Category: News
SpaceX’s New Order Of Operations: Moon Mission First, Mars On Hold
SpaceX’s New Order Of Operations: Moon Mission First, Mars On Hold
Elon Musk’s SpaceX is apparently reorienting its near-term space roadmap, pushing back a planned 2026 uncrewed Mars mission and focusing efforts on NASA’s Artemis program, with Starship’s uncrewed moon mission targeted for early next year.
According to Wall Street Journal sources, the rocket company told investors this week that Musk will prioritize a moon mission, with a Mars mission to follow. The lunar landing with a Starship rocket is slated for March 2027. The person noted that the moon mission will be uncrewed and will not include humanoid or wheeled ground-based robots.
The space pivot comes after SpaceX acquired Musk’s AI company, xAI, earlier this week, combining his rocket and satellite business with his artificial intelligence startup to accelerate plans for a fleet of low-Earth-orbit data centers.
The deal gives SpaceX a valuation of $1 trillion, and xAI a value of $250 billion. The combined company’s valuation of $1.25 trillion was announced to employees in a memo on Monday, with an IPO slated for later this year that could raise as much as $50 billion.
Kardashev II civilization or bust.
Starship will get us to the Moon and Mars. pic.twitter.com/L9vhMOdDPK
— Tesla Owners Silicon Valley (@teslaownersSV) February 7, 2026
Even though Musk previously dismissed the moon as a “distraction” and argued for Mars first, it appears NASA may have nudged him, especially as Jeff Bezos’s rocket company, Blue Origin, has paused space tourism launches to focus on the moon.
In a memo earlier this week, Musk told employees that the pivot will pave the way for the U.S. to construct a permanent base on the moon.
“The capabilities we unlock by making space-based data centers a reality will fund and enable self-growing bases on the moon, an entire civilization on Mars, and ultimately expansion to the universe,” he said.
Last month, Musk told a podcaster that getting to Mars this year is becoming a “lower probability” and “somewhat of a distraction.”
Also, this week has been busy for NASA’s Artemis lunar program, as the Artemis II crewed mission around the moon has experienced several setbacks, and the next launch date could be early March.
All this upcoming launch activity and the return to the moon will certainly drive a new space investing theme once the SpaceX IPO debuts. We have outlined multiple ways to profit from the buildout of the space industry from low Earth orbit to lunar operations and beyond (read here, here, and here).
Tyler Durden
Sat, 02/07/2026 – 13:25
District U-46 employees nominated for LifeChanger awards
Elgin High School athletic director Paul Pennington and District U-46 Deputy Superintendent of Operations Ann Williams have been nominated for National Life Group’s LifeChanger of the Year awards.
The awards recognize outstanding kindergarten through high school educators. More than $720,000 to schools and employees and recognized more than 7,800 people since 2011, the organization’s website said.
Nominees can be teachers, principals, administrators, nurses, bus drivers, cooks, librarians, coaches and other school workers who make a difference. Winners will be surprised at their schools in the spring.
Ann Williams, deputy superintendent of operations for School District U-46, is a nominee for a National Life Group’s LifeChanger of the Year award. (School District U-46)
Pennington’s anonymous nominator cited his influence and commitment to his students, the website said. Pennington is an Elgin High School graduate, father of two EHS graduates and currently the longest-serving administrator at the school.
“Mr. Pennigton rarely considers himself when it comes to the extra effort it might take to give kids the very best opportunities,” the nominator said. “People see his passion every day and often comment on it, encouraging him to take care of himself in the process. “A person like Mr. Pennington needs to be reminded of how all of his efforts are noticed and appreciated beyond measure.”
Williams was hired by U-46 in 2022, coming to the Elgin-based district after serving as the chief financial officer/chief school business official at East Aurora School District 131 for three years. Prior to that, she was assistant superintendent of business/treasurer for Crete-Monee Community Unit School District 201 and has worked in the private sector as a manager of financial analysis.
Her anonymous nominator said, “As a colleague who has worked closely with Dr. Ann Williams, I have witnessed firsthand how her leadership changes lives, not through isolated programs, but by transforming the systems, decisions and environments that shape students’ daily experiences and long-term opportunities.”
Both nominations can be read in full at lifechangeroftheyear.com.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/07/u46-lifechanger-award-nominees-williams-pennington/
Judge says Chicago man acquitted in Bovino murder-for-hire plot being unlawfully detained
A federal judge in Indiana has ruled immigration officials are unlawfully detaining a Chicago man acquitted last month of charges he offered money for the killing of Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.
