Category: News
Cancillería de Omán publica foto de Witkoff y Kushner en Ginebra, lo que indicaría inicio del diálogo indirecto con Irán
GINEBRA (AP) — Cancillería de Omán publica foto de Witkoff y Kushner en Ginebra, lo que indicaría inicio del diálogo indirecto con Irán.
“Breakneck Production Growth”: Exxon Leverages Guyana Boom In Global Oil Talks
“Breakneck Production Growth”: Exxon Leverages Guyana Boom In Global Oil Talks
Exxon Mobil Corp. is using its rapid buildout in Guyana as a selling point in talks with other governments looking to develop oil and gas reserves, according to Bloomberg.
The company says the speed and efficiency of its offshore projects there — which lifted production from zero to nearly 1 million barrels a day in just over six years — show it can execute complex developments better than rivals. Chief Executive Officer Darren Woods calls that a “unique value proposition” for host countries.
“We’re going to bring something unique to you that has great value to you, and then we expect to be compensated for that,” Woods said. “That’s the proposition that we’re making to basically all the resource owners and our customers.”
As major energy firms compete to secure new supplies, Exxon argues its steady focus on oil and gas, along with disciplined project delivery, sets it apart from peers pivoting strategies.
“We can see that in Guyana,” Woods said. “We’re delivering differentiated results. Importantly, our industry peers can see it, and the resource owners can see it.”
Bloomberg writes that oil has transformed Guyana’s economy, building a sovereign wealth fund of about $3 billion and making it one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. Still, inflation, inequality and reliance on Exxon remain concerns, and many high-level industry jobs are held by foreign workers.
To help close the skills gap, Exxon plans to invest $100 million over a decade in science and technology education, establishing STEM centers across Guyana modeled on facilities in Houston. President Irfaan Ali said building local expertise is critical.
“We want an upskilled workforce to be ready for high-paying jobs, to have more knowledge transfer, technology transfer and skill transfer to the local workforce,” Ali said. “We want the capacity to be built in-country.”
Ali has sharply increased public spending since 2021 and plans $7.5 billion in infrastructure investment this year as output is projected to rise 30% to 1.3 million barrels a day in the coming years.
Woods said community support is essential to long-term success. “People in the community have to see the benefits of you being there,” he said. “To think you’re going to go into a community or location and be at odds with the people that you’re living and working with, that equation will never work.”
In negotiations from Angola to Greece and Egypt, Exxon points to Guyana as proof it can deliver more value per dollar — benefiting both the company and resource owners.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/26/2026 – 04:15
Bill y Hillary Clinton, curtidos en mil batallas, se preparan para otra pelea en Washington
Por STEVEN SLOAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — Para algunos de sus críticos conservadores, este es el escándalo que podría por fin derribarlos. Su resistencia a testificar resultó inútil. Y ahora, ante otra pelea épica, están aprovechando sus considerables habilidades políticas para intentar darle la vuelta a la situación frente a sus acusadores.
Para Bill y Hillary Clinton, los años 90 han vuelto.
Los Clinton tienen previsto testificar el jueves y el viernes en una investigación de la Cámara de Representantes sobre Jeffrey Epstein, como parte de un acuerdo con los republicanos después de que quedara claro que el Congreso —con la ayuda de algunos demócratas— estaba dispuesto a declararlos en desacato si se negaban a cooperar. Para la pareja, curtida en mil batallas, se trata de una pelea más en Washington. Y, como tantas de las anteriores, esta es otra mezcla de decisiones cuestionables, conducta sexual inapropiada, dinero y poder.
Durante su campaña de 1992, Bill Clinton presentó su candidatura como “dos por el precio de uno”, anticipando un matrimonio presidencial nunca visto, con una cónyuge cuyas credenciales profesionales rivalizaban con las suyas. En los años transcurridos desde entonces, esa alianza ayudó a los Clinton a capear repetidos escándalos, incluidos algunos tan personales que habrían destrozado muchas otras relaciones. Cuando su carrera política tocaba a su fin, la de ella iba en ascenso tras su elección para el Senado de Estados Unidos por Nueva York; luego se desempeñó como secretaria de Estado antes de convertirse en la candidata demócrata a la presidencia en 2016.
