Category: News
Miércoles de Ceniza marca el inicio de la Cuaresma: ayuno, reflexión y pescado frito
Por PETER SMITH
Esta es la semana del Miércoles de Ceniza, un día solemne de ayuno y reflexión que marca el inicio de la Cuaresma, la temporada más penitencial del calendario eclesiástico para los católicos y muchos otros cristianos.
En el Miércoles de Ceniza, muchos cristianos van a la iglesia para un oficio que subraya el comienzo de una temporada de reflexión, renuncia y arrepentimiento de los pecados.
Los fieles reciben ceniza, que comúnmente se impone en forma de cruz en la frente. El oficiante suele decir: “polvo eres y en polvo te convertirás”, un recordatorio contundente de que la muerte es parte de la vida y de que uno debe centrarse en las cosas del espíritu. O el oficiante dice: “Arrepiéntete y cree en el Evangelio”.
Ceniza en iglesias, capillas — y estacionamientos
El Miércoles de Ceniza se considera un día de ayuno obligatorio para los católicos romanos de entre 18 y 59 años, lo que significa limitar la comida a una comida completa y dos comidas más pequeñas de lo normal.
Muchos protestantes —en particular los episcopales, luteranos y otros de Iglesias históricas— también conmemoran el Miércoles de Ceniza con liturgias similares.
En los últimos años, muchas iglesias episcopales y otras en Estados Unidos han empezado a ofrecer “Ceniza para llevar” en estacionamientos, estaciones de tren y otros lugares. El clero ofrece imponer la ceniza a trabajadores con agendas apretadas y a otras personas que quieren participar en el ritual pero no tienen tiempo para ir a la iglesia.
Capellanes de diversas denominaciones ofrecen ceniza en capillas de aeropuertos y otros sitios.
Entre otros protestantes, como los bautistas y otros grupos evangélicos, las tradiciones varían. Algunos observan el Miércoles de Ceniza y la Cuaresma, otros no. Pero a menudo tienen sus propias tradiciones penitenciales y ascéticas. Muchos pentecostales, por ejemplo, ayunan durante un periodo en enero para consagrar el año que viene.
Integrantes de otra de las religiones más grandes del mundo también están a punto de emprender su temporada de oración y ayuno. El inicio del Ramadán y el inicio de la Cuaresma pueden caer en la misma fecha —con seguridad dentro de la misma semana— este año.
El Miércoles de Ceniza marca el comienzo de la Cuaresma
El Miércoles de Ceniza marca el inicio de la temporada de Cuaresma, que conduce a las conmemoraciones de la muerte de Jesús el Viernes Santo y su resurrección en Pascua.
El Miércoles de Ceniza se determina contando hacia atrás 40 días desde Pascua, sin incluir los domingos.
Distintas Iglesias han encontrado diversas maneras de calcular los tradicionales 40 días de Cuaresma, pero el número en sí es importante. Se vincula con el simbolismo bíblico del número 40, que suele usarse para tiempos de prueba, juicio, purificación o renovación. De manera más directa, alude a los 40 días que Jesús ayunó en el desierto después de su bautismo, como preparación para su ministerio público.
Durante la Cuaresma, los fieles se dedican a la oración y otras devociones, así como a obras de caridad, el ayuno y otras formas de autodisciplina. Se habla de renunciar a algo por la Cuaresma —típicamente chocolate, según el estereotipo, pero en realidad cualquier cosa de la que a uno le resulte difícil prescindir. Hoy en día, eso podría significar reducir el tiempo frente a una pantalla.
Muchas Iglesias también tienen momentos adicionales de devoción y otras actividades. Los católicos suelen realizar meditaciones en grupo sobre el Vía Crucis, que marca distintos acontecimientos en torno a la crucifixión de Jesús.
Los católicos practicantes también se abstienen de comer carne los viernes —aunque no de pescado.
En ese sentido, la Cuaresma no es sólo solemnidad. Para muchas parroquias católicas en Estados Unidos, la fritura de pescado de los viernes se ha convertido en una tradición que combina comida, recaudación de fondos y fortalecimiento de la comunidad.
Un ayuno móvil
El Miércoles de Ceniza no tiene una fecha fija. Su momento está ligado al Domingo de Pascua. Para la mayoría de los cristianos, Pascua caerá el 5 de abril este año.
