraron que muchos en la vasta red de amigos de Epstein, de la que formaba parte Summers, mantuvieron el contacto mucho después de su declaración de culpabilidad en 2008. En un email enviado al financiero en 2019, Summers comentó las interacciones que había tenido con una mujer, escribiendo que “le dije qué estás haciendo. Ella dijo ‘Estoy ocupada’. Le dije que eres muy esquiva”.
Epstein, quien a menudo escribía con errores ortográficos y gramaticales, le respondió: “reaccionaste bien… la molestia muestra interés. , no quejarse demostró fortaleza”.
Cuando se le preguntó por esos mensajes la semana pasada, Summers emitió un comunicado en el que señaló que tenía “grandes remordimientos en mi vida” y que su relación con Epstein fue un “gran error de juicio”.
Epstein se suicidó en una cárcel de Manhattan en 2019 mientras esperaba un juicio por cargos de abuso sexual y tráfico de menores.
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, quien también ha enfrentado preguntas sobre su relación con Epstein, pidió al Departamento de Justicia y al FBI que investigaran los vínculos de Epstein con Summers y otros destacados demócratas, como el expresidente Bill Clinton y el donante Reid Hoffman. La secretaria de Justicia, Pam Bondi, dijo que ordenó a un fiscal federal de alto rango que dirija esa pesquisa apenas unos meses después de que su departamento afirmara que no había motivos suficientes para seguir investigando a los socios de Epstein.
Tras la publicación de los correos de la semana pasada, la oficina de Summers dijo que renunciaría a su puesto en la junta directiva de OpenAI, creador de ChatGPT. Representantes del Center for American Progress, un grupo de expertos progresista, y del Budget Lab en Yale también confirmaron que Summers ya no estaba vinculado a sus organizaciones.
Destaco asesor económico de la era Clinton
En los círculos económicos, Summers ya era muy conocido cuando Clinton llegó a la Casa Blanca en 1993. Fue uno de los académicos más jóvenes en obtener la titularidad en Harvard, a los 28 años, y luego ocupó un puesto importante en el Banco Mundial.
Pero su perfil a nivel nacional aumentó durante la presidencia de Clinton, cuando tuvo cargos de responsabilidad en el Departamento del Tesoro. Como subsecretario del Tesoro, fue una figura clave en los esfuerzos para contener una crisis financiera que se extendió por Asia. Eso hizo que apareciese en la portada de la revista Time junto al entonces secretario del Tesoro, Robert Rubin, y el presidente de la Reserva Federal, Alan Greenspan. El trío fue apodado Comité para Salvar al Mundo, lo que refleja el aura que rodeaba a muchos líderes económicos estadounidenses de la época.
Summers fue el último secretario del Tesoro de Clinton durante un período en el que un fervor desregulador se apoderó de ambos partidos en Washington. Fue uno de los demócratas que respaldó la legislación que elminó o erosionó muchas regulaciones financieras que habían regido Wall Street desde la Gran Depresión, un protagonismo que más tarde lo pondría en una situación difícil.
Retiró la candidatura para presidir la Fed
Con los demócratas fuera de la Casa Blanca, Summers regresó a Harvard en 2001 como presidente de la universidad. Su mandato se caracterizó por la agitación, especialmente tras un discurso en 2005 en una conferencia sobre la mejorara de la diversidad en ciencia e ingeniería. Sugirió que las mujeres estaban menos representadas en esos campos debido a una “aptitud intrínseca”.
Sus comentarios fueron calificados de sexistas. Summers renunció a la presidencia de la institución al final del año académico 2006, en medio de disputas con el profesorado y las repercusiones de sus palabras sobre las mujeres.
Cuando Summers regresó a Washington en 2009, Estados Unidos estaba sumido en su peor crisis económica desde la Gran Depresión. El presidente Barack Obama lo eligió para dirigir el Consejo Económico Nacional. Pero fue visto con escepticismo por muchos demócratas, especialmente por los del ala progresista del partido, que iba en ascenso, que lo culparon de ayudar a crear la inestabilidad financiera. Alegaron que fue uno de los que respaldó la desregulación que eliminó muchas de las salvaguardas del sistema bancario.
