Mexico

When you’re trekking in 40C heat, there’s nothing more welcome than a swimming hole. This particular oasis was a perfect circle of inky, deliciously cold-looking water. Only problem was, it was 10 metres below the trail. I took a deep breath and channelled my inner Tom Daley. One, two, three – go! I leapt into the void and plummeted like a stone – points deducted for the huge splash as I hit the water.

When I came up for air, I had the cenote, or sinkhole, to myself, barring the birds nesting in the craggy rocks that formed it. I floated on my back and watched as a black vulture tried to coax her fluffy chick to take its first flight. Who knew carrion-eaters were so cute?

President Claudia Sheinbaum has made history as the first woman to lead Mexico’s Independence Day celebrations in 215 years, delivering a resolute message against foreign intervention amid ongoing diplomatic pressure from the United States.

From the National Palace balcony in Mexico City, Sheinbaum presided over the traditional “grito” ceremony on Monday night, ringing the bell that symbolises the call to arms during Mexico’s 1810-21 independence struggle against Spain. While Independence Day is officially marked on September 16, the “grito” has been performed the evening before for more than a century.

During Tuesday’s military parade, Sheinbaum firmly declared, “No foreign power makes decisions for us.” Speaking before her cabinet and thousands of soldiers, she emphasised that “no interference is possible in our homeland”. Though she named no specific nation, her statement comes as the US government increases pressure on Mexico to combat drug cartels and enhance border security.

The Trump administration has offered to deploy US troops against cartels — some of which his government has designated as “terrorist” organisations — but Sheinbaum has consistently rejected such proposals.

Her administration has taken stronger action against cartels than her predecessor, extraditing numerous cartel figures to US authorities and highlighting reduced fentanyl seizures at the Mexico-US border. However, Sheinbaum maintains these efforts serve Mexico’s interests rather than responding to US pressure.

Sheinbaum, who assumed office in October, is Mexico’s first female president.

Maybe the national team turned a corner in last week’s 2-0 win over Japan.

Maybe the change to a 3-4-2-1 formation unlocked the lively and innovative play that had been missing in the team’s first year under coach Mauricio Pochettino. Maybe Pochettino and his players have finally found the chemistry and coordination that was so obviously missing.

And maybe, just maybe, the U.S. really can make a deep run in next summer’s World Cup, the first to be played in the U.S. in 32 years.

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

One game can’t totally erase the dysfunctional and dispassionate performances that have marked much of the brief Pochettino era, one which included four consecutive losses at home and two losses in as many games with Mexico.

Nor can it make up for a player pool that has seemingly grown thin and ever-changing or speed the learning curve for a successful club coach who has struggled with the transition to the international game.

But it can buy the team and its coach some time.

“Touch the right buttons and we start to perform,” Pochettino said last September, shortly after he took the U.S. job. Just now, however, is he finding those buttons.

The win over Japan clearly lifts a huge weight off Pochettino and his players, but the reprieve may be temporary. If the U.S. regresses in friendlies with Ecuador and Australia next month, the angst and despair that have hovered over the team most of the year will return.

What it all means is Pochettino and the USMNT have reached a fork in the road. And the path they take will likely shape U.S. Soccer’s future for years, if not decades.

A World Cup the federation has been pointing to for years is just nine months away and much is riding on the U.S. team’s performance. A deep run in the tournament will engage and ignite the country, open the wallets of deep-pocketed sponsors and do more for the sport in the U.S. than any event since the last World Cup held here. That one led to the formation of MLS, which has grown into the largest first-tier professional league in the world, and the establishment of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, which has invested more than $100 million at the grassroots level, impacting nearly 100 million kids.

The coherent performance against Japan — albeit a young, inexperience Japanese “B” team — brought hope that a successful path, the longest one at the fork in the road, is still open.

But three days before beating Japan, the U.S. was thoroughly outplayed by South Korea in a 2-0 loss — the team’s sixth loss in 14 games this year — that raised alarm. According to The Athletic, the performance dropped the U.S. to 48th in the world in the Elo Ratings, a results-based formula for measuring all men’s national teams. It was the lowest ranking in 28 years for the Americans.

If the USMNT follows the South Korea path in the World Cup, its tournament run could be short, ending in the first two rounds and likely stunting both interest and investment in soccer in the U.S.

With just three international breaks remaining before the World Cup, there is reason for both hope and concern.

Pochettino’s lineup choices remain as unsettled as his tactical approach — although the Japan game may help settle that. As Stuart Holden, World Cup midfielder turned Fox Sports analyst, noted, the change to a three-man backline solved many problems.

Against Japan, Holden said, the center backs played with noticeable confidence and aggression. The formation also freed wingbacks Max Arfsten and Alex Freeman to be more creative and allowed attackers Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun, the team’s game-changers, to be more impactful.

There was much to like in the new approach and for the first time in his tenure, it seemed as if Pochettino had finally found a game plan that suited his players, with Balogun among those who benefited most: his goal, off an assist from Pulisic, was his first for the U.S. in nearly 14 months while his start was his first under Pochettino.

The other goal went to Alex Zendejas, who was called up for the first time this year despite having one of the best two-year runs of any USMNT attacker, scoring 16 goals and contributing 15 assists to help Mexico’s Club América to three straight Liga MX titles.

Another player who stepped up when given the opportunity was Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan, who played an inspired 90 minutes, leading all players with 83 touches.

Pochettino welcomed the result but continued to argue it wasn’t the most important thing.

“It’s the process,” he told reporters.

“When you are strong in your ideas and your belief, it’s about never giv[ing] up.”

So which team is the real national team? The one that beat Japan or the one that was humiliated by South Korea? And what will the USMNT’s destiny be in the World Cup? A long, profitable run that changes the trajectory of soccer in the U.S. or a short, disappointing one that sets the sport’s progress back years?

