By Christian Edwards, CNN

(CNN) — US President Donald Trump has once again questioned whether NATO allies would “be there” if the United States “ever needed them,” claiming that the alliance’s troops “stayed a little back” from the frontlines in Afghanistan.

“I’ve always said, ‘Will they be there, if we ever needed them?’ And that’s really the ultimate test. And I’m not sure of that. I know that we would have been there, or we would be there, but will they be there?” Trump said Thursday in an interview with Fox News in Davos, Switzerland.

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US became the first and so far only NATO member to invoke Article 5, which states that an attack against one member is an attack against all. For 20 years, NATO allies and other partner countries fought alongside US troops in Afghanistan – a sacrifice Trump has routinely downplayed.

“We’ve never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them. You know, they’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan, or this or that. And they did – they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he said.

The president’s comments have rankled US allies in NATO, coming at the end of a week in which he has severely strained the alliance through his repeated threats to seize control of Greenland, an autonomous part of Denmark, another NATO member.

While in absolute terms the US lost by far the most troops of any NATO country in Afghanistan, some European countries – with much smaller populations than the US – lost almost as many troops in relative terms.

Around 3,500 allied troops died in the conflict, of which 2,456 were Americans and 457 were British. Denmark, with a population of around 5 million when the invasion began, lost more than 40 troops.

Since the turn of the year, Trump has repeatedly questioned NATO’s willingness to support the US. “I DOUBT NATO WOULD BE THERE FOR US IF WE REALLY NEEDED THEM,” he blasted on Truth Social on January 7. “We will always be there for NATO, even if they won’t be there for us.”

Before Trump’s comments to Fox News, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had pushed back at the president’s previous attempts to diminish the alliance’s willingness to support the US.

“There was one thing I heard you say yesterday and today – you were not absolutely sure that Europeans would come to the rescue of the US if you will be attacked,” Rutte said Wednesday in Davos, sitting next to Trump. “Let me tell you – they will. And they did in Afghanistan, as you know.”

“For every two Americans who paid the ultimate price, there was one soldier from another NATO country that did not come back to his family,” Rutte said. “This is important. It pains me if you think it is not.”

British lawmakers across the political spectrum were also outraged by Trump’s comments.

“NATO’s Article 5 has only been triggered once. The UK and NATO allies answered the US call. And more than 450 British personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan,” said Defense Secretary John Healey. “Those British troops should be remembered for who they were: heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation.”

Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said Trump’s comments were an “abs

Por Gonzalo Zegarra, CNN en Español

El Gobierno de los copresidentes nicaragüenses, Daniel Ortega y Rosario Murillo, encara con cautela y preocupación la avanzada de Estados Unidos sobre América Latina. Venezuela y Cuba, sus dos aliados en una troika ideológica, ya están rodeados por la presión de Washington y esa estrategia estadounidense genera interrogantes sobre el futuro de una Nicaragua represiva y cada vez más aislada.

Tras el ataque estadounidense del 3 de enero, Nicaragua exigió el respeto a la soberanía de Venezuela y reclamó la liberación de Maduro, pero Ortega y Murillo guardaron un silencio de casi dos semanas sobre el tema. “Nos sumamos al clamor: que regresen al presidente Maduro a su pueblo, se lo llevaron a una acción desproporcionada, sin ninguna orden de captura”, dijo el mandatario el viernes 16 en un discurso. “Esperamos que no sigan amenazando al pueblo de Cuba”, agregó.

En el medio, mandó una señal a EE.UU. con la liberación de “decenas de personas”, un día después de que el Departamento de Estado celebrara las excarcelaciones de presos políticos en Venezuela y recordara que “más de 60 personas” siguen “injustamente detenidas o desaparecidas” en Nicaragua.

Sin embargo, las situaciones de Caracas, La Habana y Managua también presentan varias diferencias internas y en la perspectiva de la Casa Blanca.

Ortega, de 80 años, cumplió este mes 19 años en el poder, pero su gestión dio un vuelco en 2018, cuando enfrentó una ola de protestas a partir de una reforma a la ley de seguridad social, con enfrentamientos y represión que dejaron cientos de muertos.

Analistas consultados por CNN señalan que la restricción electoral, recortes del espacio cívico y la criminalización de la disidencia (que en su mayoría debió salir del país) fueron tomados en buena parte como modelo por el presidente Nicolás Maduro en Venezuela. Allí la oposición enfrentó todo tipo de obstáculos para las elecciones de 2024 y se aseguró actas que señalaban que había obtenido un triunfo, mientras que las autoridades electorales proclamaron otra reelección del chavismo.

