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Tag: Mexico

  • James Biden, Joe Biden’s brother, tells lawmakers the president had no involvement in family’s business dealings

    James Biden, Joe Biden’s brother, tells lawmakers the president had no involvement in family’s business dealings

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    Washington — President Biden “never had any involvement” in the business dealings of other members of his family, his brother James Biden testified Wednesday as he appeared for a voluntary private interview on Capitol Hill as part of House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry.

    “I have had a 50-year career in a variety of business ventures. Joe Biden has never had any involvement or any direct or indirect financial interest in those activities,” the president’s younger brother said in a 10-page opening statement to lawmakers obtained by CBS News. “None.”

    The interview with James Biden is the latest in a series that GOP lawmakers have conducted recently as they seek to rebuild momentum for an impeachment process surrounding the Biden family’s overseas finances that has stalled in recent months.

    Criticism over the lack of evidence directly related to the president has grown among those in the Republican Party who have thrown cold water on allegations that Mr. Biden was directly involved in his family members’ supposed efforts to leverage the last name into corporate paydays domestically and abroad. The GOP investigation was undercut again last week when an FBI informant who claimed there was a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving the president, his son Hunter, and a Ukrainian energy company was charged with fabricating the story.

    The informant’s claims had been central to the Republican effort in Congress to investigate the president and his family, with investigators even making mention of the unsubstantiated claim in letters to prospective witnesses. An attorney for Hunter Biden, who is expected to give a deposition next week, said the charges show the probe is “based on dishonest, uncredible allegations and witnesses.”

    James Biden, a consultant and brother of President Biden, arrives for a closed door deposition with the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 21, 2024, in Washington.
    James Biden, a consultant and brother of President Biden, arrives for a closed door deposition with the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 21, 2024, in Washington.

    Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images


    Both James and Hunter Biden were subpoenaed by the committee in November. Lawyers for James Biden have said that there was no justification for the subpoena because the committee had already reviewed private bank records and transactions between the two brothers. The committee found records of two loans that were made when President Biden was not in office or a candidate for president.

    The impeachment inquiry, which began in September under the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, has included the recent depositions of several former Biden family associates. In nearly every one of those interviews, the witnesses have stated that they have seen no evidence that President Biden was directly involved in his son or brother’s business ventures.

    Nonetheless, Republicans, led by the Oversight chairman, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, have said they are pushing ahead with an inquiry that could result in impeachment charges against the president, the ultimate penalty for what the Constitution describes as “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

    There had been private discussions about bringing articles of impeachment against Mr. Biden to the House floor for a vote in February but those conversations have stalled as support for the effort has waned among the majority. House Republicans instead shifted their focus in the new year to holding Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas accountable for his handling of the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border. Last week, the razor-thin GOP majority barely managed to impeach Mayorkas, reflecting political desperation as Republicans struggle to make good on the priorities they campaigned on.

    The attention is now expected to shift back to the impeachment of Mr. Biden as Republicans look to detract attention from the various legal challenges plaguing former President Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for reelection in November.

    House Democrats have remained united against the monthslong impeachment effort and have called on Republicans to end what they call a “sham process.” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, said that James Biden is the latest example of Republicans playing political games with no sign of tangible evidence that would rise to the level of impeaching a president.

    “We obviously again have heard nothing indicating that Joe Biden had anything to do with business ventures of Hunter Biden, or James Biden, and nothing has contradicted that basic understanding we’ve had for many, many months now,” Raskin told reporters when the interview broke for lunch.

    But Republicans have pushed back on the Biden family’s defense, saying the evidence they have gathered since early last year paints a troubling picture of “influence peddling” in the family’s business dealings, particularly with international clients.

    “With my appearance here today, the committees will have the information to conclude that the negative and destructive assumptions about me and my relationship with my brother Joe are wrong,” James Biden said in his statement. “There is no basis for this inquiry to continue.”

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  • 5 charred bodies found in remote Mexico town after reported clash between criminals

    5 charred bodies found in remote Mexico town after reported clash between criminals

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    Funding Cartels: The Fentanyl Fight | CBS Reports


    Funding Cartels: Why America Is Losing the Fentanyl Fight | CBS Reports

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    Acapulco, Mexico — Five charred bodies were found Tuesday in a remote village in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero after reports of a confrontation between suspected criminals, local authorities said. The state prosecutor’s office said on social media that police, soldiers and forensic experts went to the mountain community of Las Tunas to verify the reports.

    “They located the bodies of five burned people,” the office said in a statement, noting the victims had not been identified. It said the bodies were transferred to the state forensic medical service.

    Local news outlets published images of a presumed confrontation between criminals that took place on Monday and left several dead.

    Given the difficulties in communication and accessing the area, the prosecutor’s office requested the support of federal forces in launching their investigation.

    Las Tunas is part of the municipality of San Miguel Totolapan, where in October 2020 an attack by a criminal group on the local city hall left 20 dead, including the mayor and his father.

    Mexico Violence
    Residents carry the coffin of Wilmer Rojas the day after he was killed in a mass shooting in San Miguel Totolapan, Mexico, Oct. 6, 2022.

    Eduardo Verdugo/AP


    Authorities said that massacre appeared to have been the work of a drug lord, who then used social media to try to blame it on a rival gang. 

    Guerrero, one of the most violent and impoverished states in the country, has recently seen several clashes between criminal cells involved in drug trafficking and production, kidnapping and extortion. 

    The situation has prompted Catholic priests and bishops in the area to call for the groups to negotiate an end to the violence, an initiative endorsed by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

    Mexico has recorded more than 420,000 murders and tens of thousands of missing persons since the end of 2006, when then-president Felipe Calderon launched a controversial anti-drug military campaign.

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  • Mexico says it seized over 40 tons of meth from a drug lab in Sonora state

    Mexico says it seized over 40 tons of meth from a drug lab in Sonora state

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    MEXICO CITY — Mexican law enforcement agencies said Monday they seized over 40 tons of methamphetamine at the biggest drug lab found during the current administration.

    The Mexican navy said Monday that the lab was located in Quiriego, a township in a remote part of the northern border state of Sonora.

    It said the 91,000 pounds (41,310 kilograms) of meth found there was equivalent to about half of the 162,000 pounds of the drug Mexico has seized all year so far. Another 28,000 pounds (12,705 kilograms) of meth chemicals were found, the navy said.

    Photos distributed by the navy showed a series of large metal boilers and chemical reactors arranged in a line amid the brush and low trees of the site, which was visible from the air. Over 200 centrifuges, boilers and condensing chambers were discovered, according to the navy.

    The navy said its personnel destroyed the equipment by blowing it up. The Navy said the raid Thursday involved helicopters and suggested the meth was bound for export to Europe, Asia and the United States. But Mexico also has a big problem with domestic use of meth.

    The 72 boilers indicated the facility was capable of producing multiple times the amount of drugs than the second-biggest meth lab uncovered during the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. That lab, in neighboring Sinaloa state, had 13 boilers.

    López Obrador, who took office on Dec. 1 2018, frequently claims that Mexicans are culturally immune to drug addiction.

    A year ago, soldiers seized more than a half-million fentanyl pills in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa state, in what the army at the time described as the largest synthetic drug lab found to date.

    Soldiers found almost 630,000 pills that appeared to contain the synthetic opioid fentanyl, the army said. They also reported seizing 282 pounds (128 kilograms) of powdered fentanyl and about 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of suspected methamphetamine.

    Two days later, the Mexican army seized almost 1,400 liters of liquid methamphetamines and nearly a half-ton of solid crystal meth, which it said at the time was the biggest seizure of meth in a year.

    Troops found the drugs at a half-finished house in the town of Angostura, Sinaloa. The state is home to the drug cartel of the same name.

    Previously, most big meth labs had been found in Sinaloa, but it appears the increasingly violent state of Sonora has become a center of production, and not just a smuggling route.

    Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Arrests made in Cancun after 5 dismembered bodies found in taxi, 3 other victims dumped in shallow grave

    Arrests made in Cancun after 5 dismembered bodies found in taxi, 3 other victims dumped in shallow grave

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    Prosecutors said Monday they have arrested six members of a drug gang in the Mexican resort of Cancun that allegedly killed and hacked up five people with a machete, and dumped three other victims in a shallow grave.

    Authorities said that five dismembered bodies were found inside a taxi on January 29 and three bodies were later found in a grave, one of which has been identified.

    The gang, which prosecutors say also engaged in extortion, was protected by a network of motorcycle taxis and minors who acted as lookouts. Authorities said two minors were arrested in addition to the six alleged gang members.

    Authorities also announced the arrest of 23 people on charges they operated a fake tour agency that served as a cover for drug sales in Cancun.

    The suspects operated a call center in which they offered sports equipment and tour packages to tourists, but then failed to deliver them. On the second floor they had a complex operation in which drug deals were allegedly made over the phone and delivered by motorcycle. Authorities conducting a search of the property allegedly found marijuana, methamphetamines, cell phones, bank cards, laptops and seven motorcycles.

    Another suspect was arrested in Cancun who allegedly both ordered drugs on social media sites – which were delivered to him by express package service – and sold them also on social media, with home delivery included.

    The revelations Monday came one day after prosecutors confirmed an American woman and a man from Belize were shot to death late last week in what appears to have been a dispute between drug dealers at a beach club in the resort city of Tulum, south of Cancun.

    Prosecutors in Quintana Roo stressed the American woman had no connection to an alleged drug dealer also killed in the shooting Friday night. The woman appeared to have simply been caught in the crossfire.

    Prosecutors said the dead man had cocaine and pills in his possession when he was killed, and was believed to be a dealer. They said the suspects in the shootings had been identified and were being sought.

    Violence persists on Caribbean coast

    The degree to which drugs are available in Mexico’s Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo is sometimes startling.

    Last year, authorities shuttered 23 pharmacies at Caribbean coast resorts, six months after a research report warned that drug stores in Mexico were offering foreigners pills they passed off as Oxycodone, Percocet and Adderall without prescriptions.

    Foreign tourists have been killed in the past after getting caught in drug gang shootouts in the once-tranquil beach resort.

    In 2021 in Tulum, two tourists – one German and a California travel blogger born in India – were killed while eating at a restaurant. They apparently were caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rival drug dealers.

    Last April, eight bodies were found dumped in Cancun. Just days before that, four men in Cancun were killed in a dispute related to drug gang rivalries. The dead men were found in the city’s hotel zone near the beach.

    Last year, the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert warning travelers to “exercise increased situational awareness” especially after dark, at Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

    Tourists, however, continue to stream into Mexico’s Caribbean coast, the country’s leading tourist destination. Mexico’s tourism department released figures Monday showing foreign tourists spent almost $31 billion in all of Mexico in 2023, up 10% from 2022. About half of all foreigners visiting Mexico go to Cancun.

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  • Dr. Phil Issues Chilling Warning About Chinese Migrants Crossing U.S. Border – Suggests They’re Spies

    Dr. Phil Issues Chilling Warning About Chinese Migrants Crossing U.S. Border – Suggests They’re Spies

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    Opinion

    Source: Fox News YouTube

    Dr. Phil McGraw is speaking out this week to suggest that Chinese migrants crossing the U.S. border are actually spies.

    Dr. Phil Sounds Off

    Dr. Phil went on Fox News on Tuesday to talk to host Sean Hannity about his recent trip to the US-Mexico border, which has seen a massive influx of Chinese migrants as of late.

    “We would be incredibly narcissistic to assume that these people are coming in here just because they’re in the neighborhood,” Dr. Phil said.

    “What are they doing? If they’re working in farming, if they’re working in industry, I promise you they are expected to do certain things,” he continued. “Are they spying? Are they sending seeds back from farming to China? Are they getting plans from industries they’re working on?”

    Daily Mail reported that while most of the migrants crossing the border were from central and South America in the past, thousands are now coming from China. During the 2023 fiscal year that ended in September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 24,048 Chinese citizens were apprehended at the Mexico border, which is more than in the ten previous years combined.

    Related: Dr. Phil Torches Kamala Harris Over Border Crisis – ‘Unlike Anything We’ve Seen Before’

    Dr. Phil Doubles Down

    In this same interview, Dr. Phil said that border officials told him that 13 to 14 million people have entered this country since President Joe Biden took office, which is more than double what his administration has claimed.

    “We hear this number, six million people have come across under the current administration,” Dr. Phil said. “I talked to experts down there that say that number is a myth, that it’s closer to 13 to 14 million that have come across.”

    “I asked them straight up, what is it you need here?” he added. “I was shocked to hear them say, ‘We don’t need more money. We don’t need more resources, we don’t need more officers, we don’t need more legislation. We just need the laws that are on the books to be followed. We need to be allowed to do our job. And we can get this under control right now.’”

    Check out this full interview in the video below.

    Related: Dr. Phil Rips U.S. Colleges As ‘Liberal Woke Hotbeds Fostering’ Antisemitism

    Dr. Phil previously talked about the border situation, which he describes as a “humanitarian crisis,” in a video posted to social media.

    “Texas law enforcement has seized over 454 million lethal doses of fentanyl during this mission. Governor Abbott has said that the federal government has broken the pact between the United States federal government and the states,” Dr. Phil said. “Governor Abbott says President Biden has refused to enforce those laws and has even violated them.”

    “The result is a humanitarian crisis, unlike anything we’ve seen before, smashing records for illegal immigration by wasting taxpayer dollars to tear open Texas border security infrastructure,” he continued. “Governor Abbott says President Biden has enticed tens of thousands of illegal immigrants away from 28 legal entry points along the Texas border and into the dangerous deadly waters of the Rio Grande.”

    “According to the Department of Homeland Security, since President Biden took office more than 6 million illegal immigrants have crossed [the] Texas southern border in just three years,” Dr Phil added. “That’s more than the population of 33 different states in this country. And what about our Vice President Kamala Harris? Did you know she’s our country’s immigration czar? Guess how many times she’s been to the border? Once.”

    Dr. Phil is one of the only celebrities who has the guts to call out Biden and discuss the border crisis. What do you think about his claims about potential Chinese spies at the border? Let us know in the comments section.

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  • Megyn Kelly Annihilates Biden – ‘Trump Will Win The Election’

    Megyn Kelly Annihilates Biden – ‘Trump Will Win The Election’

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    Opinion

    Source YouTube: Megyn Kelly, Fox News

    The former Fox News host Megyn Kelly spoke out against President Joe Biden on Monday night, saying that recent polling numbers that show him training Donald Trump by 35 points are “devastating” for him.

    Kelly Sounds Off On Trump And Biden

    “If nothing changes, Trump will win the election,” Kelly said as she talked to The Fifth Column co-host Kmele Foster and International Women’s Forum Senior Policy Analyst Inez Stepman.

    Kelly went on to call out both Biden and Donald Trump for not passing immigration reform, slamming what she feels is the false notion of the migrants being portrayed as “asylum seekers,” saying most of their claims are “bulls***.’ 

    “It’s all bulls*** because most of the asylum seekers are not seeking asylum. It’s a lie!” Kelly said. “They could have sought asylum in Mexico. They went right through Mexico because they want to be here.”

    “They don’t want to actually assimilate, a lot of them, but they want their government check,” she continued. “They want a driver’s license. They want to do all the things that American citizens do without doing any of the things that people who immigrated here legally and jumped through all the hoops had to do.”

    Related: Megyn Kelly Reveals Why Taylor Swift Would Be Crazy To Endorse Biden – ‘If She’s Smart…’

    Kelly Doubles Down

    Kelly went on to say that despite that, “there could be more funding for asylum claims to be processed” and Biden and Trump “didn’t do it” even though they each had both houses of Congress for the first two years of their presidencies. 

    “Those people should be processed, and we should figure out who genuinely needs our help and shares our value,” Kelly added. “But we don’t do any of that. And now they want to give Mayorkas a magic wand to say ‘I deem ye asylum seekers. Welcome to America!’ That’s not how it works.”