Para quienes llevan mucho tiempo siguiendo a los Clinton, este momento es un recordatorio de que la pareja —criada en la política de la época de la guerra de Vietnam y el Watergate— nunca ha estado lejos del fragor de una batalla cultural. Y con el caso Epstein desarrollándose de manera impredecible en todo el mundo, los Clinton vuelven a estar envueltos en el escándalo del momento.
“Es una especie de coda triste, pero apropiada, para unas vidas políticas extraordinarias”, apuntó David Maraniss, que ha escrito dos biografías de Bill Clinton.
No hay pruebas de irregularidades por parte de ninguno de los dos en lo que respecta a Epstein, un delincuente sexual convicto que se suicidó en la cárcel en 2019 mientras esperaba un juicio por cargos de tráfico sexual.
Pero Epstein tuvo vínculos con Bill Clinton durante años, y visitó la Casa Blanca en múltiples ocasiones en la década de 1990, según los registros de visitantes. Después de que Clinton dejase el cargo, Epstein participó en sus actividades filantrópicas y el expresidente voló varias veces en su avión privado.
“Viajar en el avión de Epstein no mereció los años de interrogatorios posteriores”, escribió Bill Clinton en sus memorias de 2024. “Ojalá nunca lo hubiera conocido”.
Los vínculos de Bill Clinton con Epstein
El verano pasado, el Comité de Supervisión de la Cámara de Representantes, controlado por republicanos, emitió citaciones para los Clinton. Durante meses, Bill Clinton, de 79 años, y Hillary Clinton, de 78, ignoraron en gran medida el asunto en público, pero esa actitud se volvió más difícil de sostener en diciembre, cuando el expresidente apareció profusamente en la primera tanda de los archivos de Epstein.
Entre los miles de documentos hechos públicos, algunas fotos lo mostraban en un avión privado, incluida una con una mujer —cuyo rostro está tapado— sentada a su lado que lo rodea con el brazo. En otra aparecía en una piscina con la confidente de larga data de Epstein, la socialité británica Ghislaine Maxwell, y otra persona con el rostro oculto. Otra imagen retrataba a Bill Clinton en un jacuzzi con una mujer, también con la cara censurada.
El presidente del Comité de Supervisión, James Comer, diputado por Kentucky, amenazó con declarar a los Clinton en desacato si no cumplían con las citaciones, una medida histórica ya que nunca se ha obligado a un expresidente a comparecer ante el Congreso. Entre su primer y su segundo mandato, Donald Trump invocó ese precedente para rechazar una citación del comité que investigaba el ataque del 6 de enero de 2021 al Capitolio de Estados Unidos.
Aunque las fotos de Bill Clinton estaban descontextualizadas, subrayaban cómo su promesa política siempre ha estado marcada por sus indiscreciones personales.
La campaña de 1992, que representó la emergente supremacía de la generación del baby boom, fue la misma que estuvo sembrada de rumores de una aventura con Gennifer Flowers. Su presidencia, definida en gran medida por la prosperidad económica, estuvo a punto de descarrilar cuando fue sometido a un juicio político en 1998 por mentir bajo juramento y obstruir la justicia al negar que había mantenido una relación sexual con Monica Lewinsky.
En cada ocasión, muchos republicanos pensaron haber dado por fin con el elemento decisivo contra los Clinton. Pero cada vez, la pareja encontró la forma de salir del aprieto.
Asa Hutchinson, el excongresista republicano de Arkansas que fue uno de los fiscales de la Cámara durante el juicio político a Clinton, describió a la pareja como “una abogada inteligente y un comunicador brillante”.
El manual de los Clinton: contraatacar con dureza
A medida que surgían las crisis, se repetía un patrón: los Clinton negaban con vehemencia las acusaciones y a menudo desacreditaban a las mujeres que presentaban denuncias. Demonizaban al Partido Republicano y volvían a centrar la atención del público en temas más favorables, como la bonanza económica de la época.
Bill Clinton, quien célebremente les dijo a los votantes “siento su dolor”, siempre consiguió mantener la conexión con el público. De hecho, tuvo algunos de los índices de aprobación más altos de su presidencia durante la investigación y el proceso de destitución, cuando cerca de siete de cada 10 adultos en Estados Unidos aprobaban la manera en que desempeñaba su labor.
