International
Partner of Chile’s president-elect draws feminist ire over first lady role
AFP
Irina Karamanos, an avowed feminist and partner of Chile’s leftist president-elect Gabriel Boric, has drawn fire from women’s groups for her decision to accept the “anachronistic” role of first lady.
Feminist groups derided Karamanos for accepting a post they say is not awarded on merit but obtained through a woman’s private relationship with the president.
Boric, who was elected Chile’s youngest-ever president aged 35 in December, is due to assume office on March 11.
Karamanos, a social scientist and activist of 32, said Tuesday she would accept the first lady job, but exercise it with a modern, feminist twist.
The pair have been in a relationship since 2019.
Like in many other countries, the role of first lady in Chile is not officially defined, but traditionally involves overseeing the work of social organizations.
It does not come with a salary, and is exercised from the presidency’s socio-cultural division, which has an office in the presidential palace.
Boric himself had spoken in favor of abolishing the position, saying on the campaign: “There can be no posts in the State that have to do or are related to a relationship with the president or with anyone.”
– ‘Different times’ –
But then Karamanos said Tuesday that reforming the role would involve “adapting it to the times.”
She added: “Also, as a feminist I think this position — and it seems contradictory to take it on as a feminist — in reality is mostly a challenge that we can exploit to talk about different issues, and display a new way of exercising power.”
Her announcement divided the feminist movement.
While some applauded her commitment to reform, others agreed with her own statement that accepting the role contradicted her commitment to advancing women’s rights.
Karamanos is head of the Feminist Front of the Social Convergence party which is part of the leftist Broad Front to which Boric also belongs.
“We have different ways of looking at feminism,” Daniela Osorio, spokeswoman for the activist group Coordinadora Feminista 8M, told AFP.
“Our analysis has nothing to do with Irina herself… For us, the right thing to do would have been to abolish the position.”
Added Priscila Gonzales of the Chilean Network Against Violence Against Women: “I do not doubt in her abilities, what I question is the continuation of a profoundly chauvinist position in which women are relegated to a secondary role.”
But Erika Montecinos, founder of the Rompiendo el Silencio (Breaking the Silence) lesbian rights group, said the focus should be on Karamanos’s promise to change the position.
“That is what’s important. To transform spaces — and give them a feminist vision.”
Questions have also been asked about the couple’s unmarried status.
“How do you ask for an audience with the president’s concubine?” former lawmaker and one-time presidential candidate Tomas Jocelyn-Holt asked on Twitter, inviting a flurry of criticism.
Boric has come out in support of his partner.
“Her intention to modernize and make the office transparent reflects the work we have collectively been doing: we have to make the changes responsibly and from within,” he said.
International
Peru opens new probe into ex-president Humala over killings and forced disappearances
Peru’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened a new preliminary investigation against former President Ollanta Humala (2011–2016) and four other former military officers for the alleged killing of two people and the forced disappearance of four others during the 1990s, when Humala served as the head of the Madre Mía military base amid the country’s internal armed conflict, a local media outlet reported on Monday (Nov. 10, 2025).
The First Supraprovincial Criminal Prosecutor’s Office Specialized in Human Rights and Counterterrorism in Lima has formalized the investigation, which targets Humala — currently serving a 15-year sentence for money laundering related to illicit campaign financing — as well as former Army noncommissioned officer Amilcar Gómez and three additional ex-soldiers. They are accused of alleged crimes against humanity.
According to Radio RPP, citing a resolution dated October 28, the case concerns the aggravated homicide of Edgardo Isla Pérez and Nemer Acuña Silva, and the alleged forced disappearance of Luis Alberto Izaguirre Prieto, Nelson Hoyos Sagastegui, Hermes Estela Vásquez, and Yandel Leandro Zúñiga.
Prosecutors have classified the investigation as complex, setting a deadline of May 24, 2026.
Judge Jorge Chávez Tamariz has ordered that the suspects be listed in the National Registry of Individuals Prosecuted for the Crime of Forced Disappearance and has imposed standard reporting requirements while the inquiry continues.
International
Record cold wave freezes Eastern U.S., iguanas falling from trees in Florida
A severe cold wave is gripping two-thirds of the eastern United States, with record-low temperatures reported in Florida — where iguanas are literally falling frozen from trees — the National Weather Service (NWS) warned on Monday.
The agency noted that both high and low temperatures are running between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit below seasonal averages, equivalent to about -6°C to -1°C. The unusual drop has caused many areas across the Southeast to match or break historic cold records.
According to the NWS, the cause is a “frigid continental polar air mass” continuing its push southward following a polar front. This system has brought snow, strong winds, and dangerous cold conditions from the Great Lakes to New England and the Appalachian Mountains.
As a precaution, authorities have issued freeze alerts stretching from the lower Mississippi Valley to the coastal plain of Virginia, where snowfall estimates range from 4 to 8 additional inches on top of what has already accumulated in recent days.
International
U.S. Senate holds emergency session as shutdown threatens economy
The U.S. Senate is convening on Sunday in an extraordinary session to try to put an end to the 39-day government shutdown, which threatens to shrink GDP in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Kevin Hassett, Director of the White House National Economic Council.
In an interview with CBS, Hassett noted that U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs had previously estimated that the partial shutdown would cost the country around 1.5% of GDP. However, he warned that “this figure will likely fall short” if the impasse continues “for a couple more weeks.” The suspension of flights due to a shortage of air traffic controllers and major disruptions in food assistance distribution are among the difficulties the government is facing as operations stall over disagreements between Democrats and Republicans, including on healthcare spending.
Throughout Sunday, Donald Trump has continued to blame former President Barack Obama’s healthcare plan and the pandemic-era subsidies paid to insurance companies. On Friday, Democrats proposed reopening the government in exchange for a one-year extension of medical tax credits — an offer quickly rejected by Republicans.
“The Obamacare scam directly benefits their allies in the insurance industry. They are getting richer at the expense of the American people, while healthcare coverage worsens. If Democrats get their way again, they will score yet another big win at the people’s expense,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
As he did on Saturday, Trump has demanded that Senate Republicans redirect subsidies directly to U.S. citizens. “Republicans should allocate these funds straight into their health savings accounts,” he argued.
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune announced Sunday that the chamber will remain in session until the government reopens in what is expected to be a marathon negotiation.
Senators are working on the final version of a package of three long-term appropriations bills that form part of the Republican plan to break the deadlock. Thune is pushing a strategy that would start by approving the temporary funding resolution previously passed by the House of Representatives and amending it to include the appropriations package — known as a “minibus” — with the ultimate goal of extending funding for a longer term.
Peru opens new probe into ex-president Humala over killings and forced disappearances
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U.S. Senate holds emergency session as shutdown threatens economy
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