    Not stopping there, Kelly proceeded to rip into Trump’s main rival for the Republican presidential nomination Nikki Haley for her appearance on “Saturday Night Live!” over the weekend.

    “I’ve got serious questions about whether this is a good idea,” Kelly exclaimed. “What’s next? ‘The Daily Show?’ How about Scarborough? Tiptoe through those tulips. Rachel Maddow? Joy Reid? Why doesn’t she go on her show? I don’t get it.”

    “I like the Vivek Ramaswamy philosophy of like going everywhere and trying to get as many votes as you can get. I’m just not sure SNL is one of the venues where there’s any potential votes available,” she continued.

    Check out Kelly’s full comments on this in the video below.

    Related: Megyn Kelly Reveals What’s Really Wrong With Kamala Harris – ‘She Thinks She’s Rush Limbaugh’

    Kelly Calls Out The Obamas

    Back in September, Kelly questioned if Barack and Michelle Obama are the people really running Biden’s government.

    “There are a lot of people who think the Obamas are already running the government and that there is some sort of shadow puppet situation going on that they’re controlling,” she declared, according to The Daily Beast. “There’s been questions from the beginning—is it Joe Biden really making the calls?”

    “I think Michelle Obama is seen as a savior figure by the Democrats who think she’s the most beautiful person ever,” she added. “They think she’s the strongest leader. They think she’s their big hope.”

    What do you think about Kelly’s comments? Let us know in the comments section.

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  • 2/4/2024: Chairman Powell; A Hole in the System; The Mismatch

    2/4/2024: Chairman Powell; A Hole in the System; The Mismatch

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    2/4/2024: Chairman Powell; A Hole in the System; The Mismatch – CBS News


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    First, Fed Chair Jerome Powell: The 2024 60 Minutes Interview. Then, a report on the growing number of Chinese migrants crossing into the U.S. at the southern border. And, a look at how a sports betting boom is fueling concerns over problem gambling.

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  • Growing number of Chinese migrants crossing into U.S. at southern border | 60 Minutes

    Growing number of Chinese migrants crossing into U.S. at southern border | 60 Minutes

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    Growing number of Chinese migrants crossing into U.S. at southern border | 60 Minutes – CBS News


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    A growing number of Chinese nationals, trying to escape repressive politics and a bleak economy, are headed to the U.S. They’re turning to a gap at the southern border with Mexico as a way to get in.

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  • Heading to Mayan ruin sites in Mexico? Drug gangs might demand your phone and passcode—and don’t be surprised if a gun battle breaks out

    Heading to Mayan ruin sites in Mexico? Drug gangs might demand your phone and passcode—and don’t be surprised if a gun battle breaks out

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    Mexico’s government has acknowledged that at least two well-known Mayan ruin sites are unreachable by visitors because of a toxic mix of cartel violence and land disputes.

    But two tourist guides in the southern state of Chiapas, near the border with Guatemala, say two other sites that the government claims are still open to visitors can only be reached by passing though drug gang checkpoints.

    The explosion of drug cartel violence in Chiapas since last year has left the Yaxchilán ruin site completely cut off, the government conceded Friday.

    The tour guides, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they must still work in the area, said that gunmen and checkpoints are often seen on the road to another site, Bonampak, famous for its murals.

    They say that to get to yet another archaeological site, Lagartero, travelers are forced to hand over identification and cellphones at cartel checkpoints.

    Meanwhile, officials concede that visitors also can’t go to the imposing, towering pyramids at Tonina, because a landowner has shut off across his land while seeking payment from the government for granting the right of way.

    The cartel-related dangers are the most problematic. The two cartels warring over the area’s lucrative drug and migrant smuggling routes set up the checkpoints to detect any movement by their rivals.

    Though no tourist has been harmed so far, and the government claims the sites are safe, many guides no longer take tour groups there.

    “It’s as if you told me to go to the Gaza Strip, right?” said one of the guides.

    “They demand your identification, to see if you’re a local resident,” he said, describing an almost permanent gang checkpoint on the road to Lagartero, a Mayan pyramid complex that is surrounded by pristine, turquoise jungle lagoons.

    “They take your cellphone and demand your sign-in code, and then they look through your conversations to see if you belong to some other gang,” he said. “At any given time, a rival group could show up and start a gunbattle.”

    The government seems unconcerned, and there is even anger that anyone would suggest there is a problem, in line with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s policy of playing down gang violence — even as the cartels take over more territory in Mexico.

    “Bonampak and Lagartero are open to the public,” the National Institute of Anthropology and History said in a statement Friday.

    “It is false, biased and irresponsible to say that these archaeological sites are in danger from drug traffickers,” added the agency, known as the INAH, which claimed it “retains control of the sites.”

    Both guides stressed that the best-known Mayan ruin site in Chiapas, the imposing temple complex at Palenque, is open and perfectly safe for visitors. But starting around December, tourists have canceled about 5% of trips booked to the area, and there are fears that could grow.

    Things that some tourists once enjoyed — like the more adventurous trip to ruins buried deep in the jungle, like Yaxchilán, on the banks of the Usumacinta river and reachable only by boat — are either no longer possible, or so risky that several guides have publicly announced they won’t take tourists there.

    Residents of the town of Frontera Comalapa, where the boats once picked up tourists to take them to Yaxchilan, closed the road in October because of constant incursions by gunmen.

    Even the INAH admits there is no access to Yaxchilan, noting that “the institute itself has recommended at certain points that tourists not go to the archaeological site, because they could have an unsuccessful visit.” But it said that the problems there are “of a social nature” and are beyond its control.

    Cartel battles started to get really bad in Chiapas in 2023, which coincides with the uptick in the number of migrants — now about a half-million annually — moving through the Darien Gap jungle from South America, through Central America and Mexico to the U.S. border.

    Because many of the new wave of migrants are from Cuba, Asia and Africa, they can pay more than Central Americans, making the smuggling routes through Chiapas more valuable. The problem now seems to be beyond anyone’s control.

    The National Guard — the quasi-military force that López Obrador has made the centerpiece of law enforcement in Mexico — has been pelted with stones and sticks by local residents in several towns in that region of Chiapas in recent weeks.

    The other tour guide said that was because the two warring drug cartels, Sinaloa and Jalisco, often recruit or force local people to act as foot soldiers and prevent National Guard troopers from entering their towns.

    In Chiapas, residents are often members of Indigenous groups like the Choles or Lacandones, both descendants of the ancient Maya. The potential damage of using them as foot soldiers in cartel fights is grim, given that some groups have either very few remaining members or are already locked in land disputes.

    The guide said the ruin sites have the added disadvantage of being in jungle areas where the cartels have carved out at least four clandestine landing strips to fly drugs in from South America.

    But the damages are mounting for the Indigenous residents who have come to depend on tourism.

    “There are communities that sell handicrafts, that provide places to stay, boat trips, craftspeople. It affects the economy a lot,” said the first guide. “You have to remember that this is an agricultural state that has no industry, no factories, so tourism has become an economic lever, one of the few sources of work.”

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    Mark Stevenson, The Associated Press

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  • Masked men storm TV studio waving guns as 'internal conflict' engulfs Ecuador

    Masked men storm TV studio waving guns as 'internal conflict' engulfs Ecuador

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    HOODED gunmen have hijacked a live television broadcast in Ecuador and threatened staff members.

    Live television footage broadcast from Ecuador’s TC station in Guayaquil showed hooded gunmen storming the set, waving guns and threatening people.

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    Hooded gunmen have stormed a live television broadcast in EcuadorCredit: EPA
    Images have surfaced of blood on the floor of the studio

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    Images have surfaced of blood on the floor of the studioCredit: AFP
    Some of the gunmen have been arrested

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    Some of the gunmen have been arrestedCredit: AFP

    Shots could be heard as some of the gunmen told staff members to lie on the ground.

    Some members of the group were also seen pointing at the cameras and shouting “no police”, before the live feed was cut.

    Another gunman was reportedly heard saying: “We are on the air so that they know we do not play with the mafia”.

