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Associated Pres LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — El gobierno del centroderechista Rodrigo Paz eliminó el lunes las visas de ingreso a Bolivia a ciudadanos de Estados Unidos e Israel que habían impuesto los expresidentes izquierdistas Evo Morales (2006-2019) y Luis Arce (2020-2025) por razones políticas. Paz dijo que “por un tema ideológico vinculado a visas, Bolivia perdió 900 millones de dólares” desde 2007 y que la “eliminación” del visado adoptada en lunes en el gabinete ministerial permitirá reactivar el turismo y “traer dólares”. El mandatario, que asumió el poder el 8 de noviembre, derogó impuestos la semana pasada para atraer inversiones como parte de sus primeras medidas para afrontar la peor crisis económica en 40 años del país sudamericano y la falta de dólares. Morales impuso la visa de ingreso a estadounidenses en 2007 alegando razones de seguridad y reciprocidad debido a que ese país exige lo mismo a los bolivianos. En 2014 rompió relaciones con Israel e impuso la obligación del visado en rechazo a un ataque de ese país a los palestinos de Gaza. La presidenta interina Jeanine Áñez (2019-2020) elimino la exigencia a los dos países tras la dimisión de Morales, pero Arce, delfín del primer presidente indígena, repuso la exigencia. Paz asumió con la premisa de “abrir Bolivia al mundo y traer el mundo a Bolivia”. A su vez el canciller Fernando Aramayo dijo que por “negligentes gestiones” anteriores esta nación andina cayó en “la lista de países rojos para visitar” y que ahora corresponde “devolver confianza al mundo, en sentido que Bolivia es un lugar apto y seguro para visitar”. Según Aramayo, la sola eliminación de visas permitirá incrementar de 240 millones a 320 millones de dólares el flujo turístico en los próximos cuatro años. La eliminación del visado también aplicará a otros países entre ellos Corea del Sur, Sudáfrica, Estonia, Letonia y Rumania, cuyo flujo turístico es escaso. Según datos del gobierno, Bolivia recibe más de 1,2 millones de turistas al año que en 2024 han generado 740 millones de dólares en ingresos, en comparación a los más de tres millones de visitantes que llegan a Perú. El Salar de Uyuni, uno de los mayores desiertos salinos del planeta, el Titicaca, que es el lago navegable más alto del mundo en medio de la cordillera de los Andes, y la Amazonia son los destinos más visitados en el país por los extranjeros.

The Associated Press Bitcoin y las empresas vinculadas a las criptomonedas extendieron una caída de casi dos meses el lunes, siguiendo una venta masiva más amplia en el mercado de empresas tecnológicas que muchos consideran sobrevaloradas. Bitcoin cayó un 6,5% después de haber bajado casi un 12% más temprano en el día, estabilizándose justo por encima de 85.000 dólares. La criptomoneda más negociada ha bajado aproximadamente un 33% desde que alcanzó un récord de 126.210,50 dólares el 6 de octubre, según la plataforma Coinbase. Bitcoin había subido desde abril en línea con el mercado de valores y en parte impulsado por un tono más amigable hacia las criptomonedas en Washington. Las empresas que permiten a los inversores comprar y vender criptomonedas, así como el creciente número de empresas que han hecho de la inversión en bitcoin su principal enfoque de negocio, fueron golpeadas por la venta masiva del lunes. Coinbase Global cayó un 5,4% y la plataforma Robinhood Markets perdió un 4,4%. La empresa de minería de bitcoin Riot Platforms bajó un 2,8%. Strategy, la más grande de las llamadas empresas de tesorería de criptomonedas que recauda dinero solo para comprar bitcoin, se desplomó un 10%. La empresa ha informado que posee 649.870 bitcoins. A la uno de la tarde ET del lunes, valían aproximadamente 55.000 millones de dólares. American Bitcoin, en la que los hijos del presidente Donald Trump, Eric Trump y Donald Trump Jr., tienen una participación, cayó un 8,1% y ahora ha bajado más del 41% desde el 30 de septiembre. Otras empresas de criptomonedas relacionadas con Trump también han visto declives. El valor de mercado del token World Liberty Financial, o $WLFI, ha caído a aproximadamente 4.140 millones dólares desde más de 6.000 millones a mediados de septiembre, según coinmarketcap.com. Y el precio de una moneda meme con el nombre de presidente, $TRUMP, es de 5,67 dólares, una fracción del precio de 45 dólares justo antes de su inauguración en enero. Una forma popular de invertir en bitcoin es a través de los ETFs de bitcoin al contado, o fondos cotizados en bolsa, que permiten a los inversores tener una participación en bitcoin sin poseer directamente la criptomoneda. Según datos de Morningstar Direct, los inversores retiraron 3.600 millones dólares de los ETFs de bitcoin al contado en noviembre, la mayor salida mensual desde que los ETFs comenzaron a cotizar en enero de 2024. Los futuros de bitcoin han bajado casi un 24% en el último mes. Al mismo tiempo, los futuros de oro han subido casi un 7%. Los analistas señalan varios factores que han llevado a la venta masiva de bitcoin y otras inversiones en criptomonedas, incluyendo un sentimiento general de aversión al riesgo que ha dominado los mercados este otoño, llevando a los inversores hacia refugios más seguros como bonos y oro. En una nota de investigación a los clientes la semana pasada, los analistas de Deutsche Bank también atribuyeron las recientes caídas en las criptomonedas a la venta institucional, otros tenedores a largo plazo recogiendo beneficios y una Reserva Federal más agresiva. La regulación estancada de las criptomonedas también ha contribuido a la incertidumbre, indicó Deutsche Bank. “Si bien la volatilidad sigue siendo inherente, estas condiciones indican que la integración de Bitcoin en las carteras está siendo puesta a prueba, y plantea preguntas sobre si esto es una corrección temporal o un ajuste más prolongado”, escribieron los analistas. En el frente regulatorio, la industria de las criptomonedas recibió un impulso en julio cuando Trump firmó una ley que establece las primeras salvaguardas y protecciones al consumidor para las stablecoins, que están vinculadas a activos como el dólar estadounidense para reducir la volatilidad de precios en comparación con otras formas de criptomonedas. Pero un proyecto de ley que crea una nueva estructura de mercado para las criptomonedas sigue estancado en el Senado. El proyecto ha sido una prioridad principal para…