Pascua cambia cada año, oscilando entre el 22 de marzo y el 25 de abril, siguiendo una fórmula antigua según la cual Pascua cae el primer domingo después de la primera Luna llena de la primavera.
Los cristianos ortodoxos orientales calculan de manera distinta el inicio y el final de su “Gran Cuaresma”. Comienzan sus observancias un lunes —este año el 23 de febrero—, al que llaman “Lunes Limpio” o “Lunes Puro”. Aunque no usan ceniza, sí inician un periodo de penitencia y ayuno. La Gran Cuaresma continúa hasta el viernes anterior a la Semana Santa, incluidos los domingos.
Las fechas de la Gran Cuaresma también se determinan en conjunto con los cálculos ortodoxos de la Pascua (Pascha), que difieren de los de las Iglesias occidentales. La Pascua ortodoxa es el 12 de abril este año y, como en la mayoría de los años, cae más tarde que las conmemoraciones católicas y protestantes.
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La cobertura de religión de The Associated Press recibe apoyo mediante la colaboración de AP con The Conversation US, con financiación de Lilly Endowment Inc. La AP es la única responsable de este contenido. ___
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Detroit Police Chief Targets Officers Allegedly Coordinating With ICE
Detroit Police Chief Targets Officers Allegedly Coordinating With ICE
Authored by Luis Cornelio via Headline USA,
Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said Thursday that officers purportedly collaborating with federal immigration agents will be held “accountable,” as the city defends its so-called “welcoming” status.
Bettison made the comments during a hearing with the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners regarding two incidents, one on Dec. 16 and another on Feb. 9, according to the Detroit Free Press.
“Of our officers, 98-99 percent do it the right way each and every day,” Bettison claimed.
“But I do have one or two percent that decide to violate our rules, our policies and our procedures, and to those officers, I will hold them accountable.”
A “welcoming city” refers to jurisdictions that do not require officers to investigate a person’s immigration status during routine investigations.
By contrast, sanctuary cities refuse to honor ICE detainers and actively decline to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
In the first incident, a Detroit sergeant reportedly called Border Patrol after an officer requested a translation during a traffic stop of a non-English-speaking individual.
Bettison said that Border Patrol determined the person was not a U.S. citizen and detained the individual as a result.
In the second incident, a Detroit officer allegedly contacted Border Patrol while investigating an individual on a felony warrant.
“Border Patrol did respond, and Border Patrol ultimately took this individual,” Bettison said, citing body-worn camera footage reviewed by the DPD.
The commission is set to decide whether to suspend the officers involved ahead of a Feb. 19 hearing.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/16/2026 – 09:00
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/detroit-police-chief-targets-officers-allegedly-coordinating-ice
Real Madrid regresa a Benfica por revancha en la Champions, con Mbappé de vuelta
Por TALES AZZONI
MADRID (AP) — Con Kylian Mbappé de vuelta en la convocatoria, el Real Madrid regresa a Portugal con sed revancha ante el Benfica de José Mourinho en la Liga de Campeones.
El reencuentro entre ambos equipos se producirá en el Estadio de la Luz en la ida de la ronda de repechajes, tres semanas después de que el conjunto de Mourinho sorprendiera a su antiguo club con una victoria 4-2 que permitió a Benfica clasificarse y evitó que el gigante español avanzara directamente a los octavos de final.
“Espero que no se repita la historia. Vamos prevenidos de lo que nos espera allí el martes. Es una eliminatoria de 180 minutos. Tenemos que salir a hacer un gran partido y a ganar”, dijo el técnico del Madrid Álvaro Arbeloa.
Benfica marcó el gol que necesitaba para clasificarse gracias a un cabezazo de último minuto del portero Anatoliy Trubin ante el Madrid, lo que le permitió quedarse con el 24º —y último— sitio para la repesca por diferencia de goles.
La revancha Real Madrid-Benfica destaca en una etapa que también incluye el cruce del campeón defensor Paris Saint-Germain contra Mónaco y al Inter de Milán, subcampeón de la pasada edición frente al sorprendente Bodø/Glimt de Noruega.
Mbappé regresa
Mbappé, que ya suma 38 goles con el Madrid esta temporada, volverá a estar disponible después de perderse el partido de La Liga española contra la Real Sociedad el fin de semana por molestias en la rodilla.
Ha marcado nueve goles en sus últimos seis partidos con el Madrid, incluidos los dos tantos en la derrota ante el Benfica.
