Le Journal

Por María Santana, CNN en Español Las calles están abarrotadas. Gente por todas partes. Cada balcón está repleto, cada esquina vibrando. De un lado suena reguetón, del otro salsa y, por detrás, la bomba y plena. Cada cinco pasos hay comida. Pinchos, alcapurrias y bacalaítos gigantes. Esto es “La SanSe” y, si no la conoces, tranquilo. Puerto Rico te lo va a explicar, con orgullo y en voz alta. Oficialmente, son las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián, un enorme festival de cuatro días que se celebra cada enero en el Viejo San Juan. Empezó en los años 50 como una actividad pequeña para recaudar fondos para una iglesia pero, con el tiempo, se convirtió en una masiva celebración de la música, el arte, la comida y la cultura puertorriqueña. ¿Extraoficialmente? SanSe, que normalmente se celebra el tercer fin de semana de enero, es cuando por fin se acaba la Navidad en Puerto Rico. La despedida final a la temporada. El último suspiro colectivo antes de guardar las decoraciones, se terminen las parrandas y la gente tenga que regresar al trabajo. Este año, el festival también llegó con una de las multitudes más grandes que ha visto el Viejo San Juan. “Está bastante lleno y he visto muchísimos turistas”, dijo Gabriel Sánchez, residente de Bayamón, mientras el movimiento se reducía a un paso lento, los balcones se desbordaban y la señal del celular apenas aguantaba. “El efecto Benito es una realidad”, dijo el salsero Víctor Manuelle justo antes de subir a la tarima el sábado por la noche. Usando el nombre de pila de Bad Bunny, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, explicó que el artista logró despertar un nuevo sentido de identidad y orgullo puertorriqueño que ya se siente mucho más allá de la isla. “Nunca había una figura de tanto alcance, que se había identificado tanto. No estoy diciendo que es el único. Es que Benito, obviamente con ese disco, al rescatar nuestra bomba, nuestra plena, nuestra música tradicional autóctona, abrió una puerta para que sucedan estas cosas”, dijo. Ese alcance ha transformado aún más una de las celebraciones más queridas de Puerto Rico. Según el alcalde de San Juan, Miguel Romero, las Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián de 2026 rompieron récords de asistencia, con un estimado de 1.083.881 personas durante los cuatro días del evento, que comenzó el 15 de enero. Solo la noche del domingo, se calcula que al menos 367.387 personas abarrotaron las calles del histórico distrito. Turistas de toda América Latina, de Estados Unidos y de otros países se encontraban entre los locales —cantando, bailando, ondeando banderas— atraídos no solo por la fiesta, sino también por la cultura. “En Puerto Rico, estamos muy contentos con Bad Bunny”, dijo Juan Cabán, residente de Cabo Rojo. “Estamos muy contentos que alrededor del mundo nos conozcan, conozcan nuestra cultura, nuestra música y que nos estén visitando”. Y el mundo pronto tendrá otra oportunidad de vivir ese “efecto Bad Bunny”. En pocas semanas, el artista llevará la música de Puerto Rico a uno de los escenarios más grandes del planeta: el show de medio tiempo del Super Bowl. Reguetón. Bomba. Plena. Todo en español. En voz alta y orgullosamente boricua. Para muchos puertorriqueños, se siente como cerrar un círculo. Los mismos ritmos que hoy se escuchan en las calles del Viejo San Juan pronto llegarán a millones de personas alrededor del mundo. “Yo creo que va a tener un récord de audiencia”, dijo Víctor Manuelle. “En ningún momento los latinos habían estado tan pendientes a una presentación del Super Bowl como van a estar a esta, y nosotros estamos súper orgullosos. Sé que hemos tenido en otras ocasiones representantes latinos como Shakira, como Jennifer Lopez, claro está. Pero yo creo que este evento va a marcar una diferencia”. “Yo casi no veo Super Bowl… pero verlo ahora en el halftime show va a ser bueno para Puerto Rico y bueno para lo que sería la música latina”, dijo Sánchez mientras salía del festival. “Todos vamos a estar allí. Todos vamos a estar en primera fila y le…

