By CHRISTINE FERNANDO, Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — A son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” was set Monday to change his not guilty plea in a U.S. drug trafficking case, months after his brother entered a plea deal.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez had been scheduled to be in court Monday in Chicago for a status hearing, but a court document said the appearance would now be a change-of-plea hearing. The document didn’t say whether he would be pleading guilty, and Jeffrey Lichtman, Joaquin Guzman Lopez’s attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

FILE – This image provided by the U.S. Department of State shows Joaquín Guzmán López after he was arrested by U.S. authorities in Texas. (U.S. Department of State via AP, File)

Known locally as the “Chapitos,” or “little Chapos,” Joaquin Guzman Lopez and his brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, are accused of running a faction of the Sinaloa cartel. Federal authorities in 2023 described the operation as a massive effort to send “staggering” quantities of fentanyl into the U.S.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez and another longtime Sinaloa leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, were arrested in July 2024 in Texas after they landed in the U.S. on a private plane. Both men have previously pleaded not guilty to various drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms charges.

Their dramatic capture prompted a surge in violence in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa as two factions of the Sinaloa cartel clashed.

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Ovidio Guzman Lopez was the first son of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to enter a plea deal, for which he admitted to helping oversee the production and smuggling of large quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and fentanyl into the United States, fueling a crisis that has contributed to tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms charges tied to his leadership role in the cartel. Legal experts called the plea deal a significant step for the U.S. government in their investigation and prosecution of Sinaloa cartel leaders.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2019 for his role as the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, having smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over 25 years. The brothers allegedly assumed their father’s former role as leaders of the cartel.

A delegation including Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen went on a trade mission to Switzerland and Germany in November, visiting major business centers in Zürich, Düsseldorf and Berlin.

According to USDA data, Germany was Minnesota’s eighth largest export market for goods, valued at $649 million in 2024. Switzerland is Minnesota’s 22nd largest export destination with exports valued at $232 million in 2024.

The Nov. 15-22 trip was meant to spur growth in the state’s exports of goods and services and showcase Minnesota as a top destination for business investment, develop new partnership opportunities and strengthen existing trade and diplomatic ties, according to the governor’s office.

“Amid global disruptions caused by trade wars, Minnesota is doing all we can to strengthen the trade and investment relationships that create and protect jobs at home,” said Walz. “As some of the largest and most innovative economies in the world, Germany and Switzerland both offer excellent opportunities for Minnesota businesses to expand their exports. I look forward to strengthening our relationships in technology, agriculture, and education.”

This delegation had representatives from Minnesota businesses and organizations within Minnesota’s medical technology, clean technology, food and agriculture and higher education sectors.

Speaking on the Monday after returning to the U.S., Petersen said he brought home new relationships and a sense that existing ones are strengthening.

It was Petersen’s first time in both countries. In recent years, he’s been to the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Japan, Finland and Australia on trade missions. He said the group of about 70 was split into four tracks and went their separate ways to focus on their industries. The ag representatives came mostly from Minnesota’s soybean industry along with its edible bean one.

As for any concrete outcomes for ag and food trade with either country, Petersen said no, but the relationship-building was worth the time spent in Europe.

“So many of the businesses have strong connections in Minnesota, or want to improve their connections in Minnesota,” he said. “I always say these trips, you don’t know if you’re going to close a deal in two days, two weeks, two months or two years — to see something come to fruition.”

Tariff impact

Green Acres Milling, which is set to open in the summer of 2026, on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025, in Albert Lea, Minnesota. (Noah Fish / Agweek / Forum News Service)

He said it’s the relationships that matter, and seeing firsthand the impacts from U.S. federal policy on trade.

One of those connections was with Buhler Inc., the Switzerland-based technology and manufacturing company that Petersen said “a lot” of ag and food companies in Minnesota use for equipment.

It was a coincidence that when the Minnesota delegation touched down in Switzerland, a huge win in trade policy was just announced, that a U.S. tariff cut to 15% for Switzerland could take effect early December.

On Nov. 14, Switzerland and the U.S. reached a preliminary agreement to cut the tariffs to 15%, more than three months after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 39% rate, the highest on any country in Europe.

“That’s big news, thinking they had the 39% tariff until the week we left,” Petersen said.

That tariff included all Buhler equipment bound for Albert Lea, Minn., to build the new oat-processing plant, which is now the city’s tallest building.

“So we were glad to see the tariffs dropped, but discussing the importance of Buhler, who has its North American headquarters in Plymouth, Minnesota, and how do we support them,” Petersen said.

Minnesota ties

He said the group also toured businesses with huge Minnesota ties including Cargill’s German headquarters, Syngenta’s headquarters in Switzerland, and home of CLAAS in Berlin.

Petersen said CLAAS combines and silage choppers have been sold across Minnesota at Arnold’s dealerships and more.

“AGCO’s facility in Jackson, Minnesota, as well,” he said. “It’s kind of interesting to show what a small world it is.”

Minnesota’s ag commissioner said that tariffs may have worked 75 years ago, but in today’s interconnected world, it’s about using the biggest pieces of industry to work together.

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LONDON (AP) — Oxford University Press has named “rage bait’’ as its word of the year, capturing the internet zeitgeist of 2025.

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The phrase refers to online content that is “deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative or offensive,” with the aim of driving traffic to a particular social media account, Oxford said in a statement.

“The person producing it will bask in the millions, quite often, of comments and shares and even likes sometimes,’’ lexicographer Susie Dent told the BBC. This is a result of the algorithms used by social media companies, “because although we love fluffy cats, we’ll appreciate that we tend to engage more with negative content and content that really provokes us.”

Rage bait topped two other contenders — “aura farming’’ and “biohack’’ — after public comment on a shortlist compiled by lexicographers at Oxford University Press.

“Aura farming’’ means to cultivate a public image by presenting oneself in “a way intended subtly to convey an air of confidence, coolness or mystique.’’ “Biohack’’ is defined as “an attempt to improve or optimize one’s physical or mental performance, health or longevity.’’

The word of the year is selected by lexicographers at Oxford University Press who analyze new and emerging words, as well as changes in the way language is being used, to identify words of “cultural significance.”

Oxford University Press, publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, has selected a word of the year annually since 2004.

Past winners include “podcast” in 2005, “emoji” in 2015, and in 2022 “goblin mode,” which described people who resisted returning to normal life after the COVID-19 pandemic.