The growing awareness of the value among parents wanting to develop and inspire their child’s interests is not only driving more companies to develop educational products but pushing sales. According to a report by Global Market Insights the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) toy market is projected to reach $13 billion by 2032. Among the toymakers meeting the demand is Assaf Eshet, CEO and founder of Clixo , a flexible, origami-inspired magnetic system that was recently named one of Time magazine’s Best Inventions of 2025. As an industrial designer who has worked for some of the top names in the toy industry, Eshet said his mission has always been to create toys that inspire exploration rather than dictate outcomes. “Kids should have a real appetite for curiosity,” said Eshet. “Our job as parents, teachers and toymakers is to strike that nerve of wonder and keep it alive.” That’s what Playmobil did for him as a child. “I used to assemble them and then reassemble them to make them my own,” Eshet said during a phone interview from New York City. Now children are taking his kits, assembling them as they are and then reimagining them to be something else. “Things that we can’t even imagine they are already creating,” said Eshet, who launched the brand in 2020 with a few kits and has expanded it to include 20 kits ranging from $15 to $200. New this year for aspiring paleontologists is Dinosaur Adventure (6-up, $49.99). “It’s an amazing set,” Eshet said, of the newest addition to the Clixo family featuring 36 pieces that can be used to make a variety of dinosaurs or whatever creature comes to mind. “You can mix and match them, too,” said Eshet, whose Clixo brand is also in the running for the Toy Foundation’s Best Creativity Toy of the Year. The company also earned the Best Creative Fun Award by Tillywig and was named to Toy Insider’s Top Holiday Toys list in 2023. Clixo is a new favorite but the launch of STEM toys happened around the same time as the space race and the inauguration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958. “The scientific achievements of the next three decades from the moon landing, artificial heart, personal computing and cell phones all yielded a call for enhanced science education,” according to a report from Forbes. “The call was answered by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which established guidelines for the teaching of science, math, engineering and technology in grades K-12, introducing the acronym SMET. However, educators and policymakers found the term awkward and unappealing, evensuggesting it sounded like ‘smut’. So in 2001, the NSF officially rebranded the initiative STEM and more recently STEAM, as ‘Art’ was added.” “A lot of parents are buying STEAM toys that have educational value and those toys become treasures,” said Julie Everitt, co-owner of Whistle Stop Hobby and Toy in St. Clair Shores, which has been in the business of selling toys for more than 50 years. Everitt said there are a number of cool new STEAM toys out this year including Rail Cube by Sanko Toys (3-up, $99.99-$199.99). “The set comes with magnetic tubes that you connect to create a little monorail for a little engine,” Everitt said. “It’s a super cute set and it really goes.” Related Articles Visiting LA? Why downtown is the best place to stay Recipe: Fruit, seeds, almonds and chestnut flour team up to make Energy Balls King Charles III’s charity auctions stockings made from monarch’s drapes Vanessa Hudgens, Cole Tucker welcome second child AI country hit ‘Walk My Walk’ built on Blanco Brown’s sound sparks questions of attribution, ethics Another favorite at Whistle Stop is Hape’s Lock and Learn Playboard (3-6, $34.99), a wooden busy board featuring little exercises that teach kids meaningful tasks like how to unlock a latch or turn on a light. Among the STEAM toys growing in popularity among older kids is Rolife’s miniature kits ($49.99). Tweens and teens, even adults can…

Johanna Le Pape, French-born award-winning pastry chef who lives in Southern California, has written a cookbook that revolutionizes the art of baking. Her book, “Patisserie Revolution” (Robert Rose), explores healthier baking, discussing 30 types of flours, and 17 types of sugars. She also includes substitution guides for a lowering glycemic index, as well as vegan substitutes for milk, yogurts, creams and fats. I spoke with Le Pape from her home in Venice. She told me that about 10 years ago she realized the future of pastry would require it to be healthier. She set about to find ways to create pastries using healthier ingredients. Her book’s long list of alternatives to wheat flour fascinated me. In all my years of baking, I never employed most of these options. I knew about almond flour and chickpea flour, but I’d never sought out chestnut flour, or coconut flour, or myriad others. She explained that the flour needs to be a complete grain, not refined. She advised combining 2 or 3 different wheat-flour alternates to build flavor and incorporate