The October games with Ecuador and Australia could go a long way toward determining that. There’s a lot riding on the answer.

World Cup ticket update

More than 1.5 million people registered for the chance to buy World Cup tickets in the first 24 hours of the tournament’s initial presale lottery, according to FIFA. Online applications came from 210 countries, FIFA said, with the three host countries — the U.S., Mexico and Canada — leading the way.

The presale draw, which began last Wednesday and will end Friday at 8 a.m. Pacific time, is the first phase of ticket sales for the tournament. After a random selection process, successful applicants will be notified via email starting from Sept. 29 and will be given a date and time slot to purchase tickets, starting at $60, beginning Oct. 1. When fans enter the window won’t affect their chances of winning.

Subsequent ticket sales phases will begin in October. Further details on the timeline and products are available at FIFA.com/tickets.

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

MEXICO CITY — It was pouring buckets of rain at the Estadio GNP Seguros on Saturday night, when Oasis played one of two sold-out reunion shows in Mexico City.

Lined at the entrance were tents stuffed with bootleg tour merch and fans seeking respite from the water. You could hear the sloshing of wet socks and Adidas Sambas as they price-checked knockoff memorabilia emblazoned with the Gallagher brothers’ iconically muggy faces.

For 200 pesos, you could get a T-shirt with Noel and Liam Gallagher as fighting cats, or characters from “Peanuts” and “The Simpsons.”

While a downpour isn’t the ideal weather condition for an outdoor concert — my Bohemian FC x Oasis collab football jersey went unseen under a fashionable rain parka — it was certainly fitting for a band that routinely, perhaps obsessively, sings about rain. Yet for Mexican fans of Oasis who’ve anxiously waited years to finally see the brothers reunite, it was all sunsheeeeIIIIIINE.

Outside the entry gates, father and son Santiago and Omar Zepeda, both sporting bucket hats, had a palpable buzz radiating off them as they eagerly waited to enter the stadium. It was a multigenerationally significant day for them.

“I came for the first time with my dad in ’98 at the Palacio de Deportes to see Oasis, and now I get to bring my son,” said Santiago, who came from Guadalajara with his 14-year-old in tow. “There was a moment that I said we’ll just go without tickets and see what we do. We’ll get in because we’ll get in. I feel incredible to be able to have done what I did with my father 27 years later now with my son.”

In August of last year, the Manchester-bred Gallagher brothers — who had been openly feuding for decades — declared that war was over on the 30th anniversary of their 1994 juggernaut debut, “Definitely Maybe.”

“The guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned. The great wait is over,” they announced. As reunion tour dates opened, and two Mexico City stops were announced, Mexican fans expressed pure elation and flooded Ticketmaster once the sale went live. As you can imagine, it was online bedlam.

Waiting in the Ticketmaster queue filled Esteban Ricardo Sainz Coronado, 24, and Sara Pedraza, 25, with dread. The young couple came in from Monterrey, Nuevo León, but it was uncertain whether they’d make it to what Coronado called “a collective reunion that’s cultural and transcends more than music history.”

Pedraza waited three hours in Ticketmaster’s virtual line, almost missing school and her chance to secure seats as she kept getting bumped off the site. “I stubbornly kept trying and after I don’t know how many attempts, it worked,” Pedraza said. “It was such a huge relief.”

Like Coronado and Sainz, the reunion tour is millions of fans’ first opportunity to see Oasis play live, as they would have been far too young or not even born yet during their heyday. For longtime Oasis heads, it was a chance to once again be in community with their favorite band.

British bands have long had a foothold in Mexico’s alternative scenes, with fans of all ages still packing bars and venues to hear Primal Scream, Blur, Pulp and, of course, Morrissey and the Smiths. These groups have had an enduring, impassioned following that has been explored in books, articles and films, with Mexicans often feeling a spiritual and cultural connection to the U.K.’s music scene stemming back to the Beatles. Oasis could have sold out shows across Mexico 10 times over.

After acrimoniously (and unsurprisingly) breaking up in 2009, the hope to ever see the Gallaghers fill a stadium with the staple of acoustic jam sessions worldwide, “Wonderwall,” dimmed. The brothers’ endless swipes at each other in the media post-breakup didn’t give fans hope they’d get back to “living forever.” Mexican fans even prayed to La Virgen de Guadalupe that the infamously combative brothers wouldn’t break up again even hours before showtime.

“As long as they don’t fight!” said Hector Garduño, who came to the show with his partner, Sofia Carrera, from Querétaro. “That’s what we want, for them not to fight.”

Gracias a la virgencita, the tour has seemingly been all love. The skies eventually cleared up on Saturday, and the stadium indeed filled with Oasis’ soaring, anthemic bangers for 2 ½ hours. For days leading up to the Mexico City date, fans in my orbit and social feeds debated how the show would compare with the crowd at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, where Oasis played the previous weekend.

“[Mexican audiences are] on another level,” said Garduño. “I think these dudes are going to be taken by surprise. I expect jumping, screaming, crying; the emotion of hearing those songs that really move you.”

Mauri Barranco, who came to the show with her best friend, said “I feel like we give a lot of ourselves. That’s why so many artists like coming to Mexico.”

Meanwhile, Alberto Folch, from Mexico City, saw his own audience participation as a challenge. “With all the vibes, with all the emotion, we’re ready to jump, to show them what Mexico is made of,” he said. “Tonight we’re rock ‘n’ roll stars.”

The 65,000 fans in attendance undoubtedly showed up sobbing and screeching with unbridled elation. Liam Gallagher played to the locals, donning a sombrero de charro during “Wonderwall” and the show closer “Champagne Supernova.” The band sounded as if no time had passed since its salad days, with the members’ vocals and musicianship arguably tighter than ever — perhaps a positive side effect of pulling back from the rock star lifestyle now that they’re in their 50s. The sound reverberated clean across the stadium as well (shoutout to L-Acoustics, who provided the sound for the reunion tour), and was praised nonstop by fans I spoke to throughout the weekend. I heard a lot of emphatic cries of “el sonido, güey!”

