Por Pau Mosquera, CNN en Español

En el salón reina el silencio. El único sonido que se percibe de vez en cuando es el del lápiz que rasga su punta de carbón contra el bloc de notas donde Agustín Kouchoyan, de 14 años, hace sus deberes de Física.

A cierta distancia se encuentra su madre, Noelia Kouchoyan, quien le ofrece su ayuda por si precisa aclarar algún concepto. Pero no, parece que Agustín se las arregla solo.

“Es un niño responsable”, asegura Noelia a CNN. Y se le ve aplicado, sí, aunque de vez en cuando esa atención se escapa hacia su celular. Según relata su madre, se lo compró hace tres años, cuando empezó a ir solo al colegio. “Para mí era una necesidad, porque necesitaba saber dónde estaba”, detalla.

Pero lo que empezó como una herramienta para ganar tranquilidad, empezó a generar otro dilema. “Es como el ying y el yang”, dice Noelia, “por un lado es una ayuda y por otro lado es un problema”. Concretamente, porque hay espacios en los que Agustín se queda solo en casa y donde usa ávidamente el celular.

“Veo que con el móvil hay muchos temas emocionales, como por ejemplo ansiedad”, señala la madre. “A la noche tarda en dormir o no duerme, de repente se pone irritable con el teléfono, con los jueguitos, básicamente”.

Pero esta no es una preocupación única de ella, sino de tantos otros padres con hijos adolescentes. “Las preocupaciones principales de los padres giran en torno al tiempo de exposición de los menores a estas pantallas y al contenido al que están expuestos a través de las redes sociales” especifica Abel Domínguez, psicólogo infanto-juvenil y director de Domínguez psicólogos.

Una inquietud legítima, dado que afirma que un uso excesivo de las pantallas y exposición a contenidos impactantes en redes sociales “pueden generar ansiedad”. “Pueden incluso generar trastornos de la conducta alimentaria porque, de alguna manera, los menores están recibiendo una presión sobre los ideales de belleza, sobre los cánones de belleza”, entre otros.

En el caso de Agustín, pidió a su madre abrir una cuenta en la red social Instagram hace un año. Un pedido que Noelia le concedió, pero “lo controlo yo”, asegura. “Usa mis cuentas de Google y de Youtube, o sea que yo puedo ver lo que ve y lo que no ve”.

Ahora bien, a pesar de estar atenta al contenido que consume, la preocupación es que pueda filtrarse en estas plataformas contenido que no le convenga. “Hay compañeros que tienen hermanos más grandes, entonces les llega otro tipo de información”, comparte preocupada. “Eso lo van pasando a su grupo de amigos” a través de sus charlas en aplicaciones de mensajería instantánea, agrega.

Es por esta razón que Noelia ve con buenos ojos el último anuncio realizado por el presidente del Gobierno de España, Pedro Sánchez, quien comunicó esta semana que prohibirán el acceso de menores de 16 años a las redes sociales como una de las cinco medidas que pretenden impulsar para garantizar un entorno digital más seguro para los jóvenes.

Para llevar a término este bloqueo, Sánchez señaló que las plataformas a las que se dirija esta regulación “estarán obligadas a implementar sistemas eficaces de verificación de edad”.

Pero a Noelia le entran las dudas. “Ellos (los jóvenes) son muy vivos y puede haber formas de saltarse el ‘capado’ de las redes”, argumenta.

Un temor con algo de fundamento, explica Domínguez: “No nos engañemos, muchas veces los controles parentales no están funcionando, no los estamos sabiendo usar los padres o no se están aplicando de manera adecuada”.

De ahí que los especialistas que se han pronunciado a lo largo de los últimos días apuesten por sistemas de acceso centralizados. “Estamos viendo que, si delegamos esa responsabilidad en las plataformas, pues no vamos a tener esa credibilidad”, reflexiona Fernando Suárez, presidente del Consejo General de Colegios de Ingeniería en Informática.

“No

By David Allan, CNN

(CNN) — For over a century, skiing has been more than transportation or sport. It’s been a lifestyle, emphasis on the second syllable.

