Le Journal

Three U.S. Catholic cardinals urged the Trump administration on Monday to use a moral compass in pursuing its foreign policy, saying U.S. military action in Venezuela, threats of acquiring Greenland and cuts in foreign aid risk bringing vast suffering instead of promoting peace. In a joint statement, Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington and Joseph Tobin of Newark, N.J., warned that without a moral vision, the current debate over Washington’s foreign policy was mired in “polarization, partisanship, and narrow economic and social interests.” “Most of the United States and the world are adrift morally in terms of foreign policy,” McElroy told The Associated Press. “I still believe the United States has a tremendous impact upon the world.” The statement was unusual and marked the second time in as many months that members of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy have asserted their voice against a Trump administration many believe isn’t upholding the basic tenets of human dignity. In November, the entire U.S. conference of Catholic bishops condemned the administration’s mass deportation of migrants and “vilification” of them in the public discourse. The three cardinals, who are prominent figures in the more progressive wing of the U.S. church, took as a starting point a major foreign policy address that Pope Leo XIV delivered Jan. 9 to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See. The speech, delivered almost entirely in English, amounted to Leo’s most substantial critique of U.S. foreign policy. History’s first U.S.-born pope denounced how nations were using force to assert their dominion worldwide, “completely undermining” peace and the post-World War II international legal order. Leo didn’t name individual countries, but his speech came against the backdrop of the then-recent U.S. military operation in Venezuela to remove Nicolás Maduro from power, U.S. threats to take Greenland as well as Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was consulted on the statement, and its president, Archbishop Paul Coakley, “supports the emphasis placed by the cardinals on Pope Leo’s teaching in these times,” said spokesperson Chieko Noguchi. The White House didn’t immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment on Monday. Cardinals question the use of force The three cardinals cited Venezuela, Greenland and Ukraine in their statement — saying they “raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace” — as well as the cuts to foreign aid that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration initiated last year. “Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination,” they warned. “We renounce war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy,” they wrote. “We seek a foreign policy that respects and advances the right to human life, religious liberty, and the enhancement of human dignity throughout the world, especially through economic assistance.” Tobin described the moral compass the cardinals wish the U.S. would use globally. “It can’t be that my prosperity is predicated on inhuman treatment of others,” he told the AP. “The real argument isn’t just my right or individual rights, but what is the common good.” Immigration Oct 1, 2025 ‘Not really pro-life': Pope Leo criticizes ‘inhuman' treatment of immigrants in US Catholic Church Nov 13, 2025 U.S. bishops officially ban gender-affirming care at Catholic hospitals Cardinals expand on their statement in interviews with AP In interviews, Cupich and McElroy said the signatories were inspired to issue a statement after hearing from several fellow cardinals during a Jan. 7-8 meeting at the Vatican. These other cardinals expressed alarm about the…

