Category: News
Powered by women, ‘Wuthering Heights’ digs up $34.8 million at the box office for a No. 1 debut
Emerald Fennell’s bold reimagining of “Wuthering Heights” brought crowds of women to movie theaters this weekend. The Warner Bros. release topped the box office charts and nabbed the title for the year’s biggest opening with $34.8 million in ticket sales in its first three days in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. According to PostTrak polling, an estimated 76% of those ticket buyers were women. By the end of Monday’s Presidents Day holiday, the total could rise to $40 million from its 3,682 locations.
The romantic drama starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as the star-crossed Catherine and Heathcliff, won out over the weekend’s other newcomers, including the animated “GOAT” and the heist thriller “Crime 101.” Its biggest day was Saturday’s Valentine’s Day holiday, where it earned $14 million. “Wuthering Heights” is also performing even better internationally, where it’s expecting to rake in an additional $42 million from 76 territories.
The Warner Bros./MRC production cost a reported $80 million to produce, not accounting for the millions spent on marketing and promotion. If the four-day totals match the estimates, that makes for a strong $82 million global debut. And the film still has several big openings on the horizon, in Japan and Vietnam on Feb. 27, and in China on March 13.
The success comes while the future of Warner Bros. hangs in the balance, as Paramount continues to sweeten its hostile takeover bid in hopes of winning out over Netflix. “Wuthering Heights” is the studio’s ninth No. 1 opening in a row.
Fennell’s version of “Wuthering Heights,” which takes many liberties with Emily Brontë’s novel, largely divided critics. It’s currently sitting at a mixed 63% on Rotten Tomatoes. While that didn’t dissuade audiences from buying tickets, only 51% of the opening weekend audience said that they would “definitely recommend” the film to friends. Moviegoers also gave it a less-than-stellar B CinemaScore.
The mid-February weekend has hosted big superhero movies on occasion, including “Black Panther” and “Deadpool,” but a more relevant comparison is “Fifty Shades of Grey” and its two sequels. The first movie opened to over $85 million, the third to $38.6 million.
“This was a solid if not record-breaking Presidents Day/Valentines weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, who heads marketplace trends for Comscore. “But that was to be expected without an MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) film.”
“GOAT,” an animated Sony release produced by basketball star Stephen Curry, landed in second place with an estimated $26 million from 3,863 locations. It’s projected to bring in another $6 million on Monday, which would bring its four day total to $32 million — the biggest animated debut since “Elemental” in 2023. It also pulled in $15.6 million internationally, bringing its global total to $47.6 million.
The family-friendly film was the only new opener of the weekend to get an A CinemaScore. Sony Pictures Animation was also behind “KPop Demon Hunters.”
In third place, “Crime 101” made an estimated $15.1 million in its first three days. Amazon MGM Studios opened the Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo led Los Angeles-set thriller in 3,161 theaters. It’s expected to pull in about $17.8 million by the end of Monday, but the movie has a long way to go to even hit its production budget, which reportedly exceeded $90 million. Audiences, who were 56% men, also gave “Crime 101” a B CinemaScore.
“Send Help” and “Solo Mio” rounded out the top five with $9 million and $6.4 million, respectively. Further down the charts, at No. 7, was Briarcliff Entertainment’s sci-fi comedy “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die,” starring Sam Rockwell and Haley Lu Richardson. It made an estimated $3.6 million from 1,610 locations.
The Walt Disney Studios also celebrated a milestone this weekend, becoming the first studio to cross $1 billion at the global box office in 2026, driven almost entirely by “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” but also helped by the continued success of “Zootopia 2,” which remains in the top 10 after twelve weekends in theaters.
The weekend is down significantly from the same weekend last year, when “Captain America: Brave New World” opened, but the pace is starting to pick up and theaters have “Scream 7” and “Project Hail Mary” on the horizon.
“It’s been a rather slow first quarter,” Dergarabedian said. “But this could ignite a spark at the box office.”
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Tuesday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Wuthering Heights,” $34.8 million.
2. “GOAT,” $26 million.
3. “Crime 101,” $15.1 million.
4. “Send Help,” $9 million.
5. “Solo Mio,” $6.4 million.
6. “Zootopia 2,” $3.8 million.
7. “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die,” $3.6 million.
8. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $3.3 million.
9. “Iron Lung,” $3.1 million.
10. “Dracula,” $3 million.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/15/wuthering-heights-box-office/
BP responds to second oil sheen on same inactive pipeline in Munster months apart
BP responded to an oil sheen and odor from an abandoned pipeline in Munster last month about a half mile away from a similar situation on the same system in August, officials said.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management was notified Jan. 6 of an “oil sheen” from an abandoned pipeline in Munster, said IDEM communications director Allen Carter. He confirmed the location of the sheen was a half mile away from an incident that occurred in August in the Cobblestones neighborhood.
BP received odor complaints near two inactive pipelines on Jan. 6 and responded the same day, said BP spokesman Cesar Rodriguez in a statement.