Hillary Clinton también neutralizó a los republicanos que vieron una oportunidad en su gestión de un ataque contra un complejo en Libia en 2012 que mató a cuatro estadounidenses. En 2015 salió de una audiencia televisada del Congreso, de 11 horas de duración, con apariencia serena. Incluso el presidente republicano del comité que investigaba el ataque dijo que no estaba seguro de que hubiera revelado algo nuevo sobre un asunto que muchos en su partido consideraban un escándalo.
Esa experiencia ha influido en cómo encaran los Clinton el testimonio de esta semana. Hillary ha sido especialmente insistente en pedir que el proceso se celebre en público, en lugar de a puerta cerrada como planea Comer.
“Nosotros no tenemos nada que ocultar”, le dijo a la BBC a principios de mes.
La estrategia de comunicación de Bill ha adoptado un tono más duro, evocando la “sala de guerra” política popularizada durante la campaña de 1992 para responder a las noticias negativas.
Un comunicado acusó a Comer de “mentir en cada aparición que ha hecho esta semana”. Otro se burló de los representantes republicanos Scott Perry, de Pensilvania, y Andy Biggs, de Arizona, con un “premio a la hipocresía del día”, señalando cómo los miembros del Comité de Supervisión desafiaron las citaciones del panel sobre el 6 de enero.
Además, los Clinton publicaron en redes sociales una carta de cuatro páginas dirigida a Comer en la que, de manera desafiante, menospreciaban un proceso que, según dijeron, estaba “literalmente diseñado para resultar en nuestro encarcelamiento”.
Al tiempo que intentaban volver a centrar la atención en los 1990, la misiva arremetió contra la Casa Blanca por desmantelar instituciones, imponer una dura campaña migratoria e indultar a quienes participaron en el asalto al Capitolio.
Ataques conservadores contra los Clinton
El ascenso de los Clinton al poder fue paralelo a la explosión de la radio hablada como fuerza política, con Rush Limbaugh usando su programa diario como plataforma para fustigar constantemente a la Casa Blanca. Hoy, podcasters conservadores como Benny Johnson han ocupado el espacio de Limbaugh y se mostraron exultantes cuando el comité de la Cámara decidió el mes pasado que declararía a la pareja en desacato.
“¿Entienden que Donald Trump cumplió posiblemente su promesa más antigua, que nos hizo a todos hace 10 años, de que Hillary Clinton iría a la cárcel?”, dijo Johnson el mes pasado.
Aun así, algunas dinámicas han cambiado.
El apoyo incondicional que los Clinton recibían de la bancada demócrata del Congreso se ha erosionado coincidiendo con la llegada de nueva generación de legisladores: nueve demócratas votaron con los republicanos en el comité para impulsar la resolución de desacato. Trump, que ha sido escrutado por su propia vinculación con Epstein y puede sentirse incómodo con el precedente de obligar a un expresidente a testificar, ha expresado una inusual preocupación por los Clinton.
En declaraciones a la televisora NBC News señaló que “me molesta que alguien vaya tras Bill Clinton”. Ha descrito a Hillary Clinton como una “mujer muy capaz”.
Incluso Hutchinson, quien ayudó a defender el juicio político a Clinton, expresó simpatía por la pareja.
“Es frustrante y decepcionante que el presidente Clinton y la secretaria Clinton tengan que pasar por este calvario de búsqueda de investigación”, manifestó. “Es difícil para ellos”.
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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.
Convoy que trasladaría a diplomáticos iraníes llega a complejo omaní en Ginebra para diálogo nuclear indirecto con EEUU
GINEBRA (AP) — Convoy que trasladaría a diplomáticos iraníes llega a complejo omaní en Ginebra para diálogo nuclear indirecto con EEUU.
Spain’s Government: Spinning Out Of Control
Spain’s Government: Spinning Out Of Control
Authored by Drieu Godefridi via The Gatestone Institute,
Between corruption and radicalization, Spain’s government seems to be spinning out of control.