I pogo’d along with my fellow “madferits” as we turned away from the stage and linked arms to do the Poznań: a signature move at every show, borrowed from Manchester City F.C. fans. During “Cigarettes & Alcohol,” we shouted every lyric and were sprayed by flying beers thrown in raucous excitement.

I’ve never felt more giddy to get splashed with spit-riddled beer — and seemingly neither did anyone around me, who shouted joyful obscenities in Spanish. Three men behind me even sobbed into each other’s chests during “Don’t Look Back in Anger” and the stadium filled with cellphone lights as Noel Gallagher crooned “Talk Tonight.”

The rain didn’t fall again, but even if it had, it would have still felt like the sun.

Sept. 16 (UPI) — Mexico’s government will shift its trade policy next year by raising tariffs on countries without free trade agreements, including China, India and South Korea. The move is aimed at reducing competitive disadvantages in key sectors and strengthening domestic production.

The plan covers 1,463 categories of goods, from vehicles and auto parts to steel, textiles, toys and furniture. Those products currently face import duties of 0% to 35%, but under the proposal they would be subject to rates of 10% to 50%, depending on the category.

In particular, imported light vehicles — many from China — would see duties rise from the current 15% to 20% to the maximum rate of 50%.

The initiative, part of the government’s Plan Mexico 2026 economic package, drew immediate international reaction, particularly from Beijing, the most affected trading partner.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said his country “firmly opposes any form of economic pressure disguised as trade regulation.”

He said the measure “undermines its legitimate rights” and urged Mexico to act “as a responsible partner in promoting fair and open global trade.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum denied the initiative was aimed specifically at China or prompted by foreign pressure. Seeking to ease tensions, she said she will meet with officials from Beijing and Seoul to explain that the tariff increase is meant “to strengthen domestic production” and is part of the government’s Plan Mexico 2026.

“We do not want any conflict with any country,” Sheinbaum said, emphasizing that the measure is domestic economic policy, not a hostile act.

Mexico’s Economy Ministry said the tariffs would cover about 8.6% of the country’s total imports, valued at roughly $52 billion.

“This is not against any country; it’s per product. In this case, we are applying a package aimed at protecting about 19 sectors of the economy, mainly automobiles and auto parts. These increases are not discriminatory or coercive,” Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard told the Mexican outlet Grupo Fórmula.

“They apply to all countries with which we do not have a trade agreement, and the goal is to strengthen domestic production.”

He added that Mexico’s trade deficit with several Asian countries — particularly China and South Korea — has grown sharply.

“The pace of growth in that deficit worries us. For example, we send one dollar in exports to China and import 11. So when you see prices below cost, any Mexican manufacturer would ask why we are allowing that,” Ebrard said, defending the tariff hike as the maximum permitted under World Trade Organization rules.

The proposal was sent to Congress this week as part of the 2026 budget, and approval is considered certain since the ruling party holds majorities in both chambers. Once approved, it would take effect 30 days after publication in Mexico’s Official Gazette.

The United States and Canada, Mexico’s partners in the USMCA trade agreement, will not be affected by the tariffs because of their existing agreements.

Mexican officials said the measure has multiple goals. The government wants at least 50% of inputs classified as “strategic” to be manufactured in Mexico by 2026, reducing reliance on foreign supply. At the same time, the plan seeks to protect jobs and narrow the trade deficit.

Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the priority is to protect domestic jobs, estimating that about 320,000 positions depend directly on the sectors covered by the measure.

The measure would also help reduce Mexico’s large trade deficit with China, which exceeded $57 billion in the first half of 2025.

On the geopolitical front, the initiative comes amid pressure from the United States. Analysts say Mexico is also seeking to “appease” its main USMCA partner over concerns about China’s influence, with the move coming ahead of the next review of the regional trade agreement in 2026.

Sept. 12 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Mario is small but strengthening off the west coast of Mexico Friday.

The latest update from the National Hurricane Center was at 4:23 a.m. Friday. It said Mario is a small tropical cyclone about 20 nautical miles off the coast of Guerrero, Mexico. The tropical depression was boosted to Tropical Storm Mario with maximum winds estimated at 40 mph.

Because of Mario’s closeness to the coast of Mexico, the Mexican government has issued a tropical storm watch for a small segment of the coast from Lazaro Cardenas to Punta San Telmo.

NHS said it’s having trouble predicting Mario’s trajectory because of its small size and closeness to land. Some models show the system moving inland and dissipating Friday, but others show Mario reaching hurricane strength. Mario is expected to reach colder waters by day five and become a post-tropical cyclone.

Mario has been moving faster toward the west-northwest at 14 mph, parallel to the coast of Mexico.

Heavy rainfall will affect southern Mexico through Sunday, which could result in flash flooding, particularly in areas of higher terrain.

Tropical storm conditions are possible along portions of the coast of Michoacan Friday. Gusty winds are possible elsewhere along the coasts of western Guerrero, Michoacan, and Colima through Friday night.

TERENCE CRAWFORD blew a kiss to Canelo Alvarez’s army of Mexican fans after being BOOD – just 24 hours before battle.

Crawford has had to contend with the pro-Latino crowds all week ahead of his Las Vegas super-fight with Canelo.

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But at their weigh in – only 24 hours before the Mexican shootout – Crawford appeared motivated by the hostility.

The pair of modern greats hit the scales at 167.5lb for the undisputed super-middleweight title fight.

Canelo – defending his WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO belts – looked trim as he bids to retain his 12st throne.

“I trained for everything, I need to put everything into this fight” Canelo said.

Meanwhile Crawford – stepping up TWO divisions – looked bulkier than ever at his career-highest weight.