Juan Espinoza Martinez, who has lived in Chicago for decades but is not a U.S. citizen, was taken into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and transferred to a jail in Clay County, Indiana, on Jan. 23, a day after a federal jury found him not guilty of murder-for-hire.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon in Terre Haute ruled that Espinoza Martinez was unlawfully denied a bond hearing, where a judge would assess factors such as risk of flight and danger to the community in deciding whether he should be released pending his immigration proceedings.
Hanlon, who was nominated to the federal bench by President Donald Trump in 2018, ordered that a bond hearing be held for Espinoza Martinez by 5 p.m. Wednesday, court records show.
If no hearing is afforded, authorities must “release him from custody, under reasonable conditions of supervision,” and provide proof of it to the court, Hanlon ordered.
Espinoza Martinez, 37, was charged in October with offering money in text messages to a government informant for the kidnapping and killing of Bovino, the controversial public face of Operation Midway Blitz and other aggressive immigration enforcement operations by the Trump administration in cities around the country.
When Espinoza Martínez was first arrested, he was labeled by the Department of Homeland Security as a high-ranking member of the Latin Kings street gang, someone who had the power to pay other gang members to commit murder of a top government official.
But those claims, repeated incessantly by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and other top Trump administration officials, dissolved in court, where no evidence was ever brought forth that he was in a gang, let alone a ranking member.
In fact, Espinoza Martínez, a married father of three, had a steady job, no gang tattoos, and no criminal history whatsoever, according to evidence at trial.
After a lightning-fast trial, the jury of six men and six women deliberated for about three hours before acquitting Espinoza Martínez of the one count that he faced.
After the verdict, Espinoza Martinez’s wife, Bianca Hernandez, told the Tribune the past 3½ months have already taken a heavy emotional toll on the family. Now, with her husband facing possible deportation, Hernandez is currently the sole provider for the household, taking on caregiving and catering work to make ends meet.
In court filings arguing for his release, Espinoza Martinez’s immigration attorneys wrote “every day that Juan is detained and away” from his wife and three children, ages 14, 12, and 3, “is a continuing violation of the Constitution or laws or treaties of the United States.”
“Juan should be able to be with his wife and kids and out of detention while he contests his removal proceedings through the ordinary process before an immigration judge,” the filing on Thursday stated.
Department of Justice attorneys said, however, Espinoza Martinez, whose DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) status expired in 2021, had “no valid argument that he is not subject to removal.”
“For more than a century, this country’s immigration laws have authorized immigration officials to charge noncitizens as removable from the country, arrest those subject to removal, and detain them pending removal proceedings,” prosecutors wrote in their brief.
Espinoza Martinez’s removal case is set to go before an immigration judge on Thursday, according to the DOJ.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/07/judge-man-acquitted-bovino-detention/
Drone attack by paramilitary group in Sudan kills 24, including 8 children, doctors’ group says
CAIRO — A drone attack by a notorious paramilitary group hit a vehicle carrying displaced families in central Sudan Saturday, killing at least 24 people, including eight children, a doctors’ group said, a day after a World Food Program aid convoy was targeted.
Saturday’s attack by the Rapid Support Forces occurred close to the city of Rahad in North Kordofan province, said the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country’s ongoing war. The vehicle was transporting displaced people who fled fighting in the Dubeiker area, the group said in a statement. Among the dead children were two infants.
Several others were wounded and taken for treatment in Rahad, which suffers severe medical supplies shortages, like many areas in the Kordofan region, the statement said.
The doctors’ group urged the international community and rights organizations to “take immediate action to protect civilians and hold the RSF leadership directly accountable for these violations.”
There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been at war against the Sudanese military for control of the country for about three years.
Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country, leaving tens of thousands dead and millions displaced.
WFP aid convoy attacked
An attack on Friday on WFP aid convoy in North Kordofan province, which killed one and wounded several others, said Denise Brown, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Sudan.
Brown said the convoy was heading to deliver “life-saving food assistance” to displaced people in the city of Obeid in North Kordofan when it was struck. The attack burned the trucks and destroyed the aid, she said.
“Attacks on aid operations undermine efforts to reach people facing hunger and displacement,” he said in a statement.
Last week, a drone strike hit close to a WFP facility in the Blue Nile province, wounding a WFP worker, Brown also said.
Emergency Lawyers, an independent group documenting atrocities in Sudan, blamed the RSF for the attack, while the Sudan Doctors Network called it a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to a full-fledged war crime.”
