Mexico aims to crackdown on cartel violence, mulls over merging National Guard with nation’s army to quell violent spats

TOPSHOT - A Mexican National Guard vehicle drives past children playing as families of asylum seekers wait outside the El Chaparral border crossing port as they wait to cross into the United States in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico on February 19, 2021. - The Biden administration plans to slowly allow 25,000 people with active cases seeking asylum into the US previously enrolled in the Migrant Protection Protocols program, known as "Remain in Mexico," with community organizations testing for Covid-19 and providing hotels to quarantine migrants upon arrival during the pandemic. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently said he is looking into ways to streamline the country’s National Guard amid an increase in violence in the country. Reports said that Lopez Obrador has flirted with bypassing Mexico’s Congress in order to give control of the National Guard to Mexico’s army. This would give Mexico’s military control over policing practices in the country. 

McKinney Fire in N. Calif. leaves two dead

McKinney Fire in N. Calif. leaves two dead

Flames from the McKinney Fire burn beyond firefighters in Klamath National Forest, Calif., on Sunday, July 31, 2022. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)Two people are dead and thousands more evacuated as firefighters battle  California’s largest fire this season. Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) declared a state of emergency Saturday, as the McKinney Fire burning near the California-Oregon border continued to rage out of control. More than 55,000 acres have been charred since the flames broke out Friday. Crews found the bodies of two people in a burned-out vehicle Sunday morning. 

Report: Chinese Embassy pressures US lawmakers

Report: Chinese Embassy pressures US lawmakers

The flags of the United States and China fly from a lamppost in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., November 1, 2021. REUTERS/Brian SnyderThe Chinese Embassy in Washington has reportedly warned US lawmakers not to join House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on her possible trip to Taiwan. According to NBC News on Thursday, cited Congressman Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) claimed that Chinese diplomats are trying to pressure lawmakers into preventing Pelosi from going to Taiwan.

WH slams Texas, Ariz. for sending migrants to D.C.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre arrives for the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, Friday, July 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)The White House attacked Texas and Arizona amid D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s request for National Guard troops to deal with the bus loads of migrants coming from both states. During a press briefing Thursday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused both GOP led states of using migrants as a “political ploy.”