International
Mexican ex-cartel boss jailed for 28 years
AFP
A Mexican court has sentenced former drug lord Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who headed one of the country’s leading cartels, to 28 years in prison, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The 58-year-old, known as “El Viceroy,” is the brother of the founder of the Juarez cartel, whose turf wars with enemies were blamed for thousands of deaths.
Amado Carrillo Fuentes, known as “The Lord of the Skies,” was considered one of Latin America’s biggest drug traffickers until he died during plastic surgery in Mexico City in 1997.
Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who replaced his brother, was arrested in 2014 in the northern state of Coahuila on charges of organized crime and drug trafficking.
The Attorney General’s Office said in a short statement that a judge had handed down a 28-year jail sentence to the former cartel kingpin.
The United States had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture, while Mexico offered $2.2 million.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration’s then-chief, Michele Leonhart, congratulated Mexico at the time for catching “one of history’s most notorious drug traffickers.”
“Carrillo Fuentes was the leader of the Juarez cartel and facilitated murder and violence in Mexico while fueling addiction in the United States and across the world,” Leonhart said.
The arrests of its leaders and bloody turf battles have sapped the strength of the Juarez cartel, which is no longer such a powerful force.
Carrillo Fuentes’ capture at a police checkpoint gave then-president Enrique Pena Nieto another victory against major drug traffickers.
The fallen drug lord, whose sentence takes into account time already served, was described by authorities as a “very low-profile and discreet” cartel boss.
Based in Ciudad Juarez, a city on the border with the US state of Texas, the Juarez cartel fought against Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel for control of the major drug transit route.
Guzman is now serving a life sentence in a US prison.
The bloodshed in Juarez and elsewhere in Mexico led to the government’s controversial deployment of the military in the war on drugs in 2006.
The Latin American country has seen more than 300,000 murders since then, most of them blamed on criminal gangs.
International
Police investigate deaths of Rob Reiner and wife as apparent homicide
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) is investigating the deaths of Hollywood actor and filmmaker Rob Reinerand his wife as an “apparent homicide,” amid a wave of tributes to the director of classics such as When Harry Met Sally.
According to U.S. media reports on Sunday, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their Los Angeles mansion with what appeared to be stab wounds.
Several political figures shared messages of condolence following the reported deaths of the director of A Few Good Menand his wife.
While the LAPD did not officially confirm the identities of the victims, it stated that homicide detectives were dispatched to the Reiner residence.
“At this time, no additional details are available and the investigation into an apparent homicide is ongoing,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement posted on social media.
LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters that no arrests have been made and that no individuals are currently being questioned as suspects.
“I’m not going to confirm whether anyone is being questioned at this moment or not. We are going to try to speak with as many family members as we can,” Hamilton said.
CNN reported that a family spokesperson confirmed the deaths of Reiner and his wife.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, former U.S. President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Kamala Harrisissued statements expressing their condolences.
International
U.S. and Mexico Reach Deal to Address Water Deficit Under 1944 Treaty
The United States and Mexico have reached an agreement to comply with current water obligations affecting U.S. farmers and ranchers and for Mexico to cover its water deficit to Texas under the 1944 Water Treaty, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a statement.
The department уточified that the agreement applies to both the current cycle and the water deficit from the previous cycle.
On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump accused Mexico of failing to comply with the water-sharing treaty between the two countries, which requires the United States to deliver 1.85 billion cubic meters of water from the Colorado River, while Mexico must supply 432 million cubic meters from the Rio Grande.
Mexico is behind on its commitments. According to Washington, the country has accumulated a deficit of more than one billion cubic meters of water over the past five years.
“This violation is severely harming our beautiful crops and our livestock in Texas,” Trump wrote on Monday.
The Department of Agriculture said on Friday that Mexico had agreed to supply 250 million cubic meters of water starting next week and to work toward closing the shortfall.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, quoted in the statement, said Mexico delivered more water in a single year than it had over the previous four years combined.
Trump has said that if Mexico continues to fall short of its obligations, the United States reserves the right to impose 5% tariffs on imported Mexican products.
Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister for North America, Roberto Velasco, said that a severe drought in 2022 and 2023prevented the country from meeting its commitments.
International
Several people shot in attack on Brown University campus
Several people were shot on Saturday in an attack on the campus of Brown University, in the northeastern United States, local police reported.
“Shelter in place and avoid the area until further notice,” the Providence Police Department urged in a post on X. Brown University is located in Providence, the capital of the state of Rhode Island.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had been briefed on the situation and that the FBI was on the scene.
At 5:52 p.m. local time (11:52 p.m. GMT), Brown University said the situation was still “ongoing” and instructed students to remain sheltered until further notice.
After initially stating that the suspect had been taken into custody, Trump later posted a second message clarifying that local police had walked back that information. “The suspect has NOT been apprehended,” the U.S. president said.
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Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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