Justice officials said Tuesday that Mexico has sent 26 wanted fugitives to the United States, including alleged Mexican drug cartel kingpins, amid pressure to crack down on cross-border fentanyl smuggling.”These fugitives are collectively alleged to have imported into the United States tonnage quantities of dangerous drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and heroin,” the US Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a statement.US officials released a list of those extradited and currently in their custody, saying they are fugitives wanted for “violent and serious crimes” including drug trafficking, kidnapping, human smuggling and the murder of a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy in 2008, among other crimes. US Attorney General Pam Bondi called the transfer “the latest example of the Trump administration’s historic efforts to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorist organizations.”The transfer was made “at the solicitation of the US Department of Justice,” which “agreed not to seek the death penalty for the prisoners in its country,” according to a joint statement from the Attorney General of Mexico and Mexico’s Secretariat of Security and Civilian Safety.The US embassy in Mexico said in a statement that kingpins from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel are among those who were extradited — both groups which were designated as terrorist organizations by the US in February.- ‘Common enemies’ -“These fugitives will now face justice in US courts, and the citizens of both of our nations will be safer from these common enemies,” US Ambassador Ronald Johnson said in a statement, praising the government of Mexico “for demonstrating resolve in the face of organized crime.”Among the drug dealers sent to the United States in Tuesday’s transfer was Los Cuinis leader Abigael Gonzalez Valencia, whose cartel is accused of trafficking tons of cocaine from South America through Mexico and into the United States.It also included the Sinaloa Cartel’s Leobardo Garcia Corrales, who is accused of trafficking fentanyl into the United States in exchange for weapons “such as AK-47s, grenades and submachine guns,” US DOJ officials said.Abdul Karim Conteh is alleged to have smuggled thousands of migrants through Mexico from around the world — including Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, Kazakhstan and other countries — “by various surreptitious and unlawful means, including the use of ladders and tunnels” to cross the US border, officials said.Another transferred fugitive is Roberto Salazar, who is “wanted in connection with the murder of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Juan Escalante,” who was killed while leaving his home in 2008, the DOJ said.All those transferred face a maximum sentence of life in prison, except Conteh, who faces a maximum of 45 years, if convicted.The handover comes as the North American neighbors negotiate a security agreement that addresses drugs and arms trafficking. The prisoners were moved under an abbreviated legal procedure, authorities said, which excludes some measures provided in traditional extradition cases.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government defended the move, saying some drug lords regain freedom through judicial corruption. The transfer is the second such instance since Trump returned to the White House in January.In late February, Mexico transferred 29 accused narcotraffickers to the United States, including prominent cartel kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero, who was accused of kidnapping and killing DEA special agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena in 1985.The US currently has other kingpins in custody, including Sinaloa Cartel founders Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who received a life sentence, and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is awaiting trial.Sheinbaum has pledged to collaborate with Washington on tackling drug trafficking, while rejecting any “invasion” of her country’s sovereignty.