    While a hooded man has been alleged to have left a stick of dynamite in the television station’s reception area.

    Specialised police units from both Quito and Guayaquil were quickly deployed to the scene.

    They have since shared footage of blood on the floor of the television studio, alongside images of some of the arrests that they made.

    Police commander Csar Zapata told the TV channel Teleamazonas that officers seized the guns and explosives the gunmen had with them. He didn’t say how many people were arrested.

    But he did say that this is an act that should be considered as a terrorist act.

    Armed men have also entered the University of Guayaquil, attempting to kidnap students, and Teodoro Maldonado hospital, where they have been attempting to kidnap doctors.

    Shots have been heard in both locations, and an evacuation order has been issued at the Carondelet presidential complex in Quito.

    These shocking incidences come just a day after Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa had to declare a state of emergency after a notorious drug kingpin escaped from a maximum security jail on Sunday.

    Several police officers were kidnapped immediately after the announcement, and there have been a series of explosions across the country.

    The security situation has now deteriorated to the point where President Noboa has declared the existence of an internal armed conflict in Ecuador.

    In his statement he has provided a decree for the direct intervention of the Armed Forces.

    “I have just signed the state of exception decree so that the Armed Forces have all the political and legal support in their actions,” Noboa said on Instagram.

    Adolfo Macias, the leader of the Los Choneros gang, had been serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking and murder.

    Los Choneros is one of the Ecuadorian gangs that the authorities have deemed responsible for the spike in violence over the last year – which saw the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

    It has also been claimed that Los Choneros has links with Mexico’s infamous Sinaloa cartel.

    The whereabouts of Adolfo Macias remains unclear, but two prison guards have had charged filed against them.

    The TV studio raid is being blamed on another gang called Los Tiguerones which has been linked to the kidnap of British millionaire businessman Colin Armstrong last month.

    The 78-year-old former honorary consul for Guayaquil, president of Ecuadorian agricultural distribution firm Agripac, was released on December 20.

    He had been taken hostage four days earlier with his Colombian girlfriend Katherine Paola Santos after being was snatched from a farm he owned. Nine suspects were subsequently arrested.

    Noboa was elected in October on the promise to crack down on violent crime. He has vowed to take back control of the country’s prisons and the country’s streets.

    His updated state of emergency has recognised several criminal gangs, like Los Choneros, as terrorist groups, and has ordered the armed forces to quell them.

    The decree has allowed Noboa to set a national curfew, from 11pm to 5am, which he has coupled with military patrols – on the streets and inside prisons.

    He has adamantly stated that he will not negotiate with “terrorists”, that he won’t stop until he brings back peace to all Ecuadorians, and that his government had decided to confront crime.

    The Ecuadorian police have been given new powers under Noboa's state of emergency

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    The Ecuadorian police have been given new powers under Noboa’s state of emergencyCredit: AFP
    President Noboa has said that he won't stop until peace is returned to Ecuador

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    President Noboa has said that he won’t stop until peace is returned to EcuadorCredit: Reuters
    The police are yet to reveal how many armed men they arrested

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    The police are yet to reveal how many armed men they arrestedCredit: Reuters
    Police were able to storm the television studio quickly and rescue staff members

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    Police were able to storm the television studio quickly and rescue staff membersCredit: Getty
    Most staff members were escorted off the premises after 30 minutes

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    Most staff members were escorted off the premises after 30 minutesCredit: AFP

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    Neha Dhillon

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  • Tejocote: All About the fruit of a Mexican Species of Hawthorn

    Tejocote: All About the fruit of a Mexican Species of Hawthorn

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    Tejocote. You know it well, or you have never heard of it. There seems to be no middle “I-think-I-know-what-that-is” ground for these plump, yellow crabapple lookalikes with burnished orange cheeks. Tejocote is the fruit of hawthorn trees native to the highlands of Mexico and Central America. Until 2015 it was illegal to import them into the United States, but because the fruit is an integral part of Mexican festivals and holidays in early winter, tejocotes were smuggled into the country to feed communities nostalgic for their essential presence on the Day of the Dead, at Christmas, and at New Year. Because of their unfamiliarity in the US, many cooks are unaware of their heritage and uses. Their sunny appearance in winter should activate some culinary games in the kitchen.

    Here are some ideas to get started, and my recipe for tejocote preserves in syrup.

    Photography by Marie Viljoen.

    Above: Ripe tejocote ranges from yellow to warm orange and red.

    Why the import-ban? Like other fruits once forbidden and now permitted Stateside (yuzu and mangosteen spring to mind), tejocote was associated with agricultural pests that could spread disease to domestic crops. It became the most-smuggled fruit into the US. When a farm in California’s Pauma Valley began growing tejocotes to supply local demand, the smuggling stopped. And in 2015, after a six-year review process, the USDA lifted the ban on imported tejocotes because “the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures” would mitigate any potential risk to local crops.

    Above: Raw, the flesh is mild, and very slightly tart.

    All hawthorns belong to the Crataegus genus. In Mexico, the name tejocote (derived from the Nahuatl tetl-xocotl, meaning stone fruit, because of its big seeds) refers to all species native to the region (numbering over a dozen). The best known is Crataegus mexicana, for which C. pubescens is a defunct synonym.

    While they resemble their crabapple cousins closely (like apples and pears, both are pomes), in flavor tejocotes are significantly less astringent. They taste very mild, with undertones of apple. Their dense, dry flesh is reminiscent of quince, but also of fresh jujube—but less granular than the former, and not as sweet as the latter. Each fruit contains three or more elongated seeds.

    Above: Serrato Family Farms began growing tejocote in California in the early 2000s.

    In Mexico tejocotes are essential to edible and decorative gifts proffered on the Day of the Dead at the end of October, as well as during the Feast of Guadalupe on December 12th, Christmas, and New Year. Ponche (a hot punch) is synonymous with tejocote, and is made with guava and spices and the slowly cooked tejocote whose aroma and sky-high pectin content (rather than strong flavor, which is non-existent) give the drink a unique texture and scent. Cooked low and slow, sweet tejocote preserves are unctuous—dense, and velvety. Garlands of the fresh fruit are a vivid ornament.

    Above: Tejocotes simmering with citrus peel and fresh juniper in my kitchen.
    Above: After several slow hours of cooking, the tejocotes are close to candied.

    My first tejocote games were conservative. I cooked the fruit slowly in water with sugar, with varying aromatics. The melting but concentrated texture of the cooked fruit was unlike anything I had eaten; reminiscent of quince but smooth, and almost mildly vegetal, like a thick yam, as well as a little slippery (the pectin). The flavor came purely from the seasonings. I make versions of this annually, adding citrus peel for extra aroma, and sometimes even a pinch of salt.

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  • The Mary Sue Book Club, January 2024: New Books We Can't Wait To Start the Year With

    The Mary Sue Book Club, January 2024: New Books We Can't Wait To Start the Year With

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    Even while curating the lists to just a handful of titles, we recommended over 80 books (including non-fiction and comics) through last year in The Mary Sue Book Club alone. This month kicks off our 2024 edition with picks that are sure to make some of your start-of-the-year reads memorable as hell.

    In non-fiction, we’ve got a rare memoir from an entrepreneur. However, this one that doesn’t sell the fantasy of bootstrappin’ your way to success and is instead incredibly critical of capitalism. In fiction, we’ve got Kiley Reid’s sophomore book that looks just as (good-yet-reflective) messy as her first. Additionally, there’s a queer Pride & Prejudice retelling that centers gender, finance, and social expectations like the Austen classic through a new lens.

    Finally, in YA, we’ve got two debuts. One is a coming-of-age story about a girl yearning to have sex while helping her very religious best friend through an unexpected pregnancy. The other is an epic story of diplomacy and dragons through two sisters pitted against one another.

    While the list is devoid of graphic novels this month, I insist you check out contributing writer Samantha Puc’s excellent round up of the best comics/graphic novels of last year. Now, without further adieu, here’s some books worth pre-ordering and reading this month!

