International
John intensifies into a category 2 hurricane and anticipates its impact in southern Mexico
The newly formed tropical storm John has intensified to a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale in the Mexican Pacific, and reduces its distance with the coasts of the southern states of Guerrero and Oaxaca, where it could touch land on the date, the National Meteorological Service (SMN) reported.
The center of the cyclone, the second of the Pacific season that would pass over Mexican territory, was in the last report 90 kilometers (km) south of Punta Maldonado, in the state of Guerrero, and 155 km west-southwest of Puerto Escondido, in Oaxaca.
According to the forecasts of the organization of the National Water Commission (Conagua), John could intensify to category 3 and make landfall in the next six hours.
If the current trajectory is maintained, it would be expected that the center of Hurricane John will touch land between Santiago Pinotepa Nacional (Oaxaca), and Copala (Guerrero), tonight or early Tuesday, the SMN warned.
The phenomenon has sustained winds of 155 kilometers per hour (km/h) and gusts of 195 km/h and moves north at a speed of 9 km/h.
The current category 2 hurricane will cause extraordinary occasional rains in Oaxaca and Guerrero; torrential in Chiapas; intense in Veracruz and Puebla; very strong in Tabasco, Michoacán and Morelos; as well as strong in the State of Mexico.
The SMN also predicted winds with gusts of up to 120 km/h and waves between three and five meters high on the coasts of Oaxaca, and gusts of between 40 and 60 km/h with waves up to three meters high on the coasts of Guerrero and Chiapas.
In addition, he reported that he established a prevention zone for the effects of Hurricane John from the east of Acapulco, in Guerrero, to Bahías de Huatulco, in Oaxaca.
The Mexican Meteorological Service asked the population to take extreme precautions, which included maritime navigation, as well as to heed the recommendations issued by the authorities of the National Civil Protection System.
John is the second cyclone of the Pacific season that would land in Mexico, where last week the storm Ileana hit in the state of Sinaloa, in the northwest of the country, where it left minor damage.
While three cyclones have hit Mexico through the Atlantic: Hurricane Beryl and Storm Chris, which left a blank balance in July, and Storm Alberto in June, when it left six dead in Nuevo León, a state on the northern border of Mexico.
Mexican authorities predicted in May up to 41 named cyclones in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, of which at least five would hit the country, a figure above the average in both cases.
International
Mexico Arrests CJNG Leader “El Jardinero” in Nayarit
Mexican authorities arrested Audias Flores, known as “El Jardinero,” on Monday during a naval operation in the western state of Nayarit, delivering another major blow to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG).
Flores was considered one of the top regional leaders within the cartel and had reportedly overseen criminal operations along Mexico’s Pacific coast. Security analysts viewed him as a potential successor to slain drug kingpin Nemesio Oseguera.
The arrest was carried out by Mexico’s Navy Special Forces in a planned operation, according to Security Minister Omar García Harfuch.
The United States Department of the Treasury had previously identified Flores as a “significant foreign narcotics trafficker,” while U.S. authorities offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture and extradition.
A U.S. grand jury indicted Flores in 2021 on charges including conspiracy to distribute cocaine and heroin.
His capture comes months after the reported death of “El Mencho,” an operation that Mexican authorities considered a priority due to the cartel leader’s alleged involvement in a 2020 assassination attempt against García Harfuch.
International
Suspect Armed With Shotgun and Knives Detained at White House Correspondents Dinner
U.S. authorities confirmed Saturday that the suspect who stormed into the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner while President Donald Trump was attending acted alone, adding that there is no ongoing threat to the public following the incident, which left one Secret Service agent injured.
Acting Metropolitan Police Department chief Jeff Carroll said during a press conference that the suspect was carrying “a shotgun, a handgun, and multiple knives” when he attempted to pass through a Secret Service security checkpoint inside the hotel lobby at approximately 8:36 p.m. local time.
“At this point, everything indicates that this was a lone actor, a lone gunman,” Carroll stated, adding that investigators have found no preliminary evidence suggesting the involvement of additional suspects.
During the exchange of gunfire inside the hotel corridors, the suspect was not struck by bullets but was subdued by law enforcement officers and later transported to a hospital for medical evaluation.
A member of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division was shot during the incident, though the bullet was stopped by the officer’s ballistic vest, preventing serious injuries. The agent was taken to a hospital and is reportedly “in good spirits,” according to Carroll.
The shooting prompted the immediate evacuation of President Trump, Melania Trump, and several senior officials attending the event after multiple gunshots were heard outside the hotel’s main ballroom.
International
U.S. allows Venezuela to fund Maduro and Cilia Flores’ legal defense
Until now, the U.S. administration had blocked the Venezuelan government from covering the legal fees of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who is also jailed and facing drug trafficking charges, due to international sanctions imposed on Venezuela.
The couple’s legal team had relied on that argument in an attempt to have the indictment dismissed, claiming that preventing a defendant from accessing counsel of their choice violates rights guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
However, the U.S. Treasury Department will now allow “defense attorneys to receive payments from the Government of Venezuela under certain conditions,” New York prosecutor Jay Clayton wrote in a letter dated Friday to Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case.
According to the letter, the funds must have become available after March 5, 2026, and cannot come from Venezuelan oil sales regulated in the United States.
Since Maduro’s removal from power in early January, former Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has served as Venezuela’s interim leader.
The United States effectively controls Venezuelan crude exports, with revenues deposited into special accounts supervised by Washington.
Court documents filed on Friday show that the defense acknowledged the sanctions exemption and, for now, withdrew its motion seeking dismissal of the charges.
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