INTERNACIONAL
Hundreds of animals flee cartel chaos, violence after wildlife refuge faced with threats
Not even wild animals are safe from Mexico’s cartel violence.
Tigers, elephants, lions and monkeys were evacuated this week from a wildlife refuge in Culiacán, Sinaloa, a city overrun by cartel gunmen.
The animals, some of which were once kept as pets by drug lords, were moved to another facility after staff faced threats and gunfire — a total collapse of law and order.
The Associated Press reports that the Ostok Sanctuary, which housed over 700 animals, was forced to pack up and flee after months of violence and intimidation from rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.
WEALTHY SUBURB ROCKED BY SUSPECTED CARTEL MURDER-FOR-HIRE SHOWS DRUG LORDS’ REACH ACROSS US: EXPERT
A lion sits in a cage waiting to be transported to Mazatlan, Sinaloa state, at the Ostok Sanctuary, on the outskirts of Culiacan, Sinaloa state, Mexico, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)
Some animals went days without food. Others began shedding fur from stress. Two big cats died.
«We’ve never seen violence this extreme,» sanctuary Director Ernesto Zazueta told the AP.
This is what happens when cartels run the show and the government steps aside.
For years, Culiacán was under firm control of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the world’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations. That «order» shattered when a son of El Chapo Guzmán kidnapped a rival cartel leader and handed him over to U.S. authorities.
MEXICO OFFERS PROTECTION TO FAMED SINGER AFTER DRUG CARTEL DEATH THREATS
An elephant arrives at its new home in Mazatlan, Sinaloa state, after being transported from Ostok Sanctuary in the outskirts of Culiacan, Mexico, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)
Now, the cartels are fighting each other for turf. And civilians, including children and families, are paying the price.
Security analyst David Saucedo told the AP that the two warring factions are «extorting, kidnapping and robbing» to fund their war. Roads are blocked. Shootings happen almost daily. Parents check the news each morning to see if it’s safe to send their kids to school.
When night falls, the streets go dark. Bars close. Businesses shut down. The police? Mostly absent.
The animal refuge sat near Jesús María, a stronghold of the Chapitos, a faction run by El Chapo’s sons. That made it a dangerous place to operate.
According to the UK’s Mirror, exotic animals were being caught in the crossfire. Tigers, lions, even elephants were showing signs of trauma from hearing gunfire and helicopters nearby.
A lioness is carried to a transport cage at the animal refuge Ostok Sanctuary, on the outskirts of Culiacan, Mexico, on Monday. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)
Some of the animals were once owned by cartel bosses. One tiger was found chained in a plaza during a shootout. Locals whisper that drug lords feed enemies to their pet lions — a disturbing rumor that reflects just how broken things are.
Staff say they received threats to burn down the sanctuary and kill the animals unless payments were made.
«There’s no safe place left in this city these days,» rescuer Diego García told the AP.
After months of pleading for help, the sanctuary got nothing from the government. Not a single authority stepped in to protect the animals or the workers.
The last straw came when one of the sanctuary’s elephants, Bireki, injured her foot. No vet in Mexico or even the U.S. was willing to travel to cartel territory to treat her.
«We asked ourselves, ‘What are we doing here?’» Zazueta told the AP. «If we don’t leave, who will treat them?»
That led to the quiet decision to evacuate: not just the elephant, but every animal on site.
Trucks with white flags were loaded with sedated tigers, lions, jaguars and elephants. Some workers whispered calmly to the animals, trying to ease their stress. The convoy rolled out of Culiacán, past masked cartel lookouts on motorbikes, and into Mazatlán.
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It took months of training and planning. But the animals made it. For now.
Sanctuary staff are praying that Mazatlán will be a true refuge. But they know cartel violence has spread like a disease. And the fear is that it could follow them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
INTERNACIONAL
Merkley nearly breaks Booker’s filibuster record, wins his praise for fighting ‘Trump’s authoritarian tactics’
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Democrats pulled out all the stops on Wednesday to delay the vote on a short-term spending bill to reopen the government — the 12th time the Senate has considered the measure since the government entered a shutdown on Oct. 1.
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., embarked on a nearly 24-hour speech at 6:23 p.m. on Tuesday, concluding his remarks at 5:00 p.m. the next day. Merkley, 68, warned viewers of the authoritarianism he said had become a facet of the Trump administration.
«Be aware and worried about the possibility of the use of an emergency in order to expand authoritarian power. That’s the position we’re in now in the United States of America. Authoritarianism with a rubber-stamp Congress, a court that’s delivering more and more power to the executive and an executive who has a well-planned strategy,» Merkley said in his remarks.
