Por Eric Bradner, CNN

El presidente Donald Trump concluyó este martes por la noche su gira de venganza de un mes de duración en Texas.

Los índices de aprobación nacional del presidente podrían estar cerca de su nivel más bajo. Sin embargo, una serie de primarias celebradas en estados tradicionalmente republicanos en mayo han demostrado que los votantes conservadores siguen apoyando fervientemente a Trump y están dispuestos a volverse contra aquellos a quienes él considera desleales.

Tras derrotar a los titulares en Indiana, Kentucky y Louisiana, Trump consiguió lo que quería en Texas cuando Ken Paxton, el controvertido fiscal general del estado, venció al senador John Cornyn, que llevaba cuatro mandatos en el cargo.

Ahora, los republicanos se enfrentan a la perspectiva de tener que desembolsar una gran cantidad de dinero para defender un escaño en un estado tradicionalmente republicano en una contienda contra el representante estatal demócrata James Talarico, que podría convertirse en la elección más cara de la historia.

Los senadores republicanos y sus principales estrategas creían que Cornyn tenía la reelección asegurada si lograba superar las primarias, y que Paxton era un candidato más débil para las elecciones generales.

Sin embargo, Trump decidió ignorar meses de presión por parte de la dirección del Senado para que el presidente apoyara a Cornyn o se mantuviera al margen de la segunda vuelta, y emitió un respaldo tardío a Paxton.

La decisión de Trump selló, en la práctica, el destino político de Cornyn.

En su discurso de victoria, Paxton calificó el respaldo de Trump como “la fuerza más poderosa en la política”.

Estas son las conclusiones de la segunda vuelta de las primarias de Texas:

Trump ha destituido a los senadores republicanos titulares del estado de Indiana que se negaron a apoyar su iniciativa de redistribución de distritos, ha derrotado a un crítico frecuente como el representante de Kentucky, Thomas Massie, y ha desbancado al senador de Louisiana, Bill Cassidy , quien votó a favor de condenar a Trump tras su segundo juicio político después del ataque al Capitolio de Estados Unidos el 6 de enero de 2021.

Cornyn votó a favor de absolver a Trump en aquel entonces, pero tardó en respaldarlo en su tercer intento por llegar a la Casa Blanca. En 2023, afirmó que Trump tenía “una capacidad única para movilizar a sus seguidores, pero no para expandir su base, lo cual es un problema”.

Sin embargo, si bien el respaldo de Trump es poderoso en las primarias republicanas, también tiene un largo historial de apoyar a candidatos que alienaron al electorado en general y perdieron elecciones generales que podrían haber ganado.

Los republicanos intentarán impedir que Paxton se sume a la lista de candidatos respaldados por Trump que están condenados al fracaso, entre los que se incluyen Herschel Walker en Georgia, Kari Lake y Blake Masters en Arizona, y Mehmet Oz en Pensilvania.

Mientras tanto, Trump también se enfrentará a siete meses más de mayorías republicanas en el Capitolio, donde legisladores como Massie, Cassi

CNN

By Emma Tucker, Alisha Ebrahimji, CNN

(CNN) — At least one person has died, nine people were injured and nine employees remain unaccounted for after a large tank of chemical treatment product, including hazardous materials, ruptured at a paper and packaging facility in Washington state, fire officials said.

The incident took place around 7:30 a.m. local time at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility in Longview, Washington. The ruptured tank contained white liquor, a chemical mixture used in the paper making process, the Longview Fire Department said. Officials previously said the tank imploded.

There is no threat to the surrounding community, the department said, while advising people to avoid the area. The scene remains active but recovery and stabilization efforts remain “extremely complex” due to ongoing safety hazards, said Scott Goldstein, fire chief of Cowlitz 2 Fire Rescue at a news conference Tuesday night.

The injured include eight employees and one firefighter, who has since been treated and released, fire officials said. At a news conference earlier in the day, they said “there were fatalities” related to the implosion.

CNN has reached out to the Nippon Dynawave Packaging Co. facility for comment on the incident.

While officials originally said the tank had capacity to hold 80,000 gallons and was roughly 60% full, they later said the tank held over 10 times that amount of white liquor – approximately 900,000 gallons. Roughly 90,000 gallons of material may remain inside the damaged tank, they said.

The accident is the latest in a spate of incidents at industrial facilities, mills and plants in recent months, some of which have also been deadly.

Just this past week, officials raced to prevent an overheating chemical tank in California from exploding, prompting tens of thousands of residents to evacuate until pressure in the tank was reduced, eliminating the risk of a catastrophic blast. In April, a chemical leak involving nitric acid and another substance at a West Virginia plant killed two people and injured over a dozen others, The Associated Press reported.