By Ben Wedeman, CNN Northeastern Iraq (CNN) — Piece by piece, the young man in a black and white scarf – a keffiyeh – takes apart his AK-47 assault rifle, placing them side-by-side on the rocky ground. His brow furrows. He can’t push one of the pieces back into place as he tries to reassemble the rifle. Watched by his comrades, commanders and a CNN crew, the young peshmerga – a Kurdish term meaning “those who face death” – is uncomfortable being the center of attention. Everyone chuckles. His instructor hands him another rifle to do it all over again. “They’re new,” Karim Farkhapur says by way of an explanation, referring to the fighters. Farkhapur is one of the leaders of the Kurdish Democratic Party-Iran (KDPI), the oldest and biggest Iranian Kurdish rebel group. We caught up with him at their camp high in the mountains of northeastern Iraq, more than 13 miles (about 21 kilometers) west of the Iranian border. Since 1945, the KDPI has fought for the rights of Iranian Kurds, who make up about 10% of the population. First, they fought the Shah of Iran, and then, after the revolution in 1979, began their decades-long struggle against the theocratic rulers in Tehran. The KDPI is just one of many groups opposed to the Iranian regime. Ethnic Baluch in eastern Iran, Kurds in the west and Arabs in the southwest, have long agitated for either autonomy or independence, in addition to other groups that are opposed to the Islamic Republic on purely ideological grounds. Many of these groups are variously supported either materially or politically by foreign countries. For some Kurds, the wave of protests that began late last month has raised hopes that perhaps, after 47 years of rule, the end of the Islamic Republic is in sight. “The regime is weakening daily,” says Mustafa Hijri, the KDPI’s leader. “Its weakness provides more space for us and other freedom-loving parties to strengthen their fight against the regime.” Hijri claims his party has more people inside Iran than any other, and was a key player supporting recent protests, particularly in the western provinces. Nineteen-year-old Farina is one of the KDPI’s recruits. On her left shoulder, she carries a Soviet-era Dragunov sniper rifle with a new scope. She fled Iran, she says, despairing of a life with no future. “Even if you study you can never become anything unless you are a regime supporter,” she says. “We have no rights, especially as women. That’s why I became a peshmerga: to defend my rights as a Kurd, and as a woman.” Her unit is made up of men and women – characteristic of many Kurdish factions in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran – which make equal rights for women one of the pillars of their ideology. There is a well-worn phrase, almost a cliché: “The Kurds have no friends but the mountains.” As a journalist, I’m always hesitant to use it. Yet up here between the towering snow-covered peaks, with dark clouds hovering overhead and snowflakes beginning to fall, one does feel a certain comfort in the remoteness and solitude the mountains provide. It’s a feeling that, in this dystopian new world of rapidly changing military technology, is illusory. “Iran flies drones over us,” Farkhapur tells me as we watch the peshmerga march though slush and mud up the mountain above their camp. “They know we are here.” In recent years Iran has targeted Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq. The Iranian government, wounded and cornered, could do it again. Generations of young Iranian Kurds have fled over these mountains and joined groups like the KDPI, hoping to change their homeland. Up here, It’s bitterly cold in winter, the conditions harsh. For Farina, it’s worth it. “We put our lives on this path,” she says. “We expect to have to sacrifice.” The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. The post After decades of fighting the Iranian regime, Kurds see victory edging closer appeared first on KRDO.

TODAY: From 10 am until 5 pm areas including Pueblo, Fremont, Teller, and parts of El Paso County are under a red flag warning because of 15-25 mph wind speeds with 45 mph gusts. Relative humidity is also low. Temperatures are freezing to start but we can expect to be above freezing by 10 am. Temperatures warm up to the 50s around 2 pm for all areas over I-25 and the eastern plains. TONIGHT: Freezing temperatures continue with most areas dropping into the teens, winds die down with gusts possibly hitting 10-15 mph. TOMORROW: High temperatures remain in the 50s but drop down a couple degrees. Winds become mild with Fremont County still seeing the highest gusts around 20 mph. The next expected precipitation is expected to come at the end of the week. The post Red flag warnings for some appeared first on KRDO.

By Alexandra Banner, CNN Construction is underway at the White House’s East Wing for President Donald Trump’s sprawling new ballroom — but a far more interesting project is happening underground. Beneath the site, a “top secret” bunker is likely being rebuilt with modern technology to counter evolving threats. Here’s what else you need to know to get up to speed and on with your day. 1⃣ Davos 2026 President Trump’s desire to take over Greenland — and his tariff threats — will loom large over this week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where more than 3,000 business and political leaders from over 130 countries are gathering. Trump, who will speak at the forum on Wednesday, told reporters that he expects little pushback on his plan, despite sharing a message from French President Emmanuel Macron questioning the move. Meanwhile, markets reacted nervously today, with European stocks falling and US futures pointing lower as investors worldwide try to gauge how tensions between the US and Europe might develop. 2⃣ Anti-ICE protests The Department of Justice is investigating protesters who interrupted a Christian church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday. Dozens of demonstrators chanted “ICE out!” and forced the service to stop, targeting a pastor who is reportedly a top local official with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. President Trump sharply condemned the anti‑ICE protest, describing the demonstrators as “agitators and insurrectionists” and said they should be “thrown in jail, or thrown out of the Country.” The DOJ probe comes as opposition to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is playing out both on the streets of Minneapolis and in Minnesota’s federal courts. 3⃣ Epstein files Few Americans are satisfied with the amount of evidence released in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, with most saying they believe the government is intentionally holding back information. One month has now passed since Congress’ deadline for the Justice Department to release all files on Epstein, but the department recently estimated it has made available less than 1% of the records. Also this week, a 10-foot-tall replica of President Trump’s alleged birthday message to Epstein appeared on the National Mall. The president has denied that he signed the letter or had a close relationship with Epstein. 4⃣ Solar radiation storm The sun is currently releasing the largest solar radiation storm in over 20 years, forecasters say. Ranked at a level four out of five on a severity scale, the storm is being tracked by the National Weather Service’s Space Weather Prediction Center. While it poses increased radiation risks for astronauts in low-Earth orbit and passengers on polar flights — and could disrupt satellite communications and GPS — meteorologists say people on the ground face minimal danger. The storm may produce dazzling auroras, potentially visible today across much of the northern US and as far south as Alabama and Northern California. 5⃣ Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are college football’s national champions for the first time in school history after defeating the Miami Hurricanes 27-21. For decades, Indiana’s football team was overshadowed by its storied basketball program — but no longer. The 2025-26 Hoosiers made history Monday by pulling off the first 16-0 season in the modern era. Head coach Curt Cignetti has changed the narrative since taking the reins of the program last year, analysts say. Led by quarterback Fernando Mendoza — this year’s Heisman Trophy winner — the team dominated opponents all season and capped an unforgettable run with a thrilling championship victory. Breakfast browse Video shows cow using a brush to scratch its back This cow is proving that livestock might be smarter than we thought. Four shark attacks in two days A spate of shark attacks in Australia’s most populous state has triggered warnings to stay out of the water. Here’s what protestors say…