Hurricane Jimena closes in on Mexico’s Baja peninsula

An "extremely dangerous" Hurricane Jimena bore down Tuesday on the Mexican peninsula of Baja California, with the resort town of Cabo San Lucas lying in its path. The government of Mexico extended a hurricane warning northward along the west coast of the Baja peninsula to Puerto San Andresito and east to the city of Loreto, the U.S. National Weather Service said in an advisory at 5 a.m

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Mexican Drug Cartels Find a Lucrative New Home in California State Parks

The damage they do to society is well-known, but drug traffickers, it turns out, also aren’t the most environmentally-minded campers. Law enforcement officials say that a wildfire now raging in Santa Barbara’s Los Padres National park, burning more than 136 square miles, was sparked by a cooking fire started by the hirelings of a Mexican drug cartel which was growing thousands of marijuana plants in the remote canyons. Far from an isolated incident, the Los Padres fire, according to law enforcement agents, highlights an alarming trend: the invasion of California wilderness and parklands by armed Mexican drug cartels

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Mexico shootouts leave 4 dead, 3 wounded

One small slice Monday of Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s war on drug cartels: two shootouts on the streets of two cities; a man and a woman ambushed in their car; at least four people dead; three soldiers wounded, one of them gravely. The confrontations between unidentified gunmen and Mexican army and federal police took place in the communities of San Nicolas de los Garza and Escobedo, near the U.S. border in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, the state-run Notimex news agency said.

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Drug cartel allegedly plotted to kill Mexican leader

A suspected drug cartel lieutenant was in charge of a plot to kill Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Mexican government officials said. Dimas Diaz Ramos, known as “El Dimas,” also is accused of being a top drug exporter to the United States, hiding the contraband in the tires of trucks taking produce across the border.

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Obama to meet with Mexican, Canadian leaders

President Obama will meet with the leaders of Mexico and Canada on Monday, with the three expected to discuss a broad range of issues. Obama arrived in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city, Sunday evening for the day and a half of talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper

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Obama in Mexico for North American summit

President Obama arrived Sunday evening in Guadalajara, Mexico’s second-largest city, for a day and a half of talks with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. A broad range of issues is expected to be discussed — including the economy, drug violence and the environment — but no major announcements are expected, officials said in the days leading up the North American Leaders’ Summit

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On Obama’s Mexico Agenda: Stopping the Guns from El Norte

The camcorder shakes as it films the thud of thick .50 caliber bullets ripping through a steel plate target in the heat of the Arizona desert. Panning across the jagged rocks and cacti, the camera then focuses on the shooter: a smiling Mexican sitting down on the dust as he uses both hands to fire the huge state-of-the-art weapon that can tear through tank armor

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