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El lío de la presunta incursión de drones mexicanos en EE.UU. Nuevos documentos de Epstein ponen bajo presión al equipo de Trump. Descalifican de los Olímpicos de Invierno a atleta ucraniano que quería usar casco en honor a compatriotas muertos. Esto es lo que debes saber para comenzar el día. Primero la verdad.

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La captura de Nicolás Maduro por parte de EE.UU. no solo trajo una oleada de cambios en Venezuela. También se sintió con fuerza en Cuba, que perdió de un día para el otro a su primer aliado y principal fuente de petróleo en la región en momentos en que las tensiones entre La Habana y Washington están, una vez más, en alza. ¿Qué apoyos le quedan?

• Rusia anunció una suspensión temporal de vuelos a Cuba y la evacuación de turistas por la crisis de combustible
• En Miami, cubanos dicen que sus familias en la isla sobreviven solo por la ayuda que envían

Luego de que EE.UU. cerrara temporalmente el espacio aéreo en Texas por una supuesta incursión de drones de un cartel, México afirmó que no hay información sobre uso de drones en la frontera. Fuentes dijeron a CNN que la actividad militar cerca de El Paso —incluyendo drones estadounidenses y el posible uso de un láser del Pentágono para contrarrestar drones— generó preocupación por el tráfico civil.

Un documento recién descubierto en los archivos de Jeffrey Epstein socava una de las afirmaciones centrales del presidente Donald Trump sobre el asunto, específicamente, su supuesta falta de conocimiento de la mala conducta del delincuente sexual convicto. Análisis.

• Lo que revelan 13 fragmentos editados de los archivos de Jeffrey Epstein
• Políticos, empresarios, figuras de Hollywood: estos son los nombres que aparecen en los archivos de Epstein

La presidenta encargada de Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, recibió este miércoles al secretario de Energía de Estados Unidos, Chris Wright, en el Palacio de Miraflores. Al finalizar la reunión, ofrecieron una declaración conjunta en la que aseguraron que ambos países trabajan en una “agenda energética” en común y “a largo tiempo”. Wright es el funcionario estadounidense de mayor rango en visitar el país en casi tres décadas.

• Diosdado Cabello cuestiona a la oposición venezolana: “¿Por qué no piden por la liberación de Nicolás Maduro?”

La Policía identificó a la Read more

Por Juana Sahadi, CNN

En lo que respecta a sus declaraciones de impuestos federales, decenas de millones de hogares estadounidenses pagan por la preparación y presentación de sus impuestos. Sin embargo, muchos podrían calificar para programas gratis aprobados por el IRS.

Entonces ¿por qué no los utilizan?

Una razón podría ser la complejidad del código tributario.

“Nuestra propia investigación sugiere que esta complejidad es un factor que impulsa a las familias, incluidas las de bajos ingresos, a utilizar intermediarios de preparación de impuestos”, declaró a CNN Margot Crandall-Hollick, investigadora asociada principal del Centro de Política Tributaria Urban-Brookings, en un correo electrónico.

El Centro de Política Tributaria, utilizando datos del IRS, descubrió que en el año fiscal 2024, alrededor de 85,4 millones de declaraciones fueron preparadas por profesionales tributarios pagados, mientras que otras 61,7 millones fueron preparadas por contribuyentes que utilizaron software comercial (de los cuales se estima que 26 millones se hicieron de forma gratuita).

Contribuyentes que exploran opciones gratuitas pueden encontrarlas difíciles de usar. Los servicios “difieren en el método de entrega —desde asistencia presencial hasta herramientas guiadas en línea para hacerlo usted mismo— y en la elegibilidad, el alcance y la disponibilidad de la preparación de declaraciones estatales”, señaló el Departamento del Tesoro de EE.UU. en un informe de octubre de 2025.

En ese mismo informe, el Departamento del Tesoro anunció la suspensión de Direct File, la nueva incorporación al sistema de preparación y presentación de impuestos gratuita, debido principalmente al costo del programa para el Gobierno federal.

