By T.M. Brown, CNN

(CNN) — Barry Levinson’s “Toys” is hard to track down today. It was supposed to be a highlight of the 1992 holiday movie season, a major-studio comedy release with a cast that included Robin Williams, Joan Cusack, LL Cool J, and a cameo from Jamie Foxx for his first film credit. But despite Levinson’s sterling prior directing record, the big names, and an acclaimed set design, audiences avoided it. It went down in film history as a notorious failure, and it’s all but unavailable on contemporary streaming platforms.

Yet lately, people have been rediscovering the film in clip form. “Toys” tells the story of a a warmongering, slightly deranged military officer named Leland Zevo who commandeers his brother’s toy factory for weapons production, starting with cartoony tanks and spyware hidden inside teddy bears, before realizing the real vanguard is in video games.

Toward the end, the movie reveals that Zevo has created a secret bunker where kids play immersive video games that are supposed to simulate war — piloting virtual attack helicopters and blowing up bridges, highways and enemy boats on pixelated battlefields while point values flash on the screen. In fact, he is preparing to deploy a new kind of child soldier, who would unwittingly send cheap remote-controlled vehicles to take out cities to rack up a new high score.

Thirty-four years later, with barrages of cheap drones defining the battlefield in Ukraine and in the Strait of Hormuz, and with the president posting pixelated videos of unarmed boats being blasted into fireballs in the Caribbean, Levinson’s vision of cheap, gamified, dissociated warfare strikes people as all too prescient. We called the filmmaker to talk about how he conceived the movie, and what he thinks of his fictional future now that it’s arrived.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

I’m curious if you’re surprised at the resurgence of interest in “Toys.”

I am only because it’s very easy for many movies to just drift away and that’s the end of it. So the fact that this sort of has been popping up is fascinating to me. It’s been a long time since I made it. I always thought it was incredibly misunderstood in its time. I never thought the film was meant for the very young.

The absurdist world that we were creating contained a lot of elements that we saw coming down the road. The computers and the remote-control operations of things, and then the idea of making weapons smaller for economic reasons, as General Zevo talks about in the movie. I always thought that it was almost a fable.

I guess the initial reaction was all over the place.

Some prescient movies seem to be very misunderstood in their time. I think about Paul Verhoeven and “Starship Troopers,” where it felt like the movie was misunderstood by people who weren’t necessarily grasping the satire. I’m wondering if you categorize “Toys” as a movie that was perhaps too good at telling the future.

It happens periodically. I mean, as soon as you see the visuals of this is the factory, which is clearly not like one you’ve seen before, you know this isn’t reality.

And we included these computer elements and these small remote-control planes that can still be deadly, they still have the power to blow up and destroy things. You can see where those things could ultimately mesh. That’s why we have that scene where you see all these kids on their computers blowing up things. The way things are going now, that reality can certainly enter the picture in the near future.

That seems increasingly what military operations look like.

By Patrick Svitek, CNN

(CNN) — The race to lead the country’s biggest blue state has been defined by voter concerns about their quality of life in California and the influence of special interests in Sacramento.

It might not seem like the right moment for California’s next governor to come from Silicon Valley. Matt Mahan and a large group of Big Tech backers think it is.

Mahan, the mayor of San Jose, the state’s third-largest city, is waging an uphill battle as the lone Democrat — in his telling — willing to challenge his own party and how it tackles big problems in the era of Donald Trump. He often says Californians “don’t need MAGA, but we also don’t need more of the same.”

“He’s a strong Democrat. He makes it clear what his values are,” said Tracy Hernandez, co-founder and CEO of the New California Coalition, a group of business and civic leaders. But, Hernandez said, “I think that Californians are moving off of that hyperpartisan-at-all-costs (mindset) and demanding solutions.”

After entering the race in late January, Mahan has drawn attention for his efforts to distinguish himself from other Democrats, for his background as tech entrepreneur-turned-politician and, perhaps most notably, for the amount of money behind his candidacy. His campaign has raised $14 million, more than any other candidate besides billionaire self-funder Tom Steyer, whose campaign has spent more than $137 million on advertising.