    "Shut Up, This Is Serious" by Carolina Ixta. (Quill Tree Books)
    (Quill Tree Books)

    Belén Dolores Itzel del Toro wants the normal stuff: to experience love or maybe have a boyfriend or at least just lose her virginity. But nothing is normal in East Oakland. Her father left her family. She’s at risk of not graduating. And Leti, her super-Catholic, nerdy-ass best friend, is pregnant–by the boyfriend she hasn’t told her parents about, because he’s Black, and her parents are racist.

    Things are hella complicated.

    Weighed by a depression she can’t seem to shake, Belén helps Leti, hangs out with an older guy, and cuts a lot of class. She soon realizes, though, that distractions are only temporary. Leti is becoming a mother. Classmates are getting ready for college. But what about Belén? What future is there for girls like her?

    Release date: January 9.

    "So Let Them Burn" by Kamilah Cole. 
    (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

    Faron Vincent can channel the power of the gods. Five years ago, she used her divine magic to liberate her island from its enemies, the dragon-riding Langley Empire. But now, at seventeen, Faron is all powered up with no wars to fight. She’s a legend to her people and a nuisance to her neighbors.

    When she’s forced to attend an international peace summit, Faron expects that she will perform tricks like a trained pet and then go home. She doesn’t expect her older sister, Elara, forming an unprecedented bond with an enemy dragon–or the gods claiming the only way to break that bond is to kill her sister.

    As Faron’s desperation to find another solution takes her down a dark path, and Elara discovers the shocking secrets at the heart of the Langley Empire, both must make difficult choices that will shape each other’s lives, as well as the fate of their world.

    Release date: January 16.

    "I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt: Everything I Wish I Never Had to Learn about Money" by Madeline Pendleton.
    (Doubleday Books)

    Imagine a job where you work four days a week and earn as much as the CEO. You also get full benefits, a gym membership, free lunch, and unlimited time off, no questions asked. Hard-won profits don’t just end up in the CEO’s pocket–they’re distributed equally among all employees. The company even buys you your very own car. It sounds too good to be true, but this is the reality at Tunnel Vision, the clothing company that Madeline Pendleton built from the ground up.

    Like so many Americans, Madeline used to struggle to make ends meet. Raised by a punk dad and a goth mom in Fresno, California, she spent her teens intermittently homeless, relying on the kindness and spare couches of the local punk community to get by. By her twenties, she was drowning in student loans and credit card debt, working long hours and sick of her bosses treating her as disposable. Then her boyfriend, struggling with financial stress, died by suicide. Capitalism was literally killing her loved ones–she knew there must be a better way.

    Madeline decided to study the rules of capitalism, the game everyone is forced to play. She used what she learned to build a new kind of business, one rooted in an ethos of community care.

    Release date: January 16.

    "Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix" by Gabe Cole Novoa.
    (Feiwel & Friends)

    London, 1812. Oliver Bennet feels trapped. Not just by the endless corsets, petticoats and skirts he’s forced to wear on a daily basis, but also by society’s expectations. The world—and the vast majority of his family and friends—think Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone’s wife.

    But Oliver can’t bear the thought of such a fate. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his family’s home and explore the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It’s during one such excursion when Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to “Elizabeth” at a recent social function. But in the comfort of being out of the public eye, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart. And not to mention incredibly attractive.

    As Oliver is able to spend more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares begin to hope that his dream of love and life as a man could be possible. But suitors are growing bolder—and even threatening—and his mother is growing more desperate to see him settled into an engagement. Oliver will have to choose: Settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he’s not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly, honestly his own.

    Release date: January 16.

    "The Bullet Swallower" by Elizabeth Gonzalez James.
    (Simon & Schuster)

    In 1895, Antonio Sonoro is the latest in a long line of ruthless men. He’s good with his gun and is drawn to trouble but he’s also out of money and out of options. A drought has ravaged the town of Dorado, Mexico, where he lives with his wife and children, and so when he hears about a train laden with gold and other treasures, he sets off for Houston to rob it–with his younger brother Hugo in tow. But when the heist goes awry and Hugo is killed by the Texas Rangers, Antonio finds himself launched into a quest for revenge that endangers not only his life and his family, but his eternal soul.

    In 1964, Jaime Sonoro is Mexico’s most renowned actor and singer. But his comfortable life is disrupted when he discovers a book that purports to tell the entire history of his family beginning with Cain and Abel. In its ancient pages, Jaime learns about the multitude of horrific crimes committed by his ancestors. And when the same mysterious figure from Antonio’s timeline shows up in Mexico City, Jaime realizes that he may be the one who has to pay for his ancestors’ crimes, unless he can discover the true story of his grandfather Antonio, the legendary bandido El Tragabalas, The Bullet Swallower.

    A family saga that’s epic in scope and magical in its blood, and based loosely on the author’s own great-grandfather, The Bullet Swallower tackles border politics, intergenerational trauma, and the legacies of racism and colonialism in a lush setting and stunning prose that asks who pays for the sins of our ancestors, and whether it is possible to be better than our forebears.

    Release date: January 23.

    "Come and Get It" by Kiley Reid.
    (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

    It’s 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. But Millie’s starry-eyed hustle becomes jeopardized by odd new friends, vengeful dorm pranks, and illicit intrigue.

    Release date: January 30.

    Another on—two

    Last month, TMS Book Club featured a rare but honorable mention for the first since the spring. And, I’m back again under a truly puzzling circumstance. This month, two books have U.K. releases that most people can purchase regardless of location. However, I’m not sure if the U.S. release (what I center as a “new publication”) is coming in a more formal way.

    The first book is The Principle of Moment by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson. The space fantasy looks like a fun period—but especially for those the Whovians and those who fawn over regency romances. Also there’s Voyage of the Damned by Frances White. Like a formal entry above, this book crossed my radar because a (former) fellow debut writer decided to review bomb this novel in one of the biggest publishing scandals of 2024. Anyways, I looked up the book and it looks great! It’s a murder mystery in a fantasy setting with high political stakes.

    —

    Which of these are you most excited to check out? Let us know in the comments if we missed a (non-sequel) book you’ve been waiting for!

    (featured image: Feiwel & Friends; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; and Simon & Schuster)

    The Mary Sue may earn an affiliate commission on products and services purchased through links.

    Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

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    Alyssa Shotwell

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  • Top Biden administration officials meet with Mexican president amid record migrant crossings

    Top Biden administration officials meet with Mexican president amid record migrant crossings

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    Blinken, Mayorkas to meet Mexican president


    Blinken, Mayorkas travel to Mexico for immigration meetings

    03:00

    President Biden dispatched top officials to Mexico City this week as migrants are crossing the U.S. border in record numbers and Congress has been unable to reach a consensus on funding border security. 

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Mr. Biden’s homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall traveled to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador as unauthorized crossings have strained federal and local resources in communities across the U.S.

    Blinken “will discuss unprecedented irregular migration in the Western Hemisphere and identify ways Mexico and the United States will address border security challenges, including actions to enable the reopening of key ports of entry across our shared border,” the State Department said ahead of the visit. 

    The White House said last week that Mr. Biden spoke to López Obrador on Thursday about “ongoing efforts to manage migratory flows in the Western Hemisphere.” The two leaders “agreed that additional enforcement actions are urgently needed so that key ports of entry can be reopened across our shared border,” the White House said. 

    The visit comes after Border Patrol processed nearly 50,000 migrants who entered the U.S. illegally in just five days last week. In November, Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 191,000 migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border unlawfully. This month, as many as 10,000 migrants were apprehended daily at the southern border. 

    Mexico’s president said last week he’s willing to help address the issue, but he wants the U.S. to provide more aid to the region and ease sanctions Cuba and Venezuela. 

    “We have always talked about addressing the causes [of migration]. The ideal thing is to help poor countries,” López Obrador said, according to the Associated Press. 

    In the U.S., Congress has debated border policy changes for weeks as part of a larger package including assistance to Ukraine and Israel. To convince Republicans — who want harsher border security measures — to support more foreign aid, Democrats are considering drastic limits on asylum and increased deportations. 

