Category: News
As de Diamondbacks Corbin Burnes espera regresar cerca del Juego de Estrellas tras cirugía
Por DAVID BRANDT
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, EE.UU. (AP) — El as de los Diamondbacks de Arizona Corbin Burnes confió en regresar a la acción alrededor del receso del Juego de Estrellas, es decir poco más de un año después de una lesión de codo que requirió una cirugía Tommy John.
El veterano lanzador derecho habló con los periodistas el martes, antes del primer entrenamiento de pretemporada del equipo.
“Creo que todavía estamos bien para mediados de julio”, manifestó Burnes. “Voy a intentar que sea antes. Cada día que estoy aquí, intento que sea antes. Todavía tengo algunas vías donde creo que puedo recortar algo de tiempo para regresar antes, pero eso está por determinarse”.
Burnes firmó un contrato de seis años por 210 millones de dólares con los D-backs antes de la temporada pasada.
Tenía un récord de 3-2 con una efectividad de 2.66 en 11 aperturas antes del 1 de junio, cuando se lesionó.
Burnes es uno de los muchos lanzadores de los D-backs que se perderán al menos una parte de la próxima temporada debido a lesiones. Los relevistas A.J. Puk y Justin Martinez también están regresando de una cirugía mayor de codo, mientras que el zurdo Andrew Saalfrank se perderá la temporada tras someterse a una cirugía de hombro.
También el martes, los D-backs anunciaron que firmaron al veterano primera base Carlos Santana con un contrato de un año por 2 millones de dólares, una semana después de que ambas partes llegaron a un principio de acuerdo.
El dominicano de 39 años acudió al Juego de Estrellas en 2019, ganó un Guante de Oro en 2024 y bateó .para 219 con 11 jonrones y 54 carreras impulsadas la temporada anterior. Pasó la mayor parte del año con los Guardianes antes de una breve aparición al final de la temporada con los Cachorros.
El mánager de los D-backs, Mike Hazen, aprecia el poder que Santana puede aportar al plato con sus 335 jonrones en su carrera, pero es su trabajo en el aspecto defensivo lo que lo hizo un objetivo tan deseable en la agencia libre.
“Queríamos asegurarnos de que nuestra defensa estuviera donde necesitaba estar y él es un defensor de élite en esa posición”, señaló Hazen.
A fin de hacer espacio para Santana en la lista, los D-backs movieron a Saalfrank a la lista de lesionados de 60 días.
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Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Como vence a Napoli en penales y avanza a semifinales de la Copa de Italia
NÁPOLES, Italia (AP) — Como avanzó a las semifinales de la Copa de Italia por primera vez en 40 años después de vencer el martes en la tanda de penales al campeón italiano Napoli.
El portero del Como, Jean Butez detuvo el tiro de muerte súbita de Stanislav Lobotka desatando celebraciones desenfrenadas en el campo de Nápoles, después de que el equipo de Cesc Fàbregas ganara 7-6 en la tanda de penales.
El partido había terminado 1-1 en el tiempo reglamentario.
Martin Baturina adelantó al Como con un penal a los 39 minutos, pero Antonio Vergara igualó justo después del descanso.
Napoli estuvo cerca de anotar el gol de la victoria cuando Amir Rrahmani vio un cabezazo despejado en la línea en la segunda mitad.
Romelu Lukaku no logró anotar para el Napoli en la tanda de penales y Máximo Perrone también falló para Como.
Napoli ha ganado la Copa de Italia en seis ocasiones, la más reciente en 2020.
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Fútbol de AP: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Hegseth Makes Clear: ‘Trump Favors Negotiated Deal With Iran’
Hegseth Makes Clear: ‘Trump Favors Negotiated Deal With Iran’
Despite Trump’s threats about sending a second Carrier Group to the MidEast, Secretary of War (Defense Dept) Pete Hegseth said this week at an event in Maine that “President Trump has been clear to Iran, he wants a negotiated settlement. I think it would be a wise choice for them to take him up on that deal. The world saw America’s capabilities, peace through strength deterrence in action.”
But to be expected, he hyped American military capabilities in the Middle East. “…Peace through strength, deterrence in action. We were out of Iran before Iran even knew we were there. No other country can do that” – in reference to the June war in which US bombers hit three Iranian nuclear sites with bunker-busting bombs.
This has been met with an Iranian military warning that US assets in the region will be targeted in such a ‘next round scenario’. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official Aziz Ghazanfari, a deputy head of the Guard’s political department, has reviewed that in the context of Oman-based indirect negotiations with the US, Iran was presented with four demands that went beyond the nuclear issue.