“Mbappé lleva con esas molestias (en la rodilla) bastante tiempo. Está haciendo un gran esfuerzo cada vez que sale al campo y hoy hemos decidido no correr riesgos de cara al martes. Yo creo que estará”, señaló Arbeloa.
PSG deslucido
El PSG salió del grupo de los ocho primeros que se clasificaron automáticamente a los octavos de final tras empatar 1-1 en casa ante Newcastle en la última jornada de la fase de liga, lo que lo dejó en el 11º puesto.
Perdió 3-1 en Rennes en la liga francesa para sufrir su tercera derrota del año, la sexta de la temporada.
Mónaco, que terminó 21º en la fase de liga, venció 3-1 al Nantes el viernes, pero previamente había ganado apenas una vez en sus últimos siete partidos en todas las competiciones.
Inter en alza
El Inter viaja para su partido en Bodø/Glimt el miércoles después de seis victorias consecutivas, incluido el agónica triunfo 3-2 del sábado sobre la Juventus, un resultado que amplió su ventaja como líder en la Serie A.
Los Nerazzurri ganó sus primeros cuatro partidos de la fase de liga esta temporada, pero luego perdió tres seguidos antes de cerrar con una victoria como visitante ante Borussia Dortmund, asegurándose el décimo puesto.
Bodø/Glimt, en su primera campaña en la Liga de Campeones, necesitó dos sorpresivos triunfos consecutivos contra el Manchester City y el Atlético de Madrid para alcanzar la fase eliminatoria en el 23º lugar.
Otros cruces
Los otros partidos de ida del martes incluyen la visita de Juventus a Galatasaray y el Dortmund recibe a Atalanta.
Al día siguiente, Newcastle visitará al Qarabag de Azerbaiyán, Olympiakos recibirá a Bayer Leverkusen y el Atlético visita al Club Brujas.
___
Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
US figure skater hints at ‘inevitable crash’ amid Olympic pressure and online hate in social media post
MILAN — Ilia Malinin posted a video on social media Monday juxtaposing images of his many triumphs with a black-and-white image of the U.S. figure skater with his head buried in his hands, and a caption hinting at an “inevitable crash” amid the pressure of the Olympics while teasing that a “version of the story” is coming on Saturday.
That is when Malinin is expected to skate in the traditional exhibition gala to wrap up the Olympic figure skating program.
Malinin, who helped the U.S. clinch the team gold medal early in the Winter Games, was the heavy favorite to add another gold in the individual event. But he fell twice and struggled throughout his free skate on Friday, ending up in eighth.
He acknowledged afterward that the pressure of the Olympics had worn him down, saying: “I didn’t really know how to handle it.”
Malinin alluded again to the weight he felt while competing in Milan in the caption to his social media video.
“On the world’s biggest stage, those who appear the strongest may still be fighting invisible battles on the inside,” wrote the 21-year-old Malinin. “Even your happiest memories can end up tainted by the noise. Vile online hatred attacks the mind and fear lures it into the darkness, no matter how hard you try to stay sane through the endless insurmountable pressure. It all builds up as these moments flash before your eyes, resulting in an inevitable crash.”
Malinin, who is expected to chase a third consecutive world title next month in Prague, had been unbeaten in 14 events over more than two years. Yet while Malinin always seemed to exude a preternatural calm that belied his age, the son of Olympic skaters Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov had admitted early in the Winter Games that he was feeling the pressure.
The first time came after an uneven short program in the team event, when he finished behind Yuma Kagiyama of Japan — the eventual individual silver medalist. Malinin referenced the strain of the Olympics again after the Americans had won the team gold medal.
But he seemed to be the loose, confident Malinin that his fans had come to know after winning the individual short program. He even playfully faked that he was about to do a risky backflip on the carpeted runway during his free skate introduction.
The program got off to a good start with a quad lutz, but the problems began when he bailed out of his quad axel. He ended up falling twice later in the program, and the resulting score was his worst since the U.S. International Classic in September 2022.
Malinin was magnanimous afterward, hugging and congratulating surprise gold medalist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan. He then answered a barrage of questions from reporters with poise and maturity that few would have had in such a situation.
“The nerves just went, so overwhelming,” he said, “and especially going into that starting pose, I just felt like all the traumatic moments of my life really just started flooding my head. So many negative thoughts that flooded into there and I could not handle it.”