“During our investigation, crews discovered a sheen in a stormwater catch basin and ultimately secured the source of the release. The ongoing work is focused on mitigating future events,” Rodriguez said in the statement. “The safety of our responders, the community and the environment remains our highest priority.”
In a letter to IDEM, Adam Tokarski, environmental coordinator with BP, wrote that the company found “a petroleum sheen” from an abandoned 10-inch pipeline infiltrating into a detention pond and outfall behind the homes on the 10000 block of Somerset Drive.
“The incident involved the detection of hydrocarbon odors and sheen in the storm sewer leading to a response involving BP and our contractors,” Tokarski wrote.
When BP crews identified the oil and the smell, BP coordinated with the Munster Fire Department and Munster Sewer Department, Tokarski wrote.
In response, BP installed sorbent booms within the storm sewer and at downstream outfalls to collect and control the oil with routine inspection and replacement, Tokarski wrote. BP crews also monitored the air, he wrote.
Crews assessed 10-inch and 12-inch pipelines in the area “to remove residual liquids,” Tokarski wrote.
In total, 9,412 gallons of crude oil and water were removed from the 10-inch pipeline through Feb. 4, Tokarski wrote. The 12-inch pipeline was inspected but did not contain free liquids, he wrote.
“Based on field documentation, crude oil and water were successfully removed from abandoned pipeline segments and residual product migration into the storm sewer system has been controlled,” Tokarski wrote. “No confirmed impacts to Hart Drive or downstream waters were observed after controls were implemented, and air monitoring data confirmed that no exceedances of established action levels had occurred.”
BP officials addressed community concerns “through direct engagement and clear explanations of monitoring results,” Tokarski wrote. Residents didn’t need to evacuate and no long-term health risks were identified based on the findings, he wrote.
On Feb. 10, BP’s remediation management group began installing wells along the pipeline at the right-of-way of St. James Place to assess subsurface conditions near the pipeline and “provide a method to recover impacted groundwater, if observed,” Tokarski wrote.
The Munster Fire Department posted a Facebook update on Saturday that BP crews have removed the span of an inactive pipeline over Hart Ditch and will start backfilling midway through this week in the Somerset and Briar Creek subdivisions. Odors may be detected in the area and BP has set up air monitoring, the update stated.
A BP official told the Post-Tribune that residents will see heavy machinery around the worksites and may hear noise from the construction. The official said landscaping on the work sites is being planned based on temperature and other conditions.
Throughout the work, IDEM and local authorities have been notified, the official said.
“BP coordinated this response that successfully mitigated crude oil migration into the storm sewer system. Response actions prioritized public safety, environmental protection and regulatory compliance. Based on monitoring results and completed controls, the incident was stabilized with no ongoing risk to the surrounding community or environment,” Tokarski wrote.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/15/bp-responds-to-second-oil-sheen/
Review: ‘Hamnet’ is a powerful story of grief and love, rendered on stage by Royal Shakespeare
Chloé Zhao’s Oscar-worthy movie “Hamnet” strikes me as a very mixed blessing for Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company, now back at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier with a Stateside premiere of that title, kicking off a short national tour that now goes to Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.
On the one hand, the attendant publicity only builds on the widespread popularity of the beautiful Maggie O’Farrell novel from 2020, surely boosting demand for this production. Royal Shakespeare’s 2023 production of Lolita Chakrabarti’s adaptation for the stage transferred to the West End and was a huge U.K. hit for the venerable Shakespeare-centered company.
On the other hand, though, it invites comparison with what was, for my money, the best movie I saw last year, replete with arguably (well, inarguably to me) the two best lead performances from Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, actors with emotional wells so deep as to make you fear they will never resurface.
This is a critical dilemma for me. I’ve always tried to avoid comparing stage productions with movies on the grounds that any such ranking is unfair to actors and directors, the two mediums being different beasts and, since few folks are seeing both, irrelevant to most readers. But I cannot unsee a movie that had such a profound impact on me and struck me, fundamentally, as the most powerful tribute to what mothers did, and do, for their children that I’d ever seen in a fictional story.
I saw the film, which has a screenplay by both Zhao and O’Farrell, with my family (I have two sons who think they are grown), and I recall being suddenly upset that they seemed not to notice that revelation. At the same time, I also wanted them to understand the film’s message (drawn, of course, from the novel) about the redemptive power of drama — or if you prefer, storytelling, and how that is the best tool I know to cope with devastating loss. It offers the bereft the possibility of transformation; something William Shakespeare, the most famous Briton ever to live, understood only late in his life.
“Hamnet” is about not only Shakespeare’s growing understanding of that truth, but that of his wife, here rendered as Agnes Hathaway. The plot draws to some degree from the shards of the confirmable Shakespearean biography but mostly is fictionalized. It’s a riff on the idea, common among anyone who loves Shakespeare, that the well-documented loss of his titular real-life child not only led Shakespeare to a profound understanding of grief, visible in all his plays, but may have led to much of what is explored in his masterpiece, “Hamlet.” (Don’t get hung up on the names; the spellings were used interchangeably.)