The key sticking point is Iran’s conventional ballistic missile arsenal. Israel wants complete disarmament or at least a monitored reduction in range. So far, Israel is represents the hard line position, which has clearly influenced some officials in the Trump administration.
The AFP has newly published the below infographic:
But amid the military and political pressure, Iran is not going to give up the one thing it considers its first line of defense: the ability to hit back in the event of an Israel-US attack.
Hegseth in his latest comment on the issue warned Tehran it would be a “wise choice” to accept Trump’s offer. All of this makes an attack in the next couple days unlikely – however, there are clear signs of a continued Pentagon build-up in the region.
As for where diplomacy stands, Iranian analyst and long time observer of Iran’s nuclear dossier, Hassan Beheshti-Pour, says that the real substance “lies in the technical options quietly circulating, not in public rhetoric”. Among these options:
a temporary and voluntary suspension of enrichment, not dismantlement;
a freeze-for-freeze mechanism pairing enrichment pauses with sanctions suspension and even the idea of a multinational nuclear fuel bank (Russia, Kazakhstan, or elsewhere) to guarantee supply while addressing proliferation concerns.
Beheshti-Pour also points to broader confidence building frameworks, including regional security arrangements aimed at reducing the rationale for external military pressure.
As we detailed earlier, Iran is offering to dilute its enriched uranium if Washington agrees to remove all sanctions on the country.
This week the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Eslami, is strongly signaling Tehran is ready to play ball, even if it is on Washington’s terms – and after a history of the US side breaking its word (starting with the first Trump admin’s unilateral pullout from the JCPOA nuclear deal).
“The possibility of diluting 60% enriched uranium… depends on whether, in return, all sanctions are lifted or not,” Eslami made clear.
All of this stems from last month’s very bloody protests and riots inside Iran, largely the result of the stranglehold that US sanctions have on the population. The White House since then has threatened regime change and dialed up the sanctions.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 02/10/2026 – 18:50
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hegseth-makes-clear-trump-favors-negotiated-deal-iran
Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino praised agent after shooting Marimar Martinez in Chicago, evidence shows
A trove of evidence was released Tuesday in the controversial shooting of Marimar Martinez by a Border Patrol agent at the height of Operation Midway Blitz last October, including a body-worn camera video showing the tense moments just before their vehicles collided and text messages sent later by the agent joking and bragging about the shooting.
“It’s time to get aggressive and get the (expletive) out,” one agent says on a body-cam video as horns blare on Kedzie Avenue in Brighton Park, where Martinez had been following the agents through the neighborhood.
Seconds later, the driver, Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum, appears to jerk the steering wheel to the left, in the direction of Martinez’s vehicle alongside them. The video jolts, apparently capturing the collision between the agents’ Chevrolet Tahoe and Martinez’s car.
“Be advised we have been struck!” one of the agents in the vehicle yells to a dispatcher. Exum then gets out of the vehicle and moves off-camera and five rapid-succession gunshots are heard.
“We have shots fired, shots fired, we need backup,” an agent said into a radio.
“We’re on south Kuh-DEE-zee, near highway 55,” the agent says, butchering the street name.
Already, bystanders can be heard screaming expletives at the agents.
The materials, released publicly by the U.S. attorney’s office after a judge agreed to lift a protective order, also included an email to Exum from Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, the now-demoted public face of the Trump administration’s ongoing deportation push, praising the agent on the afternoon of the shooting.
“Good afternoon,” read the email, which was sent at 3:11 p.m. on Oct. 4. “I would like to extend an offer to you to extend your retirement beyond age 57….In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do!!”
Exum, meanwhile, exchanged a series of texts with his wife as well as a group of fellow agents under the name “Posse Chat.” In one of them, someone Exum identified as “the guy from Vermont” wrote, “Good job brother, glad you are unharmed and get to live to tell the story.”
“You are a legend among agents you better f—– know that. Beers on me when I see you at training,” the agent texted Exum, the records show.
Another unidentified person texted Exum, “That’s awesome! You did REAL GOOD” with a heart eyes emoji. He responded, “Thanks you mam.”
Exum repeatedly told others in his chats that Martinez had tried to run him over with her vehicle and that he fired through her front windshield. At one point, he shared a link to a news story headlined “Federal agents taunted Chicago woman to ‘do something’ before shooting her, attorney claims.” Underneath the link, Exum wrote “LMAO.”
In another message on the “Posse Chat,” someone asked Exum if the bosses had been supportive.
“Big time,” Exum replied. “Everyone has been including Chief Bovino, Chief Banks, Sec Noem and El Jefe himself…according to Bovino.”
Exum appeared to reference Trump in the “El Jefe himself” response, which translates to “the Boss himself.”