“All I know is that it wasn’t my best skate,” Malinin added later, “and it was definitely something I wasn’t expecting. And it’s done, so I can’t go back and change it, even though I would love to.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/16/ilia-malinin-olympic-pressure-online-hate/
US NatGas Futs Sink To Four-Month Low As Mid-Atlantic Exits Brutal Winter
US NatGas Futs Sink To Four-Month Low As Mid-Atlantic Exits Brutal Winter
US natural gas futures tumbled to a four-month low early Monday as weather models indicate the Lower 48 is exiting the peak of the Northern Hemisphere winter and entering a much-needed warmup. For the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, which experienced some of the coldest weather in decades, the next few weeks are expected to feel more like spring.
March contracts fell 7.5% to about $3 per mmBtu, the lowest level since October 17 and a roughly four-month low.
Weather forecasts for the Lower 48 show above-normal temperatures through the end of the month, particularly in the central and southern regions.
NatGas prices have been extremely volatile this winter. Multiple cold blasts sparked freeze-offs and production disruptions across gas infrastructure that sent spot NatGas prices sharply higher. At the same time, tightening power markets, especially across the Mid-Atlantic area, sent power prices soaring.
Readers may recall we identified peak Northern Hemisphere winter in early February, as 30-year average temperature trends point to warmer conditions across the Lower 48.
Now the Trump administration can point to last month’s cold snap as a real-world stress test: fossil fuel generation helped keep much of the eastern U.S. grid from collapsing under peak demand. Read the note, titled “Sleep Tight, America. We Got This”: NatGas And Coal Power Plants Prevented Grid Collapse During Historic Winter Blast.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/16/2026 – 08:30
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/us-natgs-futs-sink-four-month-low-mid-atlantic-exits-brutal-winter
Naperville’s Brooke Schramek returns to Benet, a surprise for her. ‘I honestly never thought I would coach.’
When former Benet basketball star Brooke Schramek finished her playing career at Wisconsin in 2024, she thought she was done with the sport.
Schramek was ready for new challenges and a career as an interior designer with FCA in Naperville.
Then Benet coach Joe Kilbride called her last summer. The Redwings had an opening for an assistant coach.
“I honestly never thought I would coach,” Schramek said. “I did basketball my entire life. I was ready to try something new. I wanted to see if something else was out there for me.”
But Kilbride, who had kept in touch with Schramek over the years, was persuasive.
“The more I talked with him, the more I got really excited, and then there was no hesitation in my mind that I would coach, especially going back to Benet and back to Kilbride,” Schramek said. “He’s probably one of the only people that I would coach with because I loved him as a coach and I loved the Benet culture and the atmosphere.”
Brooke Schramek, shown after Benet’s nonconference game against York in Elmhurst on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, has returned to the Redwings to be an assistant coach. (James C. Svehla / Naperville Sun)
Schramek’s father, Jim, an assistant for Benet’s sophomore team, encouraged her to take the job. Schramek did, joining Kilbride and veteran assistant Keith Bunkenburg on the varsity team, and she didn’t need long to make an impact.
“The girls love her,” Kilbride said. “You’ve got me and Bunks, two grumpy old men, and we’ve got Brooke. So if you’re a high school girl, you’re delighted to see Brooke coming around.”
Schramek, 24, has managed to work around her job schedule to attend most practices and games. She brings valuable experience and an infectious positivity.
“She shows up every day with good spirits,” Kilbride said. “She’s happy to be there, and she’s a delightful human being, which is on top of everything else that she offers.
“Of course, the girls are enamored of her fit and fashion. They’re always looking for fashion tips. ‘And what’s that scent you’re wearing? And how do you do your hair?’ They have a great time.”
So does Schramek.
“It gives me that atmosphere and environment that I had for 20 years of my life,” she said. “I tell the girls, ‘You guys are bringing so much joy back into my life because I get to see you guys every day.’
“It’s just a bunch of girls who have the same goal. I haven’t been around that since I was at Wisconsin.”
The Redwings (24-4), who are the No. 1 seed in the Class 4A East Aurora Sectional and are ranked No. 5 in the poll by The Associated Press, are thrilled to be coached by a former Big Ten player and program legend.
“She’s very personable, so when she first came in, we clicked really quick,” Benet senior center Emma Briggs said. “It didn’t take us long to become friends, and I trust her a lot.
“Every time I’m looking for advice, I go straight to her, and she’s very understanding. If I have any issues, she will understand and explain it to me in the easiest way for me to understand.”
