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Power the future sends letter to lawmakers over data
Kevin O’Leary discusses Utah AI data center project to rival China
Kevin O’Leary, chairman of O’Leary Ventures, explains his significant AI data center project in Utah, aimed at surpassing China’s technological progress. O’Leary highlights the initiative’s ability to generate its own power from a natural gas pipeline, accelerating permitting and providing essential compute power for U.S. AI companies and national defense, spanning 40,000 acres.
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Power the Future, a pro-energy advocacy group, is asking Congress to take a closer look at the opposition to data centers that is springing up across the country.
In a letter to Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the group asked lawmakers to open formal investigations into millions of dollars in funding they believe is incentivizing nonprofits and local groups to take up an environmental stance against data centers.
In their view, it’s a movement that’s trying to look more grassroots than it actually is.
«We request that your committees open a formal investigation into a coordinated, billionaire-funded, and potentially foreign-backed political campaign designed to block the construction of data center and AI infrastructure across the United States, which sits among the most important economic and national-security buildouts of President Trump’s second term,» the letter reads.
FOREIGN BILLIONAIRES FUNNEL $2.6B TO US ADVOCACY GROUPS TO INFLUENCE POLICY, WATCHDOG REPORT CLAIMS
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., speaks to reporters after a closed-door deposition with Ghislaine Maxwell at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 9, 2026. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
The letter highlights fears that American laws surrounding nonprofits, which shield donors from public disclosures, could be enabling wealthy ideologues to make donations that are difficult to track.
The group pointed to environmentally-minded nonprofits like the Sierra Club, Food and Water Watch, Earthjustice, Goods Jobs First, Piedmont Environmental Council, the Southern Environmental Law Center, MediaJustice and the Athena Coalition that have received — and spent millions — opposing their expansion.
New Venture Fund, the Sierra Club Foundation and the Sixteen Thirty Fund collectively received over $13 million from pro-environmental donors, according to grant reporting.
It’s unclear if those donations were made for the express intent of opposing data center constructions.
Even so, across the board, the groups affirm that data centers are costing more resources than they are worth — at the expense of local communities’ environmental wellbeing.
Power the Future disagrees.
RAPID RISE OF AI PUTS NEW URGENCY ON CONGRESS TO UNLEASH AMERICAN ENERGY
The Douglas County Google Data Center complex is seen in Lithia Springs, Ga., on March 6, 2026. (Mike Stewart/AP)
Beyond generating tax revenue for local communities and creating employment opportunities, Power the Future argued that the data centers enable the U.S. to stay competitive with foreign powers.
«Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has called opposition to that buildout a ‘surrender’ to China,» Power the Future wrote in its datacenter report.
«The compute infrastructure that trains AI models, processes intelligence data and powers the next generation of American economic and military advantage has to be built somewhere.»
Although the group’s founder, Daniel Turner, believes that part of the opposition may well come from legitimate local concerns about unwanted development in rural areas, he’s skeptical of the money being pumped into the picture.
‘BAD IDEA’: CONSERVATIVES WARN RED STATE DATA CENTER BILL WILL DERAIL TRUMP’S VISION OF ENERGY ‘GOLDEN AGE’
Racks of servers with colorful wires are seen in a data center as AI expansion strains the power grid, prompting a proposal for tech firms to fund their own energy needs. (Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)
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«There is certainly a lot for communities to discuss around data centers. But is it a paid operation by radical green groups who see banning data centers as the new banning the gas stove or banning the leaf blower?» Turner said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Power the Future has found 188 local opposition groups across 24 states that oppose data center expansion, according to their research.
infrastructure across america, controversies environment, congress, lobbying, energy in america
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Honduras: Investigación revela indicios de manipulación de la escena donde asesinaron a policías
Las investigaciones sobre el asesinato de cinco agentes de la Dirección Policial Anti Maras y Pandillas Contra el Crimen Organizado (DIPAMPCO) en la aldea de Corinto, municipio de Omoa, Cortés, continúan revelando nuevos hallazgos que incrementan las dudas sobre lo ocurrido durante el operativo policial ejecutado en la zona norte de Honduras.
De acuerdo con los primeros informes periciales, las autoridades forenses encontraron indicios que apuntan a una posible manipulación de la escena del crimen posterior al ataque armado en el que perdieron la vida los agentes policiales.
Las evidencias recolectadas por especialistas indican que el enfrentamiento más intenso se registró dentro de una de las habitaciones de la vivienda donde se desarrollaba el operativo.
Sin embargo, los peritos detectaron en los pasillos del inmueble diversas marcas y rastros compatibles con el arrastre de uno o varios cuerpos, situación que ha fortalecido la hipótesis de que los responsables del ataque permanecieron suficiente tiempo en el lugar para intervenir la escena e intentar alterar o eliminar pruebas.
“Existen claros indicios de manipulación de la escena, lo que complica la reconstrucción exacta de los acontecimientos”, señalaron fuentes cercanas al proceso investigativo.