    Caitlin Yilek

    Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at cbsnews.com and is based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

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  • Mexico's weed 'nuns' want to take the plant back from the narcos

    Mexico's weed 'nuns' want to take the plant back from the narcos

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    By Sarah Kinosian

    (Reuters) – Beneath each full moon on the outskirts of a village in central Mexico, a group of women in nun habits circle around a roaring fire, cleanse themselves with burned sage, and give thanks for the moon, animals, and plants.

    Then they inhale deeply from a joint and blow clouds of marijuana into the flames.

    Despite their clothing, the women are not Catholic or any other religion. They are part of an international group founded in 2014 called Sisters of the Valley, which has pledged to spread the gospel of the healing powers of cannabis.

    In the United States, where around two dozen states have legalized recreational marijuana, the group has also launched a successful small business, selling CBD tinctures, oils and salves online, and raking in over $500,000 last year.

    But in Mexico, where a drug war has ravaged the country and Christianity is embedded in society, the image of a marijuana-smoking nun is more an act of rebellion, the women say.

    The sisters frequently post on social media, primarily Instagram, where they can be seen caring for cannabis crops, giving workshops, and attending cannabis-related events.

    Their product sales are a fraction of that of their U.S. sisters – around $10,000 annually.

    While prominent online, the women – five in total – are cautious about giving away too much about the location of their operations. They conduct business out of a two-story concrete false storefront with one finished room.

    Because cannabis sits in a legal gray area in Mexico and much of its production is still tied to criminal organizations, they worry police or local gangsters could arrive to threaten or extort them.

    On a recent weekend when Reuters visited, the curtains remained drawn. Bundles of marijuana dried in clandestine crevices – hanging from a tucked-away laundry line, or hidden in the stove.

    “The Sisterhood is in a totally different context here in Mexico – because of how religious the country is and because of the plant’s ties to cartels,” said one of the nuns, who uses the moniker “Sister Bernardet” online and asked not to give her name for fear of reprisal. In her main job as a homeopathic practitioner, she prescribes marijuana to her patients with cancer, joint pain and insomnia.

    “We want to take the plant back from the narcos,” she said.

    The Sisters fashion themselves after a lay religious movement, the Beguines, that dates back to the Middle Ages. The group, made up of single women, devoted itself to spirituality, scholarship and charity, but took no formal vows.

    The Sisters globally say they wear habits to project uniformity and respect for the plant, but they also know it catches media attention.

    Under the guidance of Alehli Paz, a chemist and marijuana researcher working with the group, the Sisters in Mexico grow a modest crop.

    They pot plants in old paint buckets and place them in rows between four unfinished concrete walls on a rooftop.

    Once grown, the Sisters move the plants to walled-off private gardens they identified with help from supportive older women in the community.

    Their participation is limited to weekends they can steal away from their lives. Powered by a seemingly never-ending stream of joints and packed pipe bowls, the women spend time at the farm pruning plants, producing cannabinoid salves or weighing and storing different strains, labeled and dated, in old glass coffee jars.

    They also visit others in Mexico City pushing for full legalization in the growing cannabis community, or give workshops that touch on everything from how to make weed infusions to the chemistry behind the plant.

    Business potential aside, they argue that the fight against drugs in Latin America has been a failure, leading to widespread violence and mass incarceration.

    But in a roughly 75% Catholic majority, conservative country locked in a drug war with criminal groups for nearly 20 years, joining the Sisters has created tension in nearly all of the women’s families.

    Its founder in Mexico, who calls herself “Sister Camilla” online and declined to give her name, grew up in an evangelical household and left home at 16 due, in part, to her mother’s strict religious code, she said. When she started Sisters of the Valley Mexico, the relationship became even more strained.

    “It was hard for her to accept,” she said. “She had certain ideas, heavily shaped by religion.”

    But today, after lengthy discussions about the plant and the legalization movement, her mother is pivotal to the group’s operations, helping to maintain the farm and offering other logistical support, she said.

    For another nun who works as a church secretary, uses the moniker “Sister Kika” and asked her name not be used, the mission is clear. “It’s time to put an end to this stupidity,” she said.

    (Photography by Raquel Cunha; Reporting and writing by Sarah Kinosian; Additional reporting by Andrea Rodriguez; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)

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  • 7 countries, 7 traditional Christmas feasts | CNN

    7 countries, 7 traditional Christmas feasts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Christmas is celebrated in many ways in many corners of the globe, and the cuisine that marks the holiday is as diverse as the people feasting on it.

    Christmas and Advent food traditions are comforting at a time when many people have had a challenging year. And Christmas dishes are particularly special in many households.

    The typical Christmas meal may be different by destination, but the idea of indulging in a feast, be it on the day itself or the night before, isn’t.

    Here’s a look at how locals celebrate Christmas through cuisine in seven countries. We asked hospitality experts about these traditions, and they shared their perspective on what’s typical for them as well as their families and friends.

    The French enjoy their lavish holiday meal on December 24, says Francois Payard, the renowned pastry chef who grew up in Nice.

    Locals sit down for dinner around 8 p.m., he says, and savor a first course of seafood. That usually means a lobster thermidor – a baked dish of the cooked crustacean mixed with mustard, egg yolks and brandy – or a shrimp scampi.

    Then it’s on to a large capon – a male chicken that’s renowned for its tenderness – and a medley of sides including mashed potatoes and chestnuts sauteed with butter and topped with sage. “Chestnuts are a fixture in any Christmas meal for us,” says Payard.

    Dessert, the grand finale, is a yule log, or bûche de Noël – the French version of a Christmas cake. Often two are served – one chocolate, the other chestnut. To drink, it’s the finest wine you can get your hands on, usually red from Burgundy that’s not too full-bodied for the capon.

    On Christmas Day, the French savor a hearty brunch that may include creamy scrambled eggs, smoked salmon and toast. The meal finishes with assorted cheeses such as Brie, Gruyere and Munster, Payard says.

    Tortellini in brodo is part of many an Italian Christmas Eve spread.

    Similar to France, Italians celebrate Christmas with their biggest spread on the eve of the big day. Luca Finardi, the general manager of the Mandarin Oriental Milan, says that locals usually attend midnight Mass and enjoy a sumptuous meal before heading to church.

    Smoked salmon with buttered crostini or a smoked salted cod is the precursor to the main meal. Italians from coastal areas such as the Amalfi Coast may start with a crudo such as sea bass with herbs and sea salt, says Finardi.

    Next up is tortellini in brodo – stuffed pasta bathed in a hot broth of chicken and Parmesan cheese – the latter of which must come from the namesake region in Italy.

    For the main meal, northern Italians tend to have stuffed turkey while those from seaside areas may tuck into a large baked sea bass surrounded by roasted potatoes and vegetables.

    “The must no matter where you’re from is panettone – a typical sweet bread,” says Finardi. “The secret is to warm it up for just a few minutes.” Spumante, a sparkling wine, is the drink of choice.

    As for the famous Italian Christmas meal of the feast of the seven fishes, Finardi says it’s limited mainly to the Campania region, which includes the Amalfi Coast and Naples.

    Christmas Day is more about connecting with family and less about food, Finardi says. “We eat leftovers and recover from the day before.”

    Christmas pudding, sometimes flaming with brandy, finishes the traditional English Christmas feast.

    England

    The Brits don’t typically indulge in their big holiday meal on Christmas Eve. “The 24th is for cooking with our families and going to the local pub for a pint,” says Nicola Butler, the owner of the London-based luxury travel company NoteWorthy.

    The real festivities start on Christmas morning with a glass of champagne and a breakfast of smoked salmon and mince pieces, she says. Later that day, after the Queen’s annual Christmas speech is aired, it’s time for dinner.

    That means a turkey or roast beef and a host of sides such as roasted parsnips and carrots, buttered peas and Brussels sprouts. Some families include Yorkshire pudding, a savory baked good of flour, eggs and milk made with meat drippings.

    Dessert is Christmas pudding, which is actually a dark and dense cake made with dried fruits, spices and usually a splash of brandy. “We have lots of wine to go along with the food,” says Butler.