Incluso Clinton dijo a ABC News en 2010 que, aunque asumía la responsabilidad por haber firmado la ley, pensaba que Summers y Rubin se equivocaron al instarlo a optar por no regular los derivados. Se culpó a esos complejos instrumentos financieros de contribuir a la crisis.
Summers mantuvo una estrecha relación con Obama, quien lo consideró seriamente para suceder a Ben Bernanke como presidente de la Fed. Pero sus comentarios sobre las mujeres y las críticas a su papel en la desregulación financiera parecían demasiado para el Senado, donde estaba claro que no sería confirmado.
Summers se retiró de la carrera y Obama nominó a Janet Yellen, que fue la primera mujer en tomar las riendas del banco central.
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Los periodistas de The Associated Press Kimberlee Kruesi y Rodrique Ngowi contribuyeron a este despacho.
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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.
Chicago Bulls beat the Portland Trail Blazers on another buzzer-beater — but ‘that’s not sustainable basketball’
The Chicago Bulls might be addicted to adrenaline.
It’s the only explanation. There was no other reason to pile up a 21-point lead over the Portland Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game, only to crumble up that advantage as the Blazers levelled the score with a 28-7 run in less than eight minutes.
And yes, it ended — like always — with a bang.
The Bulls went down four points with 16 seconds remaining. They reaped the rewards of good luck when Deni Avdija and Jerami Grant missed a clutch free throw apiece on two of Portland’s final possessions. And when Coby White plunged toward the rim on the final play before flipping the ball out to Nikola Vučević on the perimeter, the center shot the ball with the calm assurance of a game already fated to be a win.
But on any other night, the Bulls know that all of this might not have been enough.
The Bulls can’t keep this up. They know that. Vučević hit two game-winning 3-pointers (or, arguably, three counting his go-ahead shot against Denver) in the first 14 games of the season. Ten of this team’s games have ended in the clutch. They’ve won six of them.
And while this team is relieved to sit two games above .500 once again, the celebration was tinged with a queasiness that comes from one too many close calls.
“I’m happy (Vučević) made the shot — it was great — but that’s not sustainable basketball,” coach Billy Donovan said. “I’m not taking anything away from Coby or (Vučević’s) play. But in the grand scheme of things, you’re looking at the game totally differently if (Vučević) misses that shot.”
Two or three weeks ago, the Bulls would have celebrated that win with abandon. Back then, they were still undefeated. They hadn’t learned any lessons the hard way. They weren’t yet haunted by memories of Victor Wembanyama rising up to nail two clutch 3-pointers to sneak out of Chicago with a win. Or Donovan Mitchell splitting the defense in half to snatch away a double-digit lead. They thought — maybe, just maybe — they might be invincible.
On Wednesday, the loss came at a price. Don’t get confused — this team was happy. They blasted music and cracked jokes in the cramped visitors’ locker room of the Moda Center, teased Vučević for arguing with a fan during a timeout and nitpicked each other for bad plays down the stretch.
For the Bulls, this game should have served as a crucial step toward forging a winning identity. The ultimate test of a good team is the ability to outperform a beatable opponent. Portland was dramatically vulnerable — undermanned and poorly rested after playing a 9 p.m. tipoff the night before. This was not a game that called for feats of heroism.
Instead, the Bulls left Portland with another sharp reminder of their narrow margin for error.
“We can’t rely on trying to get game-winners every game,” Vučević said. “We have to be better in that situation when we have that lead. The best teams, that’s what they do. They have the lead and they control the game and finish the game off. We have to find a way to do that.”
Here are three takeaways from the win:
1. The Blazers were on the boards.
Portland is known for being prolific as an offensive rebounding team. And despite being one of the best defensive rebounding teams in the NBA, the Bulls couldn’t keep the Blazers off the offensive boards — especially in the fourth quarter.