We see this couple court and meet, her enigmatic self often providing him with plot ideas for his later plays, and then have children in rural England. Not all survive, as was common in the era. Shakespeare leaves to go to London to pursue his muse and Agnes shoulders the tough slog of everyday parenting. After their mutual losses become overwhelming, Agnes finally makes it to London to see what her husband has been writing.
In the far more hopeful movie, William and Agnes are deeply in love and you believe in their ability to transcend pain. In the RSC’s stage version, at least with a leading duo that does not feel especially vulnerable or emotionally connected to each other, not so much. And whatever else you are doing or not doing with this particular title, that has to be the first priority, not mutual distrust or even anger at circumstance or at the rank unfairness and inequities of life, tempting and viable as those avenues may be.
There is no question that director Erica Whyman’s staging is highly creative, utilizing a mostly skeletal set from Tom Piper and injecting an admirable fluidity into the storytelling. Led by Kemi-Bo Jacobs and Rory Alexander, the cast of more than a dozen is highly kinetic and the work is as technically adept and centered on the body as you’d expect from the world’s leading classical theater company. (Troy Alexander, who plays Bartholomew, is especially good, as are Ava Hinds-Jones, who plays Susanna, and Nigel Barrett, playing William’s embittered father.) I am no fan of the constant use of exhaled breaths as part of a soundtrack, perhaps because these days it feels like a devised-work cliché, but much theatrical creativity unfolds before your eyes, including some fine young performers who are the future of this company.
Saffron Dey and Ajani Cabey in “Hamnet” at Chicago Shakespeare Theater by the Royal Shakespeare Company. (Kyle Flubacker)
But it feels at times like Chakrabarti’s adaptation, which has a more contemporary point of view and is far more cynical about both Shakespeare’s genius and his partnership with Agnes than the novel, actually works against O’Farrell’s determination to advocate the Stephen Sondheim view of life that love is an existential need for all of us and that children and art are the only immortal things truly worth leaving behind. The film comes with the capacity to heal; this stage version, not so much, especially since the crucial conclusionary catharsis did not rise with sufficient stakes on opening night, to my disappointment.
But then a reader might conclude I came in with some pre-determined ideas of what this should all be about. Guilty as charged on this occasion (rare, I swear), and if you are not so poisoned, you likely will have a more rewarding evening with some of Chicago’s most welcome visitors.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “Hamnet” (3 stars)
When: Through March 8
Where: The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave.
Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Tickets: $58-$149 at 312-595-5600 and chicagoshakes.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/15/review-hamnet-chicago-shakespeare/
Petro acepta propuesta de rebeldes de crear comisión que investigue posibles lazos con narcotráfico
Por MANUEL RUEDA
BOGOTÁ (AP) — El presidente colombiano Gustavo Petro indicó el domingo que aceptará una propuesta del mayor grupo rebelde que aún permanece activo en el país para permitir que una comisión independiente investigue los presuntos vínculos del grupo con el narcotráfico.
La propuesta se hizo en un video publicado el 20 de enero por Antonio García, el jefe del Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN). En el video, García afirmó que, si bien los rebeldes imponen un impuesto a los comerciantes de cocaína, no operan rutas de narcotráfico ni laboratorios de cocaína.
“El ELN no tiene que ver nada con el narcotráfico”, aseveró en el video García, que desafió al gobierno a permitir que una comisión independiente verifique las afirmaciones del grupo.
En un mensaje en X el domingo, Petro indicó que aceptará la propuesta y añadió que el grupo que verifique las afirmaciones de los rebeldes debería ser “debe ser científico e independiente a gobiernos” y que deberá entregar sus conclusiones a Naciones Unidas. Petro también instó a los rebeldes a respaldar los esfuerzos para reemplazar los cultivos de coca en la región nororiental del Catatumbo.
El presidente de Colombia ha acusado durante mucho tiempo a los rebeldes de lucrarse del narcotráfico, y ha calificado a su dirigencia como “traquetos (narcotraficantes) vestidos de revolucionarios”.
La presunta relación del grupo con el narcotráfico fue uno de los temas que impidieron que las conversaciones de paz avanzaran en los dos primeros años del gobierno de Petro.
Las conversaciones de paz entre ambas partes finalmente se rompieron el año pasado después que el ELN emprendiera una ofensiva en el Catatumbo en la que decenas de personas murieron y más de 50.000 se vieron obligadas a huir de sus hogares.
El ELN señaló en enero que le gustaría trabajar con el gobierno en un “acuerdo nacional” que permita reanudar las negociaciones.
Pero Petro ha dicho que sólo reanudará las conversaciones con el grupo cuando abandone el narcotráfico.
El ELN fue fundado a comienzos de la década de 1960 y cuenta con aproximadamente 5.000 combatientes en Colombia y en la vecina Venezuela.
