As Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico works to brand himself as a «law and order Democrat,» Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is rolling out a sweeping public safety agenda that could force the left’s rising star to defend parts of his legislative record on crime, bail reform and policing.

Abbott, who is pushing to remove so-called «rogue» prosecutors, create a statewide prosecutor and deny bail to illegal immigrants accused of violent crimes, told Fox News Digital the proposals are necessary.

«Texas Democrats have consistently sided with criminals over the citizens they were elected to protect,» Abbott told Fox News Digital, adding, «Keeping dangerous offenders behind bars is one of the most important responsibilities of government.»

While Abbott’s proposals still need approval from lawmakers, they are already shaping a broader debate over crime and public safety in Texas ahead of midterm elections.

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Talarico has highlighted endorsements from law enforcement figures, including former Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno, to bolster his public safety record, but Abbott’s allies argue his voting record and absences from key public safety votes tell a different story.

Talarico was absent for a vote on a bill named after slain Houston preteen Jocelyn Nungaray that would have automatically denied bail to illegal immigrants charged with violent crimes. Talarico’s campaign defended the missed vote, telling Fox News Digital Talarico had an excused absence. The bill ultimately failed to pass, but Abbott is seeking to revive the measure.

Among the public safety measures Talarico voted against were House Bill 1900, which prevented Texas cities from defunding their police departments; House Bill 20, which tightened bail restrictions for violent offenders; and Senate Bill 4, which established mandatory prison sentences for human smuggling and stash house operations. Abbott later signed all three measures into law.

«James Talarico’s disastrous record on public safety is indistinguishable from the Texas Democrats who have repeatedly opposed common-sense measures to support law enforcement and keep violent criminals off the streets,» Eduardo Leal, press secretary for Abbott’s campaign, told Fox News Digital. «He’s led his Democrat colleagues to vote against legislation that prevented cities from defunding the police and twice failed to show up for votes to deny bail to illegal immigrants charged with violent crimes.»

Talarico’s campaign has pushed back on Abbott’s characterization, pointing to Talarico previously voting in favor of Abbott’s sweeping bail reform measure passed last year and voting for billions of dollars in funding for Texas law enforcement.

«This baseless attack is a flat-out lie. James opposes defunding the police, has voted to deny bail for violent criminals, supports prosecuting violent felons, and has a proven track record of sending billions of dollars to support law enforcement,» Talarico’s campaign spokesperson JT Ellis said in a statement.

But as crime continues to dominate headlines nationwide, Texas has not been immune, with Abbott blaming what he describes as soft-on-crime district attorneys for failing to hold offenders accountable. Abbott’s campaign team pointed to the release of two murder suspects in Austin on reduced bonds after Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza’s office missed the 90-day deadline for securing indictments last year. Meanwhile, Garza’s office has secured the indictments of 21 police officers over allegations of misconduct in the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas, on March 27, 2026. (Shelby Tauber / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

And in court Monday, a judge dismissed two motions targeting the Travis County District Attorney, first assistant, and several prosecutors, meaning they are no longer facing allegations of criminal wrongdoing.

Abbott’s office says concerns about district attorneys such as Garza are driving its push to create a Texas statewide prosecutor, a new office that would operate separately from the attorney general’s office and focus on prosecuting the state’s most serious crimes.

The proposal to create a Texas statewide prosecutor would require approval from the Texas Legislature, which would need to establish and fund the new office through statute. Unlike some of Abbott’s other public safety initiatives, the measure would not require a constitutional amendment.

An official from Abbott’s campaign team told Fox News Digital that creating this new office is necessary because current state statutes provide that the Attorney General’s office has no general prosecutorial authority.

Criminal prosecutions are generally handled by locally elected district and county attorneys, and the Attorney General may intervene only when authorized by statute, requested by local prosecutors, or otherwise permitted by law.

Under the proposal, if a district attorney does not pursue an indictment within 90 days, the statewide prosecutor would be authorized to intervene and take over the prosecution.

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James Talarico speaks during a primary event in Texas. (PJason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Police departments would be required to send reports involving certain serious crimes to both local district attorneys and the statewide prosecutor, enabling the office to track cases from the beginning.

Garza dubbed Abbott’s sweeping criminal justice reform proposal to be a «distraction from the Governor’s litany of failures.»

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«Under his leadership, Texans are paying more for groceries, public schools are losing funding, and too many Texans lack access to healthcare and mental healthcare,» Garza said.

Abbott’s other two legislative requests — ending bail for illegal immigrants and making it possible to impeach district attorneys — would require a statewide vote by Texans.