Another text showed an unidentified family member told Exum: “Pritzker is saying bad things about you this morning.”
“Awe, I cry,” Exum replied. “That hurt my feeling.”
The evidence offered a rare, behind-the-scenes look at one of the highest-profile investigations of Operation Midway Blitz, where Trump administration officials, in a playbook that has now become familiar in other cities, almost immediately labeled of Martinez as a “domestic terrorist” after she was shot — a narrative the government has refused to retract even after assault charges against Martinez were dropped.
Lawyers for Martinez, meanwhile, announced Tuesday that they plan to file a civil lawsuit over her shooting. A news conference to discuss the litigation and evidence in the investigation is set for Wednesday morning.
In agreeing to lift a protective order last week, U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis said the federal government has shown “zero concern” about ruining the reputation of Martinez, a U.S. citizen and Chicago resident who is presumed innocent under our legal system.
Martinez’s lawyer, Christopher Parente, said the evidence shows the Department of Homeland Security’s attempts to smear his client were “absurd.”
“You can’t call a U.S. citizen with no criminal history, who is a Montessori school teacher, a domestic terrorist, which is such a loaded word in this country,” Parente said last week.
Prosecutors had alleged Martinez was part of a convoy of civilians who were following agents on Oct. 4 when she rammed Exum’s vehicle near 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue, prompting Exum to jump out of his Chevrolet Tahoe and fire five shots, wounding Martinez seven times.
Martinez’s attorneys argued it was Exum who sideswiped Martinez and that his extreme use of force was completely unjustified. They also alleged evidence tampering, saying Exum was inexplicably allowed to drive the Tahoe more than 1,000 miles back to his home base in Maine, where a Border Patrol mechanic attempted to “wipe off” some of the scuff marks from the crash.
After the charges against Martinez were dropped on Nov. 20, it’s since been revealed in court that Martinez’s car is part of a second, ongoing criminal investigation into the shooting, which is being handled by the U.S. attorney’s office in South Bend, Indiana.
Later this month, Martinez is scheduled to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress as a guest of U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, a Chicago Democrat.
This is a developing story. Check back for details.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/marimar-martinez-video-release-bovino/
Legisladores de la UE llegan a un acuerdo en políticas migratorias que facilitan deportaciones
Por SAM McNEIL
BRUSELAS (AP) — Legisladores europeos votaron el martes a favor de aprobar nuevas políticas migratorias que permiten a las naciones rechazar solicitudes de asilo y deportar a migrantes bajo el argumento de que provienen de un país designado como seguro o que pueden solicitar asilo en un país que no pertenece al bloque de 27 naciones.
La votación en el Parlamento Europeo ratificó una decisión alcanzada en Bruselas en diciembre pasado, cuando ministros de toda la UE acordaron una lista de países seguros. Las nuevas políticas entrarían en vigor en junio y permitirían enviar de regreso no sólo a solicitantes de asilo procedentes de esos países, sino también a personas originarias de un tercer país que únicamente transitaron por estas naciones en su camino hacia Europa.
Legisladores de centro-derecha se sumaron a los de extrema derecha en ambas votaciones, con 408 a favor y 184 en contra en la medida sobre países de origen seguros, y 396 a favor y 226 en contra en la iniciativa sobre terceros países seguros.
“Entregamos otra pieza clave para la construcción de un sistema de asilo funcional y creíble”, declaró Lena Düpont, legisladora alemana del Partido Popular Europeo. “Al permitir que las solicitudes de asilo manifiestamente infundadas sean rechazadas de manera más rápida y eficiente en el futuro, agilizamos los procedimientos de asilo, aliviando la carga sobre los sistemas de los Estados miembros y ayudando a las personas a evitar quedar atrapadas durante años en un limbo legal”.
Según las nuevas reglas, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egipto, Kosovo, India, Marruecos y Túnez serían considerados “países de origen seguros”. Naciones que aspiran a integrarse al bloque europeo también lo serían, a menos que existan “circunstancias relevantes” como conflictos armados, según un comunicado parlamentario.
Las autoridades de las 27 naciones de la UE pronto podrán deportar personas a esos países –y reducir las solicitudes de asilo de esos lugares– lo que podría poner en peligro a algunas de las personas más vulnerables del mundo, según opositores de la medida.
“Los llamados ‘países de origen seguros’ no son seguros. Este Parlamento ha aprobado resoluciones sobre muchos de estos países, condenando el deterioro de su estado de derecho, democracia y derechos fundamentales. La votación de hoy ignora la realidad de los hechos”, afirmó Cecilia Strada, legisladora italiana del Grupo de Socialistas y Demócratas que votó en contra de las designaciones.