“El gobierno de Ortega-Murillo es, sin duda, incluso más represivo que los de Venezuela o Cuba”, dijo a CNN Michael Paarlberg, profesor asociado de ciencia política en Virginia Commonwealth University, especializado en Centroamérica. “Su singularidad radica en que ha abandonado toda pretensión de ser un Estado de partido único, como lo fue tras la Revolución Sandinista, y se ha convertido en un régimen personalista, esencialmente un Estado gobernado por dos personas”, sostuvo.

El analista indicó que Nicaragua, al no contar con reservas de petróleo o grandes recursos naturales como Venezuela, su Ejército tampoco tiene el poder que ostenta la Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana. “En consecuencia, Ortega ha recurrido a la policía y a grupos paramilitares para aterrorizar a la ciudadanía”, señaló.

La liberación de presos de enero fue “una muestra de debilidad del régimen” y una concesión para mantenerse en el poder, según comentó a CNN la dirigente opositora Ana Margarita Vijil, quien pasó casi dos años detenida entre 2021 y 2023 por acusaciones de conspiración. “Es un mensaje de apaciguamiento por temor”, agregó desde España.

En ello coincide el economista y activista opositor Juan Sebastián Chamorro, quien fue precandidato presidencial en 2021, también detenido en junio de ese año y preso hasta 2023. “El mensaje es decirle a EE.UU. que está dispuesto a negociar. Siempre ha visto al imperialismo como su máximo enemigo, no la oposición interna”, apuntó.

Chamorro advirtió que N

By Alexandra Banner, CNN

Dozens of swastikas were painted on a children’s playground this week in a predominantly Jewish area of Brooklyn, New York. City and state leaders condemned the vandalism, pointing to a broader increase in antisemitic incidents nationwide.

Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day.

1⃣ Winter storm

A massive winter storm is set to impact large swaths of the US this weekend and could deliver historic levels of snow and ice to major cities. More than 230 million people are under severe weather alerts as the storm begins today. By the time it ends on Monday, it will have dropped a foot or more of snow and destructive amounts of ice over its 1,500-mile path from Texas to the Northeast. At least 10 states have already declared a state of emergency, and over 1,300 flights scheduled for Saturday have been canceled as the storm approaches. Widespread power outages are also expected across multiple regions as the system barrels through the country.

LIVE UPDATES: CNN is tracking the storm’s potential impact in maps and charts that will update as the storm unfolds.

2⃣ Ukraine talks

Negotiators from Ukraine, the US, and Russia are holding talks in the United Arab Emirates today, marking the first known meeting attended by all three countries since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The talks come after President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday and said there’s still “a ways to go” toward ending Russia’s war. Separately, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with a US delegation and said afterward that a “long-term settlement” would not be reached without first resolving territorial issues, according to a Kremlin official.

3⃣ Immigration crackdown

A five-year-old has become one of the latest children caught up in the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign after he was taken from the driveway of his Minneapolis-area home by federal agents. The boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, is now being held with his father at an immigration facility in Texas. The family’s attorney says they came to the US from Ecuador legally and presented themselves to border officers in 2024 to apply for asylum. Ramos is one of four students in the Minneapolis-area Columbia Heights school district who have been taken into ICE custody in recent weeks.

4⃣ Maduro operation

A new CNN analysis shows extraordinary risks were taken to seize Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3. Experts say there was a critical two-minute window in which US forces were especially vulnerable while landing at and lifting off directly from Maduro’s heavily fortified compound. During that period, the aircraft were moving slowly at low altitude, making them easy targets for even relatively simple weapons. Video footage shows US attack helicopters providing overhead cover and fighting Venezuelan air defenses as US transport helicopters extracted Maduro. Venezuelan authorities claim at least 100 people were killed in the overall operation. The Trump administration says no American lives were lost.

5⃣ TikTok deal

The deal to secure TikTok’s future has bee

By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, who star as hockey players entangled in a secret romance in the HBO Max smash “Heated Rivalry,” have been named as official torchbearers for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.

The duo are among several torchbearers tasked with carrying the Olympic Flame from Rome to Milan before the opening ceremony in Milan on February 6, HBO Max and the Olympic organizers said Thursday.

It’s not yet clear when exactly the pair will feature in the relay.

Transferring their fictional profession to the Winter Olympics, the biggest hockey stage in the world, is just the latest confirmation of Storrie and Williams’ newfound stardom.

In the short time since “Heated Rivalry” became a cultural phenomenon — the show debuted on November 28 — they have gone from relative obscurity to being two of Hollywood’s hottest properties.