    Christmas honey cookies are part of a typical Greek holiday spread.

    Maria Loi, the celebrity Greek chef, says that the country’s holiday celebrations begin on Christmas Eve around 7 p.m.

    “Families sit around the fireplace and eat a special wheat bread that we make only at Christmas,” she says. “Some households also eat pork sausages. It’s the only [occasion] Greeks eat pork because the meat is not common in our cuisine.”

    After attending an early morning holy communion on Christmas Day, Greeks go home for an all-day eating fest, says Loi.

    Homemade honey cookies with walnuts or almonds come first followed by chicken soup with orzo. A few hours later, it’s on to either a roast chicken stuffed with chestnuts or variations of grilled or braised pork dishes. Sides such as sauteed wild greens, finely shredded romaine with scallions and feta cheese and roasted lemon potatoes accompany the entrée.

    Dessert is light and could be baked apples with honey and walnuts or Greek yogurt topped with honey. To drink, Loi says Greeks favor red wine.

    Posole is a traditional way to start a Mexican Christmas meal.

    Mexicans get the Christmas festivities going on December 24, according to Pablo Carmona and Josh Kremer, co-founders of Paradero Hotels.

    “Families start by breaking a piñata that’s filled with all sorts of locally made candies in chili and tamarind flavors,” says Kremer. Dinner follows usually somewhere between 7 and 10 p.m.

    The meal starts with posole – a stew with big corn kernels and pork or beef that’s accompanied by as many as 20 condiments such as parsley, cilantro, chiles and assorted cheeses.

    In a nod to the American influence in Mexico, the entrée – at least for Carmona and Kremer – is a turkey with all the trimmings such as mashed potatoes and green beans.

    The sweet finish is often a creamy flan plus strawberries and cream. But the meal isn’t complete without tequilas and mezcals to go along with the food.

    On the 25th, many Mexicans heat up the leftovers from the night before. “We’re tired so we don’t want to bother to cook,” says Carmona.

    Homemade tamales are a staple in Costa Rica.

    Many Costa Ricans celebrate Christmas with a middle-of-the-night extravaganza, says Leo Ghitis, owner of Nayara Hotels, in the country’s northern highlands. “We go to midnight Mass and come home and have a huge meal at 2 a.m.,” he says.

    Homemade tamales, filled with either chicken or pork or vegetables and cheese, kick off the spread. Then it’s on to arroz con pollo, Costa Rica’s national rice dish that’s made with green beans, peas, carrots, saffron, cilantro and a chopped up whole chicken.

    The third course is an assortment of grilled proteins. Costa Ricans who live along the coast have seafood such as marlin, tuna, mahi mahi, shrimp and lobster while inlanders tuck into beef, pork and chicken. Sides are the same for both: rice with black beans, boiled palm fruit with sour cream and a hearts of palm salad with avocado.

    Dessert is typically a coconut flan and arroz con leche – rice with milk, sugar and cinnamon.

    “We top off the meal with lots of rum punch and eggnog and don’t finish until 4 or 5 a.m.,” says Ghitis.

    Christmas Day itself is about finishing leftovers and hitting the streets for outdoor parties, he says.

    Peas and rice grace many holiday plates in the Bahamas.

    Christmas Day is the big food celebration for Bahamians, says Vonya Ifill, the director of talent and culture at Rosewood Baha Mar.

    Locals have a big dinner that includes turkey, ham, macaroni and cheese, peas and rice made with coconut milk and potato salad.

    “We have this feast in the evening and then at midnight go off and celebrate Boxing Day with a Junkanoo Festival,” she says. “After dancing and parading around all evening and into the early morning hours, we end the festivities with a boiled fish or fish stew.”

    The seafood, she says, is always accompanied by potato bread or Johnny Cake, a cornmeal flatbread.

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  • Dogs sniff out $10 million worth of meth and cocaine hidden in jalapeño paste in San Diego

    Dogs sniff out $10 million worth of meth and cocaine hidden in jalapeño paste in San Diego

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    Thousands of pounds of illegal narcotics were found hidden in vats of jalapeño paste and seized at the U.S.-Mexico border last week, authorities said, thanks in part to K-9 dogs that sniffed out the suspicious cargo. The drugs altogether are worth an estimated $10.4 million.

    Border security officers uncovered the illicit cargo inside a commercial tractor-trailer being examined at an inspection site in San Diego, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Thursday in a news release. The vehicle said to be carrying a shipment of jalapeño paste had actually brought with it 349 packages of methamphetamine and cocaine, which officers removed from the vats of paste themselves after K-9 dogs screened and flagged the trailer. 

    CBP identified the driver as a 28-year-old man with a valid border crossing card — a visitor’s visa that the U.S. issues to people who are citizens and residents of Mexico. The agency said border security referred the driver to the Otay Mesa Cargo Facility for inspection after he passed the entry point into California on Wednesday morning. 

    cbp-jalapeno-paste-1.jpg
    Thousands of pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine were found hidden inside vats of jalapeño paste near the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego.

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection


    Testing on the suspicious packages found inside his truck revealed the vats of jalapeño paste contained about 3,161 pounds of methamphetamine and 522 pounds of cocaine, CBP said. Officers seized the drugs and turned over the driver to Homeland Security Investigations for processing.

    cbp-jalapeno-paste-2.png
    In total, 349 packages of methamphetamine and cocaine were seized from the shipment, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection


    “Our K-9 teams are an invaluable component of our counter-narcotics operations, providing a reliable and unequalled mobile detection capability,” said Rosa Hernandez, Otay Mesa Port Director.   

    Officers at the CBP field office in San Diego seized more than 14,000 pounds of narcotics at border crossing points in the area in November alone, according to the agency. 

    In addition to drug shipments seized on land, the U.S. Coast Guard said earlier this month that a crew operating in waters off the Southern California coast offloaded roughly 18,219 pounds of cocaine, which has an estimated street value of almost $240 million. The cocaine was seized from several vessels suspected of running drug smuggling operations off the coast of Mexico, Central America and South America in November. 

    It’s not uncommon for drug traffickers to hide narcotics in unusual places. Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in central California announced that four were charged for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking operation that exported wholesale amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine to Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. The drugs were hidden in commercial products like instant noodle packets, car parts, emergency kits and subwoofers, authorities said.

    Emily Mae Czachor

    Emily Mae Czachor is a reporter and news editor at CBSNews.com. She covers breaking news, often focusing on crime and extreme weather. Emily Mae has previously written for outlets including the Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed and Newsweek.

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  • Cheney Offers to Waterboard Trump – Ralph Lombard, Humor Times

    Cheney Offers to Waterboard Trump – Ralph Lombard, Humor Times

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    Ex-Congresswoman wants to waterboard Trump to ‘get at the truth’ about January 6th.

    In a less-publicized section of Liz Cheney’s tell-all expose “Oath and Honor,” the former US Congresswoman explains how she’d personally deal with Donald Trump.

    waterboard Trump
    Like father, like daughter: Liz Cheney wants to waterboard Trump.

    “I’d waterboard him,” she writes. “Donald Trump is, without a doubt, the gravest threat this country has ever faced. And I mean ever! Far greater than Bin Laden ever was, far greater than Lee Harvey Oswald, or Fidel Castro, or Jefferson Davis, or John Wilkes Booth, or Benedict Arnold, or even Hitler himself. And if that doesn’t justify enhanced interrogation techniques, I don’t know what does!

    “I think that if I was allowed just five minutes alone with him at an undisclosed location in Guantanamo Bay for a heart-to-heart chat — well, I just think that would go a long way towards helping bring out the real truth about Trump’s involvement in the January 6th insurrection. As a matter of fact, if I’m any judge of character, it might only take ten or fifteen seconds.”

    In a later chapter Cheney reveals what she thinks would be the proper punishment for Trump’s many crimes.

    “When Trump gets sent to prison — I mean if Trump gets sent to prison, ha-ha– he certainly should not be given a free ride. Hopefully by that time he’ll be financially ruined and completely penniless, and absolutely dependent on the good will of all the people he’s thrown under the bus over the years. Which is to say, he’ll be all alone.