Ernest Hemingway drew a romantically colorful portrait of spending a few winters in the Austrian Alps in the early 1920s. At the end of his biographical “A Moveable Feast,” his chronicle of carefree mountain living is an aspirational vibe of downhill thrills and après chills. By day, he and his wife Hadley hiked up pre-chairlift mountains, traversing logging trails with skis strapped to their backs. By night they were in Alpine hüttes or local watering holes, indulging in beer, mulled wine, Schnapps, singing and other cozy fun.

And since the dawn of skiing-as-pastime, every devotee has known that the appeal is part downhill bliss, part après activity. They are two sides of the same piste, a ski culture embracing carefree adventure, indulgence, bonhomie and individual style.

This escapist history of ski culture is visually captured in Erin Isakov’s photography book, “Après Ski: The Scene, the Style, the Menu.” Page after page of fashion-distinctive skiers and mountain partiers, including Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Audrey Hepburn, Jane Birkin, David Bowie and Hunter S. Thompson fill the archive. Hemingway, too, gets a mention — although it’s far too brief, simply noting that the author moved to Ketchum, Idaho (where he also died) to be near the first US ski resort, Sun Valley.

The book is less about the best places for skiing than about the places to best be seen skiing. It points to historically choice resorts, such as Switzerland’s Verbier and Jackson Hole in America’s Wyoming, and includes recipes for throwing your own après ski fête (in other words, the fun that follows the recreational sport), including hot chocolate, an Aperol Spritz, fondue and upscale nachos. The leisurely environment is also captured: See skiers sunbathing or drinking slope side, or lounging in cabins in either activewear or comfortable, yet still stylish clothing.

Like the history of big wave surfing, skiing has evolved over generations of gear design, fashion and location hot spots (some expert only). As for the origin story of esprit de ski, at least for the rich and famous, Isakov makes the case for Switzerland’s St. Moritz in the 1860s. It then snowballed in popularity in Europe after the first World War.

The US joined the trend in the 1930s and when European-stationed American soldiers returned from World War II with alpine skills, they helped usher in a generation of new resorts, including Colorado’s Vail and Aspen, known for their ski scene even today.

The evolution of skiwear

The largest section of the book is devoted to ski fashion, the author’s particular and familial passion. Isakov was practically baptized in powder, as her parents met at a California ski resort where they worked. She is also the cofounder of the skiwear brand Erin Snow.

We learn that women’s skiwear in the early 1900s commonly featured long, ankle-length wool skirts, but quickly gave way to the practicality of pants in the 1920s. Then came slimmer-fit, synthetic stretch fabrics after WWII, with fashion designers such as Emilio Pucci, magazine editors and celebrities barreling into the trend. Over the decades the classic ski look has been complimented by Norwegian sweaters, glare-shunning sunglasses and furry boots.

The 1980s’ ski fashion stands out for its trends of neon glowing lycra pants and puffy jackets reflected in mirrored, glacier-style sunglasses. The decade rightly gets its own section in the book. The ‘80s also saw the birth of snowboarding, which would become so popular in the ‘90s it added grunge-plaid shirts, wraparound goggles and baggy pants to sartorial mountain style — an era glossed over in “Après Ski.”

By Chris Isidore, John Liu, CNN

(CNN) — Chinese cars could be at an American dealership sooner than you think, and that’s good news for US consumers.

Chinese car companies make more vehicles than anyone else on Earth and export more as well. But high tariffs and hostile US-China trade relations have kept them out of the American market.

That’s likely to change, according to experts, with Chinese autos hitting US showrooms in the next five to ten years.

“The ambition is there,” said Lei Xing, an independent auto analyst and former chief editor of China Automotive Review magazine, even if companis have to build factories here rather than ship cars here from China.

He said multiple Chinese automakers have shown “readiness to come to the US, to build in the US.”

That would be a helpful for American car buyers. Greater competition means more choices, especially for EVs, which in turn should lower prices. But it would also squeeze the profits and market share of the car companies already selling in the US, likely affecting the nearly 1 million people who work for them.