In October of last year, more than 24,000 pounds of explosives detonated at a Tennessee explosives plant, killing 16 employees and making a blast so intense it registered as a 1.6 magnitude earthquake. And two months earlier, an explosion at a US Steel plant in Pennsylvania killed two workers and injured more than 10 others, one of whom was trapped in rubble, the AP reported.

A spokesperson for PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center told CNN the hospital initially received nine patients, including one person who died in Longview incident. Two people were transferred to other facilities and six others were in “fair condition,” according to Jim Murez, the hospital’s commun

CNN

By Kocha Olarn, Chris Lau, Charlotte Reck, CNN

(CNN) — A dangerous operation to rescue seven villagers trapped in a flooded cave for a week continues to unfold in a mountainous region of Laos, where experts are trying to beat bad weather and deteriorating conditions that are putting multiple lives at risk.

Specialist cave divers, who’ve been squeezing through narrow, muddy tunnels at the site in the central Laotian province of Xaisomboun, say they’re getting closer to the villagers, who are believed to be inside an underground cavern.

Rescuers told CNN that more than 100 people had joined the risky operation – including 15 experienced divers and experts who helped in the dramatic 2018 cave rescue of a young soccer team in Thailand.

Here’s what to know:

What happened?

The villagers went into the cave last Wednesday in search of gold, but heavy rain triggered flash flooding which blocked the exit, the Associated Press reported, citing Laos and Thai rescue teams.

The villagers are believed to be trapped on “an elevated ledge inside the cave that benefits from continuous airflow,” state-run Lao News Agency reported Tuesday.

Thai diver Kengkad Bongkawong told CNN that rescuers are working with a map that they believe is highly accurate, and that the villagers are in the “safest spot” inside the cave.

“That’s why I believe, given the geography and the living conditions of the victims, if they are in that specific area, their chances of survival are very high – very high,” said Bongkawong, who also took part in the operation to rescue the Thai soccer team in 2018.

What are the risks?

Finnish diver Mikko Paasi is among the team of divers navigating the Laos tunnel and posted video to social media of himself squeezing between jagged rocks.

“We are still in high spirits that we will find the miners alive as they entered the mine with resources to stay sub-terrain for several days,” he wrote on Facebook Wednesday.

But he also spoke of the treacherous conditions he had encountered so far, starting with a four kilometer jungle hike to even get to the site.

“Inside the mine, you have to navigate hundreds of meters of constant restrictions, flood waters, collapse hazards and high risk of contaminated air quality,” said Paasi, who was also involved in the rescue of the Thai boys in 2018.

Arnold Dix, a geologist and disaster rescuer who led the operation to save 41 Indian miners from a collapsed tunnel in 2023, warned that rescues of this kind are inherently risky.

He said after seven days inside the cave, the risk of illness among those trapped is rising. Conditions are also very difficult for rescuers, who would be wary of becoming caught out by a rush of water inside the tunnels, he said.

“For the rescuers there at the moment, there in Laos, my heart goes out to them. I hope they succeed, but I also hope they don’t get killed in the process,” Dix told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Wednesday.

Por Patrick Svitek, CNN

Ken Paxton superó una larga lista de escándalos en los años previos a su decisiva victoria del martes en la segunda vuelta de las primarias republicanas en Texas para el Senado de EE.UU.

A pesar de los cargos penales y las acusaciones de infidelidad, el fiscal general de Texas se ha mantenido como una figura influyente en la política estatal y ha conservado una estrecha relación con el presidente Donald Trump, quien le brindó un respaldo crucial una semana antes de la reñida segunda vuelta contra el senador John Cornyn.

Paxton a menudo ha desestimado las acusaciones en su contra como políticamente motivadas, y muchos de sus partidarios han estado dispuestos a pasarlas por alto porque les gusta la agresividad con la que impulsa una agenda conservadora como fiscal general.

Se prevé que las controversias influyan considerablemente en las elecciones generales.

El candidato demócrata, James Talarico, respondió al surgimiento de Paxton como abanderado republicano calificándolo como “El político más corrupto de Estados Unidos”.

El Comité de Campaña Senatorial Demócrata declaró que Paxton es “tan corrupto que incluso su propio partido intentó destituirlo”, en referencia al juicio político al que fue sometido por la Cámara de Representantes estatal en 2023.

Mientras tanto, los republicanos han dado a entender que esperan mantener la atención en Talarico y acosarlo con preguntas sobre temas de la guerra cultural.

En su discurso de victoria, Paxton afirmó que Talarico es el “radical más extremista que los demócratas hayan nominado jamás”.