In 1936, Spain plunged into civil war. A proud nation collapsed into violence, fire, and devastation. The Spanish Civil War, which set a communist-dominated Republican left against an authoritarian nationalist right, claimed roughly half a million lives. Priests were dragged through the streets, beaten, and mutilated — ears, noses, even genitals cut off — before being shot or having their throats slit. Nuns were raped prior to execution, in cases documented across several regions. Churches were set ablaze with priests still inside. In many towns, militiamen forced clergy to drink motor oil or gasoline before burning them alive. Spain’s right wing, not to be outdone, killed just as many.
Almost a century later, when one might have hoped that these wounds had finally healed, political and cultural fault lines are reopening. Polarization has reached levels rarely seen since Spain’s transition to democracy.
1. The original trauma of the Spanish left
The Spanish Civil War, in Spain’s collective memory, remains an open wound. For a significant portion of the Spanish “left” — standing for workers’ rights, a shorter work week, women’s and transgender rights, reducing carbon emissions — the dominant narrative remains that of a revolution betrayed, confiscated by fascism, and still pending, never repaired. This historical resentment has been transmitted from generation to generation like an act of faith. Today, under the government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his coalition, which governs with the support of the extreme-left, this resentment is resurfacing in the form of historical revisionism.
By constantly summoning the specters of the past — going so far as to exhume Francisco Franco’s remains, in a direct evocation of civil-war-era practices, when communists gleefully desecrated the graves of their so-called “class enemies” — is the left not in danger of reviving the hatreds and violence of the past?
2. A left without a compass: ideological orphanhood
Spain’s left is becoming more radical precisely because it has run out of ideas. Marxism, long the doctrinal backbone of the global left, lost all credibility with the implosion of the USSR, amid the stench of cabbage and corpses. Spain is no exception. Stripped of this ideological foundation, the Spanish left now finds itself without a compass.
Before the July 2023 elections, Sánchez promised a bold progressive agenda: mass public housing construction, reducing the working week to 37.5 hours, large minimum wage hikes, slashing healthcare waiting lists with binding maximum times, free public transport for youth, and expanded public education. Critically, delivery on these massive flagship promises has been dismal to date: virtually no new public housing built, prices soaring, the work-week reduction defeated in parliament, real wages eroded by inflation, and chronic healthcare waiting lists unchanged.
Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), once anchored in moderate, reformist social democracy, has gradually shifted toward a strategy of sheer political survival. To remain in power, it allied itself first with Podemos and then with Sumar—two extreme left-wing parties obsessed with supporting Palestinians, against NATO, and soft on Russia — as well as with separatist movements. In doing so, the PSOE diluted its original moderate reformist vision through blatant opportunism, sacrificing doctrinal coherence in favor of questionable alliances.
3. A patchwork of incoherent dogmas
Deprived of Marxism, the Spanish left has sought refuge in a disparate ideological mosaic: radical environmentalism, complicit indulgence toward political Islam, the dismantling of borders, unconditional support for the Palestinians against Israel – all stacked together into an improbable and incoherent magma. Added to this are recurring undertones of anti-Semitism in left-wing discourse — one thinks in particular of Yolanda Díaz, seemingly a figure of clinical hysteria, whose face visibly contorts the moment she pronounces the word “Israeli.”
By radicalizing itself across every issue, the left fuels the anger of the right, the middle classes, and a growing segment of the population that feels marginalized, despised, and alienated within its own country.
4. A regime corrupt to the core?
The Sánchez government has another reason for aligning with jihadists: the corruption scandals that have engulfed even the prime minister’s immediate family.
First comes the Koldo-Ábalos scandal involving irregular public contracts, illegal commissions, and bribes linked to public-works contracts, totaling several hundred million euros. Several figures are particularly implicated. Former Minister of Transport José Luis Ábalos, a close ally of Sánchez, is in pre-trial detention for criminal organization, corruption, embezzlement, and influence peddling.
Koldo García, Ábalos’s former adviser, is a central figure in the scheme. He too is in pre-trial detention and under prosecution. Santos Cerdán, former secretary of organization of the PSOE and Ábalos’s successor, is under investigation and was detained for corruption in public-works contracts. The Civil Guard is examining 22 contracts, worth €355 million, that were allegedly manipulated by favoritism.