Chinese cars shipped to America come with a 100% tariff, by far the highest tariff rate for any import. But President Donald Trump, a critic of most Chinese products, recently seemed welcoming of Chinese brands if they build plants in the US.

“If they want to come in and build the plant and hire you and hire your friends and your neighbors, that’s great. I love that,” he said in a speech last month at the Economic Club of Detroit. “Let China come in.”

Asked about the administration’s willingness to let Chinese automakers enter the US market, a White House official told CNN last week that “the administration supports all investment into the United States as long as our national and economic security is not compromised.”

China automakers take the lead

Any Chinese entry into the market could further cement the country’s industry dominance.

China produced one-third of all cars worldwide last year, with more than 8 million of those exported to other markets around the globe, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. That’s up 30% compared to 2024. China eclipsed Japan as the world’s largest exporter of vehicles in 2023.

China is particularly competitive when it comes to electric vehicles. China is particularly competitive when it comes to electric vehicles. Chinese automaker BYD overtook Tesla last year as the largest electric car company worldwide and Ford this week in global sales.

Building a car factory the US could take several years, but leading experts agree that most Chinese carmakers are already eyeing the US market.

“It’s no secret that every automaker in the world looks at the United States market as the ultimate arena for triumph,” said Michael Dunne, an auto industry consultant who has been involved in Western automakers’ efforts in China since the 1990s.

That’s because American consumers are wealthier, and buy bigger, more expensive vehicles – meaning it’s more profitable than anywhere else, he added.

Dunne said the average price of a car exported from China last year was about $19,000, while the average price of a new car sold in the United States is around $50,000.

BYD and other leading Chinese automakers did not respond to questions from CNN about their plans for entering the US market.

But it doesn’t mean that they haven’t already dipped their toes in.

Volvo, owned by Chinese automaker Geely, built a plant in South Carolina in 2015.

The plant, currently undergoing a $1.3 billion expansion, could serve as a beachhead for Geely to start building cars from its Zeekr and Lynk & Co. brands in the U

By Sarah Ferris, Manu Raju, CNN

(CNN) — As Hakeem Jeffries sits in the minority of a GOP-controlled Washington, he is still haunted by a Republican gerrymandering gambit that he believes cost him the speaker’s gavel — and cost his party control of the House.

This time, he’s making sure Democrats fight back.

Jeffries is leading the Democratic party’s counterpunch to President Donald Trump’s aggressive mid-decade redistricting push. He’s going all in with money, legal firepower and his own political capital to make sure no seat is left on the table for Democrats — forcing the party to abandon the left’s longtime moral opposition to party-line map meddling.

“Republicans started this redistricting war, and Democrats have made clear, we’re going to finish it,” Jeffries said in an interview with CNN. “When they go low, we strike back.”

Top Democrats, including Jeffries, are buoyed by signs of surging anti-Trump sentiment across the country — with special election wins even in ruby red parts of Texas — and believe they will capture the House, and possibly the Senate, in November. But Jeffries believes he can’t afford to ignore the GOP’s gerrymandering, when just three seats in North Carolina in 2024 were enough to cost Democrats the majority.

After a huge win on redistricting in California, Jeffries is vowing to spend “tens of millions” of dollars to push through an April ballot initiative in Virginia to potentially give Democrats four more seats. And he is now turning his attention to Maryland, where Democrats’ big gerrymandering gamble is facing its most difficult test yet. Jeffries and other top Democrats are now intensifying pressure on a key party leader, the 42-year-old Baltimorean who runs the state Senate, who refuses to help draw his party another more favorable seat that would target the state’s lone GOP-held congressional district.

Jeffries issued a stark warning to that Democrat, state Senate President Bill Ferguson — suggesting the move could help Trump’s GOP win the midterms.

“One man shouldn’t stand in the way of the people of Maryland … being able to decide, ‘Should we go in this direction? Or should we not answer Donald Trump’s continued efforts to rig the midterm election?’” Jeffries said.

If Ferguson doesn’t back down, Jeffries vowed to personally apply the pressure: “At some point I’m going to have a conversation with him if he continues to stand in the way of an up-or-down vote.” CNN has reached out to Ferguson for comment.