Las autoridades consideran que estos hallazgos podrían ser claves para determinar cómo ocurrieron exactamente los hechos y establecer las responsabilidades correspondientes dentro del caso.
Otro elemento que ha llamado la atención de los investigadores es que los cuerpos de los agentes no fueron encontrados en el sitio exacto donde se produjo la balacera principal.
De acuerdo con los informes preliminares, uno de los policías fue localizado a varios cientos de metros de la vivienda intervenida, mientras que los demás cuerpos aparecieron en sectores aún más alejados del lugar donde se desarrolló el enfrentamiento.
Para los investigadores, esa situación refuerza la hipótesis de que existió un traslado intencional posterior al ataque.
Los especialistas analizan actualmente si los cuerpos fueron movilizados para dificultar el trabajo de los equipos forenses y obstaculizar la reconstrucción cronológica de los hechos.
La escena permanece bajo resguardo policial mientras continúan las diligencias técnicas y el levantamiento de nuevas evidencias en el sector de Corinto.
(FOTO:X)
Equipos especializados de Medicina Forense, agentes de investigación y unidades de inteligencia mantienen un fuerte despliegue operativo en la zona, considerada de alta peligrosidad debido a la presencia de estructuras criminales.
Las autoridades también desarrollan análisis balísticos, inspecciones de armas y revisión de posibles rastros biológicos encontrados dentro y fuera de la vivienda donde ocurrió el enfrentamiento.
Mientras avanzan las investigaciones, dos civiles que también murieron durante el incidente permanecen en la morgue del Ministerio Público a la espera de ser identificados oficialmente por sus familiares.
Hasta el momento, las autoridades no han revelado detalles sobre la identidad de estas personas ni sobre el posible rol que habrían tenido durante el ataque armado.
El caso continúa bajo estricta reserva mientras las instituciones de seguridad analizan múltiples líneas de investigación relacionadas con el crimen.
La muerte de los agentes ha provocado conmoción dentro de la Policía Nacional y generado preocupación en distintos sectores del país debido a las circunstancias violentas y confusas que rodean el operativo.
En las últimas horas, las investigaciones también han revelado presuntas irregularidades relacionadas con la planificación del operativo.
Autoridades policiales confirmaron recientemente la suspensión de la cúpula de la DIPAMPCO mientras avanzan las indagaciones sobre posibles fallas en la cadena de mando y protocolos de seguridad.
Además, trascendió que la operación inicialmente estaba relacionada con labores de vigilancia vinculadas a delitos de droga en el departamento de Colón y no específicamente en Corinto, Omoa.
Asimismo, se realizan entrevistas a pobladores, análisis de comunicaciones y revisiones de cámaras de vigilancia con el objetivo de reconstruir completamente los movimientos previos y posteriores al enfrentamiento.
También ha generado preocupación sobre la capacidad operativa de los cuerpos policiales y la necesidad de fortalecer los protocolos de inteligencia y seguridad en misiones de alto riesgo.
Mientras tanto, familiares de los agentes fallecidos continúan exigiendo justicia y el esclarecimiento total de uno de los ataques más violentos registrados recientemente contra miembros de la Policía Nacional de Honduras.
corresponsal:Desde Tegucigalpa, Honduras
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The Trump administration’s decision to indict former Cuban leader Raúl Castro is fueling comparisons to the pressure campaign President Donald Trump previously used against Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro as the White House ramps up economic pressure, direct appeals to Cubans and military visibility in the Caribbean.
The indictment, tied to Cuba’s 1996 attack on two civilian aircraft that killed three U.S. citizens, has raised questions about whether the administration is testing a Venezuela-style pressure strategy against Havana’s communist regime.
The USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group has been operating in the Caribbean under U.S. Southern Command authorities, providing a visible military backdrop to the administration’s increasingly confrontational posture toward Havana. Publicly announced assets include fighter aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft and guided-missile destroyers.
The broader posture has drawn comparisons to the administration’s earlier campaign against Maduro, which similarly began with criminal charges against a longtime anti-American strongman before expanding into a wider regime-pressure effort involving sanctions, diplomatic isolation and heightened U.S. military activity in the Caribbean.
OBAMA’S BASEBALL OUTING WITH CASTRO REIGNITES FURY AFTER TRUMP DOJ DROPS HAMMER ON CUBAN LEADER
Federal prosecutors charged Castro and several former Cuban officials Wednesday in the 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue civilian aircraft that killed four men, including three U.S. citizens. Castro was Cuba’s defense minister at the time of the attack.
U.S. prosecutors allege Castro helped authorize the operation after the civilian planes repeatedly entered Cuban airspace while conducting missions linked to the Miami-based Brothers to the Rescue organization, which searched for Cuban migrants at sea and opposed the communist government in Havana.
Cuba President Raúl Castro addresses the Cuban Communist Party Congress in Havana, Cuba, in a file photo from April 16, 2016. (Ismael Francisco/Cubadebate/AP)
Cuban fighter jets ultimately shot down two unarmed aircraft over international waters in 1996, according to the indictment, triggering international condemnation and one of the most severe crises in U.S.-Cuba relations since the Cold War.
