Por Caitlin Danaher, CNN

El secretario general de la OTAN, Mark Rutte, ha dicho que Europa “está soñando” si cree que puede defenderse sin el apoyo de Estados Unidos.

“Si alguien vuelve a pensar que la Unión Europea, o Europa en su conjunto, puede defenderse sin Estados Unidos, que siga soñando. No pueden. No podemos. Nos necesitamos mutuamente”, declaró Rutte durante un discurso ante el Parlamento Europeo en Bruselas este lunes.

El jefe de la OTAN advirtió a las naciones europeas que necesitarían aumentar el gasto de defensa al 10 % si “realmente quieren hacerlo solas”, y agregó que necesitarían desarrollar su propia capacidad nuclear, lo que costaría miles de millones de euros.

“En ese escenario, perderán la garantía definitiva de nuestra libertad, que es el paraguas nuclear estadounidense. Así que, ¡buena suerte!”, manifestó.

Los comentarios llegaron después de una semana de montaña rusa para Europa y sus aliados occidentales, después de que el presidente Donald Trump continuó avanzando en sus demandas de la propiedad estadounidense de Groenlandia, antes de descartar públicamente el uso de la fuerza para anexar la isla ártica durante su discurso en el Foro Económico Mundial en Davos, Suiza.

El jefe de la OTAN continuó elogiando a Trump por plantear la cuestión de la seguridad del Ártico, reconociendo que su defensa del presidente probablemente irritaría a muchos en la sala.

“Creo que tiene razón. Hay un problema con la región ártica. Hay un problema de seguridad colectiva, porque estas rutas marítimas se están abriendo y porque China y Rusia son cada vez más activos”, señaló.

Rutte describió que habría dos líneas de trabajo en el futuro respecto a la cuestión de Groenlandia. La primera implicaría que la OTAN asumiera una mayor responsabilidad colectiva en la defensa del Ártico, para impedir el acceso de Rusia y China a la región, tanto militar como económicamente.

El segundo implicaría la continuación de las conversaciones trilaterales entre Estados Unidos, Dinamarca y Groenlandia. Rutte afirmó que no participaría en las conversaciones, añadiendo que no tiene mandato para negociar en nombre de Dinamarca y que no lo hará.

El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Dinamarca, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, y su homóloga groenlandesa, Vivian Motzfeld, se reunieron con el vicepresidente J. D. Vance y el secretario de Estado, Marco Rubio, en Washington a principios de este mes. Rasmussen afirmó que la reunión fue “constructiva”, pero que persiste un “desacuerdo fundamental”.

La semana siguiente, Trump y Rutte se reunieron en Davos.

El presidente afirmó haber alcanzado un marco para un acuerdo sobre Groenlandia con el jefe de la OTAN y, como resultado, declaró que ya no impondría aranceles a las naciones europeas que se habían opuesto a sus ambiciones de adquirir el territorio semiautónomo de Dinamarca.

Aún no está del todo claro qué incluye el marco ni el papel exacto de Rutte en las negociaciones, pero el sorprendente cambio de postura de Trump volvió a poner en el punto de mira al secretario general de la OTAN.

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By Chris Isidore, CNN

(CNN) — Melissa Dickerson never imagined she would end up with a $1,100 monthly car payment, especially for a used car. Then her son wrecked her Acura.

Fortunately, he was OK. But when she went shopping for a replacement SUV, Dickerson, a paralegal from Orting, Washington, soon discovered it was going to cost her far more than the $400 a month she had been paying.

“It was quite a shock,” said Dickerson, who also had to extend the loan to 72 months, or six years. “When I heard my interest rate was going to be 15%, I almost crapped my pants.”

The high monthly car payments — coupled with other changes in her household budget, including higher rent — caused Dickerson to fall deep into debt.

“Now I’m relying on the credit cards to live, to pay for things that I can’t pay now,” she said. “Food and stuff you need — the electric bill, phone bill. You think you’ll be able to pay them off next month and then you can’t.”

Record-high car prices coupled with high interest rates are leading to huge monthly car payments for many Americans. A record share of Americans — more than 20% — agreed to pay more than $1,000 per month for a new car loan at the end of the year, according to car sales site Edmunds.

High monthly car payments are putting tremendous stress on household budgets already struggling to deal with a higher cost of living. But many Americans need a car for everyday use, like commuting to work and grocery shopping.

“Regardless of economic conditions like inflation, if somebody needs a car they’re going to go out and get a car,” said Satyan Merchant, leader of TransUnion’s automotive and mortgage business. “They’re going to spend so the payments are going to stay elevated.”