Benet’s Brooke Schramek (3) dribbles the ball up the court as Hononegah’s Cali Schmitz (22) tries to knock it away during the Class 4A third-place game at Redbird Arena in Normal on Saturday, March 2, 2019. (Brian O’Mahoney / Naperville Sun)
Schramek and the Furman-bound Briggs have much in common. Both are guards who had to play in the post for the Redwings, and they have similar personalities.
“I always tell Emma, ‘You are me in high school,’” Schramek said. “Talking to Emma, I see so many similarities to myself.
“It is so weird. It’s like I’m talking to my younger self. Even some other girls on the team will be like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s such an Emma comment. You two are so similar.’”
Both have been team captains known for their work ethic and drive to excel.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Briggs said. “She’s kind of just coach Brooke to us, not so much that she started three years at Wisconsin.
“But you can tell that she was that high of a caliber player. She practices with us and pushes us to get better. She shows up everyone, but it helps me a lot because it shows me what type of player I should be.”
The Redwings have been dealing with several injuries recently, so Schramek’s ability to play with the scout team during practice has been vital.
“There have been days where we didn’t have 10 live bodies, so Brooke was able to jump in and play, which is great,” Kilbride said. “It changes the whole dynamic of the second team when Brooke Schramek is part of it.”
The dynamic between Schramek and Briggs has been especially helpful.
“In practice, I’ll be guarding Emma and say, ‘Hey, make this cut. If you can post up on me and do this, you’ll be good,’” Schramek said. “Or if she’s guarding me, I’ll make a read, and she’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t even think of making that read for that play.’
“That has helped her as an all-around basketball player. Emma definitely has a special place in my heart because she’s me in the past.”
Is more coaching in Schramek’s future? Kilbride hopes so.
“We’ll take whatever we can get from her for as long as we can get it,” Kilbride said. “I’m just incredibly grateful that she’s here. She’s making the season better for everyone.”
Benet assistant Brooke Schramek, right, laughs with Emma Briggs during a nonconference game against York in Elmhurst on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (James C. Svehla / Naperville Sun)
Schramek said coaching is making her better.
“This is definitely something I will keep doing,” she said. “It’s been awesome with these girls.
“I tell them, ‘Let’s soak in all the experience. You never know what your last opportunity is, so every day, play like it’s your last game. Soak in every moment.’”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/16/benet-high-school-basketball-brooke-schramek/
Sospechoso de tiroteo masivo en festival judío en Sydney comparece ante corte
Associated Press
SYDNEY (AP) — Un hombre acusado de matar a 15 personas en un tiroteo masivo durante un festival judío en la playa Bondi de Sydney compareció por primera vez ante la corte el lunes desde que fue dado de alta del hospital.
Naveed Akram compareció ante la Corte de Downing Center de Sydney mediante un enlace de video desde el Centro Correccional de Goulburn, de máxima seguridad, a 200 kilómetros (120 millas) de distancia.
No presentó declaraciones de culpabilidad o inocencia respecto de los cargos en su contra, entre ellos asesinato y cometer un acto terrorista. La breve comparecencia se centró en prorrogar una orden de silencio que impide divulgar las identidades de víctimas y sobrevivientes del ataque que no han optado por identificarse públicamente.
El abogado defensor Ben Archbold dijo a los periodistas fuera del tribunal que Akram se encontraba tan bien como cabía esperar y que era demasiado pronto para indicar cualquier intención sobre cómo se declarará.
Akram, de 24 años, resultó herido y su padre, Sajid Akram, de 50, murió en un enfrentamiento con la policía tras el ataque a una celebración de Hanukkah en la playa el 14 de diciembre.
Está previsto que Naveed Akram comparezca nuevamente ante la corte el 9 de abril.
La investigación policial es una de tres indagaciones oficiales que examinan el peor presunto ataque terrorista de Australia y el peor tiroteo masivo del país en 29 años.
Una de ellas se centra en las interacciones entre las fuerzas del orden y las agencias de inteligencia antes del ataque, que presuntamente estuvo inspirado por el grupo Estado Islámico.
