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Venezuelan officials return to X in apparent end to Maduro-era ban on platform

Kraig Pakulski 0 32 Article rating: No rating

By Diego Mendoza, CNN

(CNN) — Venezuelan officials, including acting President Delcy Rodriguez, returned to X late Tuesday in an apparent reversal of Nicolas Maduro’s 2024 decision to block the site in the country.

“We will resume contact through this channel,” Rodriguez posted on her official account. “Venezuela remains standing, with strength and historical awareness.”

On her updated profile, Rodriguez describes herself as “Interim President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” adding: “Together with President Nicolás Maduro on the path of Bolívar and Chávez.”

Maduro, the ousted president who was recently captured by the United States, banned X in Venezuela in August 2024 after an online clash with X owner Elon Musk. Maduro initially said the ban was temporary, but Venezuelans had not been able to freely access the site since then.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, one of the most powerful figures in the government, appeared to also return to X Tuesday, with a post saying: “Stopping by to give a big hug to the brothers and sisters from Venezuela and the world who have been keeping up with the situation in our country.”

Jorge Rodriguez, the acting President’s brother and President of the country’s National Assembly, also posted on X, saying in Spanish, “Let’s continue on the path of prosperity, dialogue, and respect. We shall overcome!”

CNN has reached out to Venezuela’s National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) for comment on the apparent end of the block on X.

The official account of Maduro also appeared active Tuesday, posting an image of him and his wife Cilia Flores, who was also captured in the US operation, overlayed with text in Spanish reading “11 days have passed since their kidnapping” and “#We Want Them Back.” It was not immediately clear who was controlling Maduro’s verified account. CNN has reached out to the Ministry of Communication and Information on the handling of the account.

Maduro’s verified account still represents himself as “President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela 2025 – 2031 – Soldier of Bolívar – Son of Chávez.”

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The post Venezuelan officials return to X in apparent end to Maduro-era ban on platform appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

A women’s pro flag football league will include teams in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties

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Pro league to launch in the summer of 2026

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Ready, set, hike!

Santa Barbara and Ventura are two of eight Southern California counties that will be represented in a new women's professional flag football league that is launching in the summer of 2026.

The So Cal Women’s Pro Flag Football League (SCWPFFL) is the brainchild of sports entrepreneur and longtime sports promoter Roy Englebrecht.

The league, in 2026, will launch with SCWPFFL franchises in each of the eight Southern California counties, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, and Imperial.

“Women’s flag football has reached a tipping point,” said Englebrecht, the founder of So Cal Women’s Pro Flag Football League, and a partner in the soon to go public sports property, Combat Sports Entertainment. “The talent level is extraordinary, the interest is real, and the timing is right. Southern California has always been a leader in sports innovation, and this league is about creating opportunity and visibility, with players finally having a true professional home to continue their careers in flag football. I look forward to hiring a full-time Commissioner in January who will oversee the formation of the League.

Games are expected to be staged at top high school or junior college football stadiums in each of the eight counties, to ensure that the athletes from each county will get to play in front of family, friends and football fans. The SCWPFFL 14 game regular season will run June and mid-August, with playoffs starting in August. All SCWPFFL games will be played in four 15-minute quarters. A league wide draft will be held mid-March.

Women’s flag football is currently one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States, sanctioned by numerous state high school athletic associations and now supported by the NFL at the grassroots level.

“This league isn’t just about games,” Englebrecht added. “It’s about building a sustainable future for women’s football and inspiring the next generation of athletes.”

Additional announcements, including team names, venues, league draft, player tryouts, ownership groups, and corporate partnerships – will be release in early February.

(Information and quotes provided by Nicole Taylor BZA).

The post A women’s pro flag football league will include teams in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

China alcanza un superávit comercial récord de US$ 1,2 billones en 2025, un 20 % más pese a los aranceles de Trump

Kraig Pakulski 0 36 Article rating: No rating

Reuters

China registró el mayor superávit comercial de su historia en 2025, un salto del 20 % respecto de 2024, culminando un año en el que la fábrica más grande del mundo desafió la presión comercial de EE.UU. e incrementó las exportaciones a otros mercados mundiales.