«At the very least, it means symbolically that he is now set up just as Nicolás Maduro was,» Christine Balling, a Cuba expert at the Institute of World Politics and former advisor to U.S. Special Operations Command South, told Fox News Digital.
Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro during a meeting at the National Assembly in Caracas, Aug. 22, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)
CIA Director John Ratcliffe meets with officials in Havana, Cuba, May 14, 2026, to discuss intelligence matters. (CIA)
During Trump’s earlier pressure campaign against Maduro, the U.S. indicted the Venezuelan leader on narco-terrorism charges, tightened sanctions on the country’s oil sector, backed opposition efforts to remove him and increased military operations in the Caribbean.
The campaign culminated in a U.S.-backed operation that removed Maduro from effective power and reopened channels of American influence inside Venezuela through energy negotiations and cooperation involving senior figures, including Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.
RUBIO LAYS OUT THREE-PHASE PLAN FOR VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO: ‘NOT JUST WINGING IT’
«I don’t think that we are necessarily going to conduct the same operation,» Balling said. «Raúl Castro is 94 years old. It might not be worth the trouble.»
Still, Balling argued, the indictment sends «a very straightforward message that we are 100% behind the fall of the Castro regime.»
The White House could not immediately be reached for comment.
RUBIO SAYS CUBA NEEDS ‘NEW PEOPLE IN CHARGE’ AS BLACKOUTS, UNREST GRIP ISLAND
Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinforced that message this week with a direct appeal to the Cuban people, accusing the communist government of blaming the island’s collapse on the U.S. «blockade» while enriching military-linked elites who dominate the Cuban economy. Rubio also highlighted the success of Cubans living abroad, arguing the Cuban people — not the regime — were capable of prosperity.
Balling described Rubio’s remarks as a deliberate attempt to undermine Havana’s domestic propaganda and convince Cubans that the regime, rather than the United States, bears primary responsibility for the island’s economic collapse.
«Rubio wants them to understand that the regime is acting against their own interests,» she said.
Trump further fueled speculation this week when asked whether tensions with Cuba would escalate following the Castro indictment.
«There won’t be escalation,» Trump said. «We won’t have to.»
Some analysts interpreted Trump’s comments — combined with Rubio’s direct appeals to ordinary Cubans — as a sign the administration may believe internal pressure against the regime could eventually accomplish what direct military escalation would not.
«It’s sowing the seeds of a counter-revolutionary feeling,» Balling said.
But Balling warned that any serious destabilization of Cuba could trigger consequences far beyond the island itself, particularly a potential mass migration crisis just 90 miles from Florida.
«If we go so far as to engage militarily, we are probably looking at thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of refugees,» she said.
Cuba has already been suffering through rolling blackouts, fuel shortages and a worsening economic crisis as the administration increases pressure on the island’s energy lifelines.
Despite the increasingly confrontational rhetoric, Washington has also kept open limited channels of communication with Havana.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe traveled publicly to Cuba on May 14 for talks with senior Cuban security officials, delivering what U.S. officials described as a warning that Cuba could no longer serve as a «safe haven for adversaries» while also offering the prospect of deeper economic and security engagement if Havana makes «fundamental changes.»
The visit came as the Trump administration pressed a $100 million humanitarian aid proposal aimed at addressing Cuba’s worsening blackout and fuel crisis. Cuban officials signaled they were open to accepting assistance distributed through independent humanitarian and religious organizations rather than directly through the government.
Analysts say Cuba’s armed forces are far weaker than during the Cold War, when the island fielded one of Latin America’s largest militaries with Soviet backing. Today, experts describe the Cuban military as severely degraded by decades of economic collapse, fuel shortages and aging equipment.
«Cuba had a First World military in a Third World country,» Frank Mora, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Western Hemisphere under President Barack Obama, told The Wall Street Journal this week. «It’s a shell of a shell of what it used to be.»
Still, analysts caution that Cuba’s weakness does not necessarily make the island easy to pressure or destabilize.
Unlike Venezuela, where the U.S. has at times maintained limited economic engagement despite sanctions on Maduro’s government, Cuba’s military-linked conglomerate GAESA controls large portions of the island’s economy, including tourism, retail and infrastructure.
Balling argued that the deep integration between the regime and the broader Cuban state could complicate any attempt to isolate Havana’s leadership without further destabilizing the country itself.
The administration also has increasingly framed Cuba as a broader national security concern beyond the island’s deteriorating conventional military capabilities. Rubio this week accused Havana of hosting Chinese and Russian intelligence infrastructure.
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For now, administration officials have stopped short of outlining any military plans for Cuba.
But the combination of criminal charges, economic pressure, information campaigns and visible U.S. military assets in the region has convinced many Cuba watchers that the White House is exploring whether the Maduro pressure model can be adapted just 90 miles from American shores.
cuba, caribbean, venezuelan political crisis, nicolas maduro, sanctions
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