Last month, Abbott ordered the Texas Department of Public Safety to expand the Texas Repeat Offender Task Force from the Houston area into the Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin regions, saying the effort will help target violent repeat offenders and improve public safety. Since launching in October, the task force has arrested 728 repeat offenders, including 455 high-threat suspects; seized large quantities of drugs and weapons; encountered 155 known gang members; and recovered 25 stolen vehicles.

«The choice in this election is clear,» Abbott said. «Republicans will protect communities and prosecute criminals, while Democrats stand with the very people who threaten public safety.»

The U.S. has hit back against threats to now block another Middle East waterway by Iranian terror proxy, the Houthis.

Earlier this week, the group declared a complete ban on Israeli-owned ships using the Red Sea, declaring them to be «legitimate targets».

The Red Sea and the waterway through its narrow Bab-el Mandeb strait, has become the main route for oil to ship out of the Middle East to Asia since the Strait of Hormuz has effectively stopped functioning as the main route of navigation for shipping.

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Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree posted on Monday, «We declare a complete and total ban on Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea, and we consider all enemy movements to be legitimate targets.»

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a State Department spokesperson struck back: «The escalatory actions of Iran and their Houthi proxies are unacceptable. These dangerous actions only serve to further enflame tensions and further disrupt global supply chains. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz.» 

Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital, «The Houthis have indeed risen to the challenge, at least verbally. In common with much ‘Axis of Resistance’ rhetoric at present, the intention appears to be to leverage US political nervousness and market volatility, and to drive a wedge between the Americans and the Israelis.»

An aerial view of The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a sea route connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal. (Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data 2021)

Fitton-Brown, a former U.K. ambassador to Yemen added, «Provided the allies keep talking to each other, the Israelis respond proportionately, as they have done, and the Iranians continue to provoke President Trump with actions like the downing of the helicopter, these tactics are unlikely to achieve significant success.»

«It will be interesting if the Houthis do go all in, and resume their campaign against Red Sea shipping with full intensity,» Fitton-Brown said, adding, «This will draw international anger and likely result in Israeli and U.S. strikes on Sanaa and Hodeida. There is potential for a general escalation if this happens, albeit one in which the allies have a clear military advantage.»

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A huge column of fire erupts in the Yemeni rebel-held port city of Hodeida following reported strikes on July 20, 2024. The strikes targeted a fuel depot in the port, according to Houthi-run media and an AFP correspondent.

Landlocked Ethiopia acts as regional anti-terrorism buffer

Such actions come as reports emerge that Ethiopia, the Red Sea region’s most populous country, is stepping up as a major U.S. ally against Islamic terrorism.

While landlocked, Ethiopia has a population of some 130 million, making it the largest nation in the Horn of Africa. Located near parts of the Red Sea corridor, the country is roughly 60% Christian, according to a recent report by the Association of Religion Data Archives.

World Data Locator Map, Ethiopia.  (Encyclopedia Britannica/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

And despite it being landlocked, Ethiopian researcher Blen M. Diriba told Fox News Digital that the country acts as a strategic roadblock or «a keystone state» on the Islamist expansionist ‘highway’ that has formed all the way from  Iran to Sudan.

Diriba, executive director of the Horn Review — an Addis Ababa-based research and publication think tank — told Fox News Digital that «Ethiopia, long a frontline U.S. security partner, now sits at the center of an expanding pressure zone where maritime disruption, insurgent violence, terrorist threats, and proxy competition converge.»

Diriba added. «Iran’s Bab el-Mandeb threat transforms the Horn of Africa into a militarized frontline, placing Ethiopia at the center of a chokepoint crisis. With Iranian influence radiating through conflict ecosystems in Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia, the region is beginning to resemble a continuous arc of instability stretching from the Arabian Peninsula into East Africa.»

«Ethiopia sits at the center of one of the world’s most combustible security corridors,» Diriba continued. «And in strategic terms, its relevance to the United States is amplified, not diminished, by that reality: From the Red Sea disruptions driven by the Houthis to the persistent insurgency threat of al-Shabab in Somalia, Ethiopia functions as a massive inland security buffer whose stability directly shapes whether these threats expand or are contained.»

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Members of the Ethiopian National Defense Force parade during the 116th celebration of Ethiopian Defense Force day in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Oct.26, 2023.  (Amanuel Sileshi/AFP via Getty images)

But in addition to being pro-U.S., Ethiopia also has relations with Iran.

Fitton-Brown believes to some extent Ethiopia can be accused of playing both sides, as he said Tehran «has helped Ethiopia with its internal conflicts, giving drone support and military aid to the Ethiopian government during the recent Tigray War.»