“I feel wonderful, I can’t wait for tomorrow,” Crawford said with a grin before delivering the blown kisses.

Canelo vs Crawford – All the info

IT’S finally time – one of the biggest boxing matches EVER takes place THIS WEEKEND.

Two of boxing’s GOATs will meet in the ring as they fight for pound-for-pound supremacy and the super-middleweight crown.

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Terence Crawford have been fixtures in the top of the rankings for years and are considered among the best to ever do it.

Unbeaten Crawford, who beat Israil Madrimov to win the light-middleweight title last time out, hasn’t fought for a year.

He is jumping up two weight divisions to meet Canelo, having spent most of his career weighing in even lighter.

Mexican favourite Canelo has scored title defences over Edgar Berlanga and William Scull since Crawford was last inside a ring.

Here’s all the info for this must-watch fight…

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What makes someone suspicious enough to be grabbed by masked federal authorities?

Is it a Mexican family eating dinner at a table near a taco truck?

Afghan women in hijabs working at a Middle Eastern market?

South Asian girls in colorful lehengas, speaking Hindi at an Indian wedding?

According to Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, writing a concurrence in the Supreme Court’s emergency ruling allowing roving immigration raids in Los Angeles, any of these could be fair game, using law and “common sense.”

Brown people, speaking brown languages, hanging out with other brown people, and doing brown people things like working low-wage jobs now meets the legal standard of “reasonable suspicion” required for immigration stops.

Living while brown has become the new driving while Black.

Of course, this particular high court ruling — and our general angst — has centered on Latino immigrants. That’s fair, and understandable. In California, about half of our immigrants are from Mexico, and thousands more from other Latin and South American countries.

But increasingly, especially for newer immigrants, more folks are coming from Africa and Asian countries such as China and India — some of which, you may recall, Donald Trump called “shithole countries” way back in 2018, while questioning why America doesn’t take more immigrants from white places such as Norway.

It’s a dangerous mistake to think Trump’s immigration purge is just about Latinos. He’s made that clear himself. We have reached the point in our burgeoning white nationalism when our high court has deemed brown synonymous with illegal, regardless of what country that pigment originated in. False distinctions about who is being targeted create divisions at a time when solidarity is our greatest power.

“It’s really about racial subordination, and this is really about promoting white supremacy in this nation,” George Galvis, executive director of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, told me. He’s part Native American and part Latino, and 100% against policies like this one that target people by skin color.

Mexico, India, China, Iran. People from these places may not always see what they have in common, but let me help you out.

Racists see two colors: white and not white. Although this particular case was filed on behalf of Latino defendants, there is nothing in it that limits its scope to Latinos.

“It’s not targeting, you know, Eastern Europeans. It’s not targeting people who are Caucasian,” said Amr Shabaik, legal director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in L.A., a nonprofit civil rights organization advocating for American Muslims. “This is going to be on Black and brown communities, and that’s who’s going to feel the brunt.”

For Black Americans, this argument is as old as dirt. Our criminal justice system, our society, has a long and documented history of viewing Black Americans with suspicion — considering it “common sense” to think they’re up to something nefarious for actions like getting behind the wheel of a car. But, for the most part, our courts have frowned upon such obvious racism — though not always.

That anti-Black discrimination can be seen today in Trump’s deployment of the National Guard into urban centers in what Trump has described as a “war” on crime, a callback to the war on drugs of the 1990s that targeted Black Americans with devastating consequences.

This ruling on immigration enforcement goes hand-in-hand with that military deployment, two prongs in a strategy to wear away our outrage and shock at the dismantling of civil rights.

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor pointed out in her dissent, the 4th Amendment is supposed to protect us all from “arbitrary interference” by law enforcement.

“After today,” she wrote, “that may no longer be true for those who happen to look a certain way, speak a certain way, and appear to work a certain type of legitimate job that pays very little.”

That makes this ruling “unconscionably irreconcilable” with the Constitution, she wrote.

ICE has detained about 67,000 people across the country since last October, according to government data. Of those, almost 18,000 are from Mexico. Detentions of people from Guatemala and Honduras add almost 14,000 Latinos to that number. Places including Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela add thousands more. Certainly, by any measure, Latinos are bearing the brunt of immigration enforcement.

Other parts of the brown world are not immune, however. More than 2,800 people from India have been detained, as have more than 1,400 Chinese people. Thousands of people from across Africa, including more than 800 Egyptians, have been locked up, too.

So we are not just talking about Latino people at car washes or Home Depots. We are talking about Artesia’s Little India; Mid-City’s Little Ethiopia; the Sri Lankan community in West Covina.

We are talking about Sacramento’s Stockton Boulevard, where Vietnamese men congregate in the cafes every afternoon.

We are talking about the farms, schools and towns of the Central Valley and the Central Coast, where Latino and Asian immigrants grow our food.

We are talking about cities such as Fremont in the Bay Area, where 50% of the population is Asian, from places including India, China and the Philippines.

We are talking about California, where immigrants make up 27% of the state’s population, more than double the national average. And yes, many of them lack documents, or live in families of mixed status.

A recent UC Merced study found that there are about 2.2 million undocumented immigrants in California. Of those, about two-thirds have been here more than a decade, and half have been here for more than 20 years.

“This isn’t about enforcing immigration laws — it’s about targeting Latinos and anyone who doesn’t look or sound like Stephen Miller’s idea of an American, including U.S. citizens and children, to deliberately harm California’s families and small businesses,” Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on social media. “Trump’s private police force now has a green light to come after your family — and every person is now a target.”

Remember a few short months ago when our dear leader swore they were only going after criminals? How quickly did that morph into criminals being anyone who had crossed the border illegally?

And now, it has openly become anyone who is brown — and we are not even shocked. We are happily debating what the rules of these broad sweeps will be, having given up entirely on the fact that broad sweeps are horrific.