The Blazers tallied 38 second-chance points off 26 offensive rebounds. Thirteen of those second-chance points were scored in the fourth quarter as the Blazers turned up their pressure and threw bodies at the backboard. In comparison, the Bulls managed only seven offensive boards of their own.
“We’ve got to hold our ground more with the way they were just going through us,” Donovan said.
2. Searching for the long shot.
For the second straight game, the Bulls were willing to live and die at the line. Chicago took only 22 shots in the restricted area and 40 total shots in the paint. Strong shooting in both zones helped to accommodate this low volume of shooting, but the Blazers still won the short game battle, scoring 56 of their 121 points in the restricted area.
Instead, the Bulls pummeled Portland with an onslaught of shots off the perimeter. The Bulls went 21-for-49 from behind the arc. Vučević and White both went 5-for-9 from deep to combine for nearly half of the team’s total 3-point production.
This doesn’t mean the Bulls weren’t driving downhill. They produced the bulk of their 3-point shots by sucking the defense in at the rim, then kicking out for unchallenged shots behind the arc. The Bulls finished with 36 assists on 46 shots, a reflection of the cohesive movement that produced their shooting opportunities.
3. Matas Buzelis fights off foul trouble.
Portland Trail Blazers guard Sidy Cissoko, left, is tripped by Chicago Bulls forward Matas Buzelis during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)
The whistle has not been a friend to Matas Buzelis this season.
The second-year forward had already fouled out twice before Wednesday’s game. This pattern is a reflection of his increased minutes as a starter and his attempts to provide a defensive end to a Bulls team that often lacks fortitude when their opponent goes on the attack. But it also means that Buzelis commonly finds himself under a minutes restriction due to an early tally of fouls.
This weakness continued to bother Buzelis in Portland. The forward racked up an early foul that caused coach Billy Donovan to pull him after only two minutes and 15 seconds on the court. He played only five minutes and 22 seconds in the second quarter — and still managed to get two more fouls in that span.
But Buzelis made the necessary adjustments, playing straight-up defense without fouling in the second half to earn a spot in the closing unit. He finished with 11 points, five rebounds and four assists while logging two blocked shots against his three fouls.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/20/chicago-bulls-portland-trail-blazers-buzzer-beater/
London Luxury Home Prices Plunge As Wealthiest Flee Ahead Of Tax-Hikes
London Luxury Home Prices Plunge As Wealthiest Flee Ahead Of Tax-Hikes
Asking prices for UK homes declined more steeply than expected in November, down 1.8% on a monthly basis – the biggest fall in prices for this time of year since 2012.
Interestingly, alongside UK government budget anxiety, Rightmove pointed to “the decade-high number of homes available for sale” and resulting downward price pressure, mostly affecting the higher end of the property ladder.
“Months of pre-Budget speculation has taken its toll on house prices as it has with other parts of the economy,” said Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank.
Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert, commented:
“It appears that the usual lull we’d see around Christmas time has arrived early this year, and sellers who are keen to move are having to work especially hard to entice buyers with competitive pricing…This is a buyers’ market.”
But the weakness was far from nationwide, with London dominating the drop (especially at the high-end).
Excluding London, all regions in England registered an annual increase in house prices in the year to September. In Scotland they rose by 5.3 per cent, while prices in Wales grew by 2.7 per cent, according to the ONS.
Rumored property tax changes include introducing a new tax on the sale of homes worth more than £500,000, abolishing stamp duty, and introducing a mansion tax on homes valued above £2 million, have dramatically impacted the ultra-high-end luxury home markets with Bloomberg reporting that house prices in the largely-affluent borough of Kensington & Chelsea (K&C) plunging 11.3% YoY, alongside a 14.4% plunge in Westminster.
House prices in the two boroughs combined are above £1 million on average.
Chancellor Reeves is under pressure to fill a whole in the public finances without increasing taxes on what Labour calls “working people.”