En conjunto, el comercio exterior de bienes de China alcanzó los US$ 6,48 billones, según anunció la Administración General de Aduanas este miércoles, con un crecimiento comercial por noveno año consecutivo.

El superávit comercial de China —una medida de cuánto más exporta un país de lo que importa— alcanzó la cifra récord de US$ 1,2 billones.

China “siguió adelante” a pesar de enfrentar un “entorno externo complejo y desafiante”, dijo Wang Jun, administrador adjunto de la oficina de aduanas, en una conferencia de prensa.

Las exportaciones de productos de alta tecnología, una categoría que incluye máquinas herramienta de alta gama y robots industriales, aumentaron un 13 % interanual, señaló Wang, mientras que las exportaciones de vehículos eléctricos, baterías de litio y elementos fotovoltaicos, como paneles solares, aumentaron un 27 %.

Los funcionarios chinos han promocionado el fuerte comercio como una señal de la resiliencia del país, incluso con las exportaciones a los EE.UU. cayendo abruptamente mientras las dos economías más grandes del mundo se involucraron en una confrontación comercial de ojo por ojo durante el año pasado.

En lugar de ver caer sus exportaciones a medida que Estados Unidos y China incrementaban los aranceles sobre los bienes de cada uno, China ha expandido sus productos a otros mercados del mundo, aprovechando la huella económica global del país y las coberturas que las empresas crearon durante la primera guerra comercial del presidente estadounidense Donald Trump.

Pero eso también ha causado fricciones con socios comerciales de todo el mundo, que han expresado su preocupación por lo que consideran prácticas comerciales desleales y una afluencia de productos chinos que perjudican sus industrias nacionales.

No obstante, las sólidas exportaciones del año pasado dieron confianza a Beijing en sus negociaciones comerciales con Estados Unidos, que se prolongaron durante meses y culminaron en octubre, cuando Trump y el líder Xi Jinping se reunieron y acordaron una tregua que reduce los nuevos aranceles sobre los productos chinos al 20 %.

Los aranceles habían llegado a subir brevemente hasta el 145 % a principios de ese año.

Esa tregua se ha mantenido vigente, aunque Trump dijo el lunes que los países que hacen negocios con Irán enfrentarán un nuevo arancel del 25 %, un anuncio que podría someter a China, un salvavidas económico clave para el régimen de Teherán, a aranceles elevados.

El comercio de China con Estados Unidos, históricamente el mayor mercado de exportación de China, cayó un 16,9 % en los primeros 11 meses del año, según muestran los datos.

Los exportadores están preparados para más fricciones en la relación en el futuro, ya que Trump ha hecho de la reducción de la dependencia de China y el regreso de la manufactura estadounidense un principio de su administración.

Los analistas han cuestionado si China puede mantener su nivel de exportaciones al resto del mundo durante el próximo año, especialmente a medida que los países exploran cada vez más formas de proteger los mercados internos de lo que comúnmente se denomina “sobrecapacidad industrial” china.

La dependencia de China de las exportaciones como motor de crecimiento también está ligada a desafíos internos, donde la economía se ve arrastrada por una crisis en curso en el sector inmobiliario.

Las autoridades han tenido dificultades para impulsar el consumo interno y lograr el modelo deseado, en el que el vasto sector manufacturero del país esté impulsado por una fuerte demanda tanto interna como externa.

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Viral app in China taps into national loneliness by asking: ‘Are You Dead?’

Kraig Pakulski 0 36 Article rating: No rating

By Jessie Yeung, and CNN’s Beijing bureau

(CNN) — In recent weeks, a morbid-sounding app has taken China by storm, tapping into widespread loneliness and youth disaffection in the world’s second most populous country.

The app, named “Are You Dead” and aimed at those who live alone, has a simple premise: Users must check in on the app every day. If several days are missed, the app will automatically notify the user’s emergency contact.