When US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on almost all trading partners in April, Ben Knepler contacted the factory in Cambodia producing his company’s outdoor furniture. “Stop production,” he ordered.The announcement involved a 10-percent levy on imports from most partners, set to rise further for many of them. For Cambodia, the planned duty was a staggering 49 percent.”That night, we spoke to our factory,” Knepler told AFP. “We literally cannot afford to bring our own product into the US with that kind of tariff.” The decision was even more painful for Knepler and his Pennsylvania-based company, True Places, given that he had previously shifted production of his outdoor chairs to Cambodia from China, following tariffs on Chinese imports imposed by Trump during his first presidency.”We were facing 25-percent tariffs in China, and there were zero-percent tariffs in Cambodia,” Knepler recalled.It took him a year to move the massive equipment and molds to Cambodia only to see another steep levy.With Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff hikes taking effect last Thursday, these Cambodia-made chairs face a lower — though still significant — 19 percent duty.- ‘Wheel of misfortune’ -Knepler’s experience echoes that of many US companies producing everything from yo-yos to clothing abroad, after years of offshoring American manufacturing.To cope, businesses use various strategies.Some pass on the new costs as a surcharge to customers. Others halted imports when duties reached prohibitive levels, hoping Trump would strike bilateral trade deals that would make their businesses viable again.Trump frames his tariffs as paid for by other countries, touting tens of billions in revenue this year — but firms contest this description.”We make the tariff payments when the product comes into the US,” Knepler stressed. “Before we sell it, we’re the ones who pay that tariff.”Now saddled with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt he took on to relocate the company’s production to Cambodia, Knepler worries if his business will survive.He likens the rapid policy changes to spinning a “wheel of misfortune,” resulting in a new tariff each time. Over four months this year, the planned tariff rate on Cambodian exports has gone from 0 to 49 percent, to 10 percent, to 36 percent, to 19 percent, he said.”No one knows what it’s going to be tomorrow,” he added. “It’s impossible to have any kind of confidence in what the rate will be in three- or four-months’ time.”Economists warn that tariffs could fuel inflation and drag on growth.EY chief economist Gregory Daco noted that the duties effective Thursday raise the average tariff rate to 17.6 percent from 2.8 percent at the start of the year -— the highest level since the early 1930s.While Trump lauds the limited effects his duties have had on US prices so far, experts say tariffs take time to filter through to consumers.Many of Trump’s sweeping levies also face legal challenges over his use of emergency economic powers.- Price hikes -The global tariffs are especially hard to avoid.Barton O’Brien said he accelerated production and borrowed money to bring in as much inventory as possible before Trump took office.On the election campaign trail, the Republican leader had floated a 60-percent tariff on imports from China, where O’Brien makes most of his products.The Maryland-based veteran selling dog harnesses and other accessories rented a container to ship as many products as he could before Trump’s new tariffs would take effect. “I had dog life jackets in the bathroom,” he told AFP.There is “no way” to produce domestically, he said, adding that comparable American-made products sell for nearly six times his retail prices.He makes some items too in India and Vietnam.But Chinese products face an additional 30-percent duty this year, even under an extended truce now expiring in November. The rates for India and Vietnam are 25 percent and 20 percent respectively.”If you look at the brands I compete with, we’re all made in the same countries. We’re all going to have to raise prices together,” said O’Brien.

The recent auction of a Martian meteorite — for a record-grabbing $5.3 million at Sotheby’s New York — has sparked questions over its provenance and renewed debate over who gets to claim rocks fallen from the heavens.The hefty 54-pound (25-kilogram) stone is the largest Martian meteorite ever discovered on Earth, according to its Sotheby’s listing, and was found in November 2023 in the vast Saharan desert in Niger.The government of Niger has announced that it will open an investigation following the auction, saying it appears to “have all the characteristics of illicit international trafficking.”On Friday, the government suspended exports of precious stones and meteorites until further notice.Sotheby’s has rejected the accusations, insisting that the meteorite was “was exported from Niger and transported in line with all relevant