El programa, que aún se encontraba en fase piloto, tenía como objetivo ofrecer, con el tiempo, la preparación y presentación de impuestos guiada y gratuita directamente a través del IRS.

Si bien el sistema Direct File ya no funciona, varias opciones gratuitas aprobadas por el IRS siguen estando disponibles durante esta temporada de presentación de impuestos.

Esta es la asociación público-privada de larga data entre el IRS y sus “socios de confianza” en la industria del software de preparación de impuestos privados.

Está disponible para los contribuyentes cuyo ingreso bruto ajustado para 2025 fue de US$ 89.000 o menos y que realizan declaraciones utilizando los formularios federales presentados con mayor frecuencia.

El IRS ofrece un cuestionario interactivo para ayudarle a determinar si califica para Free File y, de ser así, cuál de sus ocho socios podría brindarle los servicios que necesita. Nota: Algunos de los socios también pueden presentar su declaración de impuestos estatales de forma gratuita.

El programa de Formularios Rellenables de Free File (FFFF) ofrece a los contribuyentes la opción de completar muchos (pero no todos) los formularios de declaración de impuestos federales en el sitio web del IRS.

No hay límites de ingresos, edad ni residencia para quienes pueden hacerlo.

“Estos son idénticos a los formularios impresos del IRS, por lo que esta opción es similar a

By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called on the billionaire co-owner of Manchester United Jim Ratcliffe to apologize for claiming the UK has been “colonized by immigrants.”

Starmer said Wednesday that Ratcliffe’s comments were “offensive and wrong,” adding that “Britain is a proud, tolerant and diverse country.”

Ratcliffe, who founded petrochemical company Ineos, is one of Britain’s richest men. He made his inflammatory comments to Sky News in a wide-ranging interview released earlier Wednesday.

“I don’t think the (British) economy is in a good place,” he said. “You can’t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK has been colonized. It’s costing too much money. The UK has been colonized by immigrants, really, hasn’t it?”

He cited incorrect population figures, claiming the UK’s population had risen from 58 million in 2020 to 70 million people today. In reality, the UK’s population has increased from 67 million in 2020 to 69.5 million people, according to estimates by the Office for National Statistics.

CNN has contacted Ineos for comment.

Ratcliffe, who is the seventh richest man in Britain with a net worth of around £17 billion ($23 billion) according to the Sunday Times Rich List, moved to tax-free Monaco in 2020.

In December 2025, his company Ineos accepted a support package from the British government worth over £120 million ($164 million) to prevent its chemical plant in Grangemouth, Scotland from closing with the loss of 500 jobs. Ineos also invested £150 million ($205 million) into the site.

Successive British governments have pledged to reduce immigration which, like in other Western countries, has become a political flashpoint.

Net migration to the UK reached record levels in 2022, swelled by the war in Ukraine and the post-pandemic lifting of travel restrictions, but has since dropped off sharply.

Ratcliffe’s comments drew criticism from Liberal Democrat party leader Ed Davey, who said they were “totally out of step with British values,” as well as from several Manchester United supporter groups.

The Manchester United Supporters Trust said the club “belongs to all of its supporters.”

“No fan should feel excluded from following or supporting the club because of their race, religion, nationality or background,” it added. “Comments from the club’s senior leadership should make inclusion easier, not harder.”

The Stretford Sikhs supporters club emphasized immigrants’ contributions to the city of Manchester and warned that “using language that alienates the very people who built this city and support this club is dangerous and divisive.”

Ratcliffe’s comments align with the arguments made by Britain’s right-wing populist Reform UK party, which ties its anti-immigrant message to protecting the country.

The Manchester United Muslim Supporters Club said the use of the word colonized “echoes language freque

By Alexandra Skores, CNN

Washington (CNN) — This Valentine’s Day, your bouquet will likely travel thousands of miles in a jetliner’s cargo and refrigerated truck before it gets to your local florist and ultimately, your sweetheart.

In the United States, most fresh cut flowers come from Colombia and Ecuador. Roses, chrysanthemums, and carnations are the three most common types of imported flowers.

The busiest times for shipments are Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, when about 30% of all flowers imported from Colombia each year are brought to the US, said Diogo Elias, CEO of Avianca Cargo.