Netflix is revising its $72 billion offer for Warner Bros. Discovery to make it an all-cash transaction. Netflix initially put forth a cash and stock deal valued at $27.75 per Warner Bros. share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt. Netflix and Warner Bros. said Tuesday that the revised deal simplifies the transaction structure, provides more certainty of value for Warner Bros. stockholders and speeds up the path to a Warner Bros. shareholder vote. The companies said that the all-cash transaction is still valued at $27.75 per Warner Bros. share. Warner Bros. stockholders will also receive the additional value of shares of Discovery Global following its separation from Warner Bros. “Together, Netflix and Warner Bros. will deliver broader choice and greater value to audiences worldwide, enhancing access to world-class television and film both at home and in theaters,” Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, said in a statement. “The acquisition will also significantly expand U.S. production capacity and investment in original programming, driving job creation and long-term industry growth.” Warner Bros. previously announced that it will separate Warner Bros. and Discovery Global into two separate publicly traded companies. The separation is expected to be completed in six to nine months, prior to the closing of the proposed Netflix and Warner Bros. deal. The transaction with Netflix is expected to close 12 to 18 months from the date that Netflix and Warner Bros. originally entered into their merger agreement. Both companies’ boards approved the amended all-cash deal. Media Jan 7 Warner Bros rejects Paramount bid again and tells shareholders stick to Netflix Media Dec 22, 2025 Paramount beefs up its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with new Larry Ellison guarantee Donald Trump Dec 10, 2025 Trump says CNN should be sold as part of any Warner Bros. deal Netflix’s stock rose 1.3% before the market open, while shares of Warner Bros. Discovery fell slightly. Netflix has been in a tussle with Paramount Skydance for Warner Bros., with Paramount taking another step in its hostile takeover bid of Warner Bros. last week, saying that it would name its own slate of directors before the next shareholder meeting of the Hollywood studio. Paramount also filed a suit in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to compel Warner Bros. to disclose to shareholders how it values its bid and the competing offer from Netflix. Warner’s leadership has repeatedly rebuffed Skydance-owned Paramount’s overtures — and urged shareholders just weeks ago to back its the sale of its streaming and studio business to Netflix. Paramount, meanwhile, has made efforts to sweeten its $77.9 billion hostile offer for the entire company. Warner Bros. Discovery said earlier this month that its board determined Paramount’s offer is not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders. It again recommended shareholders support the Netflix deal. Last month, Paramount announced an “irrevocable personal guarantee” from Oracle founder Larry Ellison — who is the father of Paramount CEO David Ellison — to back $40.4 billion in equity financing for the company’s offer. Paramount also increased its promised payout to shareholders to $5.8 billion if the deal is blocked by regulators, matching Netflix’s breakup fee. In a letter to shareholders, Warner expressed concerns about a potential deal with Paramount. Warner said it essentially considers the offer a leveraged buyout, which includes a lot of debt, and also pointed to operating restrictions that it said were imposed by Paramount’s offer and could “hamper WBD’s ability to perform” throughout a transaction. The battle for Warner and the value of each offer grows complicated because Netflix and Paramount want different things. Netflix’s proposed acquisition includes only Warner’s studio and streaming business, including its legacy TV and movie production arms and…

It’s been a year since a measles outbreak began in West Texas, and international health authorities say they will meet in April to determine if the U.S. has lost its measles-free designation. Experts fear the vaccine-preventable virus has regained a foothold and that the U.S. may soon follow Canada in losing the achievement of having eliminated it. The reevaluation is largely symbolic and hinges on whether a single measles chain has spread uninterrupted within the U.S. for at least 12 months. Public health scientists around the country are investigating whether the now-ended Texas outbreak is linked to active ones in Utah, Arizona and South Carolina. But doctors and scientists say the U.S. — and North America overall — has a measles problem, regardless of the decision. “It is really a question of semantics,” said Dr. Jonathan Temte, a Wisconsin family physician who helped certify the U.S. was measles-free in 2000. “The bottom line is the conditions are sufficient to allow this many cases to occur. And that gets back to de-emphasizing a safe and effective vaccine.” Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 2,144 measles cases across 44 states — the most since 1991 — and nearly 50 separate outbreaks. The problem has been years in the making, as fewer kids get routine vaccines due to parental waivers, health care access issues and rampant disinformation. More recently, Trump administration health officials have questioned and sown doubt about the established safety of vaccines at an unprecedented level while also defunding local efforts to improve vaccination rates. “The most important thing that we can do is to make sure the people who aren’t vaccinated get vaccinated,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of Brown University’s Pandemic Center. “We have not issued a clear enough message about that.” A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said Thursday that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has consistently emphasized vaccines as the best way to prevent measles, adding that the CDC is responding to outbreaks and working to increase vaccination rates. As of Thursday, the department said it doesn’t have evidence that a single chain of measles has spread for a year. Measles finds the unvaccinated There is little room for error in trying to stop measles. The virus is one of the most contagious, infecting 9 out of every 10 unvaccinated people exposed. Community-level protection takes a 95% vaccination rate. The current rate nationally is 92.5%, according to CDC data, but many communities fall far below that. The patient in Texas’ first known case developed the telltale rash on Jan. 20, 2025, according to state health department data. From there, the outbreak exploded. Officially, 762 people fell ill, most of them in rural Gaines County, and two children died. Many more got sick and were never diagnosed: 182 potential measles cases among children in Gaines County went unconfirmed in March 2025 alone, state health officials said, a possible undercount of 44% in that county. Such data gaps are common, though, making it especially hard to track outbreaks. Many people living in communities where the virus is spreading face health care barriers and distrust the government. Contact tracing so many cases is also expensive, said behavioral scientist Noel Brewer, who chairs the U.S. committee that will finalize the data for international health officials. Research shows a single measles case can cost public health departments tens of thousands of dollars. CDC data on measles is still among the best worldwide, Brewer said, but “the U.S. has changed its investment in public health, so we’re less able to do the case tracking that we used to do.” Genetic sequencing can fill some gaps. But that’s not always enough to say the outbreaks are connected. Genetically, the measles virus doesn’t change as often as, say, flu. “Within an outbreak, everybody is going to look the same,” said Justin…

