INTERNACIONAL
Americans recount chaos as Mexico unrest subsides after cartel boss death
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MEXICO CITY: Firsthand accounts are emerging from Americans trapped by this week’s cartel-related violence in Mexico following the death of cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as «El Mencho.»
As news spread of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) cartel boss’s murder, reports described armed clashes between rival criminal organizations and Mexican security forces, as well as coordinated vehicle burnings and temporary highway blockades. Mexican authorities say that such operations are often linked to internal cartel disputes or targeted law enforcement actions.
With the situation improving, Americans in the tourist area of Puerto Vallarta and beyond shared their experiences of the violent scenes they were caught up in.
A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire in Cointzio, Michoacán state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as «El Mencho.» (AP Photo/Armando Solis) (Armando Solis/AP Photo)
«My group was seven people, and we were on our way to the main port in Puerto Vallarta with a local shuttle driver when we saw a bus stopped horizontally across the road in front of us. At first, we thought it was an accident, but then we saw people running full speed away from the bus,» Colorado resident Scott Posilkin told Fox News Digital.
«As we were trying to register what was happening, we saw a man with a gun come around the far side of the bus. He waved it at us and gave us a hand signal to turn around, which we immediately did. We tried to head in the opposite direction, but we encountered another burning car, which left us essentially trapped between the two.»
He continued, «We went down to the only beach we could access. One of the locals advised us that the safest place for us would be out on the water. We took a tender boat out to the snorkeling boat we were supposed to be on and stayed there for a few hours. From the water, we could see what looked like much of the town burning.»
Posilkin said, «Getting a boat back to shore took a long time, and at one point we even considered swimming because there was no one on the beach to come get us. The captain said he had never seen the beach empty like that in his life, and he grew up there. We eventually flagged down a passing tender that brought us to shore. There were cartel members on a motorcycle who yelled «Viva Mexico» at us, but we did not feel that they were threatening us in any way. Both our shuttle driver and the locals assured us that the cartel was not interested in harming Americans and that it was still safest for us to get home that way.»
A burned-out bus in the Puerto Vallarta area of Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Scott Posilkin)
Posilkin gave credit to the locals for their help and support. «I want to emphasize how above and beyond the locals went to help us during an incredibly stressful situation. Everyone we interacted with — from our boat captain to our shuttle driver — had grown up here, and none of them had ever seen anything like this before… More than anything, I feel bad for the locals. Tourism is their livelihood, and I worry about the impact this will have on them. This experience hasn’t changed my love for travel or for Mexico, though it was a serious ordeal.»
TROOPS REINFORCE PUERTO VALLARTA AS UNREST SHOWS SIGNS OF EASING FOLLOWING EL MENCHO’S DEATH
Tourists walk past a burned shop in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco state, Mexico, on Feb. 24, 2026, after cartel-linked violence erupted following the death of Jalisco New Generation cartel leader Nemesio «El Mencho» Oseguera Cervantes. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images)
Rodolfo Flores, an American citizen and executive in the energy sector talked to Fox News Digital: «Although it wasn’t one of the worst-affected areas, on Sunday I saw a convenience store in Querétaro that had been burned down with a Molotov bomb.»
He said, «On the way to Mexico City, we saw cars and trucks that had been set on fire. This is just one example of how vulnerable we are, and it’s astonishing how these criminal organizations can terrorize the population. The authorities are to blame for allowing them to grow and expand with highly effective criminal cells.»
Security analysts note that cartel violence often intensifies following high-profile arrests, internal leadership disputes, or shifts in territorial control. Public displays of force — such as coordinated blockades or attacks on infrastructure — can serve as demonstrations of operational capacity.
Smoke rises after violence hit Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. (Photo courtesy of Scott Posilkin)
Another American, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Fox News Digital, «I left Coalcoman Michoacan on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. when the chaos began. As I left town, I saw them burning cars and trucks, pulling people out of their vehicles, and setting them on fire. Luckily, I managed to escape and cross the mountains; it’s a mountainous region. All along the way, I kept seeing burning cars and armed people. I was fortunate that they didn’t stop me,» he said.
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«I made it all the way to Colima and then to Guadalajara. Later, things got worse in my town. I heard they started burning gas stations and set fire to a supermarket. They closed off the town so people couldn’t get in or out.»
On Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. embassy in Mexico posted an update stating that «U.S. citizens are no longer urged to shelter in place.»