The average used car loan payment is $538 a month, according to TransUnion, which nearly equals the average payment on a new car in 2019. Meanwhile, the average new car payment has increased by $300, or more than 35%, since then to $769.

Ravi Stephens II paid $80,000 in 2022 for a Ram 2500 pickup, which he planned to use in a business he was starting.

The $1,019-a-month, seven-year loan he took out was more than double his previous car loan for a 2013 Camero. It didn’t cause him too much trouble at first.

“I was confident that I could handle the loan, but unfortunately things took a turn,” said Stephens, who lives in Aurora, Colorado. “Maybe about a year ago, it started to be a bit more of a burden. So I was having to come up with a bit more money outside my job in order to sustain it. As you know, the last few years have been tough for a lot of Americans.”

Dickerson and Stephens are both current on their car loans and working with National Debt Relief to reduce their credit card balances. Typically, car loans are the last thing that Americans are late to pay out of fear their vehicle could be repossessed.

But as costs rise across the board, a record percentage of borrowers are falling behind on payments.

Car loans falling 60 days or more delinquent hit 1.45% in the third quarter, according to TransUnion. That may not sound like much, but it’s nearly 40% higher than just three years ago.

Experts say there’s little chance payments will fall any time soon.

Average car prices, currently around $50,000, will likely stay elevated. Automakers are dealing with rising costs from tariffs on imported cars and parts, as well as the cutting of production on cheaper models.

Interest rates, which affect the rate on auto loans, are starting to come down. The Federal Reserve has lowered its benchmark interest rate by nearly two percentage points since late 2024.

But the average car loan rate is not declining nearly as fast. The overall rate in the third quarter was down only about a half a percentage point from its peak of 6.56% two years prior. Used car loans h

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN

(CNN) — US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has gone to many workplaces over the past year, both at high-profile companies like Target and Hyundai as well as businesses that don’t grab headlines.

Workplace immigration enforcement operations are not new and have occurred under many presidential administrations, according to the American Council on Immigration. But these efforts have proliferated as “part of President Trump’s efforts to increase the detention and deportation of unauthorized noncitizens,” ACI notes.

The agency’s aggressive tactics this past year – especially when agents make their presence known in public areas in or near an employer, such as a parking lot – have had a chilling effect on businesses in areas where ICE has been operating.

Legal and HR experts are advising employers to prepare for any potential visitation involving ICE, not just a raid or conducting operations near a worksite. That might include, for instance, an audit of the I-9 employee eligibility verification forms that must be completed by employers and those they hire.

“Being prepared ahead of an audit or raid can greatly reduce anxiety, panic and risk,” said Maddie Grippin, assistant general counsel at HR outsourcing solutions firm Engage PEO, in a written reply to CNN.

That preparation shouldn’t be confined to higher-ups. It should involve all employees, including frontline workers, because they may be the first point of contact once ICE arrives, said Shanon Stevenson, a partner at labor and employment law firm Fisher Phillips. The firm provides clients with a preparedness checklist for ICE audits and raids.

Give staff a point person to contact

Every workplace should designate an onsite manager to be an immigration point person, Stevenson said.

This person should ask to see any warrants from the ICE agents and email a copy to the employer’s immigration attorney. That attorney should quickly review the scope of access that the warrant allows. (See below.)

If ICE first approaches an employee who’s not the immigration point person, that employee should say they don’t have authority to grant them access and let them know they will get someone, Stevenson said. In all cases, she added: “Be respectful. Don’t argue with the agents.”

If there is a locked glass door between you and the agents before they’ve gained entry, you might ask them to hold up their warrant and take a picture, Stevenson recommended.

Understand what a warrant permits

ICE doesn’t need a warrant to access areas that are open to the public, such as lobbies and parking lots.

But to gain access to non-public parts of a workplace – such as employee break rooms, private offices or warehouse floors – ICE will need either: (a) the express consent of the employer; or (b) a judicial warrant, which will have the court’s name at the top and a judge’s signature at the bottom.

That judicial warrant is a court order, said Ian Macdonald, an attorney and partner in the labor and employment

By Alexandra Skores, CNN

(CNN) — Two days shy of the one-year anniversary of a tragedy that killed 67 people near the nation’s capital, the National Transportation Safety Board will meet to determine the probable cause of the midair collision between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet.

The January 29, 2025, collision was the deadliest commercial aviation accident in the United States in the last 16 years.

64 passengers and crew members were killed on the plane, in addition to three soldiers on the helicopter.

The incident heightened national attention on aviation safety in 2025, with many people questioning whether flying was safe. Aviation officials made strides to change military helicopter flight path rules around Washington, DC, and later promised a new air traffic control system would be implemented during the current presidential administration to support aviation safety.