Grupos defensores de los derechos humanos dijeron que estas designaciones podrían resultar en la deportación de personas hacia países que no conocen, de manera similar a lo que ha hecho el gobierno del presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump.
“Las nuevas reglas de ‘tercer país seguro’ probablemente obliguen a las personas a ir a países en los que nunca han estado, lugares donde no tienen comunidad, no hablan el idioma y enfrentan un riesgo muy real de abuso y explotación”, subrayó Meron Ameha Knikman, asesora principal de International Rescue Committee.
La UE respaldó en mayo pasado una serie de reformas radicales al sistema de asilo del bloque, con la emisión de un nuevo Pacto sobre Migración y Asilo por parte de la Comisión Europea. El acuerdo hace un llamado al incremento de deportaciones y el establecimiento de “centros de retorno”, un eufemismo para centros de deportación para solicitantes de asilo rechazados. “El asilo prácticamente podría volverse imposible de obtener en muchos estados miembros”, señaló la legisladora francesa Mélissa Camara.
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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.
Nuclear Heavyweight Holtec Files For IPO
Nuclear Heavyweight Holtec Files For IPO
Submitted by Steffan Szumowski from The Nuclear Review
Holtec International filed confidentially for an IPO recently with the SEC. The company alluded to the possibility of going public in 2026 earlier last year, as the nuclear renaissance has reignited investor interest in the almost forgotten nuclear industry. While the public market has only seen junior companies so far, Holtec is coming to market after being in the game for decades.
A Barron’s article from June of last year estimates Holtec could be worth more than $10 billion on over $500 million of annual revenue, as the company attempts to pull off the first reactor restart in American history at the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan. The reactor restart, which has inspired multiple other restarts across the country, is one of the few things the company is known for. Yet, after decades of industry involvement, Holtec is involved in a lot more than just resurrecting nuclear reactors:
Nuclear plant decommissioning
Reactor restart
Small modular reactor development
Used nuclear fuel management
Heat transfer equipment manufacturing
Non-nuclear technologies
Nuclear plant decommissioning
Holtec Decommissioning International (HDI), a subsidiary of Holtec International, is responsible for taking a reactor plant with single or multiple reactor units on site from shutdown to as close to greenfield as possible. This involves handling the used nuclear fuel and dismantlement of radioactive systems and facilities.
HDI currently has three projects: Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, and Indian Point Energy Center in New York. Decommissioning is further along and well past the point of no return at Oyster Creek and Pilgrim, but Indian Point was noted as a potential restart candidate by Holtec last year. Governor Hochul, even with her 5 GW new nuclear capacity target, has already come out as being against the idea of restarting Indian Point in favor of new construction projects in upstate instead.
Reactor restart
Initially announced in September of 2022, the Palisades are the first of many reactor restart efforts in the United States. Holtec purchased Palisades from Entergy in June of 2022. The DOE issued a $1.5 billion loan commitment in 2024 to support the effort and has already issued several tranches of the loan through 2025. The NRC has also created multiple novel regulatory pathways to enable the reissuance of an operator’s license for the plant, along with multiple exceptions for system restorations.
Originally targeted for the end of 2025, multiple material issues, most notably with the steam generators, have pushed the restart completion out several months. Completion is now anticipated in the middle of 2026. After the plant is restored to operations, there is no indication of Holtec looking to sell the plant to a utility, so the company will own and operate the plant through its subsidiary, Holtec Palisades.
Small modular reactor development
Holtec has been developing a small modular reactor for over ten years, initially called the SMR-160 and rated to about 160 MWe. Since then, the design was upgraded in 2023 to the SMR-300, now with a capacity of 320 MWe. The reactor is a pressurized water reactor (PWR) designed to operate with commercially available low enriched uranium (LEU). The development of their small reactor program is controlled by their wholly-owned subsidiary SMR LLC.
SMR LLC is actively pursuing deployment of their first two SMR-300s at the Palisades in Michigan, co-located with the reactor being restarted by HDI. The company has submitted a construction application to the NRC for what they call Pioneer Units 1 and 2. In addition to asking for permission to construct the new small reactors, Holtec is also requesting permission to begin construction on some non-nuclear systems at the site through a Limited Work Authorization. The initial deployment of the first two reactors in Michigan has also received government support in the form of a $400 million from the Department of Energy.
SMR LLC has additionally led the charge for America’s expansion in India. In early 2025, Holtec received permission from the US government to export the SMR-300 design to one of the biggest potential nuclear power markets outside of China. Holtec’s CEO has been quoted multiple times citing India as a major potential opportunity for them in the years ahead.