Do you think it will stop with immigration, or even crime? What about LGBTQ+ people? Or protesters? Who becomes the next threat?

Immigration sweeps are not a Latino problem, a Latino fear. We have opened the door to target people who “common sense” tells us are un-American.

The only way to close that door is with our collective strength, undivided by the kind of “common sense” discrimination that men like Kavanaugh embrace.

Sept. 11 (UPI) — At least three people are dead and 90 are injured following the explosion of a gas tanker in Mexico City, officials said.

Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada Molina announced the casualty toll online, listing all 90 people who were injured and the hospitals where they were being treated. Ages of the victims ranged from 6 months to 60 years old.

At least 10 people have been discharged from the hospital, she said.

Earlier, before any fatalities had been reported and when only 57 people were known to be injured, she said 19 were listed in serious condition.

The tanker exploded under Concordia Bridge, resulting in a fire.

“The roadways remain closed to traffic and there are disruptions in public transportation of the area,” she said on X, while posting pictures showing victims being loaded onto police helicopters and the smoking wreckage of the tanker.

President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo of Mexico expressed her “solidarity and support” to the families of the three deceased victims and to those of the injured.

“Likewise, I express my recognition to the emergency services that are supporting in this unfortunate incident,” she said in a statement, adding federal agencies were responding to the explosion.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Alejandro Zendejas scored in the 30th minute, Folarin Balogun added a goal in the 64th and the United States stopped a seven-game winless streak against top-25 opponents by beating a Japan team of mostly second-string players 2-0 in a friendly on Tuesday night.

The 15th-ranked U.S. was fresh off a 2-0 loss to South Korea on Saturday in the first of eight friendlies before coach Mauricio Pochettino calls in players for training ahead of the World Cup.

No. 17 Japan used essentially a B team, changing all 11 starters from Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Mexico and starting eight players who entered with 10 or fewer international appearances. There were no starters from the group that began the March match against Bahrain when Samurai Blue clinched their eighth straight World Cup berth, though some regulars entered in the 62nd minute.

The U.S. had not beaten a top-25 team since the CONCACAF Nations League final against Mexico in March 2024, including five straight defeats. The Americans dominated throughout before a sellout crowd of 20,192 at Lower.com Field, winning 2-0 for the sixth time in Columbus.

Zendejas took a long cross from left back Max Arfsten and volleyed with his left foot from near the penalty spot for his second goal in 13 international appearances.

Balogun scored his sixth international goal on Christian Pulisic’s through pass, beating goalkeeper Keisuke Osako with an angled shot inside the far post.

Central defender Chris Richards, right back Alex Freeman, midfielder Cristian Roldan, Zendejas and forward Balogun joined the starting lineup in place of Sergiño Dest, Diego Luna, Sebastian Berhalter, Tim Weah and Josh Sargent.

Richards, Tim Ream and Tristan Blackmon started as central defenders in a five-man back line, a formation coach Pochettino switched to in the second half Saturday.

Adams and Roldan had not started together since 2018, and Roldan made his first start in 26 months.

Japan’s Koki Ogawa hit the crossbar in the 70th, as did the Americans’ Jack McGlynn in the 83rd.

THIS is the shocking moment a train slams into a double decker bus in Mexico – leaving ten dead and dozens injured.

A speeding freight train T-boned a coach full of people at a grade crossing in Atlacomulco, 80 miles northwest of Mexico City.

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Footage shows the bus in a line of traffic on the Maravatío-Atlacomulco highway.

Cars in either direction have stopped at the train tracks – though a motorbike scoots across at the last moment.

The bus, from company Herradura de Plata, is at first stationary at the front of the queue.

But then it suddenly decides to move forward, as if trying to reach the other side before the train passes.

Just as it reaches the middle of the tracks, the train ploughs into the centre of the coach.

The entire bus folds and is carried along by the train, which continued for hundreds of metres.

Emergency teams rushed to the scene and were met by chaos and devastation.

A photo taken soon after the catastrophe shows the rear end of the bus with the roof totally blown off.

Passengers can be seen cowering in the open air.

Ambulance crews from multiple regions as well as the Red Cross worked on the injured and helped extract survivors from the wreckage.

Despite their best efforts, ten people died and another 45 were injured.

The authorities have launched an investigation into what happened.

The bus, marked number 6002, was travelling from San Felipe del Progreso to Mexico City.

Its driver’s decision to move onto the tracks seem inexplicable from the footage.

Canadian Pacific Kansas City of Mexico, the train line, confirmed the accident and sent its condolences to the families of the victims.

City officials in Atlacomulco asked residents to refrain from going to the site of the collision and offered their condolences to the families of the victims who died.

A statement posted to social media read: “We express our sincere solidarity to the families affected at this time.”

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Last week, at least 15 people were killed after a packed tourist bus plunged off a mountain road in Sri Lanka.

The bus crashed into another vehicle before smashing through guardrails.

The fatal accident took place near the town of Wellawaya in the mountainous Ella region which sits just 174 miles east of the capital Colombo.

Sixteen others, including five children, on board were injured but managed to escape the wreckage.

Police confirmed the group was made up of local tourists who had been visiting lush tea plantation hill towns in the area.

Pictures show the smashed up bus on the ground after the horror fall.

Authorities say more than 60 were injured in the crash, northwest of Mexico City, as the cause remains unclear.

At least 10 people have been killed after a freight train hit a double-decker bus in Mexico, according to authorities.

The crash occurred in an industrial zone on the highway between Atlacomulco, a town about 115km (71 miles) northwest of Mexico City, and Maravatio in the Michoacan state on Monday.

Images from the crash showed portions of the top deck of the bus smashed in and its metal frame badly dented. First responders were on the scene and cordoned off the area.

Authorities said at least 61 others were injured in the incident.

The State of Mexico’s attorney general’s office said that seven of those killed were women and three were men.