Added to this are the cases involving Sánchez’s own family. Begoña Gómez, his wife, was formally charged with influence peddling, corruption in business, embezzlement of public funds, misappropriation, and illegally practicing a regulated profession, in a case that was opened in April 2024. In August 2025, the probe was extended to include her advisor Cristina Álvarez.
The investigation into Gómez has been extended until at least April 2026 and continues with active measures, including February 2026 requests to the Interior Ministry for travel records of Gómez and Álvarez since 2018 (covering destinations such as the Dominican Republic, Congo, Guinea, and Russia), access to emails, and Civil Guard reports.
David Sánchez, the prime minister’s brother, is also being prosecuted, for influence peddling and malfeasance in connection with his employment at the Badajoz Provincial Council. “The prime minister faces multiple legal challenges this year that could lead to the downfall of his family, his party, and his government,” summarizes Spanish daily El Mundo.
5. An ideological junta radicalizing itself to survive
The high point of the Spanish left’s radicalization was reached with a January 2026 decree legalizing between 500,000 and a million illegal immigrants. Although presented as a humanitarian and economic measure, this slap-happy decision provoked widespread outrage among Spaniards. The Vox party has identified this as a massive “pull factor” that will inevitably attract millions of additional illegal immigrants. Public services, already under severe strain, are on the brink of collapse. Entire swathes of Spanish territory are, additionally, drifting toward an Islamic cultural environment.
Heading toward the point of no return?
The warning signs are multiplying. Traumatized by its history, cornered by the judiciary, and deprived of ideological reference points, the Spanish left appears to be locking itself into radical dogmas and adopting increasingly divisive policies simply to remain in power.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/26/2026 – 03:30
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/spains-government-spinning-out-control
Convoy que se cree que lleva a diplomáticos de EEUU llega a residencia omaní en Ginebra para diálogo indirecto con Irán
GINEBRA (AP) — Convoy que se cree que lleva a diplomáticos de EEUU llega a residencia omaní en Ginebra para diálogo indirecto con Irán.
Germany Greenlights First Major Suicide Drone Acquirement After Learning From Ukraine War
Germany Greenlights First Major Suicide Drone Acquirement After Learning From Ukraine War
A major new trend which has been heating up on Europe’s periphery over the last years of war in Ukraine has been the use of suicide drones and drone swarms, which have proven effective as well as frightening for anyone on the receiving end.
This has resulted in more European countries making it a priority to invest in this type of warfare, as the Ukraine battlefield has demonstrated that this relatively cheap weaponry can inflict devastating costs and destruction on an enemy. There’s also lately been a phenomenon of European countries like Denmark, Poland, and Germany alleging an increased number of ‘mystery’ drone incidents where their airspaces get breached.
Helsing’s AI Strike Drone HX-2. source: Helsing
Germany’s parliament on Wednesday approved the first €540 million tranche to procure the Bundeswehr’s own suicide drones, as Berlin is racing to integrate loitering munitions into its force structure.
The broader procurement framework was initially projected to reach a whopping €4.4 billion over the coming years. This sudden reversal of German ‘neutrality’ and willingness to go to opposite extremes with massive spending on defense has been a trend spurred on by fears of ‘Russian aggression’ against the continent.
However, the Bundestag’s budget committee reportedly capped the program at €1 billion per supplier, according to German news agency dpa – an effort to impose some fiscal guardrails amid rapid militarization.
German drone startups Helsing and Stark Defence will be among the first significant beneficiaries to the newly greenlit program. Underscoring the low-cost nature of the drone technology, Helsing’s units reportedly carry a price tag of about €44,000 apiece before taxes, and the Stark systems run significantly higher, closer to €80,000 per drone.
The Helsing drones have already been battle tested in live combat:
Feedback from Ukraine reportedly cites the HX-2 as “highly economical,” a view attributed in part to the company’s decision not to profit from deliveries to Ukrainian forces.
Currently, Helsing’s Resilience Factory (RF-1) in southern Germany produces up to 450 HX-2 units per month. The facility has the capacity to scale production to 1,000 units monthly with additional staffing. Plans are also underway for a second factory, which could increase output to approximately 2,500 units per month.
According to company specifications, the HX-2 has a flight range of up to 100 kilometers and a maximum approach speed of 220 km/h. It weighs up to 12 kg and can be equipped with a 4 kg payload, allowing it to target armored vehicles or fortified positions.