Used nuclear fuel management
Holtec is the international leader in the safe transportation and storage of used nuclear fuel. They utilize their HI-STORM and HI-STAR dry cask systems throughout the world with the highest market share compared to their competitors. As good as they are though, there are still those in politics that use baseless fear-mongering to push back against the safe handling and storage of used nuclear fuel.
New Mexico lawmakers and executives, along with the support of the oil and gas industries, threw every wrench in their toolbox at Holtec in an effort to prevent the company from establishing the HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF). The CISF was an attempt by Holtec to consolidate some of the nation’s more temporary dry cask storage facilities into one location. Regardless of how safe the science proves these casks are, New Mexico locals and activists acted as if they were fighting against a company dumping scary green nuclear waste all over their backyards. Even after arguing one of the wrenches from New Mexico all the way up to the Supreme Court, which ruled in Holtec’s favor, the company ended up canceling the entire project in 2025 due to exhaustion and lack of will to continue what would likely be another several years of absurd lawfare.
Heat transfer equipment manufacturing
If you have energy in one system and need to get it to another system without the two energy carriers touching each other, Holtec is there to help. Unlike a lot of their competitors that make components for just the primary system or just the secondary system, Holtec works on both sides of the radiation boundary. The company designs and fabricates water-cooled condensers, feedwater heaters, steam generators, and a variety of auxiliary plant heat exchangers.
Non-nuclear technologies
Holtec is also involved in non-nuclear systems such as solar, geothermal, and fossil fuels. Their Green Boiler is designed to replace coal plants that are being phased out. The Green Boiler is essentially a giant tank of engineered salts that are used to store energy from other production facilities such as solar farms or SMR-300 plants. The energy stored within the engineered salts can then be dispatched to the grid or other industrial processes on demand.
In summary…
Holtec is not just some brand new reactor developer walking in with a PowerPoint and a dream. The company has been around for over 40 years and is well diversified throughout the nuclear industry. One of their best features is that an extremely small amount of their business depends on the success of the nuclear renaissance.
Most of their work will remain relatively constant as the world’s existing fleet of over 400 reactors continues to operate and age. These facilities will require constant attention, upgrades, and refits as the years go on. In particular, used nuclear fuel transportation, handling, and storage services will be in demand for at least the next century.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 02/10/2026 – 18:25
https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/nuclear-heavyweight-holtec-files-ipo
“Botched Surgeries And Misidentified Body Parts”: AI Is Off To An Ugly Start In The Operating Room
“Botched Surgeries And Misidentified Body Parts”: AI Is Off To An Ugly Start In The Operating Room
Artificial intelligence is spreading quickly through modern healthcare, promising to make medical treatment faster, more accurate, and more personalized. But as hospitals and manufacturers adopt the technology, safety records, lawsuits, and regulatory struggles suggest that the transition has not been smooth, a new investigation by Reuters shows.
One example involves Acclarent, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, which added machine-learning software to its TruDi Navigation System in 2021. The company described the update as “a leap forward,” saying it would help ear, nose, and throat surgeons better guide their instruments during sinus procedures.
Before the AI upgrade, the device had generated only a handful of malfunction reports. In the years that followed, however, federal regulators received more than 100 reports involving technical failures or patient injuries. At least 10 patients were reported harmed between late 2021 and 2025, many in cases where the system allegedly gave incorrect information about where surgical tools were located inside the skull.
Some of these incidents were severe. Reports described leaking spinal fluid, punctured skull bases, and strokes caused by damaged arteries. Several patients filed lawsuits, arguing that the device “was arguably safer before integrating” artificial intelligence. Manufacturers and distributors rejected those claims, insisting there is “no credible evidence” linking the AI software to the injuries.
Two Texas cases illustrate how these disputes have played out. In 2022, Erin Ralph suffered a stroke after sinus surgery in which her surgeon relied on TruDi. Her lawsuit claims the system “misled and misdirected” the doctor, who “had no idea he was anywhere near the carotid artery.” A year later, another patient, Donna Fernihough, experienced a similar injury. Her complaint alleges that Acclarent rushed the technology to market and accepted “only 80% accuracy” for some features.
Both cases remain in court, and the company has denied wrongdoing. Court records also show that one surgeon involved had financial ties to Acclarent, though the firm and the doctor’s representatives say those payments were unrelated to patient outcomes.
The Reuters piece notes that concerns about TruDi are part of a broader pattern. By 2025, the FDA had authorized more than 1,300 medical devices that use artificial intelligence, roughly twice as many as just a few years earlier. A review by researchers found that many of these products were later recalled, often within a year of approval. The recall rate for AI-based devices was about double that of similar technologies without machine learning.