Massad Boulos, a U.S. adviser for African and Arab affairs, condemned the attack on X and called for holding those responsible accountable.
“Destroying food intended for people in need and killing humanitarian workers is sickening,” he said. “The Trump Administration has zero tolerance for this destruction of life and of U.S.-funded assistance; we demand accountability.”
The British minister for international development and Africa, Jenny Chapman, called the attack on the WFP convoy “disgraceful.”
“Civilians are starving,” she wrote Saturday on X. “Aid workers and humanitarian operations bringing vital food should never be targeted.”
Famine report portrays a grim picture
In recent months, Kordofan has become a flashpoint in the war and the army managed to break the RSF siege of two major cities in the region earlier this year.
The devastating war has so far killed more than 40,000 people, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.
It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes. It has fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine that still spreads as the war shows no sign of abating.
In a report released Thursday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, said famine was found in two more areas in the western region of Darfur where famine was confirmed for the first time in a displacement camp in August 2024.
The report warned that acute malnutrition is expected to worsen in 2026, with a 13.5% increase in cases of acute malnutrition in children under five and pregnant and breastfeeding women — from 3.7 million children and women in 2025 to nearly 4.2 million in 2026.
Severe acute malnutrition, the most dangerous and deadly form of malnutrition, is expected to increase to 800,000 cases, up 4% from 2025, it said.
Mohamad Abdiladif, country director for Save the Children in Sudan, said children were already dying from hunger-related causes in many part of Sudan.
“Every day we hear devastating stories of parents selling the last of what they own simply to keep their children alive from one day to the next,” he said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/07/central-sudan-drone-attack/
Lake County Council will see shakeup as filing window closes
When the clock struck noon on Friday to mark the end of candidate filing, there was a healthy dose of familiar names on the May primary ballot, but Lake County will see a new sheriff elected as well as almost half of its County Council members.
County races
Due to the current Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. being term limited, the open seat will see a packed primary, with St. John Police Chief Steve Flores, retired ATF agent Jason Gore, Lake County Deputy Police Chief Edward Jenkins, John Gregory Sanchez, Lake County Sheriff’s officer Maria Garcia Trajkovich, and former Indiana State Police Lt. Jerry Williams. Former Lake County Sheriff’s Officer David Crane Jr., who ran for Sheriff in 2022, will be the Republican candidate.
On the Lake County Council, seats in Districts 1, 3 and 6 are open as the incumbents decided not to run again.
Scott Miller will face Christina Signorelli in the District 1 Democratic primary. There is not a Republican candidate in District 1.
In District 3, Ericka Lynn Castillo, David Gearman, Marlinda Tyson Haymon, Glenn Johnson, William L. Perryman, and Dwight Williams are running in the Democratic primary. Republican Stephen Aichner will face whoever emerges from the primary.
In District 6, former Merrillville town councilman Richard Hardaway willl square off against Steven Minchuk.
Incumbent District 2 Councilman Ron Brewer, D-Gary, is seeking re-election. He’ll be challenged by Gary council member Darren Washington, Toya Smith, Norman Eric Hairston, and former county councilman Al Mechaca. The primary winner will face Republican Bradley Hutchison.
In District 4, incumbent Pete Lindemulder, R-Schererville, is unopposed in the primary. He will face the winner of the Democratic primary, where Hanadi Vanessa Jawdat and Jen Wilson will face off.
In District 5, Christine Cid, D-East Chicago, is running unopposed in the primary and general election.
Incumbent District 7 Councilman Randy Niemeyer, R-Cedar Lake, will face Richard C. Thiel, Jr. in the primary
Bernard A. Carter is seeking re-election to his ninth term as Prosecutor.
Incumbent Lake County Clerk Mike Brown will be challenged in the Democratic primary by Andrew Sylwestrowicz, and the winner will face Republican Leslie Dallner in the general election.
Lake County Auditor Peggy Holinga Katona is seeking re-election, but will be challenged in the primary by current Lake County Recorder Gina Pimentel, Nick Petrovski and Sondra Ford. Republican Chuck Messler will face the primary victor.
Lake County Treasurer John Petalas, the incumbent, will be challenged by Anthony J. Manuel in the primary. Kevin Deane is the lone Republican in the race, so he would face whoever emerges from the primary.
Lake County Assessor LaTanya Spearman will face Republican Anthony Diaz in the general election.
Lake County Commissioner Kyle Allen, D-Gary, will face Republican Will Miller in November.