He added, «There is a new memorandum of understanding built upon that basis, with Iran gaining influence in Ethiopia, while Ethiopia receives military, police and intelligence support to counter its domestic ethnic insurgencies.»

 However, Diriba said, «Ethiopia’s engagement with Iran is neither affinity nor alignment, it’s strategic awareness: keeping channels open to engage where necessary, cooperate selectively, and strategically manage its relations with a complex regional actor, while firmly anchoring its core partnerships with its emerging and long-standing partners — the United States being on the top of that list.»

A drone view shows vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, May 25, 2026. (Stringer TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY via Reuters)

«Ethiopia has pursued a flexible multi-alignment strategy, Diriba said, «prioritizing its entrenched security partnership with Washington while keeping open channels with Tehran to preserve diplomatic room to maneuver in an increasingly fragmented Horn of Africa–Red Sea order.»

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Fitton-Brown said relations between the U.S. and Ethiopia «are good, especially in the field of counterterrorism. Both countries use Somaliland to their advantage without having gone so far as to recognize it as an independent state.»

Fox News Digital reached out to both the Department of War and the Ethiopian government for comment, but received no response by the time of publication.

El sistema de transporte de Estados Unidos experimentó graves interrupciones operativas debido a una serie de tormentas severas y tornados que coincidieron con la inauguración de la Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2026. Miles de viajeros y aficionados al fútbol enfrentaron cancelaciones y largas demoras desde el 11 de junio, cuando el fenómeno meteorológico impactó directamente en rutas aéreas y ferroviarias clave. La situación afecta a los principales aeropuertos y estaciones del país, generando complicaciones logísticas en las ciudades sede del torneo internacional.

Según la Administración Federal de Aviación (FAA) y el servicio de monitoreo FlightAware, más de 900 vuelos fueron cancelados y cerca de 4.000 experimentaron retrasos entre el 10 y el 12 de junio. Las mayores afectaciones se concentraron en los aeropuertos de Chicago y el corredor noreste, incluyendo Nueva York, Newark y Filadelfia. Las principales aerolíneas implementaron exenciones para reprogramar pasajes sin penalización, como respuesta a las condiciones meteorológicas extremas.

El contexto de estas alteraciones coincide con la apertura de la Copa Mundial, que se disputa en Estados Unidos, Canadá y México. Las autoridades anticipan un aumento en la demanda de servicios de transporte en las próximas semanas, mientras los pronósticos del Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (NWS) advierten sobre la persistencia de tormentas, calor extremo y posibles impactos adicionales en la movilidad de los asistentes al torneo.

De acuerdo con Newsweek y cifras de FlightAware, los aeropuertos O’Hare y Midway de Chicago se ubicaron como los más afectados, con 21 cancelaciones y 409 retrasos en O’Hare solo el 11 de junio. Otros centros neurálgicos, como Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Boston, Nueva York (JFK y LaGuardia), Denver y Los Ángeles, también reportaron interrupciones significativas, según el portal especializado Travel Tourister. Esta dinámica generó un efecto dominó en la red nacional, con demoras y cancelaciones que afectaron conexiones domésticas e internacionales.

Las demoras se extendieron a rutas transcontinentales y afectaron vuelos hacia y desde ciudades sede del Mundial, como Nueva York, Filadelfia y Boston. El impacto fue tal que tanto la FAA como las aerolíneas recomendaron a los pasajeros revisar en tiempo real el estado de sus vuelos y considerar alternativas de reprogramación.

La FAA atribuyó la situación a un sistema de tormentas severas y tornados que cruzó el Medio Oeste y avanzó hacia el noreste, reduciendo la capacidad operativa en los principales aeropuertos. El NWS advirtió que las condiciones adversas podrían extenderse, con nuevas tormentas y altas temperaturas previstas para los días siguientes.

Los datos oficiales confirman que el 10 de junio hubo 3.895 vuelos demorados y 91 cancelaciones. El día siguiente, las cancelaciones aumentaron a 925 y las demoras superaron los 3.900 vuelos, según FlightAware y Travel Tourister. Las aerolíneas más impactadas fueron Southwest Airlines (911 retrasos), American Airlines (528) y United Airlines (434).

La congestión no se limitó al tráfico aéreo. Según Newsweek, la estación Penn de Nueva York experimentó aglomeraciones y cancelaciones en rutas ferroviarias estratégicas para el traslado entre ciudades sede del Mundial. Los servicios de trenes interurbanos y regionales vieron interrumpido su funcionamiento por el impacto de la tormenta y la alta demanda, lo que incrementó la presión sobre los sistemas de transporte alternativos.