In recent weeks the app has gone viral, topping Apple’s paid App Store ranking on Saturday, according to state-run tabloid Global Times. It’s since been covered in international media, causing such a surge in downloads that the app has rebranded and introduced a subscription fee.

This virality speaks to a larger trend across China, home to 1.4 billion people: a rise in people living alone, often feeling isolated or struggling with their wellbeing.

By 2030, there could be as many as 200 million single-person households in the country, according to Global Times, citing real estate research institutions.

There are a few reasons for this. The country’s rapidly aging population means there is a growing number of seniors living alone. Throughout the past decade, hundreds of millions of young people have migrated from their hometowns to find work in far-flung cities – leaving behind emptying villages and isolated elderly parents.

And among young people, there is an overall downward trend in marriages and dating. The number of new marriages in China in 2024 fell to a record low since the government began releasing data in 1986 – reflecting a parallel decline in birth rates that authorities have tried unsuccessfully to reverse.

Add to that a pervasive sense of depression, anxiety and disillusionment that has risen in recent years alongside record-high youth unemployment figures – and you can see why an app with such a grim name might have resonated with users across the country.

“Alone but not lonely, safety by your side,” the app’s description says in the App Store, adding that it aims to reach “a solo office worker, a student living away from home, or anyone choosing a solitary lifestyle.”

Disappearing is ‘the scariest thing’

Many social media users welcomed the app, saying they felt seen or comforted.

“For the first time, someone is concerned about whether I’m dead or alive,” one wrote on the blogging platform Weibo.

“This 8-yuan app is somehow the last bit of dignity for so many young people living alone. The scariest thing isn’t loneliness – it’s disappearing,” another user wrote, referring to the cost of the app ($1.15).

This response shows how the app “taps into this feeling of atomization, being stuck on your own, being isolated in terms of very long working hours,” said Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social science and public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

“A lot of young people … have not been able to have the social life that they would want to.”

However, he added, Chinese society should use the hype around this app as a starting point to find ways to better support both lonely elderly and young people.

“If an app or a piece of technology like this can prevent one person from dying alone, or from taking their own life, and to have just one small piece of connection, of course that is a positive,” he said. “But what you would never want is for this to … substitute more meaningful social interactions.”

Some also urged the app to rebrand to something more encouraging or neutral.

Hu Xijin,

A hearing is expected today in lawsuit against immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities. Here’s the latest

Kraig Pakulski 0 33 Article rating: No rating

By Elise Hammond, Hanna Park, CNN

(CNN) — A hearing is expected Wednesday in the lawsuit filed by the state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities challenging the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operation there, which the lawsuit calls “a federal invasion.”

The hearing follows the resignation of at least half a dozen federal prosecutors in Minnesota amid pressure from the Trump administration on how to conduct an investigation into the deadly shooting of a woman by an ICE agent last week, a source said.

The killing of Renee Good, a US citizen and mother of three sparked days of protests in Minneapolis as the Trump administration said it was deploying around 1,000 additional Customs and Border Protection personnel to the region.

Here are the key things to know:

  • Lawsuit: The Wednesday court hearing involves the Minnesota lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, which is seeking a court order halting immigration enforcement operations. The lawsuit claims Operation Metro Surge is not a legitimate law enforcement action and says the Twin Cities are being targeted because of sanctuary policies that limit cooperation with the federal government during immigration enforcement efforts. In response to the lawsuit, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the Constitution was on the administration’s side and the surge of federal officers was needed because politicians in Illinois and Minnesota were not protecting their citizens.
  • Prosecutors resign: The senior career prosecutors who stepped down reportedly objected to pressure from the White House to shift the investigation into Good’s shooting away from the agent’s use of force and toward Good, her widow, and others connected to immigration protests. Joseph Thompson, who frequently handled investigations with political implications including one into social services fraud. Read more about who some of the other prosecutors were here.
  • No civil rights investigation: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department does not believe there is evidence to back a criminal civil rights investigation into the actions of the ICE agent who shot Good. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty and Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara criticized the move. An FBI investigation of the shooting is ongoing, though local authorities have been blocked
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