Auto Giants Scrambling to Slash Costs as Massive Bet on EVs, Self-Driving Fizzles

Auto Factory

Major automobile companies are attempting to cut costs associated with electric vehicle (EV) lines and autonomous cars after spending heavily on both, according to CNBC.

Companies such as General Motors (GM), Stellantis and Ford are taking drastic measures aimed at reducing costs, such as enacting layoffs and making production cuts, according to CNBC. Automakers have invested billions of dollars into self-driving cars and EVs, with many now facing prolonged returns on their investments and slow EV adoption, CNBC reported.

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Nicaraguan Ortega Regime Bans Priests from Public Hospitals

Priest

In a harsh escalation against religious freedom in Nicaragua, the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo prohibited Catholic priests from entering public hospitals to give patients the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

“They are prohibiting the entry of priests into hospitals to carry the Holy Oils for the Anointing of the Sick,” said lawyer and author Martha Patricia Molina, who wrote, “Nicaragua: a persecuted Church?”

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Trump Will Need Cooperation from Maduro Regime for Mass Deportations, Experts Say

Illegal Immigrants

President-elect Donald Trump could reach an immigration agreement with the Maduro regime, in an attempt to advance his mass deportation plans, according to experts.

Venezuela is not currently accepting deportees from the United States, but Trump’s plans could force Maduro to reach a deal, said Ryan Berg, who directs the Future of Venezuela Initiative, a Washington, D.C. think tank at the Center for Strategic & International Studies.

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Illegal Migrants Rush Across U.S. Border Before President-Elect Donald Trump Takes Office

More than 100 migrants crossed the border in Eagle Pass, Texas, just two hours after President-elect Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election on a promise to end illegal immigration.

The migrants, who mostly came from Central and South America, along with two others from Africa, arrived in the United States after crossing the Rio Grande River. There were a dozen unaccompanied children in the group, including two younger brothers.

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Hispanic Americans Among Key Groups That Helped Reelect Trump as President of the United States

Donald Trump

A shift in Hispanic American voters in key swing states helped reelect former Republican President Donald Trump to the White House over his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, and that expansion was critical to his victory, according to several reports.

The Democrats spent much of their time building a campaign strategy that depicted the former Republican president as a dangerous threat to democracy while polls repeatedly reported that their key issues were inflation and the escalating cost of living.

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Bipartisan Legislators Seek to Stop Venezuelan Oil Exports Until Maduro Leaves Power

Venezuela Bill

Florida Reps. María Elvira Salazar (Republican) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Democrat) presented a new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, in a bipartisan effort to increase pressure on the communist Venezuelan regime of Nicolás Maduro.

The main objective of the Law to Repeal Venezuelan Oil Exemptions to Stop Autocratic Repression (REVOCAR Act) is to prohibit new licenses for transactions with the Venezuelan state oil company (PDVSA).

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Maduro Accuses Elon Musk of Spending $1 Billion to Orchestrate Anti-Communist Coup in Venezuela

Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro accused American businessman Elon Musk of investing at least $1 billion to attempt a coup in the South American country.

“Elon Musk invested in the coup d’état, the fascist outbreak, the violence against the electoral process in Venezuela for no less than 1 billion dollars,” Maduro said during his weekly program ‘Con Maduro+’.

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Cuban Intelligence Exploited Sister Cities Partnerships in an Attempt to Influence Public Officials

Cuba

The Cuban regime could be trying to exploit sister city partnerships to influence U.S. policy throughout the United States and advance its agenda, an ADN investigation cross-referencing documents and public records shows. Sister Cities International is registered as a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 and serves as the national membership organization for individual sister cities, counties, and states across the United States.

The organization facilitates agreements based on cultural, educational, information, and trade exchanges between two geographically and politically distinct localities, but the concept of sister cities has been used by other organizations as well, and has long been scrutinized by Congress due to concerns about how China might exploit sister-city partnerships in the U.S. for espionage or to gain influence.

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Maduro Regime Requests Arrest Warrant Against Edmundo González Urrutia

Venezuela ‘s Attorney General’s Office asked a court specializing in “terrorism” crimes at midday on Monday to issue an “arrest warrant” against the standard-bearer of the largest opposition coalition, Edmundo González Urrutia, and the greatest rival of dictator Nicolás Maduro.

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Freedom House Report Warns of Growing Repression Against Opponents in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua

Daniel Ortega

The US NGO Freedom House warned on Wednesday about the growing use of repressive measures against dissidents. On the island, where more than 50 countries are listed, Nicaragua, Cuba and Venezuela stand out. The document refers, among other issues, to the restriction of freedom of movement of opponents of these regimes.

According to the organization’s annual report, the coercive measures they use include the withdrawal of nationality, travel bans, withholding of identity documents and denial of consular services. The document, which focuses on “transnational repression,” also highlights that these restrictions are less visible forms of repression compared to the killings and kidnappings that also occur.

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