Por Ivana Kottasová, CNN

El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, respaldó al primer ministro populista de Hungría, Viktor Orbán, antes de una elección clave en abril.

“Me sentí orgulloso de RESPALDAR a Viktor para la reelección en 2022, y me honra hacerlo nuevamente. Viktor Orbán es un verdadero amigo, luchador y GANADOR, y cuenta con mi respaldo total y absoluto para la reelección como primer ministro de Hungría. ¡NUNCA DEFRAUDARÁ AL GRAN PUEBLO DE HUNGRÍA!”, escribió Trump este jueves en Truth Social.

El respaldo llega mientras el partido Fidesz de derecha de Orbán está rezagado en las encuestas de opinión detrás del partido de centro-derecha Tisza, cuyo líder —un antiguo aliado de Orbán convertido en némesis— se ha convertido en el primer rival serio del primer ministro en años.

Orbán, quien es el líder actual con más tiempo en funciones de la Unión Europea, lleva casi 16 años en el cargo. Durante ese tiempo, los críticos lo han acusado de supervisar el retroceso democrático y el estancamiento económico. Orban, un firme partidario de Trump, también ha sido criticado por su persistente oposición a los esfuerzos de la Unión Europea para ayudar a Ucrania en la guerra con Rusia.

En enero de este año, líderes de extrema derecha y populistas de todo el mundo aparecieron en un video en línea apoyando a Orbán, antes de una elección que, según las encuestas, podría poner fin a su largo mandato como primer ministro.

El video de campaña, publicado por Orbán en enero, muestra a 11 líderes nacionales y figuras de la extrema derecha —entre ellos la francesa Marine Le Pen, la italiana Giorgia Meloni y el argentino Javier Milei— respaldando la candidatura del líder húngaro para un quinto mandato consecutivo. El actor estadounidense Rob Schneider también mostró su apoyo.

Orbán, quien regresó al poder en 2010 y es el primer ministro con más años en el cargo en Europa, se ha convertido en un referente para los populistas europeos y el movimiento MAGA en Estados Unidos. Defensor de la soberanía nacional, los valores tradicionales y las fronteras duras, Orbán lleva mucho tiempo criticando a la Unión Europea, sin pretender abandonarla.

Pero aunque Orbán aún goza de simpatía en el extranjero, se enfrenta a una creciente reacción negativa en su país. Durante sus más de diez años en el cargo, su partido, el Fidesz, ha sido criticado por liderar el retroceso democrático, el estancamiento económico y las restricciones a la libertad de prensa en Hungría.

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By Tal Shalev, CNN

Tel Aviv (CNN) — The brother of Israel’s security chief was arrested along with 14 others in a major police bust of an alleged smuggling ring accused of shipping crates of illegal goods into the Gaza Strip.

Bezalel Zini, a brother of Shin Bet chief David Zini, was arrested as part of what Israeli authorities say was a “systematic and sophisticated” operation to smuggle illegal cigarettes into Gaza for profit.

According to an indictment, Bezalel Zini allegedly smuggled 14 crates of cigarettes into Gaza, for which he received about 365,000 shekels (approximately $117,000). Others arrested as part of the bust allegedly smuggled cellphones, car parts and other goods, prosecutors said in the indictment.

The indictment says the smuggling ring included some Israeli reserve soldiers, as well as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The alleged smuggling chain started with suppliers in the West Bank, passed through Israeli warehouses and ultimately reached Gaza through Israeli military convoys, sometimes during operational activity.

At other times, prosecutors said, the smuggling was done under the guise that it was for an operational need. The ring allegedly exploited a large-scale humanitarian effort used to ship aid and commercial goods into the shattered enclave.

Such activity, the Shin Bet internal security service warned, “poses a significant threat to the security of the State of Israel.”

It argued that the smugglers’ actions directly strengthened Hamas and other armed groups in the enclave.

“They assist Hamas’s survivability and governance through profits from goods entering the Strip, contribute to Hamas’s empowerment and military build-up, and help refurbish its military production capabilities,” the statement said.

“They also create potential routes for smuggling weapons, technology, and equipment, as well as channels that could be used for offensive military activity against Israel and its forces.”

The defendants and their partners “knew that the smuggled goods might reach terrorist elements, including Hamas or those acting on its behalf, and be used to help strengthen their power and to promote and finance their activity,” according to the indictment.