international procedure.”In light of the controversy, however, a review of the case is underway, a Sotheby’s spokesperson told AFP.”The stone journeyed 140 million miles through space, and hurtled through Earth’s atmosphere before crashing in the Sahara Desert,” the Sotheby’s listing said.Following its discovery, the jagged, ochre-colored stone was then sold to an international dealer, briefly exhibited in Italy, and eventually ended up in the auction catalog in New York.For American paleontologist Paul Sereno, who has worked closely with Niger’s authorities for years, all signs suggest that the stone left the country “illicitly.””Everybody’s anonymous — from the person who found it, the dealers, the guy who bought it, everybody’s anonymous,” he told AFP, making no secret of his frustration.”If they had put on baseball gloves and caught the meteorite as was hurtling towards Earth before it landed in any country, they could claim it… but I’m sorry, it landed there. It belongs to Niger,” he said.- ‘We should respect it’ -Laws governing the ownership of meteorites vary based on their point of impact.In the United States, for example, if a rock falls on private land, the property owners have ownership rights.In Niger, however, a law governs “national cultural patrimony,” which includes rare mineralogical specimens, according to Matthieu Gounelle, a professor at France’s National History Museum, and his father Max Gounelle, a French university professor.Both are specialists in regulations governing the collection and sale of meteorites.”In our opinion, there is no doubt that meteorites should be included among the rare mineralogical specimens” protected by Nigerien law, they told AFP.Beyond the legal battle and the possible involvement of a trafficking network, the sale of the meteorite also raises science ethics questions.The rock, named NWA 16788, has unique scientific research value. Much larger than other Martian meteorites that have been recorded to date, it offers a unique insight into the geological history of the Red Planet.Like other Martian meteorites, it is believed to have been ejected into space when an asteroid slammed into Mars.”This is nature’s heritage. In many ways, it’s world heritage, and it’s telling us things about the cosmos. We should respect it,” Sereno said.”It’s not something to my mind that should be auctioned up to potentially disappear into someone’s mantle.”burs-cha/des/jgc

The White House is to play host to a mixed martial arts bout on July 4 next year, the day the United States marks the 250th anniversary of its founding, UFC boss Dana White said Tuesday.President Donald Trump has been a regular guest at the often-bloody contests, where fighters punch, kick and grapple with their opponent in a no-holds-barred battle to submission or knockout.Bringing the brutal combat sport to the center of US political power will mark a historic first.”It is definitely going to happen,” White, a high-profile supporter of the US president, told CBS television.”I talked to him last night — ‘him’ being the president — and I’m flying out there at the end of this month, and I’m going to sit down and walk him through all the plans and the renderings, and we’re going to start deciding what he wants and doesn’t want.”Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the largest and most successful organization in the burgeoning world of MMA, a blend of martial arts disciplines like jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, boxing and wrestling.Bouts take place in an eight-sided ring — dubbed “The Octagon” — bounded by a chainlink fence.With few exceptions — like eye-gouging — male and female fighters are allowed to employ almost any technique to attack their opponent.Fights often end with a prone fighter being pummeled in the face as they lie on the bloodied floor, before the referee steps in to stop the action.The shaven-headed White, who has regularly spoken warmly of Trump as both a friend and a political leader, said the president’s daughter would be involved in organizing the Independence Day spectacle at the White House.”When (Trump) called me and asked me to do it, he said: ‘I want Ivanka in the middle of this,'” White told CBS, whose parent company Paramount has just signed a $7.7 billion streaming deal with UFC.White took over the UFC in 2001 when it was a small, loss-making organization, shepherding it into one of the fastest-growing sports promotion companies in the world.The sport’s popularity with young men — a key demographic in the 2024 US election — and Trump’s long association with the UFC, have made the president a regular fixture at some of its more high-profile events, where he is greeted like a rock star.Its brutal nature and high injury rate mean the sport is controversial, with doctors decrying the potential for brain damage amongst fighters who are repeatedly hit in the head, though it has gained increasing mainstream acceptance in recent years.