Despite his supporters’ enthusiasm, Mahan has remained mired in the single digits in recent polls, overshadowed by Steyer and other better-known and more conventional Democrats. His low numbers will be reflected by his position on the edge of the stage at Tuesday’s gubernatorial debate hosted by CNN.

“I’m in the process of introducing myself to Californians, and I think that people are just starting to tune in,” Mahan told CNN in an interview last week. “We have a lot of people to get to know over the next few weeks.”

Mahan is leaning heavily on his three-plus years as mayor of San Jose, where he has clashed with fellow Democrats on homelessness, housing and public safety. His positions have also sometimes put him at odds with Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate who cannot seek reelection due to term limits.

Between the support from the tech industry and his unorthodox standing inside his party, Mahan has a lot to balance ahead of the nonpartisan June 2 primary to pick the top two candidates for the November ballot.

Steyer has said Mahan is funded by the same people “who profit off your data, crush competition, attack unions, and pour money into surveillance and defense contractors.”

But for Mahan’s backers, it is a worthwhile experiment — with national implications.

“I do not believe we will have a Democrat in the White House until there’s a big blue state that is governed well, and right now there’s no big blue state that is governed well,” said David Crane, president of Govern for California, a pro-Mahan group that works to counter special interests in California politics, and who served as a special adviser to former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

From Harvard into tech

The son of a teacher and letter carrier, Mahan grew up in Watsonville, an agricultural hub along California’s Central Coast, and would travel north to San Jose to attend a college prep school on a scholarship for low-income students. He then attended Harvard University and dove into politics there, serving as student body president.

While at Harvard, he met Mark Zuckerberg, who he says counseled him to skip law school and go into tech to “change the world.”

Mahan followed Zuckerberg’s advice. In 2008, he joined Causes, one of the earliest Facebook apps, which a

Por Mauricio Torres, CNN en Español

Hace dos semanas, un operativo de seguridad para desmantelar laboratorios clandestinos para fabricar drogas sintéticas en el estado de Chihuahua, ubicado en el norte de México y fronterizo con Estados Unidos, derivó en una controversia que hasta ahora aún no tiene un final a la vista.

La revelación de que dos agentes de la Agencia Central de Inteligencia de Estados Unidos (CIA, por sus siglas en inglés) estuvieron en esa operación, y después murieron en un accidente automovilístico, ha hecho que el Gobierno de México pida explicaciones tanto al Gobierno de Chihuahua como al de Estados Unidos, al tiempo que el fiscal de Chihuahua renunció al cargo y muchos especialistas se preguntan de qué tamaño es la presencia de agencias extranjeras en territorio mexicano.

Así es como llegamos hasta aquí.

Entre el viernes 17 y el domingo 19 de abril, elementos de la Fiscalía de Chihuahua e integrantes del Ejército participaron en un operativo para desmantelar laboratorios clandestinos para fabricar drogas en el municipio de Morelos, ubicado en la zona serrana del estado.

La noche del 19 de abril, el entonces fiscal de Chihuahua, César Jáuregui, informó en una rueda de prensa que, durante la madrugada de ese día, cuando el convoy viajaba de regreso a Chihuahua capital, un vehículo se volcó.

En ese accidente, dijo, murieron el director de la Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes, su escolta Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes y dos funcionarios estadounidenses, a quienes identificó como instructores de la Embajada de Estados Unidos.

El embajador de Estados Unidos, Ronald Johnson, lamentó lo sucedido. “Esta tragedia es un solemne recordatorio de los riesgos que enfrentan los funcionarios mexicanos y estadounidenses dedicados a proteger a nuestras comunidades, y fortalece nuestra determinación de continuar su misión y avanzar en nuestro compromiso compartido con la seguridad y la justicia, para proteger a nuestra gente”, publicó en X.