    “This will force him to engage in demeaning outsourced manual labor to pay for his keep in prison. Fast-food employment might well be considered. Of course working at McDonald’s would be more of a reward than a punishment, but I think that working at Taco Bell as, say, the toilet cleaning boy, might be entirely appropriate. And we’d even give him three free meals a day of all the tacos he could eat, washed down with plenty of genuine imported Mexican water.

    “On the weekends Trump could be locked in a pillory in the prison exercise yard for gala celebrations. The festivities could begin with a “dangerous fruit” throwing contest for the children, followed by a thousand-dollar-a-plate fund-raiser, where participants get to break the plates over Trump’s head. Ten thousand dollar kicks in the ass would also be available. The grand finale could be an auction, with a minimum bid of one hundred thousand dollars, where one lucky lady gets to grab Trump by the bells (sic), and wring them for thirty seconds!”

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  • CDC warns travelers to Mexico’s Baja California of exposure to deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever

    CDC warns travelers to Mexico’s Baja California of exposure to deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever

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    The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning travelers to Baja California, Mexico, about Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a potentially fatal bacterial disease that spreads through the bite of an infected brown dog tick, which can be carried by pets. 

    The warning comes after a San Diego, California, resident who traveled to Baja California died last month after contracting the disease, San Diego County Public Health Services reported. 

    In addition to Baja California, RMSF has been found in the Mexican states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila and Nuevo León.

    In the level 1 travel advisory issued Friday, the CDC urged travelers who develop symptoms of RMSF during travel, or within two weeks of returning to the U.S., to seek medical attention.

    Symptoms of RMSF include fever, headache, and rash, which can develop two to four days after the onset of symptoms, according to the CDC. 

    The disease can progress quickly in infected patients and can become deadly if not treated early with the antibiotic doxycycline. Children under 10 years of age are five times more likely to die from RMSF, the CDC said.

    San Diego County public health officials said the last time someone from San Diego died from RMSF was in 2014.

    Simrin Singh

    Simrin Singh is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News.

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  • Mexico-based startup accused of selling health drink made from endangered fish: “Nature’s best kept secret”

    Mexico-based startup accused of selling health drink made from endangered fish: “Nature’s best kept secret”

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    Environmental watchdogs accused a Mexico-based startup Thursday of violating international trade law by selling a health supplement made from endangered totoaba fish to several countries including the U.S. and China.

    Advocates told The Associated Press they also have concerns that the company, The Blue Formula, could be selling fish that is illegally caught in the wild.

    Earth Ocean Farms Marine Fish Hatchery Sustainable Seafood Production
    Male totoaba breeders in a tank at the Earth Ocean Farms hatchery in La Paz, Mexico, on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. 

    Maurico Palos/Bloomberg via Getty Images


    The product, which the company describes as “nature’s best kept secret,” is a small sachet of powder containing collagen taken from the fish that is designed to be mixed into a drink.

    Under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, to which Mexico and the U.S. are both signatories, any export for sale of totoaba fish is illegal, unless bred in captivity with a particular permit. As a listed protected species, commercial import is also illegal under U.S. trade law.

    Totoaba fish have been listed as an endangered species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 1979, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

    The environmental watchdog group Cetacean Action Treasury first cited the company in November. Then on Thursday, a coalition of environmental charities – The Center for Biological Diversity, National Resources Defense Council and Animal Welfare Institute – filed a written complaint to CITES.

    The Blue Formula did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment.

    The company claims on its website to operate “100%” sustainably by sourcing fish from Cygnus Ocean, a farm which has a permit to breed totoaba, and using a portion of their profits to release some farmed fish back into the wild.

    However, Cygnus Ocean does not have a permit for commercial export of their farmed fish, according to the environmental groups. The farm also did not immediately respond to a request from the AP for comment.

    While the ecological impact of breeding totoaba in captivity is much smaller relative to wild fishing, advocates like Alejandro Olivera, the Center for Biological Diversity’s Mexico representative, fear the company and farm could be used as a front.

    “There is no good enforcement of the traceability of totoaba in Mexico,” said Olivera, “so it could be easily used to launder wild totoaba.”

    Gillnet fishing for wild totoaba is illegal and one of the leading killers of critically endangered vaquita porpoise, of which recent surveys suggest less than a dozen may exist in the wild.

    “This hunger for endangered species is killing vaquitas here. Because the mesh size of the gillnets for totoaba is about the size of a head of a vaquita. So they get easily entangled,” Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho, who works with Mexico’s National Institute of Ecology, previously told “60 Minutes.”

    Mary Burnham Curtis, a senior forensic scientist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, holds a dried totoaba fish bladder at news conference April 24, 2013, in San Diego. 

    Elliot Spagat / AP


    Gillnetting is driven by the exorbitant price for totoaba bladders in China, where they are sold as a delicacy for as much as gold.

    As “60 Minutes” previously reported, the bladders are believed to possess medicinal value which gives them monetary value. The environmental group Greenpeace used hidden cameras to capture Hong Kong merchants trying to sell totoaba swim bladders. The prices went up to $40,000.

    The Blue Formula’s supplement costs just under $100 for 200 grams.

    In October U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized over $1 million worth of totoaba bladders in Arizona, hidden in a shipment of frozen fish. The agency called it “one of the larger commercial seizures of its kind in the U.S.”

    Roughly as much again was seized in Hong Kong the same month, in transit from Mexico to Thailand.

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  • What Republicans said about the southern border during debate

    What Republicans said about the southern border during debate

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    During the fourth Republican Party debate on Wednesday night, the candidates present in Alabama were asked how they would address “the crisis on the southern border.”

    National polls show immigration and migrants entering the United States illegally as among the top issues in the country. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie wasn’t able to answer the question when it was posed by the moderators, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, ex-South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy discussed the topic at length.

    DeSantis spoke passionately about going after those who bring fentanyl into the country.

    “The drug cartels are invading our country and they are killing our citizens,” DeSantis said.

    GOP presidential candidates former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, left, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, right, on Wednesday participate in the Republican primary debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The candidates were asked what they would do about the “crisis at the southern border.”
    (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    The Florida lawmaker went on about the dangers of fentanyl in the U.S., relating a story about the drug’s residue being on the floor of an Airbnb rental, which he said resulted in the death of a baby.

    “Is this acceptable in this country? I know the elites in D.C., they don’t care. They don’t care that fentanyl is ravaging your community. They don’t care that illegal aliens are ravaging our community and overwhelming our community,” DeSantis said. “The commander-in-chief not only has a right, you have a responsibility to fight back against these people. And it means you’re going to categorize them as foreign terrorist organizations.”

    He then advocated for continuing construction of a wall along the southern border.

    “Here’s the thing: If we had a wall across the southern border, which I support, this would not have happened. We need to build a wall across the southern border. I’ll get it done,” DeSantis told the audience, as he parroted Trump’s promise from years ago by saying that he’d make Mexico pay for it.

    Before Haley discussed the issue, she was asked about comments she made regarding catching and deporting illegal migrants. Haley clarified that she would at first deport “all of the seven or eight million illegals that have come [into the U.S.] under [President Joe] Biden’s watch.”

    “We have to stop the incentive of what’s bringing them over here in the first place,” she added, noting temporary protective status given to Venezuelans.

    Haley said migrants who have been in the country longer should be examined if they’ve been “vetted” and “paid taxes.”

    Regarding illegal drugs, she called for “special operations” to deal with cartels. Haley also said China should be punished for producing fentanyl.

    “Look at where fentanyl came from. Let’s go to the heart of the matter. It came from China. That’s why we need to end all normal trade relations with China until they stop murdering Americans with fentanyl,” she said. “I promise you they need our economy. They will immediately stop that.”

    Ramaswamy said, “The easy part is talking about how we’re going to use our military to secure the border. I will, and I believe that everybody else wants to do the same thing.”

    He also supported action against China but said the “harder part” is addressing the “mental health epidemic raging across this country like wildfire” rather than hitting the “the demand side of it.”