Congressional negotiators in both parties released a massive bill Tuesday aimed at fully funding the government ahead of a shutdown deadline on Jan. 30. The 1,059-page bipartisan bill includes money for the Pentagon and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, and reduces the chances of another funding lapse after the longest shutdown in U.S. history last fall. But the DHS measure is sure to be a point of contention for Democrats in the House and Senate, many of whom insisted they would reject any funding bill without policies to restrain ICE after an agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis this month. “There should absolutely be reforms to ICE. And if there aren’t reforms, I’m going to be a hard no on that bill, the DHS bill,” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., the No. 4 House Democrat, told NBC News last week ahead of the release of the bill. The bill “leaves in place an additional $18 billion a year for ICE, tripling the budget,” Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and top progressive in Congress, said Tuesday. “It is a surrender to Trump’s lawlessness. I will be a strong no and help lead the opposition to it.” The package would keep ICE funding essentially flat at $10 billion for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, even as the agency received $75 billion of additional money for detention and enforcement from Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democratic appropriator, acknowledged that the package did not include broad reforms to rein in ICE in a statement from her office announcing the bill. But she endorsed the package, saying it would prevent a partial shutdown and argued it did include some Democratic priorities. The bipartisan deal allocates $20 million for the “procurement, deployment, and operations of body worn cameras” for ICE agents. And the bill “encourages” DHS to develop and implement a new uniform policy “to ensure that law enforcement officers are clearly identifiable as Federal law enforcement,” according to DeLauro’s office. DeLauro said the bill also cuts funding for ICE enforcement and removal operations by $115 million and reduces the number of ICE detention beds by 5,500. The House is expected to vote on the package later this week. DeLauro said that GOP leaders have promised to hold a separate vote on just the Homeland Security portion of the package, which would give Democrats an opportunity to oppose it, without moving Washington toward another shutdown. “I understand that many of my Democratic colleagues may be dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE,” DeLauro said in her statement. “I share their frustration with the out-of-control agency. I encourage my colleagues to review the bill and determine what is best for their constituents and communities.” Democrats had sought policies such as requiring ICE agents to wear identification and barring masks during enforcement operations, as well as measures to prevent the detention and deportation of American citizens. “The Homeland Security funding bill is more than just ICE. If we allow a lapse in funding, TSA agents will be forced to work without pay, FEMA assistance could be delayed, and the U.S. Coast Guard will be adversely affected,” DeLauro added. So far, the House has passed eight of the 12 required full-year funding bills. Finishing this package would complete the appropriations work for the chamber, four months after the new fiscal year began. The Senate, which returns to Washington next week, just days before the deadline, has passed half of the 12 funding bills. It will require 60 votes to avoid a partial government shutdown affecting the remaining agencies beginning on Jan. 31. Republicans have 53 senators. The bipartisan deal released Tuesday also includes a package of health care changes that are largely backed by both parties, including more oversight of pharmacy benefit managers…

Eugenia Mykuliak, founder and executive director of B2PRIME Group, examines why liquidity risk has become one of the most underestimated threats facing modern portfolios. Mykuliak argues that recent U.S. bank failures and tightening global capital conditions expose a deeper flaw in how liquidity is modeled, monitored and assumed. In an era of persistent volatility, she makes the case that liquidity must be treated as the foundation of portfolio resilience.