Several thousands of these drones from both firms are expected to first be deployed to Germany’s NATO brigade in Lithuania.
The NATO defense establishment is still pushing the idea of a “drone wall” protecting Europe:
Former CIA Director Petraeus: When about 20 drones violated Polish airspace, Warsaw didn’t call Brussels or Washington, it called Kyiv.
Ukraine is the most advanced in building a “drone wall,” showing how to defend vast front lines.
— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) February 11, 2026
Germany is reorganizing aspects of its army to integrate drone units, responsible for deploying suicide drone swarms against enemies in the battlefield.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/26/2026 – 02:45
Departamento de Justicia de EEUU revisa si se retuvieron por error archivos vinculados a Epstein
Por ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — El Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos dijo el miércoles que estaba investigando si había retenido indebidamente documentos de los archivos de Jeffrey Epstein, después de que varios medios reportaron que algunos registros que incluían acusaciones no corroboradas de una mujer contra el presidente, Donald Trump, no figuraban entre los publicados.
El anuncio se produjo a raíz de las noticias que indicaban que el gran lote de registros publicado por el Departamento de Justicia no incluía varios resúmenes de las entrevistas que el FBI realizó a una mujer no identificada que se presentó después del arresto de Epstein en 2019 y afirmó haber sido agredida sexualmente tanto por Trump como por Epstein cuando era menor de edad en la década de 1980.
“Varias personas y medios de comunicación han señalado recientemente que parecen faltar archivos relacionados con documentos presentados a Ghislaine Maxwell durante la investigación de su caso penal”, señaló el Departamento de Justicia en una publicación en X. “Como ocurre con todos los documentos señalado por el público, el Departamento está revisando actualmente los archivos dentro de esa categoría”. Maxwell, confidente de larga data de Epstein, cumple una condena de 20 años de prisión por tráfico sexual.
Si se determina que algún documento fue retenido de forma indebida y está sujeto a la ley federal que ordena la divulgación de los archivos, “el Departamento, por supuesto, lo publicará, de conformidad con la ley”, agregó.
Lo que se reclamaría es una serie de entrevistas que, según se dice, se realizaron en 2019 a una mujer que formuló una denuncia contra Trump, quien ha negado sistemáticamente cualquier irregularidad relacionada con Epstein. Varios reportes señalaron en los últimos días que el FBI entrevistó a la mujer cuatro veces mientras intentaba evaluar su relato, pero que en los archivos publicados solo se incluyó el resumen de una de las conversaciones.
La ausencia de esos registros fue reportada por el periodista Roger Sollenberger en Substack y por NPR, y desde entonces ha sido documentada por otros medios, incluyendo The New York Times, MS Now y CNN.
El representante Robert Garcia, el demócrata de mayor rango en el Comité de Supervisión de la Cámara de Representantes, afirmó en un comunicado que los demócratas en el comité investigarán la retención de los documentos. Además, indicó que revisó los registros de pruebas sin censurar y que “puede confirmar que el DOJ parece haber retenido ilegalmente entrevistas del FBI” con la acusadora.
El Departamento de Justicia anunció el mes pasado la publicación de más de tres millones de páginas de registros relacionados con Epstein, quien se suicidó en una celda de una cárcel de Nueva York en 2019, mientras esperaba juicio por cargos de tráfico sexual. El departamento indicó entonces que, aunque intentaba ser transparente, también tenía derecho a retener documentos que expusieran a posibles víctimas de abusos, que estuvieran duplicados o protegidos por privilegios legales, o que estuvieran relacionados con una investigación penal abierta.
“Algunos de los documentos contienen afirmaciones falsas y sensacionalistas contra el presidente Trump que fueron presentadas al FBI justo antes de las elecciones de 2020. Para que quede claro, las afirmaciones carecen de fundamento y son falsas, y si tuvieran un ápice de credibilidad, sin duda ya se habrían convertido en un arma contra el presidente Trump”, manifestó el departamento en un comunicado el mes pasado al divulgar los registros.