JOHNSON WARNS US ‘BARRELING TOWARD ONE OF THE LONGEST SHUTDOWNS’ IN HISTORY
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., speaks to reporters following a weekly Senate Democratic policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Feb. 19, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
«Republicans have shut down the government to continue the strategy of slashing Americans’ healthcare,» he said.
His speech comes as lawmakers remain gridlocked over federal funding for 2026. Whereas Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed a short-term funding bill to keep the government open through Nov. 21, Democrats in the Senate have voted a dozen times to defeat the package.
The Senate once again failed to advance the package on Wednesday. It failed in a 54-46 vote.
Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., have demanded an extension of COVID-era supplemental funding for Obamacare healthcare subsidies that are set to sunset in 2025.
SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, update reporters following their face-to-face meeting with President Donald Trump and Republican leaders on the government funding crisis, at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 29, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
Republicans need the support of seven Democrats to overcome the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster. The GOP holds 53 seats in the chamber.
Merkley, who came close to breaking Sen. Cory Booker’s 25-hour and 4-minute record that was set earlier this year, put the shutdown blame on Republicans throughout his discourse.
Booker praised Merkley’s stalling efforts online.
«Listening to Senator Jeff Merkley for over 22 hours, it is clear that we need to stand up for our democracy. We must continue to call out and counter Trump’s authoritarian tactics. Thank you, Jeff!» Booker said in a post on X.
BOOKER CONCLUDES RECORD 25-HOUR SPEECH AGAINST TRUMP, MUSK, MARKING THE LONGEST EVER ON THE SENATE FLOOR
On the issue of authoritarianism, which comprised the bulk of Merkley’s remarks, Merkley decried what he saw as the Trump administration’s attempts to push the limits on executive power — like its deployment of the National Guard to urban areas.
«If you remove a clear standard as to whether there is a rebellion and just say a president can deploy the military on a whim in places he doesn’t like against peaceful protesters to distract Americans or to exercise a suppression of dissent, then you have flung the doors open to tyranny. To a strongman state,» Merkley said.
National Guard members began patrolling Memphis in October as part of a federal task force established by President Donald Trump to combat what the administration says is violent crime in the city. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
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President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis, and Portland, Oregon, citing a need to protect law enforcement and government operations in those cities.
politics,congress,senate
INTERNACIONAL
Escándalo en Italia por un posteo de Trump que dice que Meloni busca negociar un acuerdo secreto con EE.UU.
Un video que reposteó el presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, desató una tormenta política en Italia. El material asegura que la primera ministra Giorgia Meloni decidió romper con la Unión Europa y busca negociar un acuerdo comercial directo con Washington y sugirió además un recorte en el apoyo italiano a Ucrania.
“Giorgia Meloni desafía la UE y trata de obtener un acuerdo comercial directo con Trump. Bien hecho Meloni. Es una movida brillante”, comentó la activista ultraconservadora, Lynne Patton, autora del video que compartió Trump.
Leé también: Así fue el ingreso de Sarkozy a la cárcel: la despedida de Carla Bruni y el deseo de llevar dos libros El posteo que Trump publicó en sus redes y generó una fuerte polémica en Italia. (Foto: captura de X).
La oposición exige una respuesta urgente
Desde el primer momento, la oposición italiana salió al cruce y pidió una desmentida oficial. Francesco Boccia, presidente de los senadores del Partido Democrático (PD), y Piero De Luca calificaron la situación de “gravedad inaudita” y reclamaron que Meloni aclare su postura.
En la misma línea, Luana Zanella de Alianza Verde y Sinistra (Avs) expresó: “Esperamos que el miércoles la premier dé explicaciones en el Parlamento”. Por su parte, el vicepresidente de Italia Viva, Enrico Borghi, fue tajante: “Mientras en Italia se denuncia un video falso hecho con inteligencia artificial contra Donzelli, Trump publica un informe periodístico con supuestas declaraciones falsas de Meloni. La premier debe desmentir de inmediato al presidente de Estados Unidos. Si no lo hace, debemos asumir que el Gobierno quiere recortar la ayuda a Kiev y negociar unilateralmente los aranceles, pasando por encima de la UE. Sería gravísimo”.
Borghi fue más allá y advirtió: “Cada vez está más claro que Washington está usando a Palacio de Chigi como palanca para romper la unidad europea”.
El Gobierno italiano salió a desmentir
Ante la presión, el gobierno de Meloni emitió un comunicado para desactivar la crisis: «Las negociaciones comerciales, como es sabido, son competencia exclusiva de la Unión Europea y están lideradas por la Comisión Europea“.
Sin embargo, reconocieron que “desde hace tiempo existe un diálogo bilateral que acompaña la acción de la Comisión sobre los aranceles antidumping propuestos por el Departamento de Comercio de Estados Unidos contra algunos productores italianos de pasta”, indicó el Corriere della Sera.
Leé también: El video del robo en el Louvre: un turista filmó a uno de los ladrones cuando rompía una vitrina con las joyas
El vínculo Meloni-Trump y la aclaración oficialista
El diputado de Fratelli d’Italia y presidente de la Comisión de Finanzas de la Cámara, Marco Osnato, también se refirió al tema en una entrevista radial: «La relación entre Giorgia Meloni y Donald Trump es de colaboración muy estrecha. Por las palabras de Trump se entiende que considera a Meloni una socia confiable e importante, pero quiero aclarar que la misma buena relación se dio también con Biden. Nadie en Italia se casó con Trump ni es trumpista de la primera o la segunda hora».
Trump elogió la belleza de Meloni en la cumbre de Gaza. (Foto: REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett).
El polémico piropo de Trump a Meloni
La semana pasada, Trump elogió la belleza de la primera ministra italiana, única mujer entre los dirigentes presentes en la cumbre de Gaza en Egipto.
“No tengo derecho a decirlo, porque habitualmente puede significar el fin de la carrera política si uno lo dice, pero ella es una mujer bella”, dijo en su discurso el mandatario estadounidense que copresidió la conferencia cuyo objetivo era garantizar el acuerdo entre Israel y Hamas para poner fin a la guerra en Gaza.
Trump dudó y luego dijo: “Me arriesgo”, buscando la mirada de Meloni.
“¿Dónde está? ¿No le molesta si digo que es bella? Porque es cierto”, afirmó el mandatario de 79 años, que se casó tres veces.
“Ella es muy respetada en Italia. Es una política muy exitosa”, añadió Trump. De pie justo detrás de él, la jefa de Gobierno se limitó a sonreír.
Donald Trump, Giorgia Meloni
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The U.S. government is aware of the kidnapping of an American Christian missionary in the West African nation of Niger, U.S. official sources told Fox News.
The sources told Fox News that they suspect that the missionary has been taken north to Islamic State-controlled areas where an offshoot of ISIS operates.
«We are aware of reports of the kidnapping of a U.S. citizen in Niamey, Niger,» a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News. «Since we were alerted of the situation, our Embassy officials have been working with local authorities. It is a top priority for the Trump Administration to look after the safety of every American, and we are seeing efforts from across the U.S. Government to support the recovery and safe return of this U.S. citizen.»
MINNESOTA MISSIONARY, A FATHER OF 5, KILLED IN ‘ACT OF VIOLENCE’ IN ANGOLA
Niger’s presidential palace in Niamey in 2023. The abduction reportedly took place only about 100 yards from the presidential palace. (AFP via Getty Images)
The missionary is a pilot for the evangelical missionary agency Serving in Mission, according to Reuters.
A general view of a crowded street market in Niamey, Niger, on May 17, 2023. The capital city has faced rising instability since the 2023 military coup that toppled President Mohamed Bazoum. (Michele Cattani / AFP via Getty Images)
TENNESSEE PASTOR KIDNAPPED AT GUNPOINT IN SOUTH AFRICA RECALLS ‘MIRACLE’ THAT SAVED HIS LIFE
The abduction took place only about 100 yards from the presidential palace in Niamey, where ousted President Mohamed Bazoum has been held since he was toppled by a coup more than two years ago, according to CBS News.
Following the kidnapping, the U.S. Embassy in Niger said it now requires all personnel to travel only in armored vehicles and announced that all restaurants and open-air markets are «off-limits».
Kidnappings appear to have intensified this year in areas of West Africa where militants operate. An Austrian woman was abducted in January in Niger, and a Swiss citizen was abducted in April in the same country, Reuters reported.
Niger’s junta leader, Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, salutes during an official ceremony in Niamey, Niger, on Aug. 26, 2023. Tchiani seized power in a July 2023 coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum and has ruled the West African nation since. (AFP via Getty Images)
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In addition, five Indian citizens working for a company providing services to Niger’s Kandadji dam project were kidnapped during an attack by armed men in April that also killed a dozen soldiers, according to the outlet.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
state department,terrorism,africa,world,crime,religion,india
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