Una comisión real, la forma más alta de investigación pública, indagará la naturaleza, la prevalencia y los factores que impulsan el antisemitismo en general, así como las circunstancias del tiroteo en Bondi. ___
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Alemania promete mantener apoyo a Líbano tras la salida de cascos azules
Por BASSEM MROUE
BEIRUT (AP) — Alemania le aseguró al Líbano el lunes que apoyará al país incluso después de retirar a los militares alemanes desplegados como parte de los cascos azules de la ONU en la frontera con Israel, cuando su misión concluya más adelante este año.
El presidente alemán Frank-Walter Steinmeier hizo el anuncio durante una conferencia de prensa en el palacio presidencial cerca de Beirut. La marina alemana, manifestó el mandatario, ya está entrenando a tropas libanesas mientras refuerzan su presencia en el sur del país tras la guerra de 14 meses entre Israel y el grupo político paramilitar libanés, Hezbollah.
La misión de la Fuerza Provisional de las Naciones Unidas para el Líbano (UNIFIL) concluye a finales de 2026, casi cinco décadas después de su despliegue. La fuerza ha desempeñado un papel importante en el monitoreo de la situación de seguridad en la región, incluso durante la guerra entre Israel y Hezbollah el año pasado.
En los últimos meses, Beirut ha dicho que Líbano necesitará una fuerza de seguimiento para llenar el vacío en el sur libanés una vez que se retiren los cascos azules de la ONU.
“Tras el fin de la misión de la UNIFIL, Alemania permanecerá al lado de su país para reforzar la autoridad del Estado”, declaró Steinmeier sin dar más detalles. Es poco probable que las tropas alemanas —encargadas de impedir el contrabando de armas por mar y de ayudar al ejército libanés a vigilar la frontera marítima del país— permanezcan en Líbano.
La UNIFIL cuenta actualmente con unos 7.500 efectivos de paz, incluidos 179 alemanes.
“Las fuerzas armadas libanesas son, por supuesto, la columna vertebral de la estabilidad en Líbano y esto significa que, después de la misión de la UNIFIL, tenemos que pensar cómo fortalecer” al ejército, señaló Steinmeier.
Añadió que el proceso de desarmar a Hezbollah —que formó parte de un alto el fuego negociado por Estados Unidos en noviembre de 2024 que detuvo los combates— debe avanzar y que Israel debería retirarse por completo del territorio libanés.
El presidente libanés Joseph Aoun dijo que Líbano pagó un alto precio por la guerra entre Hezbollah e Israel, que el grupo armado inició al disparar cohetes contra Israel un día después de que el grupo miliciano palestino Hamás atacó el sur de Israel el 7 de octubre de 2023, lo que desencadenó la guerra en Gaza.
Israel amplió sus ataques, que incluyeron bombardeos y una operación terrestre, en septiembre de 2024, debilitando gravemente a Hezbollah.
El conflicto entre Israel y Hezbollah mató a más de 4.000 personas en Líbano, incluidos cientos de civiles, y causó daños y destrucción estimados en 11.000 millones de dólares, según el Banco Mundial. En Israel, murieron 127 personas, incluidos 80 soldados.
“Nos vimos obligados a vivir conflictos violentos que no elegimos y cargamos con sus consecuencias. Ya no podemos hacerlo”, señaló Aoun sobre la guerra entre Israel y Hezbollah.
También dijo que le pidió a Steinmeier que Alemania asuma un “papel principal” después de la UNIFIL, sin detallar qué implicaría eso, y que también le pida a Israel que respete el alto el fuego y se retire de Líbano. No mencionó la retirada de Hezbollah del sur del país.
_______
Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
Macron’s AI Clown Show: Europe’s Digital Dilemma
Macron’s AI Clown Show: Europe’s Digital Dilemma
Submitted by Thomas Kolbe
The European Union has lost its place in the global race for artificial intelligence. In a single tweet on platform X, France’s President Emmanuel Macron inadvertently outlined the convoluted situation while simultaneously revealing his personal emotional fragility.
The leading representatives of the European Union like to present themselves as emotionless technocrats. Maintaining the greatest possible distance from citizens, they execute their agenda of societal transformation toward what they understand as a net-zero transformation economy.
This ostentatious distance from the citizenry acts as a simulacrum of power, which, in politicians like Emmanuel Macron, often veers into the caricatural.
Macron’s striking presence in foreign affairs—whether regarding the Ukraine war or recurring provocations toward the United States—correlates with his aggressive censorship policy toward his own population. A president without a people, steering his minority government through a budgetary crisis that brings France ever closer to the fiscal abyss.