El control del ELN sobre comunidades rurales a lo largo de la frontera de Colombia con Venezuela ha aumentado en los últimos años, a medida que llena un vacío de poder dejado por las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), el grupo rebelde que se desmovilizó en 2017 tras firmar un acuerdo de paz con el gobierno de Colombia.
Funcionarios colombianos dijeron en enero que, en una llamada con el presidente Donald Trump, discutieron la posibilidad de llevar a cabo ataques contra el ELN con la ayuda del ejército de Estados Unidos.
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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.
Pentagon Gaming Out “Sustained, Weeks-Long Military Campaign” Against Iran Which Could Open Pandora’s Box
Pentagon Gaming Out “Sustained, Weeks-Long Military Campaign” Against Iran Which Could Open Pandora’s Box
The Pentagon is preparing for a “sustained, weeks-long military campaign” against Iran if President Trump gives the green light, according to fresh reporting in Reuters which cites two US officials.
The scenario under review envisions a far broader conflict than last June’s 12-day war, when the US and Israel launched strikes on the Islamic Republic. But some who better remember the recent Iraq and Afghan wars say it won’t just be “weeks” – but any major Iran action has the likelihood of becoming a much lengthier and bloodier than envisioned quagmire.
Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The report comes after Washington and Tehran resumed indirect talks in Oman last week – also as Israel is pressing for Iran to dismantle not only its nuclear program but also its ballistic missile arsenal – the same capability Tehran used to strike back at Tel Aviv in June.
Even as some White House officials have touted the idea of ‘limited’ strikes on Iran, akin to the swift and easy Venezuela operation which ousted Nicolás Maduro, Pentagon planners are being more realistic in admitting immediate Iranian retaliation would sustain the conflict, making it “more complex”.
From the heart of the Reuters article…
The planning under way this time is more complex, the officials said. In a sustained campaign, the U.S. military could hit Iranian state and security facilities, not just nuclear infrastructure, one of the officials said. The official declined to provide specific details.
Experts say the risks to U.S. forces would be far greater in such an operation against Iran, which boasts a formidable arsenal of missiles. Retaliatory Iranian strikes also increase the risk of a regional conflict.
The same official said the United States fully expected Iran to retaliate, leading to back-and-forth strikes and reprisals over time.
Trump of course ran on a campaign to end the forever wars and to not start any new ones, especially in the Middle East, where Washington has had a horrible and blood-stained track record. ‘Blowback’ also defined the period of the ‘global war on terror’ – as groups like ISIS arose in the wake of toppling Saddam Hussein and destabilizing places like Libya and Syria.
Whether Trump is pursuing diplomacy or using negotiations as cover for renewed military action remains an open question, and talks based on Oman are expected to continue this coming week.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the president has “all options on the table” and will decide on war based on national security interests, also at a moment Congress is as usual asleep at the wheel, despite a couple of efforts to reign in War Powers which have quickly failed.
As for the ‘option’ of a large-scale attack, Pentagon leadership is still cautious on this, given US assets are still being put in place in the CENTOM region, also as a second carrier – the USS Gerald R. Ford – is still en route from the Caribbean.
“Defensively, we’ve got to make sure, before we do anything [that US defenses are in order,” said Gen. Joseph Votel, former head of US Central Command. “So we are prepared for the inevitable response that comes back against US interests or against our partners.” The NY Times has also lately described the effort as “putting one’s house in order.”
Are US dialogue and peace efforts for real this time? Or another ruse to lull the Iranians into thinking it want suffer surprise attack…
Rubio on Iran:
We’re dealing with radical Shia clerics.
We’re dealing with people who make geopolitical decisions on the basis of pure theology.
No one’s ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran, but we’re going to try. pic.twitter.com/Au2sOygybZ
— Clash Report (@clashreport) February 15, 2026
Meanwhile, a note via Peter Tchir’s Academy Securities:
“I do believe that before any kinetic action occurs, there would need to be greater consultation with regional allies. For now, the Arab Gulf countries are more comfortable with the weakened devil they know in Tehran than potential chaos in the region, a disruption in oil prices, and investor jitters, not to mention the probability that any Iranian retaliation is likely to include attacks on their soil.” – Linda Weissgold, Former CIA Deputy Director for Analysis
But again, this notion that a military campaign would just take “weeks” (and not months or even years)… is precisely the lie that was floated about the Iraq and Afghan interventions – both which turned into two decade plus nightmares.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 02/15/2026 – 14:35
Anthony Kim gana el LIV Golf Adelaida en un notable regreso a su carrera
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Anthony Kim salió de un remolque del PGA Tour en Quail Hollow y se dirigió directamente al estacionamiento el 4 de mayo de 2012. Metió sus palos en el maletero y se fue conduciendo, desapareciendo del golf y de la vista pública durante 12 años.