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INTERNACIONAL
Voters react as Trump calls Dems ‘crazy’ for not applauding ban on secret teen gender transitions
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President Donald Trump’s decision to rip Democrats as «crazy» during his State of the Union address on Tuesday — after they remained seated while he demanded a ban on socially transitioning minors without parental consent — drew sharply divided reactions from a live panel of voters.
The panel, assembled by polling group Maslansky & Partners, included 29 Democrats, 30 Independents and 40 Republicans. Their real-time reactions were displayed as colored lines on a graph, with higher values representing positive reactions and lower values indicating negative ones.
«But surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will,» Trump said. «Who would believe that?… We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.»
As Trump delivered the remarks, the Republican line, shown in red, climbed sharply into positive territory. Independents, represented in yellow, also ticked upward, while Democrats, shown in blue, trended downward into negative territory.
President Donald Trump speaks during his State of the Union address as a live reaction panel assembled by Maslansky & Partners tracks voter responses to his remarks on banning school gender transitions without parental consent. Republicans are shown in red, Independents in yellow and Democrats in blue. (Fox News)
The comments drew applause from Republicans in the chamber, but the president became incensed when he realized that Democrats refused to stand.
«Look, nobody stands up,» Trump said.
«These people are crazy. I’m telling you. They’re crazy,» Trump said, pointing his finger at Democratic senators and House members who remained seated.
Republican reactions stayed elevated during the remarks, while Democratic responses remained negative and independent voters held relatively steady.
Sage Blair and her mother, Michelle Blair, stand in the gallery during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address after he highlighted her case involving alleged school gender transition policies. (Pool)
Trump made the remarks as he called on Sage Blair, a Virginia teenager whose family filed a 2023 lawsuit alleging that Appomattox County High School staff socially transitioned her without parental knowledge.
According to a lawsuit filed by her family, Blair began identifying as male at school, where staff used male names and pronouns and allowed her to use male facilities without informing her parents.
WATCH: Trump highlights teen whose family says school hid her gender transition during State of the Union
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The family alleges the situation escalated after Blair ran away from home and later became a victim of sex trafficking, with the lawsuit alleging she was kidnapped and raped in multiple states.
Highlighting the case during his address, Trump said Blair was 14 when school officials sought to socially transition her «to a new gender,» treating her as a boy and hiding it from her parents.
«But today, all of that is behind them because Sage is a proud and wonderful young woman with a full-ride scholarship to Liberty University. Sage and Michelle, please stand up,» Trump said as Republicans in the chamber cheered.
«Thank you for your great bravery,» he added.
The gender policy segment generated some of the strongest reactions of the night from the panel.
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President Donald Trump demanded a ban on schools socially transitioning minors without parental consent at Tuesday’s State of the Union. (Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images)
Among supporters, several comments focused on protecting children and parental involvement, including: «Protect children,» and «Parents should be informed.»
Opponents pushed back on the scope of the proposal, writing comments such as: «Every case is unique,» and «A total ban is not good.»
The issue appeared to trigger deeply personal reactions on both sides.
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El primer ministro de la India, Narendra Modi, llegó a Israel el miércoles para una visita de dos días destinada a profundizar los lazos con un socio comercial y de defensa clave, un viaje que ha generado críticas en el país.
Es la segunda visita de Modi a Israel como primer ministro.
Tiene previsto reunirse con su homólogo Benjamin Netanyahu y con el presidente Isaac Herzog.
“Nuestras naciones comparten una asociación estratégica sólida y multifacética”, dijo Modi en una declaración antes de salir de Nueva Delhi, y agregó que se dirigirá a la Knesset, el parlamento de Israel, más tarde el jueves.
“Los lazos se han fortalecido significativamente en los últimos años”.
Nueva Delhi ha ampliado constantemente la cooperación con Israel en los sectores de defensa, agricultura, tecnología y ciberseguridad, al tiempo que equilibra sus intereses diplomáticos en Oriente Medio.
El lunes se iniciaron en Nueva Delhi las conversaciones para un Acuerdo de Libre Comercio (TLC) entre India e Israel, dijo el gobierno de India en un comunicado, señalando que el comercio de mercancías alcanzó los 3.620 millones de dólares en 2024-2025.
Modi dijo que mantendría conversaciones con Netanyahu para “discutir formas de fortalecer la cooperación”.