The circumstances surrounding the crash were not immediately clear, although a video circulating online showed the bus inching across the train tracks as it waited in traffic.

Another video, from after the collision, showed the bus at rest to the side of the tracks, with the roof missing. People could be seen moving on the top level as the train slowed to a stop.

“Help me, help me,” a woman could be heard crying.

The train operator, Canadian Pacific Kansas City of Mexico, confirmed the accident and sent its condolences to the families of the victims.

The Calgary-based company said its personnel were on site and cooperating with authorities.

Rebeca Miranda told The Associated Press news agency her sister and her sister’s daughter-in-law were on the bus when it was hit at about 6:30am (12:30 GMT).

She said her sister was taken to hospital and was able to speak, but the other woman died in the accident. She said both were domestic workers.

“It’s really unfortunate,” she told the news agency. “Why? To beat the train. Those are lives.”

JUBA, South Sudan — South Sudan said Saturday it repatriated to Mexico a man deported from the United States in July.

The man, a Mexican identified as Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, was among a group of eight who have been in government custody in the East African country since their deportation from the U.S.

Another deportee, a South Sudanese national, has since been freed while six others remain in custody.

South Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said it carried out Munoz-Gutierrez’s repatriation to Mexico in concert with the Mexican Embassy in neighboring Ethiopia.

The move was carried out “in full accordance with relevant international law, bilateral agreements, and established diplomatic protocols,” the ministry said in a statement.

In comments to journalists in Juba, the South Sudan capital, Munoz-Gutierrez said he “felt kidnapped” when the U.S. sent him to South Sudan.

“I was not planning to come to South Sudan, but while I was here they treated me well,” he said. “I finished my time in the United States, and they were supposed to return me to Mexico. Instead, they wrongfully sent me to South Sudan.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said that Munoz-Gutierrez had a conviction for second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

South Sudan is engaging other countries about repatriating the six deportees still in custody, said Apuk Ayuel Mayen, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

It is not clear whether the deportees have access to legal representation.

Rights groups have argued that the Trump administration’s increasing practice of deporting migrants to third countries violates international law and the basic rights of migrants.

The deportations have been blocked or limited by U.S. federal courts, though the Supreme Court in June allowed the government to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands.

Other African nations receiving deportees from the U.S. include Uganda, Eswatini and Rwanda. Eswatini received five men with criminal backgrounds in July, and the Trump administration wants to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man mistakenly deported to his native El Salvador earlier this year, to the southern African kingdom. Rwanda announced the arrival of a group of seven deportees in mid-August.

Machol writes for the Associated Press.

Sept. 5 (UPI) — A man from Albuquerque has pleaded guilty to making threats of violence against President Donald Trump, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico confirmed this week.

Tyler Leveque now faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to making the threats on social media, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Leveque admitted to making the threats during interviews with agents from the FBI and U.S. Secret Service.

The 37-year-old argued the multiple videos and statements constituted free speech.

The threats were made between January 2 and 4, just over two weeks before Trump took office for his second term.

“You and your rich friends are dead no threat a promise,” one of the threats states, according to the U.S. Attorney’s statement.

Leveque specifically mentions a rally planned for January 19, the day before Trump’s inauguration.

Authorities said Leveque had also recently purchased a firearm but had not yet received it when he was detained.

A judge will decide Leveque’s exact sentence.

He also faces up to three years supervision one any prison term

QUITO, Ecuador — The United States is designating two Ecuadorean gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, marking the Trump administration’s latest step to target criminal cartels in Latin America.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the announcement Thursday while in Ecuador as part of a trip to Latin America overshadowed by an American military strike against a similarly designated gang, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. That attack has raised concerns in the region about what may follow as President Trump’s government pledges to step up military activity to combat drug trafficking and illegal migration.

“This time, we’re not just going to hunt for drug dealers in the little fast boats and say, ‘Let’s try to arrest them,’” Rubio told reporters in Quito, Ecuador’s capital. “No, the president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they’ve been waging war on us for 30 years and no one has responded.”

Two more gangs designed as terrorist groups

Los Lobos and Los Choneros are Ecuadorean gangs blamed for much of the violence that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The terrorist designation, Rubio said, brings “all sorts of options” for Washington to work in conjunction with the government of Ecuador to crack down on these groups.

That includes the ability to conduct targeted killings as well as take action against the properties and banking accounts in the U.S. of the group’s members and those with ties to the criminal organizations, Rubio said. He said the label also would help with intelligence sharing.

Los Choneros, Los Lobos and other similar groups are involved in contract killings, extortion operations and the movement and sale of drugs. Authorities have blamed them for the increased violence in the country as they fight over drug-trafficking routes to the Pacific and control of territory, including within prisons, where hundreds of inmates have been killed since 2021.

U.S. strike in the Caribbean takes center stage

The strike in the southern Caribbean has commanded attention on Rubio’s trip, which included a stop in Mexico on Wednesday.

U.S. officials say that the vessel’s cargo was intended for the U.S. and that the strike killed 11 people, but they have yet to explain how the military determined that those aboard were Tren de Aragua members.

Rubio said U.S. actions targeting cartels were being directed more toward Venezuela, and not Mexico.

“There’s no need to do that in many cases with friendly governments, because the friendly governments are going to help us,” Rubio told reporters. “They may do it themselves, and we’ll help them do it.”

A day earlier, Rubio justified the strike by saying that the boat posed an “immediate threat” to the U.S. and that Trump opted to “blow it up” rather than follow what had been standard procedure: to stop and board, arrest the crew and seize any contraband.

The strike drew a mixed reaction from leaders around Latin America, where the U.S. history of military intervention and gunboat diplomacy is still fresh. Many, such as officials in Mexico, were careful to not outright condemn the attack. They stressed the importance of protecting national sovereignty and warned that expanded U.S. military involvement might backfire.