In Macron’s persona, the European misstep is condensed: economically failed, deeply unpopular among his own people, geopolitically essentially irrelevant—and yet imbued with lofty, messianic plans.
This performative play of power, coupled with hardly disguised impotence and incompetence, inevitably produces an effect that can be described as clownish. It is the expression of a political style that can no longer reconcile claim with reality—and thus delivers less leadership than a tragicomic performance.
A Touch of Emotion
Politicians like the French president are indeed aware of the growing public anger over their policies and, behind the technocratic façade, very much experience emotional states—Macron revealed this for a brief moment on February 7 on the platform “X,” which he otherwise fights.
This moment of exposure was triggered by a reaction to Israeli AI investor Dr. Eli David. The entrepreneur had ridiculed the French government’s plan to initiate an AI revolution with a mere initial investment of €30 million, publicly calling the president a “clown.”
“This clown wants to make France an AI leader with €30M.”
€30 million → to attract and support around forty top-tier international researchers. They chose France for its values and its commitment to science.
Sometimes it’s too slow…… pic.twitter.com/UHlSpIIaI9
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 7, 2026
Macron responded in classic social media fashion: fast, unconsidered, emotional. And this was precisely the real revelation. His message not only displayed personal fragility but simultaneously exposed Europe’s fatal economic strategy in the field of artificial intelligence.
Macron directly addressed David’s criticism and slid into a rhetorical trap, writing: Yes, exactly this “clown,” meaning himself, would trigger an investment boom with €30 million, eventually mobilizing over €100 billion in private funds. Macron plans a French Silicon Valley south of Paris and intends to catapult his country to the Olympus of artificial intelligence—with €30 million of state money, initially benefiting those who provide the technological framework for the upcoming rollout of digital IDs.
“This clown wants to make France an AI leader with €30M.”
€30 million → to attract and support around forty top-tier international researchers. They chose France for its values and its commitment to science.
Sometimes it’s too slow…… pic.twitter.com/UHlSpIIaI9
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 7, 2026
In this sentence, Europe’s dilemma crystallized: self-assurance and denial, the familiar pathos of EU Europeans combined with an astonishing detachment from reality—and a political style that reveals more about Europe’s position in the global AI race than any sober analysis could.
Those familiar with the codes, memes, and recurring keywords of digital platforms understand the significance of this label. When “clown world” or “clown politics” is mentioned, it refers precisely to the comedy we witness daily: the routine evasion of European top politicians from the consequences of their centrally controlled policies—be it economic and industrial policy, migration, or the grotesquely perceived energy policy.
The clown meme condenses the cynically self-ironic perception of the viewer of this comedy—a viewer aware that they are not only the target of these policies but will ultimately bear their consequences.
Clown politics takes many forms. These include the countless crisis or innovation summits in which politicians stage themselves retroactively as initiators of the new, attempting to position themselves at the forefront of developments they have ignored or actively obstructed for decades.
These summits are a particularly pernicious form of masking incompetence: political self-validation rituals simulating activity while merely covering up structural stagnation.
Another Lost Year
It has been almost exactly one year since Emmanuel Macron, at the AI conference Choose France, presented his megalomaniac-seeming investment initiative. Over €100 billion in private investment pledges were said to have been mobilized, with asset manager Brookfield promising more than €20 billion, and the UAE sovereign wealth fund with €50 billion, to participate in Macron’s Silicon Valley. To this day—nothing has happened.
As elsewhere in the EU, a Kafkaesque thicket of regulation seriously blocks private-sector engagement. At least France could score points thanks to nuclear power: stable, cheap, ideal for energy-hungry data centers. And Germany? Its locational advantage has been squandered in green delusions. Yet France remains trapped in paralyzing stagnation—announcements fade, visions fizzle, and the digital Silicon Valley appears like an illusion from the bureaucratic dream factory.
The contrast with the United States could hardly be starker. There, around $400 billion in private investments in artificial intelligence and data centers were mobilized last year alone. The infrastructure of the data economy of the future is being built in the United States, where President Donald Trump deregulates markets, cuts taxes, and promotes the comeback of nuclear energy.
Notably, major US data center operators—from Meta to Google—have already begun investing in their own energy sources. This not only stabilizes their business models but also the American energy grid. It is an impressive counterpoint from the private sector to Brussels’ statist economic model, where technological ignorance seems almost cultivated.