El lunes 20 de abril, en su conferencia de prensa mañanera, la presidenta de México, Claudia Sheinbaum, lamentó la muerte de los estadounidenses, pero también aseguró que su Gobierno no estaba enterado sobre su presencia en Chihuahua.

Por esta razón, dijo, pidió información tanto al Gobierno de Chihuahua como al de Estados Unidos, con el propósito de aclarar si hubo una posible violación a la Constitución de México y a Ley de Seguridad Nacional, que establecen límites a la cooperación que autoridades mexicanas pueden tener con agencias extranjeras.

Entre otros puntos, esta legislación señala que los agentes extranjeros deben recibir una acreditación del Gobierno federal para permanecer en el país de forma temporal, deben enfocarse en labores de intercambio de información y deben reportar mensualmente las gestiones que realicen. En tanto, la Constitución establece que México no permitirá que instituciones extranjeras realicen “investigación y persecución” de delitos sin que haya “autorización y colaboración expresa”.

El martes 21 de abril, CNN y otros medios reportaron que los dos estadounidenses que murieron en Chihuahua eran agentes de la CIA. Fuentes con conocimiento del caso dijeron a CNN que se trataba de personas que trabajaban con autoridades mexicanas en la ampliación de operaciones antidrogas en México.

La revelación generó numerosas reacciones en México, incluye

Por Cecilia Domínguez, CNN en Español

Durante años, la anticoncepción fue, casi por definición, un territorio femenino. Pastillas, dispositivos intrauterinos, controles médicos, efectos secundarios y decisiones silenciosas. Una responsabilidad asumida, muchas veces, sin discusión, como parte natural de la vida reproductiva de las mujeres. ¿Y ellos? Los hombres, en ese esquema, quedaban al margen.

Sin embargo, algo empezó a cambiar. El tabú masculino sobre la vasectomía está desapareciendo y su discusión se vuelve cada vez más cotidiana. Los números empiezan a reflejarlo: en Estados Unidos, por ejemplo, se practican 500.000 por año, según la Asociación de Urología Americana, y después del fallo de la Corte Suprema en 2022 de anular Roe v Wade, que establecía el aborto como un derecho constitucional protegido, las consultas y procedimientos aumentaron más del 150%.

En paralelo, la fecundidad en Latinoamérica cayó a niveles históricamente bajos, en las últimas tres décadas. Y, en la provincia de Buenos Aires, en Argentina, entre 2020 y 2025, las vasectomías en hospitales públicos se multiplicaron por 20. Así, en los consultorios y hospitales, no solo crece la demanda de una intervención, sino otra forma de pensar la paternidad, el cuerpo y la responsabilidad.

Cerrar una etapa es el motor de la decisión en la mayoría de los casos. Facundo Mirata tiene 40 años, dos hijos y un proyecto de vida ya definido: no volver a ser padre. “Ni mi mujer ni yo queremos más hijos. Nuestra familia ya está completa”, afirma. Fue después de su segunda paternidad, hace ocho meses, que la vasectomía apareció como una posibilidad, a través de una sugerencia de su pareja. No como una urgencia, sino como una conversación que volvió más de una vez.

“Cuando uno habla de vasectomía, se pregunta de qué se trata eso”, dice Facundo, que empezó buscando respuestas en Internet, leyó sobre el tema y, después, fue a una consulta médica. En ese proceso, que su mujer acompañó, no solo encontró información, sino también prejuicios: “Creo hay mucho machismo. Es una parte que nadie debe saber de vos y te da temor”, reconoce. Sin embargo, cuando lo habló con compañeros de trabajo, la reacción fue distinta a la que esperaba. Más natural, incluso cercana, y hasta le terminaron contando sus experiencias médicas.