Kim regresó por completo el domingo en Australia, lleno de energía para culminar una remontada asombrosa —no solo en la ronda final de LIV Golf Adelaide, sino en la vida—. A cinco golpes de Jon Rahm y Bryson DeChambeau, cerró con una tarjeta de 63, 9 bajo par, para su primera victoria en casi 16 años.
Ofreció un espectáculo electrizante, con reacciones de patadas al aire y puños alzados, con sus cuatro birdies consecutivos ante la galería más numerosa y ruidosa de la temporada en LIV.
“Soy demasiado viejo para estar reaccionando así, porque creo que me lastimé algo en la cadera”, bromeó Kim, de 40 años. “Pero diré que eso fue por todos los momentos bajos que atravesé en mi vida y de los que tuve que salir. Con cada putt que entraba sentía la lucha y que la estaba superando. Fue terapéutico estar ahí afuera, pelear a través de eso y terminar arriba”.
Esas luchas incluyen una adicción a las drogas y al alcohol tan grave que Kim considera un pequeño milagro que siga con vida. Está casado y tiene una hija de 4 años, Bella, que corrió hacia el green del hoyo 18 en The Grange Golf Club y se lanzó a sus brazos.
“Poder compartir este momento —aunque Bella no lo entienda, algún día lo hará— y que ella pueda correr al green y ver que su papá no es un perdedor fue uno de los momentos más especiales de mi vida”, expresó.
LIV Golf se arriesgó al invitar a Kim en 2024 y a menudo terminó en el fondo de los pequeños grupos de participantes. La temporada pasada no fue mucho mejor, aunque mostró señales de progreso —“1% mejor cada día” es su lema— hacia el final del año.
Quedó fuera de la liga financiada por el fondo saudí. Empató en el quinto lugar en el Saudi International. Tuvo que disputar un torneo clasificatorio el mes pasado solo para conseguir otra temporada en el LIV Tour.
Quizá el impulso final de confianza: Dustin Johnson incorporó a Kim a su equipo 4 Aces cuando Patrick Reed decidió dejar la liga.
La victoria por tres golpes sobre Rahm fue tan grande como cualquier momento en LIV, en un periodo en el que la liga perdió a dos de sus nombres más importantes: Brooks Koepka y Reed. Para Kim, lo único que importaba era cerrar el círculo.
“Sé que los medios generales no lo van a mencionar”, indicó, debido a que su triunfo ocurre en medio de los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno, las 500 Millas de Daytona y el Juego de Estrellas de la NBA.
“Pero para la gente que sí se entere, quiero ser un buen ejemplo”, añadió. “Diría que no fui la mejor persona, la mejor pareja, el mejor hijo que podía ser cuando era más joven. Pero quien soy hoy es una persona completamente distinta. Con Dios, mi familia y mi sobriedad como cosas clave en mi vida, puedo llegar tan lejos como quiera”.
Jugando con pantalones cortos negros —con calcetines negros hasta media pantorrilla y zapatos blancos— ante una gran multitud en un día soleado en The Grange, Kim alcanzó a Rahm tras nueve hoyos y luego se despegó. Miles de espectadores lo siguieron por el fairway del 18 cuando culminó su día increíble.
Fue su primera victoria desde el Houston Open de 2010, la última de sus tres conquistas en la Gira de la PGA. Su mejor resultado en el LIV había sido el puesto 22 la semana pasada en Arabia Saudí. Ganó 4 millones de dólares —en su mejor temporada en el PGA Tour ganó poco más de 4,6 millones de dólares—.
Rahm cerró con 71 y DeChambeau firmó 74 en un día en el que el promedio de puntuación fue 69,8.
Kim llegó a estar tan alto como el número 6 del mundo en 2008, el año en que jugó su única Copa Ryder en Valhalla y necesitó solo 14 hoyos para vencer a Sergio García en individuales. Ahora se encuentra cerca de alcanzar el Top 200, ya que LIV obtiene puntos para el ranking mundial.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
EEUU incauta otro petrolero en el Índico tras seguirlo desde el Caribe
Por BEN FINLEY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Militares de Estados Unidos abordaron otro petrolero sancionado en el océano Índico después de rastrear la embarcación desde el Caribe, en un esfuerzo por atacar el petróleo ilícito vinculado a Venezuela, informó el Pentágono el domingo.
Venezuela enfrenta sanciones de Estados Unidos sobre su petróleo desde hace años, y depende de una flota de petroleros fantasma con banderas apócrifas para introducir crudo de contrabando en las cadenas de suministro globales. El presidente estadounidense Donald Trump ordenó una cuarentena de petroleros sancionados en diciembre para presionar al entonces presidente Nicolás Maduro antes de que este fuera capturado en enero durante una operación militar estadounidense en Venezuela.
Varios petroleros huyeron de la costa venezolana tras el operativo militar de enero, incluido el buque abordado anoche en el océano Índico. El Departamento de Defensa indicó en una publicación en X que fuerzas de Estados Unidos abordaron el Veronica III, realizando “un derecho de visita, una interdicción marítima y un abordaje”.