Federal races
U.S. Rep. Frank Mrvan, D-Highland, will face former Gary council member LaVetta Sparks-Wade in Democratic primary. The Republican Party primary for the U.S. Rep. First Congressional District will be Richard Benedict Mayers, Porter County Commissioner Barb Regnitz, Ben Ruiz and James Kent (Jim) Schenke.
State legislative races
The two Lake County Republican senators — State Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, and State Senator Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell — will face primary challengers.
In the State Senate First District, Dernulc will face Trevor G. DeVries and Nader Liddawi in the Republican primary. Whoever wins the primary election in May will face Scott Houldieson, the Democratic candidate, in the general election.
In the State Senate Sixth District, Niemeyer will face James (Jay) Starkey in the Republican primary. The winner of that election will face Kate-Lynn Holley, the Democratic candidate, in the general election.
On the House side, State Reps. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond; Earl Harris, D-East Chicago; Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary; and Vernon Smith, D-Gary, will run unopposed in the primary and general elections.
State Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster, will face Republican Chris Nelson in the general election for the State House 12th District seat.
State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, will face Democrat Anthony Oberman in the general election for the State House 15th District seat.
State Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point, will face Democrat Nick Neal in the general election for the State House 19th District seat.
Township races
Calumet Township Trustee Tai Adkins is seeking her first election to the post after she won a caucus to fill it in January 2025. She’s being challenged in the primary by Taneka Hall. Calumet Township Assessor Jackie Collins, who won a caucus in 2024, also filed for election to the spot; she is unopposed in the primary.
Hobart Township Assessor Lino Maggio will face Randall Guernsey, who previously served in the office before losing the 2022 Democratic primary to Maggio; the winner will see Republican Allen Price in the general election.
In the Democratic primary, North Township Trustee Adrian Santos will face Jesus Luis Ortiz III, Lisa Salinas Skiba, and Samuel Smith Jr.; Ross Township Assessor Angela Guernsey will face Lenny White; Ross Township Trustee Eric A. Blackmon Sr. will face Myesha Jones; and Hobart Township Trustee Fred Williams will face Ericka McCauley.
On the Republican side, Cedar Creek Township Trustee Alice Dahl, Center Township Assessor Joe Krnich, West Creek Township Trustee Heidi Laub, Eagle Creek Township Trustee Rosemarie Morrow, Hanover Township Trustee Kevin Toth, St. John Township Assessor Debbie Walters, and Winfield Township Trustee Cody Reynolds are running for re-election unopposed.
St. John Township Trustee Cathy J. Lareau will face Democrat Roger DePirro in the general election. Incumbent Center Township Trustee Paul Bremer will face Patricia A. Tsouklis in the Republican Primary.
Municipal races
The Cedar Lake, Dyer, Lowell, Schererville, St. John, and Winfield councils have seats up for grabs as well.
Dan Elzinga and Michael Nicolaou will face off in the Republican primary for the chance to challenge incumbent Schererville Town Councilman Tom Schmitt, D-4th, in November.
Schererville Town Councilman Kevin Connelly, R-2, will face Jeff Myszak in the primary, and the winner will square off against Democrat Jeff Kuhn.
Dyer Town Councilwoman Mary Tanis, R-4th, will be challenged by Democrat Joe Douglas in the general election.
Dyer Town Councilwoman Mary K. Timm, R-2nd, will face Kyle Rizzo in the Republican primary; the winner will face Democrat Alicia Catherine Myers in the general election.
Incumbent Dyer Town Council member Annette Ludwig, R-5, will face Mike Wargo in the primary, with the winner facing Democrat Taylor Gibson in the general.
Incumbent Cedar Lake Councilman Bob Carnahan, R-1st, will be challenged by Matt Jones in the Republican primary.
Cedar Lake Republicans Charles E. McMillion, Wayne Witvoet, and Peggy (Endris) Thiel are facing each other in the primary for the 2nd Ward Town Council seat, and the winner will be slated to run against Democrat Carol Kerr.
In the open 3rd Ward seat, Democrat Jeff Biel and Republican Barbara Littles will face each other in the general election.
In Lowell, incumbent Town Council member Todd Angerman is running unopposed for his Ward 2 seat, while Republican Nickolas Witvoet is the only candidate for the Ward 4 seat.
In St. John, Republican Justin T. Nestor has filed to run for the Ward 3 seat. He is running unopposed.
In Winfield, Republicans Zack Beaver and Jon Derwinski are seeking re-election to their At-Large seats, but will be challenged by Jayson Villars.