Federal safety databases contain hundreds of reports involving these products. Some describe prenatal ultrasound software that “wrongly labels fetal structures,” while others involve heart monitors that allegedly failed to detect abnormal rhythms. Manufacturers have said most of these incidents did not lead to patient harm and were sometimes caused by user error or data-display problems.
Regulators warn that such reports are incomplete and cannot prove that a device caused an injury. Still, former FDA employees say the volume of AI products has strained the agency’s ability to monitor risks. Staffing cuts and recruitment difficulties have reduced the number of specialists available to evaluate complex algorithms. As one former reviewer put it, “If you don’t have the resources, things are more likely to be missed.”
Unlike pharmaceutical drugs, most medical devices are not required to undergo large clinical trials before reaching patients. Companies can often secure approval by showing that a new product resembles an older one, even if the update includes artificial intelligence. Critics argue that this system was designed for simpler technologies and may not adequately address the uncertainties introduced by machine learning.
“I think the FDA’s traditional approach to regulating medical devices is not up to the task,” said Dr. Alexander Everhart. “We’re relying on manufacturers to do a good job… I don’t know what’s in place at the FDA represents meaningful guardrails.”
At the same time, AI is moving beyond hardware into everyday medical practice. Doctors increasingly use automated tools to draft notes and manage records, while patients turn to chatbots for health advice. Physicians say these systems can save time, but they also create new risks when people rely on them instead of professional guidance.
Supporters of medical AI argue that the technology will eventually lead to better diagnoses, safer surgeries, and faster drug discovery. Critics counter that the pace of adoption has outstripped oversight.
Taken together, safety reports, legal disputes, and regulatory challenges suggest that artificial intelligence is reshaping medicine faster than institutions can adapt. While the technology offers significant potential benefits, recent experience shows that errors, oversight gaps, and unanswered questions remain part of its rapid expansion.
You can read the full piece by Reuters here.
Tyler Durden
Tue, 02/10/2026 – 18:00
Chicago White Sox starter Shane Smith looks to build on All-Star rookie season as spring training gets underway
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Shane Smith entered Chicago White Sox camp last season vying for a role after being selected in the Rule 5 draft.
A lot has changed in one year. But Smith is approaching camp with a similar mindset.
“A lot of it is the same, just in terms of personal potential and trying to be the best I can possibly be on any given day,” Smith told the Tribune on Tuesday at Camelback Ranch. “Whatever the role is, whatever they want from me, that’s not up to me.
“Really trying to make sure I put in good, daily work and build good routines and making sure I’m ready to go every five days.”
Smith was up for the challenge last season, becoming the first rookie pitcher in Sox history to be selected to an All-Star team and just the second player in major-league history to make an All-Star team in the year following his Rule 5 draft selection — joining Marlins’ second baseman Dan Uggla in 2006.
Smith finished the season 7-8 with a 3.81 ERA in 29 starts. The right-hander had 145 strikeouts in 146 1/3 innings.
He completed 2025 in style, taking a perfect game into the sixth inning during the final game of the regular season against the Washington Nationals. Smith allowed one hit over six scoreless innings, striking out eight in the 8-0 victory.
Smith, who turns 26 in April, said his biggest takeaways from 2025 included “making sure I’m ready to go when my name is called every five to six days and making sure I’m getting the routines in now.”
“You can tweak stuff later, you can tweak stuff now,” Smith said. “But lay a good foundation in the next couple of weeks.”
Smith was back at it on Tuesday, throwing a bullpen session in a group with Sean Burke and Jonathan Cannon as pitchers and catchers participated in their first workout of the spring.
“Shane looks great,” manager Will Venable said Monday. “He’s a guy that coming into camp last year as a Rule 5 guy, not an easy thing to do. And we saw how quickly he really embraced that and performed at a really high level. This year, he’s got that year under his belt. He doesn’t have the pressure of being a Rule 5 guy — I’m not sure that it really impacts him at all anyway. If anything else, it helped him.
“So just really excited to see what he does as a guy that’s got a full year in the big leagues, knowing he was able to accomplish all those things as a Rule 5 pick.”
Smith is one of several Sox players preparing for Year 2.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Shane Smith tosses a ball to a young baseball player during the SoxFest Kids Camp Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, at the ComEd Recreation Center at Addams Park in Chicago. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)
“There’s some component of survival in this game, no matter what — there’s just not room for error for anybody in this league,” Venable said, speaking generally. “At the same time, to get through a year in which you have proved to yourself and proved to your teammates that you can perform at this level, I think, is a huge confidence booster for all these guys.
“Certainly looking forward to seeing what the next step for that young group is.”