Williams was practically mobbed by fans as he walked into “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” on January 7, a reception that an NBC security guard said he had only seen previously for Harry Styles.

“Late Night with Seth Meyers” had to issue a special announcement saying there would be no standby line tickets for Storrie’s January 12 appearance on the show because they anticipated such high demand.

The show is everywhere. Fitness chain SoulCycle is hosting “Heated Rivalry” classes; LGBT+ bars are hosting “Heated Rivalry” watch parties; social media is flooded with “Heated Rivalry” memes.

Adapted by Jacob Tierney from Rachel Reid’s “Game Changers” books, “Heated Rivalry” is set over an eight-year period, depicting the relationship between Canadian Shane Hollander (played by Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (played by Storrie). Both big hockey stars, they have very different personalities. They are rivals on the ice but, behind closed doors, they have very, very good sex.

It’s proven an irresistible combination, making “Heated Rivalry” one of HBO Max’s most popular shows, a popularity almost entirely driven by word-of-mouth.

Much has been written about the show’s impact on pop culture and the way it depicts the complexities of a closeted gay relationship, especially in the often ultra-macho world of professional sports.

The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Sandra Gonzalez contributed reporting.

The post ‘Heated Rivalry’ stars named as Winter Olympics torchbearers appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Por Taylor Romine, CNN

Tres personas que participaron en una manifestación contra agentes federales de inmigración en una iglesia de St. Paul el domingo fueron arrestadas por cargos federales y permanecen bajo custodia.

Es posible que se produzcan más detenciones.

Los manifestantes fueron acusados ​​de conspiración para privar de derechos, según el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional, después de que ellos y varios otros interrumpieran un servicio dominical con cánticos denunciando a Inmigración y Control de Aduanas por el aparente papel de un pastor en la agencia.

“Están tratando de convertir una manifestación pacífica y no violenta en un delito”, dijo Nekima Levy Armstrong, una de las manifestantes arrestadas el jueves en una entrevista la noche antes de su arresto, diciendo que el enfoque debería estar en cambio en “lo que ICE ha hecho” y sus acciones de aplicación “extremadamente brutales” en la campaña en las Ciudades Gemelas, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, y Minnesota en general.

“Simplemente no entiendo cómo este hombre se mira en el espejo, y no sé cómo alguien que dice ser cristiano podría tolerar su comportamiento y la naturaleza dual de los roles que desempeña”, agregó.

Los arrestos se producen mientras los agentes federales continúan con una intensa aplicación de la ley inmigratoria, una incursión criticada reiteradamente por funcionarios estatales y locales como indeseada, especialmente tras la muerte de Renee Good.

A pesar de los arrestos del jueves, la gente siguió saliendo a las calles para protestar contra la represión de la administración Trump en la región.

El alcalde de Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, denunció el arresto de uno de los manifestantes, calificándolo de “un grave abuso de poder”, mientras que la Casa Blanca celebró y también publicó una foto alterada de uno de los manifestantes que fue arrestado.

Esto es lo que sabemos sobre las detenciones de los manifestantes:

El domingo, un grupo de personas entró en la Iglesia Cities en St. Paul durante un servicio religioso, donde se sentaron y escucharon al pastor predicar, según declaró Levy Armstrong a Erin Burnett de CNN.

Ella fue una de las personas arrestadas el jueves y también es una reverenda cristiana.

Después de que el pastor terminó de orar, Levy Armstrong se levantó y repitió una de sus declaraciones: “Acabas de orar para que Dios te corrija y te ayude a poner orden en tu casa”, declaró a CNN en otra entrevista. “Y él dijo: ‘Correcto’. Sentí que era una invitación al diálogo”.

Ella dijo que le preguntó sobre David Easterwood, quien figura como pastor en la iglesia y parece ser el mismo David Easterwood que es un alto funcionario de ICE en las Ciudades Gemelas.

Easterwood fue recientemente acusado en un caso presentado por manifestantes que alegan que agentes de inmigración violaron sus derechos de la Primera y la Cuarta Enmienda.

Un portavoz del DHS se negó a confirmar si Easterwood trabajaba para el ICE, afirmando que “el DHS nunca confirmará ni negará los intentos de revelar información confidencial de nuestros agentes del orden”.

Cuando Levy Armstrong mencionó el nombre de Easterwood, dijo que el pastor comenzó a decir: “Vergüenza, vergüenza”.

“Y fue entonces cuando dirigí los cánticos: ‘Justicia para Renee Good’ y ‘Manos arriba, no disparen’”, contó.

Un video de la protesta, obtenido por CNN, muestra a la gente en la iglesia sentada mientras se escucha la