Las relaciones diplomáticas plenas entre ambos países se establecieron en 1992. Los lazos se profundizaron después de que el líder nacionalista hindú Modi asumiera el cargo en 2014.
Modi visitó Israel por primera vez como primer ministro en 2017, antes de que Netanyahu hiciera una visita recíproca a la India el año siguiente.
Ambos líderes de derecha se han llamado mutuamente “amigos”.
En septiembre de 2023, se dieron a conocer en Nueva Delhi grandes planes para un Corredor Económico India-Medio Oriente-Europa, que conectaría ferrocarriles, puertos, electricidad, redes de datos y oleoductos, incluso a través de Arabia Saudita e Israel.
Esos planes se vieron frustrados por el ataque de Hamas del 7 de octubre contra Israel, que respondió con una guerra devastadora en la Franja de Gaza.
“Lo que ocurrió el 7 de octubre fue recibido en la India con conmoción y horror, y es por eso que el apoyo a Israel fue rápido, instantáneo y enorme”, dijo Ashok Malik, director de la firma de asesoría estratégica The Asia Group, con sede en Nueva Delhi.
Los vínculos entre India e Israel, que Modi está “impulsando con esta visita”, no surgen únicamente de una alineación estratégica en cuestiones como el terrorismo, añadió.
“Israel tiene mucho que aportar en materia de innovación tecnológica, incluyendo agricultura, tecnología, alianzas económicas y, por supuesto, defensa… Esto es completamente independiente de la cuestión palestina”, afirmó Malik.
Meses después de su visita a Israel en 2017, Modi viajó a Ramallah, sede de la Autoridad Palestina.
Sin embargo, su visita actual ha suscitado críticas en su país.
Priyanka Gandhi, figura destacada del partido del Congreso y hermana del líder de la oposición Rahul, publicó el miércoles en las redes sociales que esperaba que Modi mencionara el asesinato de “miles de hombres, mujeres y niños inocentes en Gaza” cuando se dirigiera al parlamento de Israel.
India, la nación más poblada del mundo con 1.400 millones de habitantes, es mayoritariamente hindú, pero se estima que 220 millones de indios son musulmanes.
Uno de los conglomerados más grandes de la India, Adani Group, opera el puerto israelí de Haifa, mientras que la tecnología de drones militares israelíes jugó un papel fundamental durante el enfrentamiento de mayo de 2025 entre la India y Pakistán.
Al mismo tiempo, India mantiene fuertes relaciones con los países del Golfo y Teherán, incluido el desarrollo del puerto iraní de Chabahar, una puerta de entrada comercial a Afganistán, donde Nueva Delhi ha construido una relación con las autoridades talibanes.
(con información de AFP)
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The director of the Louvre Museum in Paris has stepped down, months after thieves stole $102 million in crown jewels in a lightning-fast weekend robbery.
Laurence des Cars presented French President Emmanuel Macron with her resignation, which Macron accepted, according to a statement from the presidential office.
It said Macron praised her decision as «an act of responsibility at a time when the world’s largest museum needs calm and a strong new impetus to carry out major projects involving security upgrades, modernization» and other projects.
Macron thanked des Cars for «her work and commitment,» and said he wanted to give her a new mission focused on cooperation among major museums, the statement said, without saying if she had accepted.
Laurence des Cars, director of Le Louvre Museum, poses before a hearing at the Culture commission of the Senate, three days after historic jewels were stolen in a daring daylight heist, Oct. 22, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva, File)
Des Cars has remained under fire in the wake of the heist, which many critics have labeled a stunning embarrassment.
Thieves took less than eight minutes in October to steal priceless crown jewels at the world’s most visited museum in broad daylight.
People queue outside the Louvre Museum, in Paris, France, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS MUSEUM SLAMS DOORS TO VISITORS AS EMPLOYEE REVOLT CONTINUES
The thieves left behind Eugénie’s emerald-encrusted crown, which is set with over 1,300 diamonds, along their escape route outside the museum. The crown was damaged but deemed recoverable.
A police car parks in the courtyard of the Louvre Museum, one week after the robbery, on Oct. 26, 2025, in Paris. (Thomas Padilla, File/AP Photo)
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Authorities have arrested several suspects in that case, but the seven other priceless treasures, including Eugenie’s diamond-studded tiara, necklaces, earrings and brooches, remain missing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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