“El buque intentó desafiar la cuarentena del presidente Trump, con la esperanza de escabullirse”, señaló el Pentágono. “Lo rastreamos desde el Caribe hasta el océano Índico, acortamos la distancia y lo detuvimos”.
Un video publicado por el Pentágono muestra a soldados de Estados Unidos abordando el petrolero.
El Veronica III es una embarcación con bandera de Panamá bajo sanciones de Estados Unidos relacionadas con Irán, según el sitio web de la Oficina de Control de Activos Extranjeros del Departamento del Tesoro de Estados Unidos.
El Veronica III salió de Venezuela el 3 de enero, el mismo día de la captura de Maduro, con casi 2 millones de barriles de crudo y fueloil, publicó TankerTrackers.com el domingo en X.
“Desde 2023, ha estado involucrado con petróleo ruso, iraní y venezolano”, afirmó la organización.
Samir Madani, cofundador de TankerTrackers.com, dijo a The Associated Press en enero que su organización utilizó imágenes satelitales y fotos a nivel de superficie para documentar que al menos 16 petroleros salieron de la costa venezolana en contravención de la cuarentena.
El gobierno de Trump ha estado incautando petroleros como parte de sus esfuerzos más amplios por tomar control del petróleo de Venezuela. El Pentágono no indicó en la publicación si el Veronica III fue incautado formalmente y puesto bajo control de Estados Unidos, y más tarde comunicó a la AP en un correo electrónico que no tenía información adicional que aportar más allá de esa publicación.
La semana pasada, el ejército de Estados Unidos abordó un petrolero distinto en el océano Índico, el Aquila II. El buque estaba retenido mientras se decidía su destino final por parte de Estados Unidos, según un funcionario de defensa que habló la semana pasada bajo condición de anonimato al tanto del tema.
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Konstantin Toropin contribuyó a esta historia.
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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.
As Demand Grows, US Nuclear Energy Industry Faces Looming Crunch In Reactor Fuel Supply
As Demand Grows, US Nuclear Energy Industry Faces Looming Crunch In Reactor Fuel Supply
Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times,
The Department of Energy (DOE) has invested billions in incentivizing domestic production of enriched uranium for the commercial development of advanced nuclear reactors, including $2.7 billion issued last month to three companies to build centrifuges and processing plants necessary to produce fuel for reactor cores.
Yet, a fuel crunch that could hobble President Donald Trump’s “nuclear renaissance” initiatives looms as soon as 2028, several experts warned during the two-day U.S. Nuclear Industry Council’s 13th annual Advanced Reactors Summit in Seattle that concluded Feb. 12.
“If America wants to lead in advanced reactors, we have to do the nuclear fuel here. Make no mistake about that,” Centrus Energy Senior Vice President Patrick Brown told more than 400 nuclear industry professionals on Feb.12.
“Unfortunately, we’re really building from zero.”
Right now, he said, less than 1 percent of the nuclear fuel that the nation’s 94 commercial reactors annually consume is produced domestically, and that is exclusively dedicated to the Pentagon. The nation’s commercial nuclear energy industry is “completely reliant on foreign imports” of enriched uranium, he said, primarily from Kazakhstan and Canada.
Those imports include up to 5 percent from Russia that won’t be available soon. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Congress in 2023 banned U.S. companies from importing Russian uranium. That ban goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2028.
Brown said with the global nuclear fuel market already constrained, domestic industry’s scramble to revive enrichment—a process American companies invented and once dominated—is now a race to have supply available to meet demand as new reactors come online.
Because that demand—spurred by the president’s May 2025 executive orders to license 10 new reactors by 2030 and quadruple commercial nuclear energy output by 2050—is likely to outpace domestic fuel production until the early 2030s, he said a timing shortage will emerge in 2028.
“That’s when we’ll see that the problem is there’s not enough non-Russian supply” of enriched uranium to replace even the relatively small amount it now produces in a tight market where restrictions on one supplier impacts the entire market.
“Fortunately,” Brown said, the industry and the Trump administration recognize there is an approaching gap between burgeoning demand and static supply, and has deemed restoring domestic capacity to enrich uranium a national security priority akin to “a second Manhattan Project.”
The entrance of Urenco’s uranium enrichment plant in Gronau, Germany. Urenco USA also operates a commercial enrichment plant in New Mexico and is among the few companies in the United States authorized to do so. Volker Hartmann/DDP/AFP via Getty Images
Industry Must Respond
The nation’s domestic nuclear fuel supply chain got a $2.7 billion boost when the Department of Energy on Jan. 5 issued awards to three domestic companies to enrich low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium.
Securing $900 million awards each to build uranium enrichment plants are California-based General Matter in a former Paducah gaseous diffusion plant in western Kentucky, North Carolina-headquartered Orano Group’s Federal Services operation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Maryland-based Centrus Energy’s uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio.