The State Attorney’s Office alleged that the defendants “committed their acts for financial gain, knowing that by doing so they were bypassing the restrictions imposed by the State of Israel on the entry of goods into Gaza as part of the war effort, despite the clear security harm inherent in this activity.”

Bezalel Zini’s attorney, Assaf Klein, said his client is innocent of the charges.

“He is a man of great merit, whose concern for the good of the state has always been and will remain foremost in his industry,” Klein said in a statement last week.

He faces charges including bribery and assisting the enemy during wartime.

Authorities have stressed that no evidence connects the allegations against Bezalel Zini to his brother, David Zini, who directs the Shin Bet and is not accused of wrongdoing in the case.

A pick of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, David Zini was one of the most controversial appointments in the agency’s history because of his lack of experience in intelligence and what former Shin Bet officials criticized as his “extreme worldview.” Zini had no experience within the Shin Bet, having been pulled directly from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The investigation into Bezalel Zini was handled by Israeli police

SANTA BARBRA COUNTY, Calif. - Temperatures drop from the 80s into the high 60s and low 70s Friday, nearly 10 degrees cooler.

It will be cloudy Friday with drizzle possible.

Offshore winds and high pressure returns Saturday warming us up for Super Bowl Sunday with increased clearing.

We will stay warm Monday as the heat exits east.

Temperatures drop back into the 60s Tuesday with light rain possible midweek next week, before a stronger storm is being eyed for after Valentine's Day.

The post Cool & cloudy Friday, warm & sunny Super Bowl weekend appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Harmeet Kaur, CNN

(CNN) — Taylor Hale was in the middle of teaching a Western geography lesson on Wednesday afternoon when his sixth-grade students informed him that the online reference they usually consulted was gone. He’d instructed them to compare the gross domestic products of Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, and so they turned to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook. But instead of finding the usual index of countries, they hit a blue webpage announcing that the Factbook was no more.

After decades of serving as a reliable, authoritative public repository of basic information about countries, their economies, and their people, The World Factbook disappeared from the internet on February 4 with no advance notice. Teachers, students, librarians, researchers, and curious citizens in general were abruptly cut off from a reference they had taken for granted.

“The CIA Factbook is not bulletproof perfect, but it’s way better than a lot of other sources out there and it’s free,” Hale, a social studies teacher in Oklahoma City, said. “It was always there, and now it’s not.”

Before this week, teachers like Hale routinely directed their students to The World Factbook for school assignments, international travelers used it to assess security risks and vaccine recommendations, and journalists relied on its data to add context to their reporting.

John Devine, the government information research specialist for the Boston Public Library, recalled a patron who was particularly curious about population statistics. Over the years, the city’s librarians found that The World Factbook was “the singular best source for this” — the CIA updated its numbers annually, and no other entity offered data that was as accurate year after year.

“It’s a tough loss,” Devine said. “We’re going to have to find things from other sources. Again, how well can we trust them? How well are we going to be able to get data on developing or even barely developing countries?”

Originally called “The National Basic Intelligence Factbook,” the Factbook began in 1962 as a classified publication for government and military officials. An unclassified version followed in 1971, and in 1975, it became available to the public in print. It was renamed “The World Factbook” in 1981, and in 1997, The World Factbook went digital.

The CIA’s announcement that the Factbook was shutting down came quietly, with no warning and no explanation of the change, and the agency declined to comment on the record for this story. Instead, it posted an obituary of sorts, on a webpage titled “Spotlighting The World Factbook as We Bid a Fond Farewell.”

“Though the World Factbook is gone, in the spirit of its global reach and legacy, we hope you will stay curious about the world and find ways to explore it… in person or virtually,” the final line reads.

While the website briefly touches on the reference’s history, the CIA didn’t elaborate on what prompted the decision to cease publication or whether any of the information would be archived on the CIA’s website. Simon Willison, a programmer who works on data journalism, has since downloaded the available data and made it accessible to browse online, though the most recent material is from 2020.

The announcement came on the same day that the Washington Post laid off a third of its newsroom, including much of its international reporting staff.

It also follows the loss of other US government information, once considered relatively reliable and trustworthy. Since President Donald Trump came into office again, he has d

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