Aquí tenéis un resumen de las controversias de Paxton:

Varios meses después de asumir el cargo de fiscal general en 2015, Paxton fue acusado de fraude bursátil grave en Texas y de haber engañado a los inversores de una empresa años atrás. De haber sido declarado culpable, se habría enfrentado a décadas de prisión.

El caso se prolongó durante casi nueve años y finalizó en marzo de 2024 con un acuerdo previo al juicio que le obligaba a realizar servicio comunitario y pagar una indemnización. Paxton no tuvo que declararse culpable ni inocente en virtud de dicho acuerdo.

En el transcurso de este proceso, Paxton también se enfrentó a una demanda civil basada en acusaciones similares presentadas por la Comisión de Bolsa y Valores de Estados Unidos. Ese caso no duró tanto y un juez lo desestimó en 2016 .

En 2020, un grupo de altos funcionarios de Paxton lo denunciaron ante el FBI, expresando su preocupación por el abuso de poder que suponía favorecer a Nate Paul, un inversor inmobiliario y donante político de Austin.

Algunos empleados de Paxton dimitieron, pero cuatro fueron despedidos y posteriormente demandaron a Paxton amparándose en la Ley de Protección de Denunciantes de Texas.

Paxton se enfrentó duramente a sus antiguos ayudantes tanto en los tribunales como en público, tachándolos de “rebeldes” y resentidos.

En 2025, un juez del tribunal de distrito del condado de Travis dictaminó que los antiguos asesores

By Yoonjung Seo, Stephanie Yang, CNN

(CNN) — A Chinese dissident has made a daring 30-hour escape from China by sea to South Korea, his fourth attempt to try and flee authorities in his homeland and reunite with his family who have been granted asylum in Canada.

Dong Guangping, a former police officer who has faced years of imprisonment and detention for his activism, fled using an inflatable boat and was picked up by South Korean Coast Guard on Monday, his lawyer and a fellow activist told CNN.

Dong – who has also been granted asylum in Canada – previously fled to Thailand and later Vietnam, only to find authorities in those countries detain and deport him back to China, sparking anguish for his family and criticism from rights groups and United Nations officials.

His arrival in South Korea could now put pressure on the administration of President Lee Jae Myung – who took office last year and has tried to reset his country’s often shaky ties with China.

South Korean Coast Guard officials confirmed fishermen spotted an unidentified boat on Monday evening and reported it to the authorities.

The Coast Guard told CNN the person on the boat was a Chinese national man in his 60s, but declined to confirm his identity under to the country’s privacy protection law.

Dong’s lawyer, Kim Joo-kwang, confirmed his identity with CNN, but said he could not share further details because the Coast Guard’s investigation is ongoing.

Sheng Xue, a Chinese Canadian activist, said she had spoken to Dong by phone since his arrival in South Korea, adding that the Coast Guard had also confirmed his identity to her.

“For a long time, we discussed ways to escape China,” she said.

Dong told Sheng he spent more than 30 hours on the water since leaving Weihai, a coastal city in China’s eastern Shandong province.

He said his boat engine broke down as he approached the coast of Taean, a county in western South Korea. He had not slept for two days and was about to faint when he arrived in South Korea’s waters, according to Sheng.

“He was lucky to get close to the shore,” she said.

Rights group Human Rights in China has called on South Korea to protect Dong and not send him back.

“For more than a decade, he has never ceased striving for liberty and reunion with his family,” the group said. “That a man nearing seventy years old was driven to cross open seas in a small inflatable boat is itself a devastating indictment of China’s human rights situation.”

CNN has reached out to the foreign ministries of both Canada and South Korea for comment as well as the Chinese embassy in Seoul.

Previous escape attempts

Dong, 68, worked as a police officer in Zhengzhou, a city in China’s central Henan province, before he was fired for co-signing a letter commemorating the 10th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

He was imprisoned for three years in 2001 for activism and arrested again in May 2014 for participating in another memorial for Tiananmen Square victims, according to Amnesty International.

In 2015, Dong fled to Thailand with his wife and daughter, where the three of them sought refugee status from the UN.

While his wife and daughter were able to move to Canada, Dong was forcibly returned to China by the Thai authorities, despite appeals from his family and rights groups at the time. He was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and released in 2019.

Barred from leaving the country, Dong tried unsuccessfully to swim to Kinmen, an island controlled by Taiwan a few kilometers away from China’s east coast.

In 2020, he was able to illegally cross into Vietnam, but was eventually arrested and again sent back by Vietnamese authorities in 2022. He was sentenced to 11 months in prison in China for “illegal border crossin