Brown said unlike the array of demonstration projects the Department of Energy is sponsoring, such as the Energy Reactor Pilot Program that has 10 companies vying for federal funding if they can demonstrate functionality of their designs by July 4, 2026, enriching uranium is not a new process.
“We’re not here to do science experiments, right?” he said. “We’re here to go big or go home. We’re not going home. The era of demonstration is over. We are moving onto large-scale commercial production.”
Centrus is already licensed to produce low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium in its Ohio plant, he said. Its Technology and Manufacturing Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is the only domestic manufacturer of centrifuges needed for the enrichment process. It’s ready to gradually scale-up production.
“We have the site. We have the facility,” Brown said. “We have the room to expand” at the Piketon plant, which is demonstrating with 18 centrifuges what could be replicated by thousands. “Our technologies are proven and are actively producing [high-assay low-enriched uranium] today,” he said.
The Department of Energy award is designed to induce a long-term “demand signal” for investors and utilities, he said, by assuring them there will be ample domestic supply of enriched uranium available should they incorporate nuclear power into their grid expansion plans.
However, Brown said, the Piketon plant and other projects nationwide are not expected to reach peak production until the early 2030s, meaning there could be more demand than supply until production can catch up.
While the Department of Energy funding is critical in seeding domestic capacity to be self-sufficient in producing nuclear fuels, how swiftly that can be achieved is now up to the industry itself, he said, encouraging operators to begin negotiating “off take” agreements with Centrus and others engaged in uranium enrichment so they can secure their fuel supply and processors can commit to ramping up with confirmed orders.
“This is the chicken-and-the-egg problem that [the Department of Energy] was trying to solve. They said, ‘Build the capacity and the advanced reactor development will come while we’re building it,’” Brown said. “That’s the message. So we need firm contracts to proceed to build further. So let us know. We’re ready.”
Tyler Durden
Sun, 02/15/2026 – 14:00
As Demand Grows, US Nuclear Energy Industry Faces Looming Crunch In Reactor Fuel Supply
As Demand Grows, US Nuclear Energy Industry Faces Looming Crunch In Reactor Fuel Supply
Authored by John Haughey via The Epoch Times,
The Department of Energy (DOE) has invested billions in incentivizing domestic production of enriched uranium for the commercial development of advanced nuclear reactors, including $2.7 billion issued last month to three companies to build centrifuges and processing plants necessary to produce fuel for reactor cores.
Yet, a fuel crunch that could hobble President Donald Trump’s “nuclear renaissance” initiatives looms as soon as 2028, several experts warned during the two-day U.S. Nuclear Industry Council’s 13th annual Advanced Reactors Summit in Seattle that concluded Feb. 12.
“If America wants to lead in advanced reactors, we have to do the nuclear fuel here. Make no mistake about that,” Centrus Energy Senior Vice President Patrick Brown told more than 400 nuclear industry professionals on Feb.12.
“Unfortunately, we’re really building from zero.”
Right now, he said, less than 1 percent of the nuclear fuel that the nation’s 94 commercial reactors annually consume is produced domestically, and that is exclusively dedicated to the Pentagon. The nation’s commercial nuclear energy industry is “completely reliant on foreign imports” of enriched uranium, he said, primarily from Kazakhstan and Canada.
Those imports include up to 5 percent from Russia that won’t be available soon. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Congress in 2023 banned U.S. companies from importing Russian uranium. That ban goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2028.
Brown said with the global nuclear fuel market already constrained, domestic industry’s scramble to revive enrichment—a process American companies invented and once dominated—is now a race to have supply available to meet demand as new reactors come online.
Because that demand—spurred by the president’s May 2025 executive orders to license 10 new reactors by 2030 and quadruple commercial nuclear energy output by 2050—is likely to outpace domestic fuel production until the early 2030s, he said a timing shortage will emerge in 2028.
“That’s when we’ll see that the problem is there’s not enough non-Russian supply” of enriched uranium to replace even the relatively small amount it now produces in a tight market where restrictions on one supplier impacts the entire market.
“Fortunately,” Brown said, the industry and the Trump administration recognize there is an approaching gap between burgeoning demand and static supply, and has deemed restoring domestic capacity to enrich uranium a national security priority akin to “a second Manhattan Project.”
The entrance of Urenco’s uranium enrichment plant in Gronau, Germany. Urenco USA also operates a commercial enrichment plant in New Mexico and is among the few companies in the United States authorized to do so. Volker Hartmann/DDP/AFP via Getty Images
Industry Must Respond
The nation’s domestic nuclear fuel supply chain got a $2.7 billion boost when the Department of Energy on Jan. 5 issued awards to three domestic companies to enrich low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium.
Securing $900 million awards each to build uranium enrichment plants are California-based General Matter in a former Paducah gaseous diffusion plant in western Kentucky, North Carolina-headquartered Orano Group’s Federal Services operation in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Maryland-based Centrus Energy’s uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio.
Brown said unlike the array of demonstration projects the Department of Energy is sponsoring, such as the Energy Reactor Pilot Program that has 10 companies vying for federal funding if they can demonstrate functionality of their designs by July 4, 2026, enriching uranium is not a new process.