Ecuador has struggled with drug trafficking

Ecuador has its own issues with narcotics trafficking.

President Daniel Noboa thanked Rubio for the U.S. efforts to “actually eliminate any terrorist threat.” Before their meeting, Rubio said on social media that the U.S. and Ecuador are “aligned as key partners on ending illegal immigration and combatting transnational crime and terrorism.”

The latest United Nations World Drug Report says various countries in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported larger cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021. The report does not give Venezuela the outsize role that the White House has in recent months.

“I don’t care what the U.N. says. I don’t care,” Rubio said.

Violence has skyrocketed in Ecuador since the pandemic. Drug traffickers expanded operations and took advantage of the nation’s banana industry. Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of the fruit, and traffickers find shipping containers filled with it to be the perfect vehicle to smuggle their contraband.

Cartels from Mexico, Colombia and the Balkans have settled in Ecuador because it uses the U.S. dollar and has weak laws and institutions, along with a network of long-established gangs, including Los Choneros and Los Lobos, that are eager for work.

Ecuador gained prominence in the global cocaine trade after political changes in Colombia last decade. Coca bush fields in Colombia have been moving closer to Ecuador’s border due to the breakup of criminal groups after the 2016 demobilization of the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Ecuador in July extradited to the U.S. the leader of Los Choneros, José Adolfo Macías Villamar. He escaped from an Ecuadorean prison last year and was recaptured in June, two months after being indicted in New York on charges he imported thousands of pounds of cocaine into the U.S.

Lee, Cano and Martin write for the Associated Press. Lee and Cano reported from Mexico City. AP writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.

MEXICO CITY — A day after President Trump dramatically stepped up his administration’s military role in the Caribbean with what he called a deadly strike on a Venezuelan drug cartel, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting the president of Mexico, who has voiced fears of the U.S. encroaching on Mexican sovereignty.

Rubio will sit down with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Wednesday to stress the importance the U.S. places on cooperating with Washington on Western Hemisphere security, trade and migration. Rubio will visit Ecuador on Thursday on his third trip to Latin America since taking office.

Trump has alienated many in the region with persistent demands and threats of sweeping tariffs and massive sanctions for refusing to follow his lead, particularly on migration and the fight against drug cartels. Likely to heighten their concerns is the expanded military footprint. The U.S. has deployed warships to the Caribbean and elsewhere off Latin America, culminating in what the administration said Tuesday was a lethal strike on an alleged Tren de Aragua gang vessel that U.S. officials say was carrying narcotics.

“Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE!” Trump said of the strike, which he said had killed 11 gang members.

Rubio, defending the strike, made clear that such operations would continue if needed. Though it was a military strike, America’s top diplomat tweeted about it around when Trump announced it at the White House and then spoke to reporters about the operation.

“The president has been very clear that he’s going to use the full power of America and the full might of the United States to take on and eradicate these drug cartels, no matter where they’re operating from and no matter how long they’ve been able to act with impunity,” Rubio said Tuesday. “Those days are over.”

Rubio, a son of Cuban immigrants, has spoken out against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and other Latin American leftist governments, notably in Cuba and Nicaragua, for years and supported opposition leaders and movements there. Just before leaving for Mexico, he attended an award ceremony in Florida for a Cuban dissident who he said was an inspiration for freedom-loving people everywhere.

In Mexico, Trump has demanded, and so far won, some concessions from Sheinbaum’s government, which is eager to defuse his tariff threats, although she has fiercely defended Mexico’s sovereignty.

“There will be moments of greater tension, of less tension, of issues that we do not agree on, but we have to try to have a good relationship,” she said shortly before Rubio arrived in Mexico City on Tuesday.

Earlier this week, in a State of the Nation address marking her first year in office, she said: “Under no circumstance will we accept interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that is detrimental to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the country.”

Sheinbaum has gone after Mexican drug cartels and their fentanyl production more aggressively than her predecessor. The government has sent the National Guard to the northern border and delivered 55 cartel figures long wanted by U.S. authorities to the Trump administration.

Sheinbaum had spoken for some time about how Mexico was finalizing a comprehensive security agreement with the State Department that, among other things, was supposed to include plans for a “joint investigation group” to combat the flow of fentanyl and the drug’s precursors into the U.S. and weapons from north to south.

Last week, however, a senior State Department official downplayed suggestions that a formal agreement — at least one that includes protections for Mexican sovereignty — was in the works.

Sheinbaum lowered her expectations Tuesday, saying it would not be a formal agreement but rather a kind of memorandum of understanding to share information and intelligence on drug trafficking or money laundering obtained “by them in their territory, by us in our territory unless commonly agreed upon.”

On the trip, Rubio would focus on stemming illegal migration, combating organized crime and drug cartels, and countering what the U.S. believes is malign Chinese behavior in its backyard, the State Department said.

Lee writes for the Associated Press.

THE widow of an Olympic hero and schoolteacher has paid tribute to “a proud Yorkshireman” after his tragic death at the age of 80.

John Sherwood lived in Hillsborough and shot to fame in 1968 when he won the bronze medal in the hurdles at the Mexico Olympics in 1968.

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He sadly passed away after a long illness at the palliative care unit at the Northern General Hospital on August 19. 

His heartbroken wife, Sheila, who also won an Olympic medal in Mexico has paid tribute to her husband who she said always gave his best whatever he did.

She went on to say: “There were never any half measures. He would do things properly and that was why he had such a great sporting career and was such a good teacher.

“We were unique in 1968, a married couple who both won medals. We’d married six months before the games.

“We were amateurs and both worked full time as teachers. John was at Intake School in Doncaster at that time, I was at Myers Grove.

“After we won our Olympic medals we just carried on as normal.”

John’s wife Shiela has received dozens of messages of condolence from John’s former pupils at Forth Park Comprehensive, where he worked for 37 years.