El colapso de rutas ferroviarias afectó especialmente a viajeros con conexiones nacionales e internacionales, complicando los planes de desplazamiento de miles de personas en pleno inicio del torneo, de acuerdo con el reporte de Newsweek.

Las tormentas y tornados causaron daños materiales de consideración en áreas de Illinois e Indiana. Newsweek documentó que en la localidad de Streator, Illinois, equipos de emergencia realizaron tareas de rescate entre los escombros luego del paso de un tornado que destruyó viviendas y dejó barrios enteros cubiertos de restos. En el noroeste de Indiana, se reportó la presencia de un gran embudo de tornado, con riesgos potenciales para infraestructuras eléctricas y edificaciones.

El NWS informó que cientos de miles de hogares y empresas quedaron sin energía eléctrica en el Medio Oeste. Las cuadrillas de servicios públicos trabajaron para restablecer el suministro y liberar caminos bloqueados por árboles y escombros. Las tareas de recuperación se mantienen activas, según los reportes oficiales.

Las aerolíneas principales, como United Airlines y American Airlines, activaron exenciones especiales para permitir a los pasajeros reprogramar sus vuelos sin costo adicional, siempre que el itinerario incluyera alguno de los aeropuertos afectados. Travel Tourister señala que los pasajeros deben consultar el estado de sus vuelos mediante aplicaciones oficiales o sitios web antes de dirigirse a los aeropuertos, ya que los cambios de puerta y demoras suelen comunicarse con antelación digitalmente.

La FAA recomendó a los viajeros llegar con mayor anticipación a los aeropuertos de alto riesgo. Además, recordó que la normativa del Departamento de Transporte (DOT) otorga derecho a reembolso completo por cancelaciones, aunque la compensación económica solo corresponde a demoras atribuibles a la gestión de la aerolínea, no a causas meteorológicas.

El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional mantiene alertas por tormentas y una ola de calor proyectada para la costa este, con índices térmicos cercanos a 38°C (100°F). Las autoridades meteorológicas advierten que el sistema de tormentas podría mantenerse y seguir afectando ciudades densamente pobladas del noreste y del corredor atlántico.

Según el NWS, el avance de un frente frío hacia el este traerá riesgos de ráfagas de viento y nuevas tormentas, lo que podría volver a reducir la capacidad operativa de aeropuertos y estaciones ferroviarias. La combinación de clima severo y alta demanda por el Mundial podría prolongar las demoras y complicaciones en la movilidad de viajeros y residentes.

El inicio de la Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2026, que se desarrolla en Estados Unidos, Canadá y México, coincide con el periodo de mayor movilidad del año en la región. Newsweek señala que las interrupciones complican la llegada y el traslado entre sedes para visitantes nacionales e internacionales. La FAA y el NWS no descartan la posibilidad de que nuevas tormentas o la presencia de rayos cerca de los estadios obliguen a suspender temporalmente partidos, de acuerdo con el reglamento de la FIFA, aunque hasta el momento los encuentros inaugurales se realizaron según lo previsto.

El NWS advierte que la ola de calor y la persistencia de tormentas pueden incrementar el estrés sobre los sistemas de transporte, tanto para asistentes al torneo como para población local.

Las autoridades de transporte y meteorología recomiendan a los viajeros:

• Consultar el estado de sus vuelos y conexiones ferroviarias en tiempo real.
• Utilizar aplicaciones oficiales de las aerolíneas y servicios de tren para actualizar información sobre retrasos, cambios de puerta o cancelaciones.
• Planificar los desplazamientos con antelación y considerar alternativas cuando sea posible.
• Seguir las indicaciones de las autoridades locales y los mensajes de alerta difundidos por las ciudades sede del Mundial.

El NWS mantiene la recomendación de estar atentos a nuevas actualizaciones meteorológicas, mientras que la FAA y el DOT insisten en el uso de canales digitales para la gestión de reservas y la solicitud de reembolsos, según la normativa vigente.

El impacto en la movilidad durante la Copa Mundial dependerá de la evolución del clima y de la capacidad de respuesta de los sistemas de transporte. Los organizadores del torneo y las autoridades locales continúan difundiendo mensajes de precaución y solicitan a los asistentes mantener la flexibilidad en sus planes de viaje.

La situación se mantiene dinámica, con nuevos pronósticos de tormentas y altas temperaturas. Las autoridades recomiendan consultar fuentes oficiales y tomar precauciones adicionales en los traslados entre ciudades sede y hacia los estadios, mientras persistan las condiciones adversas.