A series of policy reversals and rising borrowing costs have already left her billions short of her fiscal targets.
New property taxes would disproportionately affect London properties. A recent report by estate agent Knight Frank found that the capital is home to nearly 60% of all the properties worth more than £2 million.
And forget about any move-up buyers filling that gap…
“In the capital it now takes a couple on an average income around 13 years to save for a deposit, not by accident, but because successive governments have failed to build enough homes,” said Sam Richards, CEO of Britain Remade, a group that campaigns for more development.
The imbalance between supply and demand is giving buyers the twin luxuries of time and choice, and emboldening them to ask for – and get – price reductions.
Simon Gerrard, chair of Martyn Gerrard Estate Agents, blamed the government for the drop in London house prices and warned that a Budget tax on high-value properties would “overwhelmingly hit families” living there.
“It’s nigh on impossible to start a family in the capital and this will ensure that remains the case for many years to come,” he added.
Housing market experts including the TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp saying “people are in a panic” about potential stamp duty changes, and “sitting tight” before the budget.
But, it’s hard to argue that these kind of dramatic price declines in the ultra-high-end luxury market are not a very big canary in the coalmine for capital fleeing the repression of the Labour government.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 11/20/2025 – 02:45
Pakistán intensifica redadas cerca de la frontera con Afganistán y mata a 23 insurgentes
Associated Press
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Las fuerzas de seguridad de Pakistán allanaron dos escondites del Talibán paquistaní en el noroeste del país, cerca de la frontera con Afganistán, lo que provocó intensos tiroteos que dejaron 23 insurgentes muertos, dijo el ejército el jueves.
No se ofrecieron detalles sobre posibles bajas entre los militares. Las redadas tuvieron lugar el miércoles en Kurram, un distrito de la provincia de Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, explicó el ejército en un comunicado. El operativo siguió a las redadas de principios de semana en el noroeste en las que, según el ejército, se abatió a 38 insurgentes.
El ejército identificó a los fallecidos como “khawarij”, un término que las autoridades utilizan para referirse a insurgentes que, según afirman, reciben respaldo de Afganistán e India, incluidos los vinculados al ilegalizado Talibán paquistaní. Kabul y Nueva Delhi niegan las acusaciones.
El Talibán paquistaní, conocido como Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan o TTP, es un grupo independiente pero aliado del afgano. La milicia se ha envalentonado desde que los talibanes tomaron el poder en Afganistán en 2021.
Se cree que muchos líderes y combatientes del TTP operan desde santuarios al otro lado de la frontera afgana, lo que tensa las relaciones entre Islamabad y Kabul. Pakistán lleva mucho tiempo pidiendo a su vecino que controle al TTP.
El alto el fuego entre Pakistán y Afganistán, mediado por Qatar, se mantiene en gran medida desde el 19 de octubre, después de que ambos bandos intercambiaran disparos en puestos fronterizos. Los choques estallaron después de que Kabul acusó a Islamabad de perpetrar ataques con drones el 9 de octubre en la capital afgana que causaron varios fallecidos.
Los cruces fronterizos entre las dos naciones están cerrados desde el mes pasado.
___
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
No. 11 Alabama outlasts No. 8 Illinois 90-86 at the United Center: ‘I hope to see them in the Final Four’
Whenever No. 8 Illinois chipped away at No. 11 Alabama’s lead late Wednesday night, the crowd of 17,775 fans at the United Center would roar.
Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr. answered every time, telling the Illini fans in Chicago to pipe down with a drive or a tip-in or a 3-pointer.
Philon, a sophomore guard, scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half, including nine straight in about 98 seconds, to help lift the Crimson Tide to a 90-86 victory.
The Fighting Illini weathered a horrific scoring drought to start the second half to pull within two points with eight seconds to play on Ben Humrichous’ 3-pointer. But the Tide won the foul- and free-throw shooting contest that followed.