Rickards: A Geopolitical Earthquake
Rickards: A Geopolitical Earthquake
Authored by James Rickards via the Daily Reckoning,
Our specialty is forecasting. We use multiple branches of science in our predictive analytic models including complexity theory, behavioral psychology, Bayes Theorem, neural networks (a form of artificial intelligence or AI), inference, subject matter expertise and good old-fashioned intuition to arrive at the market and geopolitical predictions we offer our readers.
Our track record speaks for itself. We predicted Brexit when polls gave it only a 25% chance. We predicted Trump’s 2016 victory when polls gave it only a 5% chance. We were the only publication in the world to predict the exact number of Trump’s electoral votes in the 2024 election (312 votes; no one else predicted he would win all seven swing states). There are many other examples. Our forecasts on gold and silver prices are followed all over the world.
But science and applied mathematics are not the only ways to do forecasting. There’s ample room for imagination and creative fiction. In fact, all forms of forecasting are fiction because the events predicted haven’t happened yet. They only become “true” when the forecast plays out.
In this genre, you can think of Jules Verne, who wrote about Captain Nemo and the Nautilus in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1869), decades before systems such as electric propulsion, long-duration submersion and life-support systems were used in submarines.
Another great science fiction writer is Arthur C. Clarke whose 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) described adventures in space that still have not been achieved but are being actively pursued by Elon Musk and others. The pseudonymous author Big Serge is a current master of this genre as it applies to military affairs and geopolitics.
Unlikely Scenarios (For Now)
With this as background, let’s jump into the creative end of the pool and offer some scenarios that are definitely fictional (as of now) and not hard forecasts (that’s for another time), but rather scenarios that if not likely are at least possible and worth your consideration. In some ways, the more unlikely the scenario the greater the impact on your portfolio if it does come to pass.
Trump has backed away from his threat to take Greenland by force if a deal could not be worked out with Denmark, which controls the territory today. But Trump is famously volatile and could reverse his views in a minute if the newly proposed framework for transferring Greenland to the U.S. on some basis yet to be announced falls through.
What if NATO members such as the UK, Denmark, France and Germany send their armed forces to defend Greenland? None of those powers are particularly strong and it’s unlikely they could muster more than two brigades for this purpose (about 5,000 troops in total).
Under the direction of U.S. NorthCom, with a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group, cyber warfare, drones and elite airborne troops trained in Arctic warfare, the U.S. could put those NATO troops into full retreat with substantial casualties on their side in a day or two at the most.
The U.S. would gain Greenland, but the armed confrontation would be the end of NATO. That’s not necessarily a bad thing from the U.S. perspective. NATO members have not been paying anywhere near their share of the costs of military preparedness.
The War in Ukraine has shown that most NATO weapons, including Patriot anti-missile batteries, Abrams and Challenger tanks, HIMARS precision-guided artillery, Bradley fighting vehicles and cruise missiles are obsolete when up against Russian hypersonic missiles, drones, anti-missile defenses and GPS jamming techniques. NATO is probably falling apart anyway, but a debacle in Greenland would accelerate that ending.
The Great Powers Would Rule
Without NATO, the Baltic Republics could be rapidly invaded and annexed by Russia. They already have large Russian-speaking populations and were part of the former Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991. This annexation would be a tragedy for some but a homecoming for others.
The major NATO powers might form a new military alliance centered around France and its nuclear weapons. Yet, the U.S. would still have allies in Europe including Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, Poland and Greece.
These countries form a kind of wall between Russia and Western Europe. Europe could find itself cut off from Russian natural gas because of Ukraine and also cut off from U.S. natural gas because of the battle for Greenland.
With the U.S. controlling its own oil and that of Venezuela and Guyana, and Arab countries siding with the U.S., Western Europe could find itself with almost no energy supplies apart from its pathetic patchwork of windmills and solar farms and French nuclear reactors. Western European manufacturing would quickly grind to a halt.
With the U.S. grabbing Venezuela and Greenland and Russia helping itself to the Baltic Republics, China could decide that the time was ripe to seize Taiwan. The U.S. might allow this to happen on a view that its sphere of influence is the Western Hemisphere through the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine.
Of course, the U.S. would destroy Taiwan’s semiconductor fabrication and research facilities on its way out the door. The U.S. would rapidly expand its indigenous semiconductor manufacturing while mining the Western states of the U.S. and Greenland for rare earths.
Have you heard of the Chagos Islands? They’re an archipelago of seven atolls including more than 60 islands lying 300 miles south of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean. The Chagos are controlled by the UK as the British Indian Ocean Territory.