“El 70 % son pacientes que ya tienen de dos a tres hijos y alrededor del 20 % son los que tienen un hijo, y ya no quieren más”, sostiene Mariel Altamirano, médica vasectomista del Hospital Gandulfo, uno de los hospitales de la provincia de Buenos Aires en los que se realizan vasectomías gratuitas y sin bisturí. Entre sus pacientes, la mayoría tienen entre 40 y 50 años. En el hospital, Altamirano realiza en promedio 15 procedimientos por mes. Es una intervención ambulatoria, dura entre 15 y 20 minutos y el paciente vuelve a su casa el mismo día.

Facundo cuenta que, detrás de su voluntad de hacerse la vasectomía, hay algo más: el deseo de poder vivir su sexualidad sin la preocupación constante de un embarazo. Esa es, de hecho, una de las preguntas más frecuentes en consulta. “La vasectomía tiene una efectividad del 99% y no afecta la vida sexual. La calidad de las erecciones y la cantidad de semen siguen siendo exactamente iguales”, sostiene la médica.

Sin embargo, la vasectomía no evita el embarazo inmediatamente. Después de la intervención, es necesario que pasen tres meses o 20 eyaculaciones para eliminar cualquier resto de espermatozoides. Si bien el procedimiento se puede revertir, la médica aclara que se informa como irreversible: “Primero, por el elevado costo de la cirugía microscópica para hacerlo y, segundo, porque la probabilidad de que vuelva a haber concepción es menor al 3%, casi nula”.

La decisión, para otros, aparece como una forma de equilibrar cargas dentro de la relación. Diego Seijo tiene 57 años y hace veinte que está en pareja. En su casa, el tema de la anticonc

By Andy Rose, CNN

(CNN) — It was hard to believe there was anything left that could surprise the tight-knit group of women who had attended Camp Mystic, one of the most beloved summer programs for girls in Texas.

After enduring nearly 10 months with the heartache of disastrous flooding that killed 28 people at the camp – 25 campers, two counselors and the camp’s director, Dick Eastland – days of hearings resulted in an unexpected decision by Camp Mystic’s leaders.

“Just the incomprehensible devastation that this place of pure joy and laughter and innocence has been the focus of this horrible tragedy,” said Claudia Sullivan, who first came to Camp Mystic in 1964 and became friends with Eastland and his wife long before they, and eventually their extended family, were running the camp.

For months, the surviving Eastland family members have made the survival of the camp their top priority, insisting it could continue this summer on higher ground and with more safety precautions.

In response, they have faced a completely different deluge – investigations, lawsuits, criticism and concern it was too soon to move on.

Thursday, camp leaders announced an end to their pursuit of a new license for now, marking the first time in a century the campground will spend a summer unoccupied.

“No administrative process or summer season should move forward while families continue to grieve, while investigations continue and while so many Texans still carry the pain of last July’s tragedy,” the Eastland family said in a statement announcing their decision to halt the 2026 summer season.

The announcement is a fork in the road for a Texas institution and also the family whose name has become inseparable from the camp for three generations.

“Our special bond with our Camp Mystic families does not change or end with the announcement,” the family statement said. The Eastlands did not say whether they intend to restart Camp Mystic next year, and representatives for the family did not respond to a request for more information about their plans.

Even after deaths, Camp Mystic had high demand

The camp’s official brochure didn’t list prices or even how to apply. There was no need. Camp Mystic was constantly at capacity with a waitlist so backed up, many hopeful parents applied shortly after their girls were born.

“This was, you know, wives telling their new husbands that if we have a daughter, she’ll go to Mystic,” said Casey Garrett, an investigator hired by the Texas House committee investigating the flood response. “It was a known thing. It was a very traditional culture.”

Alumnae included the daughters of multiple Texas governors and former president Lyndon B. Johnson, a Lone Star State icon in his own right. Laura Welch was a counselor at Camp Mystic decades before she became better known as first lady Laura Bush.

Until Thursday’s decision to cancel camp, more than 800 girls were still signed up to be part of a scaled-down Mystic experience this summer, the Eastlands said.

Plans for a centennial celebration with hundreds of former campers in Kerr County last month fell apart in the wake of the tragedy, Sullivan told CN