John, who is survived by his two grown up children, retired from teaching in 2005.

He and his wife trained for the games together and both took home medals.

Sheila said: “We were unique in 1968, a married couple who both won medals. We’d married six months before the games.

“We were amateurs and both worked full time as teachers. John was at Intake School in Doncaster at that time, I was at Myers Grove.

“After we won our Olympic medals we just carried on as normal.”

She taught at Myers Grove School and the pair returned to their careers following their Olympic success.

Sheila added: “He loved teaching, and didn’t want to go into an office as a head of year. He wanted to stay as a PE teacher.”

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MEXICO CITY — Security, sovereignty, tariffs, trade, drugs and migration — all hot-button issues for the Trump administration and its neighbors in the Western Hemisphere — will top Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s agenda this week on his third trip to Latin America since becoming the chief U.S. diplomat.

In talks with leaders in Mexico and Ecuador on Wednesday and Thursday, Rubio will make the case that broader, deeper cooperation with the U.S. on those issues is vitally important to improving health, safety and security in the Americas and the Caribbean.

Yet, President Trump has alienated many in the region — far beyond the usual array of U.S. antagonists like Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela — with persistent demands, coupled with threats of sweeping tariffs and massive sanctions for not complying with his desires.

Mexico has been a focus for Trump

Mexico, the only country apart from Canada to share a border with the U.S., has been a particular target for Trump. He has demanded, and so far won, some concessions from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government, which is eager to defuse the tariff threats.

Just a few hours before Rubio’s arrival Tuesday, Sheinbaum was set to lead a meeting of the country’s most important security forum, which brings together all 32 governors, the army, navy, federal prosecutor’s office and security commanders to coordinate actions across Mexico.

Sheinbaum had been talking for weeks about how Mexico was finalizing a comprehensive security agreement with the State Department that, among other things, was supposed to include plans for a “joint investigation group” to combat the flow of fentanyl and the drug’s precursors into the U.S. and weapons from north to south.

“Under no circumstance will we accept interventions, interference or any other act from abroad that is detrimental to the integrity, independence and sovereignty of the country,” she said Monday in her State of the Nation address marking her first year in office.

Last week, however, a senior State Department official downplayed suggestions that a formal agreement — at least one that includes protections for Mexican sovereignty — was in the works.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Rubio’s meetings, said sovereignty protections were “understood” by both countries without having to be formalized in a document.

Sheinbaum lowered her expectations Tuesday, saying during her morning news briefing that it would not be a formal agreement but rather a kind of memorandum of understanding to share information and intelligence on drug trafficking or money laundering obtained “by them in their territory, by us in our territory unless commonly agreed upon.”

Mexico’s president touts keeping close ties with the U.S.

Of her meeting with Rubio on Wednesday, she said it was always important to maintain good relations with the United States.

“There will be moments of greater tension, of less tension, of issues that we do not agree on, but we have to try to have a good relationship, and I believe tomorrow’s meeting will show that,” Sheinbaum said. “It is a relationship of respect and at the same time collaboration.”

To appease Trump, Sheinbaum has gone after Mexican cartels and their fentanyl production more aggressively than her predecessor. The government has sent the National Guard to the northern border and delivered 55 cartel figures long wanted by U.S. authorities to the Trump administration.

The Trump-Sheinbaum relationship also has been marked by tension, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announcing a new initiative with Mexico to combat cartels along the border that prompted an angry denial from Sheinbaum.

Despite American officials singing her praises, and constantly highlighting collaboration between the two countries, Trump glibly said last month: “Mexico does what we tell them to do.”

Migration and cartels are a focus of Rubio’s trip

In announcing the trip, the State Department said Rubio, who has already traveled twice to Latin America and the Caribbean and twice to Canada this year, would focus on stemming illegal migration, combating organized crime and drug cartels, and countering what the U.S. believes is malign Chinese behavior in its backyard.

He will show “unwavering commitment to protect [U.S.] borders, neutralize narco-terrorist threats to our homeland, and ensure a level playing field for American businesses,” the department said.

Rubio’s first foreign trip as secretary of state was to Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, during which he assailed Chinese influence over the Panama Canal and sealed deals with the others to accept immigrant deportees from the United States. Rubio later traveled to Jamaica, Guyana and Suriname.

The senior State Department official said virtually every country in Latin America is now accepting the return of their nationals being deported from the U.S. and, with the exception of Nicaragua, most have stepped up their actions against drug cartels, many of which have been designated foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S.

The official also said progress has been made in countering China in the Western Hemisphere.

Lee and Janetsky write for the Associated Press. AP writer María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Maiara Niehues scored the go-ahead goal on a header in the 77th minute to give Angel City a 2-1 victory over Bay FC at BMO Stadium on Monday.

Riley Tiernan also scored for Angel City (6-7-5), which won its second straight after an eight-game winless streak.

Angel City’s Alyssa Thompson was an excused absence for the game as rumors swirled that Chelsea was in talks to acquire the 20-year-old winger. The transfer deadline in the English Women’s Super League is Thursday.

Any fee for Thompson is likely to exceed $1 million. The Orlando Pride recently paid an international record $1.5 million transfer fee for forward Lizbeth Ovalle from Mexico’s Tigres.

Bay (4-9-5) is winless in its last seven matches.

Tiernan took a pass from M.A. Vignola and ran it down field before cutting inside and dancing around Bay defenders before firing a shot past Bay goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz in the 12th minute.

It was Tiernan’s team-leading eighth goal. She moved into second for most goals ever by an NWSL rookie.

Rachel Hill scored the equalizer for Bay, scoring on the rebound off her own shot on Angel City goalkeeper Hannah Seabert in the 37th minute.

Niehues broke the stalemate on a header off a corner kick.

On Bay FC’s side, Asisat Oshoala was also an excused absence amid numerous reports of a move to Al Hilal Saudi Women’s Premier League.