Philon made 1 of 2 free throws. Illinois’ Kylan Boswell made 1 of 2. Alabama’s Houston Mallette made both, and the Tide walked away with their second win over a ranked team in three straight games. Alabama was coming off a seven-point loss to No. 1 Purdue entering the game, but had beaten No. 14 St. John’s by seven.
“He’s a pro,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said of Philon. “Give him all the credit in the world, he’s a really good player, and he made the plays. Sometimes good players have the ability to take over a game like that, and he did that.”
Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr. (0) passes the ball in the second half against Illinois at the United Center on Nov. 19, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
Illinois guard Andrej Stojaković led all scorers with 26 points but also had five of Illinois’ 11 turnovers and was 2-for-5 on free-throw attempts. Illinois shot 13-for-22 from the free-throw line.
Keitenn Bristow had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench to help boost Alabama. It didn’t help Illinois that Boswell was playing late with his fourth foul.
“My main focus was to try my best not to foul them, especially because they knew I was in foul trouble and he was being extremely more aggressive at that point too,” Boswell said. “It was definitely frustrating not being able to be as physical as I would like to be in those situations to possibly help my team get a stop.”
Wednesday night was a rare opportunity for the Illini to build up the buzz among their Chicago fan base about an Illini team that looked promising over a 4-0 start, including a win against No. 15 Texas Tech.
It was Illinois’ first regular-season game at the United Center since 2018 and its first non-conference game since 2017. The Illini have played three games at the venue since then in the Big Ten tournament.
Underwood talked before and after the game about how upset he was the last time the Illini played a regular-season game at the United Center in his second season helming the program. Illinois lost by 10 to Ohio State in front of a crowd of 5,285. Wednesday, then, showed how far his program has come.
“To this day, it’s the most pissed off I’ve ever been as the Illinois basketball coach,” Underwood said. “That was me. I scheduled a Big Ten game in this building in front of no one and we got beat. To me, that’s one thing that upset me more than anything. To look up there and see 18,000 in orange (tonight), I mean, my gosh.”
But the Illini still have a ways to go to reach their full potential this season.
Photos: No. 11 Alabama defeats No. 8 Illinois 90-86 at the United Center
Wednesday was the first time the Illini were playing with a near-complete squad, with 7-foot-1 center Tomislav Ivišić (knee) and point guard Mihailo Petrović (hamstring) returning from injury. There clearly is still more chemistry to build among the group.
Underwood said he wants to get the minutes of Boswell and Keaton Wagler down and Ivišić’s playing time up as he regains his conditioning.
“We’ve got to get Tomi into that active, 25-30 minutes a game mindset,” Underwood said. “We need his intellect. We need his shooting, his passing, we need that. I don’t know when that is. We can’t push the button and say you’re in great shape. He’s got to play through some of that.”
Illinois led 42-41 at halftime but was cold to start the second half, shooting 2-for-13, including 0-for-5 from 3-point range, in the first five minutes. Boswell had all eight of Illinois’ second-half points until Ivišić’s 3-pointer with 10:52 to play.
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At one point, Illinois freshman forward David Mirković bit his jersey in frustration when an easy layup off a feed from Ivišić didn’t fall in.
The drought helped Alabama lead by as many as nine points in the second half. But Stojaković and Boswell got aggressive with driving, and the Illini climbed back in the game. Boswell had 20 of his 22 points in the second half, and Underwood said the Illini need to make sure they get him going earlier.
“I thought we had pretty good shots. It’s make ’em,” Underwood said. “The good thing is we got fouled. The bad thing is we got fouled. … We got the quality shots we wanted. We did what we wanted. We put foul pressure on them.
“We’ve got to finish them. We’ve got to be tough enough to take a hit and finish them, and I guess we’ll continue to get better at that, but the difference between this game and the Tech game was the free-throw line and the live-ball turnovers. But maybe they deserve a little credit too.”
Alabama coach Nate Oats was complimentary of the Illini, saying he thinks they could be in national championship contention in a few months, given their talented mix of big men and guards.
Said Underwood: “I hope to see them in the Final Four.”