“We’re not here to do science experiments, right?” he said. “We’re here to go big or go home. We’re not going home. The era of demonstration is over. We are moving onto large-scale commercial production.”
Centrus is already licensed to produce low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium in its Ohio plant, he said. Its Technology and Manufacturing Center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is the only domestic manufacturer of centrifuges needed for the enrichment process. It’s ready to gradually scale-up production.
“We have the site. We have the facility,” Brown said. “We have the room to expand” at the Piketon plant, which is demonstrating with 18 centrifuges what could be replicated by thousands. “Our technologies are proven and are actively producing [high-assay low-enriched uranium] today,” he said.
The Department of Energy award is designed to induce a long-term “demand signal” for investors and utilities, he said, by assuring them there will be ample domestic supply of enriched uranium available should they incorporate nuclear power into their grid expansion plans.
However, Brown said, the Piketon plant and other projects nationwide are not expected to reach peak production until the early 2030s, meaning there could be more demand than supply until production can catch up.
While the Department of Energy funding is critical in seeding domestic capacity to be self-sufficient in producing nuclear fuels, how swiftly that can be achieved is now up to the industry itself, he said, encouraging operators to begin negotiating “off take” agreements with Centrus and others engaged in uranium enrichment so they can secure their fuel supply and processors can commit to ramping up with confirmed orders.
“This is the chicken-and-the-egg problem that [the Department of Energy] was trying to solve. They said, ‘Build the capacity and the advanced reactor development will come while we’re building it,’” Brown said. “That’s the message. So we need firm contracts to proceed to build further. So let us know. We’re ready.”
Tyler Durden
Sun, 02/15/2026 – 14:00
Sistema de tormentas azota en sureste de EEUU y activa alertas de tornado y fuertes vientos
Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — Un sistema de tormentas que azotó el sureste de Estados Unidos la noche del sábado y la mañana del domingo generó advertencias de tornado en Mississippi y Luisiana antes de dirigirse a partes de Georgia y Florida, cuando la población del noreste del país por fin empezaba a tener un respiro tras semanas de temperaturas amargamente frías.
Algunas de las mayores tormentas en el sur del país se registraron cerca de Lake Charles, Luisiana, donde los fuertes vientos de una tormenta eléctrica volcaron un remolque para caballos y una carroza de Mardi Gras, dañaron una pasarela de embarque de un aeropuerto y arrojaron el toldo metálico de una casa contra líneas eléctricas. Los daños fueron documentados por empleados del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional que inspeccionaron la zona.
El servicio meteorológico informó que postes de electricidad se partieron y cayeron cerca de las localidades de Jena, Cheneyville y Donaldsonville, en Luisiana.
No se registraron muertes ni lesiones graves, pero los reportes de daños llegaron al tiempo que el sistema de tormentas continuaba su trayectoria hacia partes del sur de Georgia y el Panhandle de Florida, que estaban bajo vigilancia de tornado el domingo.
Las tormentas del fin de semana provocaron algunos cortes de electricidad en el sur, pero no se acercaron a la enorme cantidad de cortes causados por las tormentas de hielo a finales del mes pasado en el norte de Mississippi y Nashville, Tennessee. A primera hora de la tarde del domingo, más de 12.000 clientes se quedaron sin electricidad en el norte de Florida, según PowerOutage.us, que registra los cortes de electricidad en todo el país. Unos 7.000 clientes se quedaron sin electricidad en Mississippi y otros 6.000 en Luisiana.
El noreste de Estados Unidos empezaba a descongelarse tras un periodo de varias semanas de un frío inusualmente intenso.
Boston registraba casi –14 Celsius (7 grados Fahrenheit) por debajo del promedio de febrero a mitad de semana, y la ciudad se enfilaba a su invierno más frío en más de una década. Boston seguía fría el domingo, pero el pronóstico de la semana preveía temperaturas subiendo a finales de los 30 y principios de los 40, más cerca del promedio estacional.
En otras partes de Estados Unidos, algunas zonas de California se preparaban para chubascos, tormentas eléctricas y nevadas. Jacob Spender, meteorólogo del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional en Sacramento, indicó que un sistema de tormentas estaba entrando a California el domingo y a lo largo de la semana.
Se pronosticaban fuertes nevadas en zonas elevadas, señaló Spender.
“A medida que subamos a las montañas y las estribaciones, vamos a ver algo de nieve. Así que también habrá nieve hasta las estribaciones”, explicó.
Spender recomendó a la población atender los avisos de viaje en los próximos días.
“Así que, si van a viajar, lleven kits de seguridad invernal. Cualquier cosa para estar preparados. Este es un sistema más grande, un sistema importante”, añadió
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Los periodistas de The Associated Press Julie Walker en la ciudad de Nueva York; Patrick Whittle en Portland, Maine; y Jeff Martin en Atlanta 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.