different nutrients; diversification can make for better digestion. To follow is her recipe for Energy Balls, tasty little snacks that I tucked away in my freezer. I had all the ingredients on hand except the chestnut flour and the unsweetened desiccated coconut, items that I sought out online. I made my spheres about 1 inch in diameter; Chef Le Pape prefers to make them half that big. Queried about which recipes were her favorites, she said that the Healthy Snickers Bars go to the top of the list, adding that her 3- and 4-year-old daughters frequently ask for them. Patisserie Revolution Energy Balls Yield: About 15 INGREDIENTS 3 tablespoons dried banana slices 1/2 teaspoon flax seeds 7 tablespoons chopped pitted dates 2/3 cup chestnut flour 6 tablespoons whole almonds 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons dried apricots 3 1/2 tablespoons dried cranberries 1/4 cup plus 4 teaspoons unsweetened desiccated coconut DIRECTIONS 1. In a food processor, combine dried banana slices, flax seeds, dates, chestnut flour, almonds, apricots, cranberries, and coconut; pulse until chopped. Form into bite-sized balls. 2. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for one week or freeze for up to one month. Source: “Patisserie Revolution” by Johanna Le Pape (Robert Rose) Award-winning food writer Cathy Thomas has written three cookbooks, including “50 Best Plants on the Planet.” Follow her at CathyThomasCooks.com. Related Articles Hot new baking cookbooks will keep us riding a sugar high through the holidays Quick Fix: Easy Colorful Vegetable Stew What happens when pumpkin pie meets deep-dish pizza? There’s a better way to make mashed potatoes, and this is it Thanksgiving turkey recipe 2025: Cook your bird in under an hour

By Céline Gounder, KFF Health News Rates of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, are surging in Texas, Florida, California, Oregon, and other states and localities across the country. Related Articles New FDA-approved glasses can slow nearsightedness in kids FDNY Deputy Chief James Riches, who searched Ground Zero for his fallen son, dies of 9/11-related illness Move. Cheer. Dance. Do the wave. How to tap into the collective joy of ‘we mode’ President Trump’s EPA head slams Massachusetts for sitting on $155M to replace lead pipes Autoimmune diseases can strike any part of the body, and mostly affect women. Here’s what to know The outbreaks are fueled by falling vaccination rates, fading immunity, and delays in public health tracking systems, according to interviews with state and federal health officials. Babies too young to be fully vaccinated are most at risk. “Pertussis cases increase in a cyclical fashion driven by waning immunity, but the size of the outbreak and the potential for severe outcomes in children who cannot be vaccinated can be mitigated by high coverage and good communication to folks at risk,” said Demetre Daskalakis, a former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization program, who resigned in August. Before the first pertussis vaccine became available in the early 1900s, whooping cough was one of the most common childhood diseases and a major cause of childhood death in the United States. Today, children get a series of DTaP shots (full-dose version) starting at 2 months old, and teens and adults receive a Tdap booster (lower-dose version) every 10 years. (Both vaccines target diphtheria and tetanus in addition to pertussis.) Until recently, 8 in 10 toddlers had received four doses of the DTaP vaccine by age 2, and case rates were controlled. But vaccine coverage has declined since the covid pandemic and increases in state nonmedical exemptions have widened immunity gaps, which is when the proportion of individuals who are immune falls below the level needed to contain spread. Texas logged 1,928 pertussis cases in 2024. By October 2025, the state had exceeded 3,500. National numbers are just as stark: In the first three months of 2025, the U.S. tallied 6,600 cases — four times last year’s pace and 25 times 2023’s. Several states are posting their highest case totals in a decade, and outbreaks from Louisiana to South Dakota to Idaho make clear this surge isn’t regional. It’s everywhere. Key factors behind these numbers Texas lawmakers recently passed a law that made it easier for parents to claim nonmedical exemptions from school vaccine requirements by allowing them to download exemption forms online. These forms now go straight to schools, not health departments, making the exemptions harder to track. Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Phil Huang said the full impact of the new exemption rule is not yet known because it began this school year, but he expects it will make school-level vaccination rates fall even more. He’s already noted a dramatic drop in vaccinations. Normally, during back-to-school season, “our whole front downstairs area is packed,” he said. “We did not see that this year.” Huang believes fear of immigration enforcement may be keeping at least some families, especially Hispanic families, from getting vaccinated. Dallas County is about 40% Hispanic. “We think that a lot of them are deterred by the ICE activity,” he said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. More complications: These vaccines protect against severe disease, but protection against infection fades over time, as is the case with the covid and influenza vaccines. The U.S. switched in the 1990s from whole-cell pertussis vaccines to “acellular” ones, which cause fewer side effects but do not last as long. Because more adults today than in the past received the acellular vaccine as children, many have lost immunity over time and may unknowingly pass the infection to…