Europe’s idea of state seed funding and centrally planned market regulation is the real problem.
European society has drifted too far from the principles of market economy, personal responsibility, and a general culture of initiative in business. Bureaucracy, green socialism, and the decades-long cultural struggle against bourgeois values and roots now bear their rotten fruits. The spirit of EU bureaucracy has warped the perception of economic reality for citizens, entrepreneurs, and the political class alike.
New technologies and innovations are no longer understood as opportunities but as reasons to defensively secure the status quo. This psychopolitical consequence of European bureaucratization weighs like lead on the prosperity and productivity of European economies—with consequences that even French presidents in combative cynic mode on “X” cannot hide.
* * *
About the author: Thomas Kolbe, a German graduate economist, has worked for over 25 years as a journalist and media producer for clients from various industries and business associations. As a publicist, he focuses on economic processes and observes geopolitical events from the perspective of the capital markets. His publications follow a philosophy that focuses on the individual and their right to self-determination.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/16/2026 – 08:10
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/macrons-ai-clown-show-europes-digital-dilemma
Amid Saber-Rattling, Iran Touts Economic Benefits To West If Nuclear Deal Reached
Amid Saber-Rattling, Iran Touts Economic Benefits To West If Nuclear Deal Reached
Days ahead of another round of talks with US negotiators — and on the heels of more saber-rattling by the Trump administration — Iran is touting the potential mutual economic benefits of a deal that would terminate the West’s long-running sanctions regime against the second-largest and second-most-populous country in the Middle East.
“For the sake of an agreement’s durability, it is essential that the U.S. also benefits in areas with high and quick economic returns,” said Iranian Deputy Director for Economic Diplomacy Hamid Ghanbari on Sunday, according to Iran’s FARS news agency. He said that, during negotiations, there had been discussion of what FARS called “shared interests in the fields of oil, gas, mining and even aircraft purchases.”
An IranAir Airbus A330 lands in Amsterdam (Nicolas Economou/ Nurphoto via Getty and Forbes)
Sanctions have long thwarted Iran’s need to update the country’s passenger jet fleets. After the 2015 nuclear deal was reached and sanctions eased, Iran raced to put in orders for new aircraft from Western suppliers. When President Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal — despite Iran’s full compliance with it — Boeing instantly lost $20 billion worth of business.
Oil prices were flat in early-Monday global trading. “With both sides expected to hold firm on their core red lines, expectations are low that a deal can be reached and this is likely to be the calm before the storm,” IG analyst Tony Sycamore told Yahoo.
Oman is set to mediate talks in Geneva this week. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is leading the Iranian delegation, while the US delegation will be headed by Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. Ahead of the talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his sixth US meeting with Trump in just the last year. Netanyahu continues to push for terms that guarantee Iranian refusals and thus set the stage for more war.
Those poison-pill demands include Iran ceasing all uranium enrichment and — preposterously — dismantling the conventional, ballistic missile program that proved so effective in responding to Israel’s initiation of war last June. Trump reportedly told Netanyahu in December that he’d back Israeli strikes on Iran’s ballistic missiles program if a new deal isn’t reached.
President Trump holds Prime Minister Netanyahu’s chair during a 2025 visit to the White House
In May 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal that had been negotiated between Iran and various Western governments and signed in 2015. Under that deal — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — Iran agreed to a wide array of nuclear safeguards. They included eliminating its medium-enriched uranium, reducing its low-enriched uranium inventory by 98%, capping future enrichment at 3.67%, slashing its number of centrifuges, submitting to enhanced external monitoring, and rendering its heavy-water reactor unusable by pouring concrete in it.
At the time of Trump’s withdrawal, Iran was in full compliance, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. In response to the re-imposition of US sanctions, Iran began straying from its own commitments under the deal, seemingly pushing the only lever it had to bring the deal back and get out from under sanctions that have sapped Iran’s economy and inflicted a harsh toll on innocent Iranian citizens.
On Friday, Reuters reported that the Pentagon is preparing for a “sustained, weeks-long military campaign” against Iran if President Trump gives the green light. That news came as a second American aircraft carrier was making its way to the region. The USS Gerald Ford — the world’s largest — will join the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is already on station. Before receiving its new orders, the Ford had been operating in the Caribbean after being abruptly redeployed from the Mediterranean — part of an earlier show of force tied to posturing against Venezuela.
Tyler Durden
Mon, 02/16/2026 – 07:45