The Colombia-based airline, and other cargo air carriers, fly massive amounts of flowers each year. For Valentine’s Day 2026, Avianca transported more than 19,000 tons of flowers from Colombia and Ecuador, a 6% uptick from last year.

“Valentine’s Day requires a large-scale operational surge across the air cargo system,” Elias said.

The airline typically doubles cargo capacity for the holiday, adding nearly 300 flights this season.

Miami International Airport is the primary port of entry for commercial flower stems, processing 88% of all cut flower imports, according to US Customs and Border Protection. Los Angeles International Airport and the land border crossing near San Diego handle most of the rest.

The agency estimates it will inspect over 1.3 billion stems this year, surpassing last year’s record.

“Every cut flower inspected by CBP is a testament to our vigilance and unwavering commitment to preventing the entry of plant pests and diseases without compromising our agricultural protection,” said Suzette Kelly, acting executive director of CBP’s Agriculture Programs and Trade Liaison, in a news release.

Inspectors intercepted more than 600 pests and plant diseases so far this year, the agency said.

Once the flowers are on US soil, they are packed in refrigerated trucks or loaded onto connecting flights.

“The Valentine’s season represents one of the highest-value periods of the year for the flower export industry,” Elias said. “While shipment values vary by species and market pricing, the seasonal flower trade between Colombia, Ecuador, and the United States represents hundreds of millions of dollars in commercial value.”

Consumers will spend $3.1 billion on flowers for Valentine’s Day this year, according to the National Research Foundation, which estimates 2026 will set new records.

The Trump administration’s threat of tariffs on foreign countries could also play into the increased costs this year. Tariffs start at 10% for Colombia and Ecuador.

One thing is for certain, regardless of the price or the miles they have to travel – there still will be flowers gifted with love this February 14.

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The post The long trip your flowers will make before you can say ‘I love you’ this Valentine’s Day appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN

(CNN) — When it comes to their federal income tax returns, tens of millions of US households pay for tax preparation and filing. Yet many might qualify to do so for free through IRS-approved programs.

So why don’t they use them?

One reason might be the complexity of the tax code.

“Our own research suggests this complexity is a factor in driving families, including low-income families, to use tax preparation intermediaries,” Margot Crandall-Hollick, a principal research associate at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told CNN in an email.

The Tax Policy Center, using IRS data, found that in fiscal year 2024, about 85.4 million returns were prepared by paid tax practitioners, while another 61.7 million were prepared by filers using commercial software (of which an estimated 26 million were done for free).

Filers who explore free options may find them difficult to navigate. The services “differ in delivery method—from in-person assistance to guided online do-it-yourself tools—and in eligibility, scope, and availability of state return preparation,” the US Treasury noted in an October 2025 report.

In that same report, Treasury announced it was suspending Direct File — the newest entrant into the free-prep-and-file universe — due largely to the program’s cost to the federal government. The program, which was still in the pilot phase, aimed to eventually provide free guided tax preparation and filing directly through the IRS.

While Direct File is now defunct, several free IRS-approved options remain available this tax-filing season.

The IRS Free File Program

This is the longstanding public-private partnership between the IRS and its “trusted partners” in the private tax-prep software industry.

It’s available to filers whose adjusted gross income for 2025 was $89,000 or less and who have returns using the most commonly filed federal forms.

The IRS provides an interactive questionnaire to help you figure out if you qualify for Free File—and if so, which of its eight partners might provide you with the services you need. Note: Some of the partners may file your state income tax return for free, too.

IRS Free Fillable Forms

The Free File Fillable Forms (FFFF) program gives taxpayers the option to fill out many (but not all) federal tax return forms on the IRS site. There are no income, age or residency limitations on who may do so.

“These are identical to IRS paper forms, so this option is like the old ‘pencil and calculator’ method of filing,” notes the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), an independent organization within the IRS that represents taxpayer interests. “However, the fillable forms don’t come with any additional guidance. If you plan to use this option, you should be comfortable with the process of completing a tax return.”

For tax year 2024, only 400,000 returns out of roughl