The prevailing sentiment in the Maryland Senate Democratic Caucus, however, is one of skepticism. They insist a new map at this point would only backfire on Democrats.

“It’s not a question of one man, but a caucus that measures the risk calculation differently given recent past experience,” a person close to the Maryland Senate Democratic Caucus told CNN.

While the caucus agreed with Jeffries that fighting Trump should the top goal, this person added: “Unfortunately, mid-cycle redistricting in Maryland would have the opposite impact and likely backfire in the state courts, giving Trump and the GOP even more seats in Congress.”

Top Democrats, including Jeffries, never expected a mid-decade redistricting push to be the centerpiece of their midterms strategy. It’s expensive and legally fraught with plenty of political pitfalls. Already, Jeffries and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker struggled to find support for a mid-decade map red

Por Emma Tucker, CNN

Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna estaba trabajando en Minneapolis una noche de miércoles del mes pasado, haciendo entregas como conductor de DoorDash, cuando se dio cuenta de que estaba siendo seguido por agentes de ICE, según su abogado.

Condujo hasta su casa y fue derribado por un agente, pero logró zafarse y corrió hacia la vivienda, donde estaba su primo Julio César Sosa-Celis, según el abogado. Al cerrar la puerta e intentar ponerle seguro, Sosa-Celis dijo que un agente de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas le disparó en la pierna.

El incidente, que ocurrió solo siete días después de que un agente federal matara a tiros a Renee Good, desató nuevas protestas y tensos enfrentamientos con la Policía. Un informe del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (DHS, por sus siglas en inglés) poco después del incidente difería de las versiones de los dos hombres y sus familiares.

El DHS afirmó que Sosa-Celis conducía el auto y que él, Aljorna y otro hombre agredieron al agente antes de que este disparara su arma.

La primera señal de que el Gobierno cuestionaba la versión del DHS vino del Departamento de Justicia de EE.UU. (DOJ). En un documento judicial del 16 de enero, en apoyo a los cargos criminales contra los dos hombres, el DOJ afirmó que Aljorna era quien conducía el vehículo.

En un giro sorprendente, el jueves el Departamento de Justicia presentó una moción para retirar los cargos criminales contra los dos venezolanos. En ella, el DOJ reconoció que los fiscales federales proporcionaron información incorrecta al tribunal, mientras que ICE emitió un comunicado admitiendo que sus agentes federales hicieron “declaraciones falsas” bajo juramento.

Los dos agentes federales involucrados han sido puestos en licencia administrativa mientras el Departamento de Justicia investiga sus “declaraciones falsas”, reveladas tras revisar evidencia en video, dijo el director de ICE, Todd Lyons, en un comunicado.

Los dos agentes podrían ser despedidos y enfrentar cargos penales, agregó Lyons.

La moción del DOJ citó “nuevas pruebas descubiertas” que contradicen las declaraciones que la agencia incluyó como base para presentar cargos criminales contra los hombres.

No está claro qué evidencia en video se encontró, descrita en la moción como “materialmente inconsistente con las acusaciones” de los fiscales federales en el documento de cargos. CNN contactó al DHS para obtener más detalles sobre la evidencia y saber si mantiene su declaración inicial tras el tiroteo, pero no obtuvo respuesta. El DOJ declinó comentar sobre la moción cuando fue contactado por CNN.

“Esto fue un uso absolutamente irrazonable de la fuerza, y el oficial estaba inventando acusaciones contra mi cliente para justificarlo”, dijo el abogado de Aljorna, Frederick J. Goetz.

El caso desestimado encaja en un patrón más amplio en el que el Gobierno federal ha sido rápido en difundir versiones tras un tiroteo de sus agentes, que luego resultaron ser falsas, engañosas o incompletas, según el analista legal sénior de CNN, Elie Honig. Ejemplos incluyen evidencia en video tras los tiroteos fatales de agentes federales contra Good y Alex Pretti, que parecían contradecir elementos de las versiones oficiales sobre lo ocurri