Except for their natural beauty, they would be unremarkable but for the fact that the Chagos includes the island of Diego Garcia, which houses a U.S. Naval Support Facility. That facility has been used to launch B-52, B-1 and B-2 bomber attacks throughout the Middle East including the Gulf War, the Global War on Terror and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the UK has agreed to cede the Chagos to the island nation of Mauritius, also in the Indian Ocean closer to Madagascar. The UK would take back a lease to Diego Garcia, but Mauritius would be sovereign. Trump has called the Chagos deal “stupid”. Would Trump take over the Chagos Islands to prevent the transfer to Mauritius? Possibly yes. That would be one more nail in the NATO coffin.
Japan sensing that its alliance with the U.S. might be on shaky ground could decide to build its own nuclear weapons to deter Chinese threats. Japan has long had this technology and engineering capability. Now it would decide that all bets are off and it needs to move as quickly as possible to become a nuclear military power.
In these scenarios, the Great Powers of Russia, China, the U.S. and possibly Japan would strike out on their own and seize as much adjacent territory as they could. The small powers like Greenland, Venezuela, the Baltic Republics and the Chagos Islands would be gobbled up. And the middle powers like the UK, France and Germany would watch helplessly as their assumptions about the shape of the world melted like ice cubes on a hot day.
Big Serge writes, “Our history is full of great wars which began in seemingly small places: the Lexington Common, Fort Sumter, an Archduke’s touring car in the back alleys of Sarajevo.” Could Greenland or Guyana or even the Chagos Islands be the next Sarajevo?
That may seem unlikely. But a look back at the last seven years that brought us COVID, twenty-million illegal immigrants, the War in Ukraine, a senile Biden, the War in Gaza, B-2 bombers over Iran, the seizure of Venezuela, two impeachments and the reelection of Donald Trump should teach us that the least likely scenarios happen with much greater frequency than conventional forecasts expect.
We will stick to our rigorous forecasting techniques. But we will also find a place for fictional scenarios of the kind described above. Fiction has a funny way of becoming fact.
Tyler Durden
Sat, 02/07/2026 – 12:50
Yamal se redime de un fallo con un gol en la victoria del líder Barcelona 3-0 sobre Mallorca
Associated Press
MADRID (AP) — La joven estrella Lamine Yamal compensó haber fallado un gol desde fuera del área de penalti, mientras el Barcelona vencía al Mallorca 3-0 el sábado para avanzar cuatro puntos en la cima de La Liga.
Robert Lewandowski había puesto al Barcelona por delante y el jugador local de 18 años Marc Bernal anotó su primer gol en su carrera al final para sellar una victoria convincente.
El segundo lugar, el Real Madrid, puede reducir la diferencia a un punto si gana en Valencia el domingo.
Lewandowski aprovechó desde cerca en el minuto 29 tras un buen trabajo por la izquierda de Marcus Rashford. Su disparo fue bloqueado y Lewandowski mostró su típica compostura fría para controlar el balón y guiarlo más allá de un defensor antes de elegir su lugar.
La forma de Rashford ha mejorado a lo largo de la temporada y estuvo cerca de anotar en el tiempo de descuento de la primera mitad cuando su tiro libre curvado produjo una brillante parada de Leo Roman.
El balón cayó al lateral derecho Jules Koundé cerca del punto de penalti y su disparo desviado aterrizó a los pies de Yamal, quien de alguna manera desvió el balón fuera desde casi la línea de gol.
El prodigio de 18 años recibió una palmada en la espalda de Lewandowski, quien es uno de los goleadores más prolíficos de la era moderna con más de 650 goles en clubes, incluidos 344 con su antiguo club Bayern Múnich.
Yamal mostró su clase en el minuto 61 con un brillante disparo, pasando a un defensor en el borde del área y luego plantando un potente disparo en la esquina inferior, en el que el portero ni siquiera se movió.
Yamal y Lewandowski fueron reemplazados y ambos aplaudieron el excelente gol de Bernal en el 83.
El Barça abrió al Mallorca en el centro del campo con cuatro pases rápidos para enviar a Bernal a toda velocidad, y mostró buena compostura para cortar hacia adentro de un defensor y colocar el balón dentro del poste.
Partidos pospuestos
La Real Sociedad recibe al Elche más tarde en el único otro partido del día después de que se cancelaran dos partidos.
El partido en casa del Rayo Vallecano contra el Oviedo fue pospuesto a corto plazo debido a preocupaciones de seguridad sobre el campo en el Estadio de Vallecas. La liga también canceló el Sevilla vs. Girona debido a condiciones climáticas adversas.