Perplexity AI offered Google on Tuesday $34.5 billion for its popular Chrome web browser, which the internet giant could potentially be forced to sell as part of antitrust proceedings.The whopping sum proposed in a letter of intent by Perplexity is nearly double the value of the startup, which was reportedly $18 billion in a recent funding round.”This proposal is designed to satisfy an antitrust remedy in highest public interest by placing Chrome with a capable, independent operator focused on continuity, openness, and consumer protection,” Perplexity chief executive Aravind Srinivas said in the letter, a copy of which was seen by AFP.Google is awaiting US District Court Judge Amit Mehta’s ruling on what “remedies” to impose, following a landmark decision last year that said the tech titan maintained an illegal monopoly in online search.US government attorneys have called for Google to divest itself of the Chrome browser, contending that artificial intelligence is poised to ramp up the tech giant’s dominance as the go-to window into the internet.Google has urged Mehta to reject the divestment, and his decision is expected by the end of the month.Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Perplexity’s offer vastly undervalues Chrome and “should not be taken seriously,” Baird Equity Research analysts said in a note to investors.Given that Perplexity already has a browser that competes with Chrome, the San Francisco-based startup could be trying to spark others to bid or “influence the pending decision” in the antitrust case, Baird analysts theorized.”Either way, we believe Perplexity would view an independent Chrome — or one no longer affiliated with Google — as an advantage as it attempts to take browser share,” Baird analysts told investors.Google contends that the United States has gone way beyond the scope of the suit by recommending a spinoff of Chrome, and holding open the option to force a sale of its Android mobile operating system.”Forcing the sale of Chrome or banning default agreements wouldn’t foster competition,” said Cato Institute senior fellow in technology policy Jennifer Huddleston.”It would hobble innovation, hurt smaller players, and leave users with worse products.”Google attorney John Schmidtlein noted in court that more than 80 percent of Chrome users are outside the United States, meaning divestiture would have global ramifications.”Any divested Chrome would be a shadow of the current Chrome,” he contended.”And once we are in that world, I don’t see how you can say anybody is better off.”The potential of Chrome being weakened or spun off comes as rivals such as Microsoft, ChatGPT and Perplexity put generative artificial intelligence (AI) to work fetching information from the internet in response to user queries.Google is among the tech companies investing heavily to be a leader in AI, and is weaving the technology into search and other online offerings.

Dozens of activists and locals protested on Tuesday against a visit by US Vice President JD Vance to an idyllic rural region of southwest England, where he is on holiday with family.Around 60 people gathered for the demonstration in the town of Charlbury in the Cotswolds region, carrying signs including “Go Home”, “Not Welcome Party” and “Sod Off”.UK police and US security detail dotted the usually quiet roads leading to the nearby hamlet where Vance was staying, blocking some roads and footpaths in the countryside region popular with tourists.”The people of the Cotswolds are out here today telling JD Vance that he is not welcome here,” Jake Atkinson from the Stop Trump Coalition told AFP at the gathering.Co-organiser Atkinson cited US President Donald Trump’s policies including on immigration and the war in Gaza for the local anger. He said the anti-Trump coalition would also turn out against the US president, who is due in the UK for a state visit in September.Earlier in the day, a black van bearing a meme image of Vance edited to look bald and bloated drove past the quaint cottages and winding streets of the town.”We wanted to extend the same welcome that he extended to (Volodymyr) Zelensky from the White House,” said 75-year-old Charlbury resident Lou Johnson, referring to the cold reception Vance gave the Ukrainian leader during a press conference in Washington in February. Vance kicked off his British holiday last week by meeting UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who hosted the American politician in his country retreat in Chevening in Kent, southeast of London.Reports have also said Vance will later visit Scotland, where Trump spent five days at his golf resorts last month.- Heightened security -Residents said they were surprised by the heavy security around Dean, the village where Vance was staying.”If somebody’s just in the Cotswolds on holiday, you wouldn’t imagine they’d need a 20-car motorcade and all the roads to the entire village,” said Phil Ball, 53, a local resident and cameraman.”It’s been disruptive and quite a surprise.”Victoria Dawson, an artist from nearby Witney, said locals were protesting “against somebody who we think is immoral… somebody who is doing terrific damage around the world along with Trump”. “Because JD Vance is here, suddenly roads are closed everywhere, there are police everywhere,” she added. “It’s not what we expect or accept.”Lou Johnson also complained that heightened security had been “invading everywhere” in the rural area he has called home for 50 years.”People think it’s just a gentle little village but every now and then we do stand up for what we believe in,” said Johnson.