Pronto se reveló que el proceso de censura tenía fallas y el departamento retiró algunos materiales señalados por las víctimas o sus abogados, junto con un “número considerable” de documentos identificados de manera independiente por el gobierno.
Abogados de las denunciantes de Epstein dijeron este mes a un juez de Nueva York que la vida de casi 100 víctimas quedó “patas arriba” por los descuidos de la censura en la última publicación de archivos gubernamentales. Los materiales expuestos incluyen fotos de desnudos en las que se ven los rostros de posibles víctimas, así como nombres, direcciones de correo electrónico y otra información identificativa que no se ocultó o no quedó completamente tapada.
Los archivos divulgados incluyeron otras afirmaciones no corroboradas contra Trump y otras figuras públicas. El departamento no explicó en su mensaje en redes sociales el miércoles por qué podrían haberse retenido registros relacionados con esta acusación en concreto.
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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.
Coming back from serious knee injury, West Aurora’s Abe Martinez makes winning 3-pointer. ‘Waiting all year.’
Welcome back.
It won’t be in the box score, but the guess here? Junior guard Abe Martinez would happily give the miracle of modern medicine an assist in West Aurora’s latest win.
“I came back thinking I’d play right away and come back where I was last year, but obviously, God has his own plans,” said Martinez, who suffered a serious knee injury last spring on the baseball field after establishing himself as a key contributor during the winter in basketball.
“My comeback just wasn’t like that.”
Martinez was back in business Wednesday night, however.
He connected on a baseline 3-pointer with 47 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner as the host Blackhawks pulled off a mild upset with a 43-39 win over Waubonsie Valley in a Class 4A West Aurora Regional semifinal.
West Aurora’s Abe Martinez (3) shoots a 3-pointer as Waubonsie Valley’s Evan Malushi defends during a Class 4A West Aurora Regional semifinal game on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)
Martinez celebrated his 17th birthday by scoring nine points off the bench as 11th-seeded West Aurora (19-13) advances to a 7 p.m. Friday regional final against top-seeded Benet (31-1). The defending state champion defeated Romeoville 52-36 in the other semifinal.
Junior guard Travis Brown led the Blackhawks with 11 points. Junior center Jordan Weeks added eight.
Junior guard Kris Mporokoso paced the eighth-seeded Warriors (17-14) with a game-high 13 points, while sophomore forward Kyler Payne added 11.
“Too many turnovers hurt us late in the game,” Waubonsie coach Andrew Schweitzer said. “We knew (Martinez) could shoot the three. We just had a partial breakdown on the baseline.
West Aurora’s Abe Martinez (3) defends against Waubonsie Valley’s Evan Malushi (10) during a Class 4A West Aurora Regional semifinal game on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)
“And he made a good shot.”
It’s been finding the good from the bad for Martinez, who was pitching in a game for West Aurora last March 29. He was chasing a pop fly when he collided with one of his infielders.
“It was just a lack of communication,” Martinez said. “He slipped and went into my left knee. It was really scary. My whole leg went numb. It was just something you can’t really describe how it felt.
“Rehab was really tough, but I had a lot of help from my family, physical therapy trainer and the trainers here at West.”
West Aurora’s Abe Martinez (3) yells out a defensive assignment against Waubonsie Valley during a Class 4A West Aurora Regional semifinal game on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)
Martinez pointed out that he suffered tears to his ACL, PCL and MCL as well as his meniscus. Following surgery on May 1, he was told he could be sidelined 12 months for rehabilitation.
Although he was cleared to return on Jan. 1, four months early, his comeback has featured fits and starts along with inconsistent playing time.
“We’ve been waiting all year for him to knock some shots down,” West Aurora coach Mike Fowler said of Martinez. “It’s been a long time coming. We know he can knock down shots.
“But coming off that catastrophic injury has been tough.”
Martinez, who came off the bench Wednesday, hit a 3-pointer at 2:11 of the first quarter. It was the team’s only score as the Blackhawks faced a 9-3 deficit after eight minutes.
A 23-8 run in the second quarter — featuring another 3-pointer, a steal and an assist by Martinez — gave the Blackhawks a 26-17 halftime lead.