Aunque el Oviedo dijo que entendía la decisión, el equipo criticó el corto aviso y estaba considerando acciones legales.
___
Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
Consejo presidencial de Haití renuncia tras casi dos años en el poder
Por EVENS SANON y DÁNICA COTO
PUERTO PRÍNCIPE, Haití (AP) — El consejo presidencial de Haití renunció el sábado tras casi dos años de un tumultuoso gobierno junto a un primer ministro respaldado por Estados Unidos, quien se espera que permanezca en el poder mientras el país se prepara para las primeras elecciones generales en una década.
Días antes de que el consejo de nueve miembros se disolviera, Washington desplegó un buque de guerra y dos barcos de la Guardia Costera de Estados Unidos en aguas cercanas a Puerto Príncipe, la capital de Haití, donde las pandillas controlan el 90% del territorio.
“La presencia naval parece ser la prueba más reciente de la disposición de Washington a usar la amenaza de la fuerza para dar forma a la política en el hemisferio occidental”, afirmó Diego Da Rin, analista del International Crisis Group.
A finales de enero, dos de los miembros más influyentes del consejo anunciaron que una mayoría había votado para destituir al primer ministro Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, desafiando los llamados del gobierno de Estados Unidos a mantener la frágil estabilidad política del país.
Días después, Washington anunció la revocación de visas para cuatro miembros del consejo no identificados y un ministro del gabinete.
El plan del consejo para destituir a Fils-Aimé por razones no divulgadas pareció quedar de lado cuando sus miembros renunciaron el sábado en una ceremonia oficial.
“Necesitamos dejar de lado nuestro interés personal y continuar el progreso por la seguridad”, dijo el presidente saliente del consejo, Laurent Saint-Cyr, quien rechazó la presión para destituir al primer ministro.
Fils-Aimé habló brevemente, diciendo que se dirigiría a la nación más tarde ese día.
“El consejo presidencial ha hecho su trabajo al allanar el camino para una gobernanza consciente de los problemas de seguridad y electorales”, expresó.
Da Rin señaló que hay negociaciones en curso para decidir qué reemplazará al consejo mientras una nueva misión de seguridad multinacional se prepara para transformar una misión respaldada por la ONU y liderada por la policía keniana, que carecía de personal y fondos suficientes.
“La claridad sobre quién gobernará Haití es esencial”, escribió Da Rin en un ensayo reciente. “Los países que contribuyen a esta fuerza querrán saber que están trabajando junto a un gobierno cuya legitimidad es indiscutida”.
El 7 de febrero es una fecha histórica para Haití, ya que marca el inicio del gobierno democrático tras una dictadura de casi 30 años. También es cuando tradicionalmente los presidentes prestan juramento.
Pero la nación caribeña no logró celebrar elecciones generales el sábado como se había previsto hace un par de años, ya que la violencia de las pandillas se apoderó de gran parte de la capital y extensas áreas de la región central del país. Se anunciaron fechas tentativas para agosto y diciembre, pero muchas personas creen que es poco probable que se celebren elecciones y una segunda vuelta este año.
El consejo se estableció en abril de 2024, casi tres años después de que el presidente Jovenel Moïse fuera asesinado en su residencia, sumiendo a Haití en una agitación generalizada.
En ese momento, el ex primer ministro Ariel Henry no pudo regresar a Haití tras un viaje oficial a Kenia porque una poderosa coalición de pandillas había atacado infraestructuras estatales clave durante varios días, obligando al principal aeropuerto internacional del país a cerrar durante casi tres meses.
El consejo se creó después de que líderes caribeños y funcionarios de Estados Unidos se reunieran urgentemente en Jamaica para construir un marco para una transición política tras la renuncia de Henry.
Los miembros del consejo habían prometido durante mucho tiempo sofocar la violencia de las pandillas y mejorar la vida en Haití, pero se quedaron abrumadoramente cortos.
“El gobierno no ha podido hacer retroceder a las pandillas criminales que controlan la mayor parte de Puerto Príncipe y se han expandido a otras áreas”, señaló Da Rin.
El consejo también fue sacudido por acusaciones de corrupción, ya que, a finales de 2024, una agencia gubernamental acusó de soborno a tres de sus miembros.
El sábado, tras la renuncia del consejo, André Joseph, de 42 años, un vendedor ambulante que vendía dulces fuera de las oficinas gubernamentales, celebró. Actualmente vive en un refugio improvisado y es uno de los 1,4 millones de personas desplazadas por la violencia de las pandillas. Afirmó que quiere regresar a casa.