On Tuesday, the NTSB will discuss the issues that may have led to the crash and recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.

A year-long investigation

Since the collision on that fateful night, aviation and federal officials have taken a hard look at the safety among several airports in the country with helicopter traffic similar to that around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Over the summer, the NTSB heard 32 hours of testimony over three days, probing virtually every detail of what could have led to the midair collision. There were over ten hours of testimony on each of the first two days of the hearing.

The Army, the FAA and PSA Airlines, the American Airlines subsidiary that operated the flight as American Eagle 5342, were among the parties represented during the hearing.

Key points of discussion included the Army’s reluctance to use anti-collision technology known as Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, and why the FAA allowed military helicopter pilots to fly without the technology.

“ADS-B out” transmits radio signals with GPS location, altitude, ground speed and other data once per second, independent of air traffic control. However, on January 29, the Black Hawk was flying following an FAA memorandum which allowed it to be turned off.

ADS-B is a focus of the ROTOR Act, which was cosponsored by a bipartisan group of senators, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, the highest-ranking members of the Senate’s Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. The legislation passed the Senate in December and is awaiting approval in the House.

The hearing also prompted an admission from the FAA that the air traffic control tower failed to warn the regional jet pilots of helicopter traffic in the immediate area.

Transcripts of the cockpit voice recorders and air traffic control audio released in the NTSB investigation docket revealed what was said inside the aircraft in the moments before the crash.

“No safety alerts” were given, Nick Fuller, the acting FAA Deputy Chief Operating Officer of Operations, testified in August.

“Should the local controller have let the PSA crew know that there was a helicopter there?” NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy asked.

“Yes,” Fuller acknowledged.

The tower did warn the pilots of the Black Hawk helicopter about the approaching regional jet and the soldiers said they would avoid it, transcripts of the cockpit voice recorders and air traffic control audio revealed.

The NTSB also presented major “discrepancies” in the altitude readouts on board the helicopter that could have led the crew

By Tierney Sneed, Fredreka Schouten, CNN

(CNN) — Attorney General Pam Bondi’s demand that Minnesota hand over sensitive voter registration records to the federal government amid tensions over ICE and immigration enforcement underscores the importance of the administration’s nationwide data grab that is facing resistance in multiple states and has stumbled in the courts.

The Justice Department has already sued Minnesota and 23 other states for the voter data, but Bondi on Saturday urged Gov. Tim Walz to help “bring an end to the chaos,” by turning over the records, among other requests.

The administration has said it wants the full registration records so that they can “help” states “clean” their rolls of ineligible voters. Voter advocates, former DOJ attorneys and at least one federal judge are dubious that’s the administration’s only goal with the data collection.

As courts review the DOJ’s rationale for needing the data, a separate judge – handling a challenge to the administration’s immigration tactics – expressed concerns with how Bondi raised the demand in the context of the unrest.

“Is the executive trying to achieve a goal through force that it cannot achieve through the courts?” district Judge Kate Menendez asked the Justice Department directly during a hearing Monday.

An attorney for the DOJ replied that the administration was simply “trying to enforce federal law.”

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, like many other state officials, has declined to provide the data because he says doing so would violate state and federal privacy laws.

Simon told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday that it was “deeply disturbing” to receive Bondi’s letter.

“Literally hours after the second, let’s not forget second, killing of an American citizen in the city of Minneapolis by ICE agents … there’s this term sheet,” he said, “this ransom note.”

Adrian Fontes, the Democratic secretary of state in Arizona, compared Bondi’s letter to “organized crime”.

“They move into your neighborhood. They start beating everybody up, and then they extort what they want. This is not how America is supposed to work,” Fontes said in a social media post.

Bondi’s letter did not explicitly promise a change in President Donald Trump’s immigration approach in exchange for the voter records, instead pointing to a need to “bring back law and order” to Minneapolis.

Asked for comment, the Justice Department pointed to comments by Bondi on Saturday blaming Minnesota officials for inviting the “worst of the worst” to Minneapolis through “sanctuary city” policies.

In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson argued that the Justice Department has “full authority” to ensure states comply with federal election laws.

“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,” she said.

Setbacks in court

The department, in its unprecedented data-gathering campaign, has requested states produce their full voter rolls, which can include non-public information like voters’ Social Security and driver’s license numbers, full birth dates and current addresses.

But even the Justice Department’s stated plan of conducting its own review of the rolls is raising legal questions amid concerns that eligible voters may be purged.

The department says it’s entitled to registration records under the 1960 Civil Rights Act but no court yet has agreed with that argument, and two courts have rejected it outright.

A federal judge in California threw out the department’s voter-roll lawsuit against that state earlier this