Smith made sure to take some time at the beginning of the offseason to reset.
“And then once you start getting back in the weight room and doing all that stuff again, the mind starts saying, ‘Let’s get this going again,’” he said. “I’m ready to get into it.”
Smith looks to build upon his 2025 season with the approach of “leave the good and take the bad.”
“Use all the things you struggled with last year, and obviously make sure you use your strengths,” Smith said. “But, like not throwing offspeed pitches for strikes — it’s like OK, let’s make sure we do a lot more of that.
“It’s realizing what you did well and using it, but also, hey, let’s raise the floor a little bit rather than trying to push through the ceiling.”
The Sox officially added to their pitching staff on Tuesday, announcing a one-year, $1.5 million deal with pitcher Erick Fedde. Reports of the signing surfaced on Monday.
To make room for Fedde on the 40-man roster, the Sox placed pitcher Ky Bush on the 60-day injured list to continue his recovery from Tommy John surgery.
The Sox also traded pitcher Bryan Hudson to the New York Mets for cash considerations. Hudson had been designated for assignment on Feb. 4.
Venable pays tribute to Terrance Gore
Venable began Tuesday’s session with reporters paying tribute to Terrance Gore. The outfielder died Friday at the age of 34.
“I was lucky enough to coach Terrance for a short time in Chicago (in 2018 with the Cubs),” Venable said. “He was an amazing human, amazing guy. Obviously taken way too soon, a master at his craft, and just someone that was a pleasure to be around. Really sad news, and just wanted to send some love and condolences to the family.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/chicago-white-sox-spring-training-shane-smith/
Union warns janitor layoffs to hit Chicago police and fire stations, other city buildings
Union officials are bracing for a wave of layoffs targeting custodians who work in Chicago city government buildings due to a $12 million cut in the facilities budget in the spending plan Mayor Brandon Johnson and aldermen put together for 2026.
Johnson’s administration ordered a 50% staffing cut for contractors employing the union custodians who are “already working with bare-bones staffing,” said Bailey Koch, spokesperson for Service Employees International Union Local 1, which represents the custodians.
The cuts are expected to hit fire and police stations, pumping stations, cultural centers and City Hall, harming both the “essential health workers” and the public, Koch said.
“Cutting this workforce in half will inevitably lead to dirtier buildings, unsanitary conditions, and increased public health risks for city workers and residents alike,” she said.
The layoffs could signal that other spending cuts passed by aldermen could ultimately lead to similar workforce reductions for contracted employees as Johnson implements a budget crafted amid immense pressure to reduce costs.
It could also further weaken a strained relationship between Johnson and the local SEIU unions that teamed up with the Chicago Teachers Union in 2023 as his most important election backers, just as a 2027 re-election bid gears up.
Koch said she was unable to say how many workers would be laid off, citing difficulties predicting how the reductions will affect buildings with small custodial staffs.
She said the businesses notified of reduced contracts by the city include A&R Janitorial Service and We’re Clean, which declined to comment, as well as Diverse Facility Solutions and ABM, which did not respond to requests for comment.
Johnson spokesperson Cassio Mendoza acknowledged the cuts to the contracts, but said the city did not ask companies to reduce staffing.
“The city doesn’t determine that,” Mendoza said. “It’s up to the contractors to determine how they want to manage those reductions.”
The contracts were reduced as the mayor’s administration, facing a sprawling budget gap and pushed by aldermen to cut costs, asked city departments to reduce vendor spending “without impacting services for residents,” he added.
News of the layoff comes after NBC 5 Chicago reported last week that nine of 21 City Hall janitors would be laid off. That tip of the iceberg sparked yet another budget back-and-forth between Johnson and opposing aldermen.
Asked about the City Hall janitor layoffs at an unrelated Tuesday news conference, Johnson pointed to the forceful demands by his City Council opponents for even steeper cuts during budget negotiations. He said that he first sought “progressive revenue” to avert cuts, but his campaign for a per-employee head tax on large corporations based in the city was rejected by aldermen.
“They said you should cut more, and what I said repeatedly was, if you cut even more, it’s going to continue to cost people their jobs,” he said. “You can’t have it both ways.”
Johnson initially recommended the $12 million reduction in the Department of Fleet and Facility Management that sparked the layoffs, but a City Council majority clamoring for less spending ultimately approved the budget that included Johnson’s recommendation.
Mendoza said the cut was in part inspired by a report made by consulting firm Ernst & Young recommending spending efficiencies that was highly touted by the same aldermen who out-muscled Johnson to pass the budget. But Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, argued Monday that Johnson should have found cuts elsewhere before turning to the city’s “lowest of the lowest.”