“Su tiempo se acabó. Estuvieron allí casi dos años y no hicieron nada por el país”, dijo, refiriéndose al consejo. “Haití necesita seguir adelante con un mejor gobierno a cargo que pueda llevar al país en una mejor dirección”.
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Coto informó desde San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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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.
Trump sostendrá primera reunión de su Junta de Paz
Por MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON (AP) — El presidente Donald Trump planea convocar la primera reunión de su Junta de Paz este mes en Washington para recaudar fondos para la reconstrucción de Gaza.
La reunión, propuesta para el 19 de febrero, incluiría tanto a líderes mundiales que aceptaron la invitación de Trump en enero para unirse a la junta, como a miembros de un comité ejecutivo para Gaza que supervisará los detalles de la gobernanza, seguridad y reconstrucción del territorio, dijeron el sábado dos funcionarios de la administración Trump.
De momento no está claro cuántos líderes aceptarán la invitación del presidente republicano, según los funcionarios, quienes hablaron bajo condición de anonimato porque la reunión aún no ha sido anunciada formalmente y los detalles de su agenda aún se están determinando.
Una de las fuentes indicó que la administración espera una participación “robusta”.
Una copia de la invitación que fue enviada el viernes por la noche a los invitados y obtenida por The Associated Press, dice que la reunión se llevará a cabo en el Instituto de Paz de Estados Unidos, ahora conocido como el Instituto de Paz Donald J. Trump de Estados Unidos, pendiente de una batalla legal en curso con la antigua dirección del grupo de expertos. La administración se apoderó de la instalación el año pasado y despidió a casi todo el personal del instituto.
La nueva junta de Trump fue vista inicialmente como un mecanismo enfocado en poner fin a la guerra entre Israel y Hamás en Gaza. Pero tiene ambición de un mandato más amplio para resolver crisis globales y parece ser un esfuerzo por eludir a las Naciones Unidas mientras Trump busca trastocar el orden internacional posterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
Muchos de los principales aliados de Estados Unidos en Europa y otros lugares han declinado unirse a lo que sospechan podría ser un intento de rivalizar con el Consejo de Seguridad.
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Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/07/trump-sostendr-primera-reunin-de-su-junta-de-paz/
Barcelona es el último gran equipo en abandonar el proyecto de la Superliga Europea
Por JAMES ROBSON
Barcelona se ha convertido en el último club de fútbol en cortar lazos con la propuesta de la Superliga Europea.
Barcelona, junto con el Real Madrid, en un momento había estado liderando la lucha para poner en marcha una competencia rival a la Liga de Campeones. Pero en un breve comunicado el sábado, Barcelona confirmó oficialmente que ya no formaría parte del controvertido proyecto, que provocó una indignación generalizada entre los aficionados cuando se anunció por primera vez en 2021.
“El FC Barcelona anuncia que hoy ha notificado formalmente a la European Super League Company y a los clubes involucrados su retirada del proyecto de la Superliga Europea”, dijo el cinco veces ganador de la Liga de Campeones.
Eso deja al Madrid apoyando la Superliga, que fue rebautizada como la Unify League en 2024.
Los planes originales para la Superliga vieron a 12 de los clubes más históricos de Europa anunciar planes para crear un nuevo torneo de élite de 20 equipos.
Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético de Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Juventus, AC Milan e Inter de Milán formaban parte del grupo original de ruptura.
Las propuestas habrían visto a 15 clubes principales protegidos del descenso y habrían reemplazado efectivamente a la Liga de Campeones, el torneo de clubes de élite de Europa. También habría tenido el potencial de impactar las ligas nacionales dado el acceso garantizado de los equipos independientemente de su éxito en las competiciones nacionales.
Ante la protesta pública, la mayoría de los clubes se retiraron rápidamente. Madrid y Barcelona habían sido los dos últimos en apoyar públicamente una ruptura después de que, otro rezagado, la Juventus, se retirara en 2023.
Más tarde ese año, el tribunal superior de la Unión Europea dictaminó que los organismos rectores del fútbol, UEFA y FIFA, actuaron en contra de la ley de competencia de la UE al bloquear los planes para una liga de ruptura. Pero a pesar de que el promotor de la Superliga con sede en Madrid, A22 Sports Management, reveló planes para una competencia revisada, la retirada de Barcelona es otro golpe a sus esperanzas de crear un rival para la Liga de Campeones.
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James Robson está en https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
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Deportes en español AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes
