INTERNACIONAL
US one step closer to ‘100%’ deal with Mexico ending decades-long sewage crisis gripping vacation hotspot: EPA
The U.S. and Mexico are one step closer to permanently ending a sewage crisis spewing from across the border into waters off the coast of San Diego, Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin announced.
«This week, EPA transmitted to Mexico a proposed ‘100% solution’ that would PERMANENTLY END the decades-old crisis of raw sewage flowing in to the U.S. from Mexico. Next, technical groups from both nations will be meeting to work through the details necessary to hopefully reach an urgent agreement,» Zeldin posted to X on Friday.
Zeldin visited San Diego last month, where he announced talks with his government counterparts in Mexico to end the decades-long issue. The problem, blamed on outdated wastewater infrastructure, has persisted for decades, but has spiraled in recent years as Tijuana’s population skyrocketed.
The sewage water has not only threatened San Diego’s massive tourism industry and local residents, but also poses a national security risk as it pollutes the waters where U.S. Navy SEAL members and candidates train, Fox Digital previously reported.
EPA CHIEF ZELDIN LAUNCHES TALKS WITH MEXICO TO END SEWAGE HITTING SAN DIEGO, NAVY SEALS: ‘OUT OF PATIENCE’
The U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command is headquartered in San Diego and is where Navy SEAL candidates complete their arduous six-month Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.
In February, the Department of Defense’s inspector general released a report finding that the Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 that were attributed to the contaminated water.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attends a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on March 13, 2025. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Veterans who spoke to Fox News Digital in April described the contaminated water as a national security crisis.
«This is a huge national crisis,» Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum, who was sickened by the water when he was working through SEAL training in 2008, told Fox Digital in a Zoom interview last month. «Like half the SEAL teams are located in San Diego; the other half are in Virginia Beach. So when you’ve got half the SEAL teams who are getting exposed to this, then it’s a major issue.»
EPA CHIEF TAKES ON MEXICAN ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FLOWING INTO US WATERS WHERE NAVY SEALS TRAIN
Zeldin said last month that he and his counterparts in Mexico had launched good-faith talks to update infrastructure and water management facilities, adding that he zeroed in on the «specifics,» including drafting a «comprehensive list of everything that we believe with full confidence is going to end the crisis» on both the U.S. side of the border and Mexico’s.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a briefing. (Luis Barron/Eyepix Group/LightRocket)
«Now, if you don’t do all of the other projects and all you do is clean up the current contamination, that feel-good moment will last about a day,» Zeldin said during a press conference in San Diego last month. «We have to stop the flow in. Mexico needs to fulfill its part in cleaning up the contamination that they caused.»
MEXICO IS POISONING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN A BORDER CRISIS ALMOST NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT
«We need Mexico to not just commit to all the projects that will stop the flow, but in order to actually finish this project, they’re going to need to commit to that final cleanup,» he added.
Aerial view of sewage water spilling into Playa Blanca beach in the coast of Tijuana, Mexico on March 21, 2024. (Getty Images)
Zeldin first addressed the sewage problem in March before previewing the trip to take on the issue.
«I was just briefed that Mexico is dumping large amounts of raw sewage into the Tijuana River, and it’s now seeping into the U.S.,» he posted to X on March 8. «This is unacceptable. Mexico MUST honor its commitments to control this pollution and sewage!»
Local leaders have been sounding the alarm on the sewage problem. Imperial Beach’s Mayor Paloma Aguirre sent a letter to Zeldin in March describing how the raw sewage has sparked one of «America’s most horrendous environmental and public health disasters,» as billions of gallons have polluted the Pacific Ocean since 2023 alone.
MEXICAN SEWAGE GUSHING INTO NAVY SEAL TRAINING WATERS IS US’ ‘NEXT CAMP LEJEUNE,’ VETS WARN
Aerial view of Tijuana, Mexico, top, and San Diego, California (Getty Images)
«The toxic sewage coming across the border from Mexico into South San Diego County is among America’s most horrendous environmental and public health disasters,» Aguirre’s March 3 letter to Zeldin, published online, reads. «Since 2023, over 31 billion gallons of raw sewage, polluted stormwater and trash have flowed across the Mexican border, down the Tijuana River, through the cities of San Diego and Imperial Beach and into the Pacific Ocean.»
«Our residents, are getting ill due to polluted air,» the letter continued. «Workers, including Navy Seals training in the area, have been sickened on the job by waterborne and aerosolized diseases. Many homeowners have been forced to place air quality monitors on their property so they know whether or not it’s safe to go outside. And the economic impact is profound, with the sewage crisis hurting area tourism, maritime industry jobs and local property values.»
San Diego is one of the nation’s top cities for tourism – behind other national treasures such as New York City, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. – attracting roughly 32 million tourists to the city in 2024, the San Diego Tourism Authority previously reported.
SAN DIEGO SUBURB FACES ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FROM LOCAL BEACH
During his visit to San Diego last month, Zeldin vowed to bring an end to the issue as Californians run out of patience with the crisis.
A SEAL class participates in a surf passage training exercise at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in Coronado, California. (Getty Images)
«The Americans on our side of the border who have been dealing with this… for decades, are out of patience,» Zeldin said at a Tuesday press conference in San Diego. «There’s no way that we are going to stand before the people of California and ask them to have more patience and just bear with all of us as we go through the next 10 or 20 or 30 years of being stuck in 12 feet of raw sewage and not getting anywhere.»
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«So we are all out of patience,» he continued. «There’s a very limited opportunity. We’re in good faith, both on the American side and also on the Mexican side, what’s being communicated by the new Mexican president is an intense desire to fully resolve this situation.»
Mexico,US Environment,Navy,Politics
INTERNACIONAL
Ecuador: el presidente Noboa llega a su segundo año en el poder marcado por una primera gran derrota en las urnas y la violencia del narcotráfico
1.- La mayor derrota en las urnas
2.- Economía
3.- Conflicto armado interno
La Policía de Ecuador se enfrenta con manifestantes durante una protesta este domingo, en Quito (Ecuador). Foto EFE4.- Crisis carcelaria
5.- Crisis diplomática con México
6.- Tensiones políticas
7.- Relaciones internacionales
INTERNACIONAL
Trump orders Epstein files release, welcomes Mamdani, crown prince to White House in busy week
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President Donald Trump kicked off the week meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and closed the week meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
He also signed legislation ordering the Justice Department to release files related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Here’s a look at what happened this week.
Epstein files
Trump announced Wednesday evening that he put his stamp of approval on a bill instructing the Justice Department to release files related to Epstein — after Congress passed the measure Tuesday.
TRUMP SAYS WHETHER HE WOULD SIGN EPSTEIN FILES BILL
«I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!» Trump wrote in a lengthy message on the Truth Social platform. «As everyone knows, I asked Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, to pass this Bill in the House and Senate, respectively. Because of this request, the votes were almost unanimous in favor of passage.
«At my direction, the Department of Justice has already turned over close to fifty thousand pages of documents to Congress. Do not forget — The Biden Administration did not turn over a SINGLE file or page related to Democrat Epstein, nor did they ever even speak about him.»
Trump’s ties to Epstein had faced increased attention after Trump’s Justice Department and FBI announced in July it would not unseal investigation materials related to Epstein, and that the agencies’ investigation into the case had closed.
Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate, Palm Beach, Florida, Feb. 22, 1997. (Davidoff Studios/Getty Images)
TRUMP CALLS ON HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO VOTE TO RELEASE EPSTEIN FILES: ‘WE HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE’
However, Trump announced Nov. 16 that he backed releasing the documents, claiming that he had «nothing to hide.»
Ultimately, the House voted Tuesday to release the files by a 421–1 margin, following pressure for months from the measure’s ringleaders, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and other Democrats.
The Senate passed the measure by unanimous consent later Tuesday.
BIDEN’S SAUDI FIST BUMP DREW HEAT IN 2022 — TRUMP JUST ROLLED OUT THE RED CARPET
Mamdani meeting
Mamdani visited Trump at the White House Friday, and the two appeared chummy and ready to launch a fresh start in their relationship. The two said they discussed addressing affordability issues and improving conditions in New York.
Trump said the two had more in common than he anticipated, and that he would be «cheering» for Mamdani as he leads the city.
«I expect to be helping him, not hurting him — a big help,» Trump said.
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and President Donald Trump take questions from the press following their one-on-one meeting, Friday, in the Oval Office of the White House. (Pool/Fox News)
EPSTEIN REFERENCED TRUMP IN PRIVATE EMAILS TO GHISLAINE MAXWELL AND OTHERS, NEW RECORDS SHOW
Trump also brushed off Mamdani’s comment labeling him a despot in his victory speech following the Nov. 4 election, with the president claiming Friday he’s encountered worse and that he believes Mamdani will change his tune as the two work together.
«I’ve been called much worse than a ‘despot,’ so it’s not, it’s not that insulting,» Trump said. «I think he’ll change his mind after we get to working together.»
Saudi crown prince meeting
Trump also met with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday, an occasion that included a red carpet rolled across the South Lawn, military honor guard, and an Air Force flyover to elevate the formal state-level welcome.
During bin Salman’s visit, the U.S. announced that it would sell F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia, and that it would now be a «major non-NATO ally» to facilitate military cooperation between the two countries.
«President Trump approved a major defense sale package, including future F-35 deliveries, which strengthens the U.S. defense industrial base and ensures Saudi Arabia continues to buy American,» the White House said in a statement.
Trump’s reception of bin Salman is a departure from the Biden administration, who said in 2019 during his presidential campaign that he would make Saudi Arabia «the pariah that they are» because of the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
President Donald Trump’s reception of Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman is a departure from the Biden administration. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in 2021 that bin Salman gave the green light on the operation that took Khashoggi’s life. Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, was brutally murdered in Istanbul at the Saudi consulate in 2018.
But Trump defended bin Salman Tuesday, and accused a reporter who asked about U.S. intelligence reports linking the prince to Khashoggi’s death of embarrassing bin Salman.
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«A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,» Trump said Tuesday. «Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it. And would you leave it at that? You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question.»
Even so, bin Salman has dismissed the reports as false. When asked Tuesday about Khashoggi, bin Salman said it’s «painful» to hear of the death of anyone for «no real purpose,» and «we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.»
donald trump,white house,jeffrey epstein,zohran mamdani,saudi arabia
INTERNACIONAL
Israel eliminates Hezbollah’s top military commander Haytham Ali Tabatabai in targeted Beirut strike
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s chief of staff, in Beirut, calling him a «mass murderer» responsible for attacks on Israelis and Americans.
Netanyahu framed the strike as part of Israel’s ongoing effort to dismantle Hezbollah’s leadership and prevent the group from rebuilding its arsenal after recent operations. He warned that Israel would not tolerate future threats from Lebanon and urged its government to disarm Hezbollah.
«A few hours ago, the IDF eliminated Ali Tabatabai, the chief of staff of the Hezbollah terrorist organization,» Netanyahu said. «Tabatabai is a mass murderer. His hands are soaked in the blood of many Israelis and Americans, and it is not for nothing that the U.S. put a bounty of $5 million on his head.»
The prime minister said Tabatabai was a senior commander in the Radwan Force, which he said prepared to invade the Galilee and kill Israeli civilians.
ISRAELI STRIKE TARGETS HAMAS LEADERSHIP IN QATAR
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Nov. 23, 2025, that Israel Defense Forces killed Haytham Ali Tabatabai, Hezbollah’s chief of staff, in Beirut. (Jacquelyn Martin/Getty Images)
Netanyahu said Tabatabai most recently led Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm after the group suffered major losses in the «Pager Operation,» including damage to missile stockpiles and the killing of Nasrallah.
«I thank the IDF and the security forces that carried out a professional, accurate and successful operation today,» Netanyahu said. «The policy I am leading is absolutely clear: Under my leadership, the State of Israel will not allow Hezbollah to rebuild its power and we will not allow it to pose a threat to the State of Israel again.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH BORDER TENSIONS RISE AS TERROR GROUP REARMS, RESISTS US- BACKED CEASEFIRE
Hezbollah terrorists are taking part in cross-border raids in 2023. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
«I expect the government of Lebanon to fulfill its commitment to disarm Hezbollah,» he added. «Because only in this way can a better future be made possible for every citizen in Lebanon and only in this way can good and secure neighborly relations be established between Israel and Lebanon.»
Netanyahu also commended President Donald Trump for vowing to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, saying the group endangers stability throughout the Middle East and beyond.
NETANYAHU CALLS ON NEIGHBORING NATIONS TO JOIN ISRAEL IN ‘EXPELLING HAMAS’ FROM REGION
Hezbollah members salute and raise the group’s yellow flags during the funeral of their fallen comrades Ismail Baz and Mohamad Hussein Shohury, who were killed in an Israeli strike on their vehicles, in Shehabiya in south Lebanon on April 17, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
Hezbollah confirmed Tabatabai’s death by posting a photo on its Telegram accounts, signaling the loss of one of its top commanders. A translation of the image’s caption reads, «Islamic Resistance in Lebanon – Hezbollah. The great jihadi leader Haitham Ali Tabatabai (Sayyed Abu Ali), 1968–2025.»
Earlier Sunday, the prime minister’s office said the IDF carried out the Beirut strike on the recommendation of the defense minister and the IDF chief of staff. Shortly after the operation, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel will continue to act decisively against threats from Lebanon.
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«Anyone who raises a hand against Israel will have his hand cut off,» Katz said. «Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I are determined to continue the policy of maximum enforcement in Lebanon and elsewhere. We will not allow a return to the reality before Oct. 7.»
benjamin netanyahu,middle east,lebanon,terrorism
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