West Aurora’s Abe Martinez (3) puts up a 3-point shot against Waubonsie Valley during a Class 4A West Aurora Regional semifinal game on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. (Sean King / The Beacon-News)
They were ahead 33-31 after three quarters. Another 3-pointer by Martinez to open the fourth was disallowed when a referee ruled he had stepped out of bounds before the shot.
His second steal came later in the quarter. His winning shot was bolstered by Brown’s free throw for the final margin.
“I got my rhythm back and I just knew that last three was going in,” Martinez said. “It felt great off the hands.”
Brown and Martinez had good chemistry last season.
“Maybe (Wednesday night) was just a lot of adrenaline,” Brown said of his running mate. “He stepped up, made shots and looked like he did last year. He looked back and better. We’ve been waiting for that. It feels great.”
“Abe came to play,” Fowler said. “He stepped up and got the job done for us.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/26/abe-martinez-west-aurora-waubonsie-valley/
Why Might Ukraine & Its Western Patrons Try To Blow Up Russia’s Black Sea Pipelines?
Why Might Ukraine & Its Western Patrons Try To Blow Up Russia’s Black Sea Pipelines?
The purpose is to derail the peace talks by provoking Russia into either preemptively escalating against Ukraine as a deterrent or authorizing an overmatched retaliatory escalation right after that could in any case be spun by the Europeans to manipulate Trump against Putin.
Putin warned on the fourth anniversary of the special operation that Ukraine and its Western patrons are plotting “a possible explosion targeting our gas pipeline systems – TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines – along the floor of the Black Sea. They simply cannot back down. They do not know what else they can do to undermine this peaceful process aimed at settlement through diplomatic means.”
This isn’t the first time that Russia warned about such a plot, with prior ones analyzed here, here, and here.
What’s most important about this latest warning is that it coincided with the Foreign Intelligence Service warning on the same day about an Anglo-Franco plot to transfer nuclear technology and even bombs to Ukraine. That was analyzed here, and just like with Putin’s warning about the latest plots against Russia’s pipelines to Turkiye, the purpose is to derail the peace talks by provoking Russia into either preemptively escalating against Ukraine as a deterrent or authorizing an overmatched retaliatory escalation right after.
In either scenario, the aforesaid talks’ US mediator could then be manipulated by the Europeans, who’ve been trying to subvert Trump’s peace efforts this entire time, into misperceiving such moves as “unprovoked aggression on false pretexts”, thus possibly torpedoing their negotiations. In response, Trump might then also be manipulated into authorizing his country’s own overmatched “retaliatory” escalation if the Europeans claim that Putin “humiliated” him, which could risk spiraling out of control.
The Europeans and Ukrainians’ shared goals are to perpetuate the conflict, drag the US back into its Biden-era level of involvement, and then provoke a Cuban-like brinksmanship crisis between Russia and the US that they believe would ultimately result in significant concessions from the former. To that end, they’re plotting to provoke the usually restrained Putin into preemptive escalations or overmatched retaliatory ones, absent which he’ll be forced to accept a nuclear Ukraine and more blown-up pipelines.
The only realistic way for Russia to avoid this zero-sum dilemma is publicly warning the world about these provocations in the hope that Trump will hear about them from the media even if the provably untrustworthy CIA doesn’t brief him about what Putin and his spies just said.
They’d then expect him to either do his utmost to avert these planned provocations or not fall into the trap of being manipulated by the Europeans if Russia preemptively escalates or authorizes an overmatched retaliatory escalation.
Russia’s main motive is to preserve the US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine, therefore preventing the dangerous scenario of US escalations that could spiral out of control, while its secondary one is to show Trump how the Brits, French, and Ukrainians are working behind his back to subvert his peace efforts.
This speaks to Putin’s sincere desire to peace, albeit not at any cost, ergo why his team continues negotiating hard and won’t accept the far-reaching concessions being demanded of it by Ukraine.
All in all, nobody knows whether Ukraine and its Western patrons will still try to go through with these two provocations after Russia just exposed them, but at least Trump can’t credibly claim to be ignorant of these plots in the event that Russia either preemptively escalates or escalates afterwards.
As of now, Russia doesn’t want any escalation either from its adversaries or that which their provocations might soon force it into, but it’s signaling that some escalation is possible if Trump doesn’t thwart these plots.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 02/26/2026 – 02:00