The custodians who will lose their jobs are part of a union once foundational to Johnson’s political ascent, but now less aligned with the mayor.
The SEIU Illinois State Council, a union umbrella organization that includes SEIU Local 1, declared itself “under attack” last February by the mayor’s closest ally, the Chicago Teachers Union, after SEIU Local 73 accused the CTU of trying to take jobs from their union.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/janitor-layoffs-to-hit-city-buildings/
Patrick ‘PJ’ Henning, who led school bands throughout south suburbs, died at 77
Longtime Chicago and south suburban band director and music teacher Patrick “PJ” Henning taught high school and grade school students and led school bands for 46 years.
“There are myriads of people who have chosen to become musicians, band directors and teachers because of the influence and impact PJ had on our journey,” said Lisa Arito-Pusatera, who first was a student of his at the now-closed Queen of Peace High School in Burbank.
Arito-Pusatera was later hired by Henning to oversee the color guard and create routines at Queen of Peace and at St. Laurence High School in Burbank.
“He taught the importance of hard work, perseverance, fortitude, teamwork and striving to be the best you could be, independently and collectively,” she said.
Henning, 77, died of complications from cancer Jan. 20 at his home, said his wife of 54 years, Susan. An Indian Head Park resident since 2021, Henning had lived in Alsip for decades.
Born in Evergreen Park, Henning grew up in the St. Sabina Parish on the South Side and graduated from Leo High School.
Henning followed in his father’s footsteps. His father, Leo, taught music part time and led bands at Leo High School in Chicago, Brother Rice High School in Chicago and St. Laurence High School in Burbank for many years. Leo Henning also oversaw bands at roughly 13 Catholic grade schools.
PJ Henning attended Quincy University for three years on a music scholarship before returning home to finish his studies at DePaul University and help his father with his business. The two men wound up working side-by-side as band teachers and bandleaders for 30 years.
“I am the third of six kids, and we all play musical instruments,” Henning told the Tribune in 1992. “But I am the only one who went into teaching and conducting. There was never any doubt in my mind what I wanted to do, but (Dad) was surprised because I’d always loved sports and he thought I was going to be a physical education teacher or something like that.”
Henning’s specialty was the lower brass, although he, like his father, could play and teach all instruments. In 1968, he took over from his father the music instruction at the parochial grade schools, and he eventually increased the number of grade schools at which he taught.
Although Brother Rice and St. Laurence were male-only during the years that Henning and his father taught — St. Laurence later became coed — both schools’ bands were coed, with female band students from Mother McCauley joining those from Brother Rice to form a joint band, and with girls from Queen of Peace similarly teaming up with the boys from St. Laurence.
“PJ created a ‘band family’ where everyone felt they were a part of this wonderful community,” Arito-Pusatera said. “He … built confidence and character in his students. The word ‘can’t’ was just never part of his vocabulary. He saw potential in every student and pushed them to achieve things that did not seem possible.”
At times, that meant that Henning could be demanding, though everyone agrees that he was pushing his charges to do their best.
“We make them go straight to the wall to develop the full extent of their musical talent, and we don’t accept anything less than everything they have to give,” Henning said in 1992. “Not coddling them is another part of it. Never accept excuses, never let them slide by with less than their best effort.”
Rich Daniels, the musical director of Chicago’s City Lights Orchestra, recalled meeting Henning and his father in the fall of 1974 when Daniels began his freshman year at Brother Rice.
“In my business, the music industry, one of the highest compliments we can pay someone is to say they are musical. That means that they were born with an innate quality that you can’t teach but that allows them to convey and understand music on a very high level,” Daniels said.
“PJ was very musical. And I recall him pushing me at an early age to go beyond where I was at musically and reach for greater development,” he said. “Any teacher who supports you, encourages you and helps you reach beyond what you deem as possible has given a gift of the highest order to their students. PJ was such an educator.”
Across the decades, the Hennings’ bands were much-honored, winning shelves full of awards.
“We have taught our kids that just playing the easier stuff, the stuff that would get by but wouldn’t advance their experience with music, isn’t enough,” PJ Henning told the Tribune in 1992.
After retiring in 2015, Henning continued to run an annual grade school solo concert at St. Laurence, and he was occasionally a guest conductor. In the early 2000s, he and his wife bought a place at a country club in Sarasota, Florida, where he enjoyed golfing.
In addition to his wife, Henning is survived by a daughter, Meredith Wisniewski; two sons, Patrick and Tim; seven grandchildren; two sisters, Cathy Egan and Rosemary Chansky; and two brothers, Leo and Mark.
Services were held.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/10/patrick-pj-henning-band-director-south-suburbs/
