Who was El Mencho, Mexico's most wanted man? (BBC NEWS UPDATE)

Will Grant

BBC Central America and Cuba correspondent
There are only a handful of names that have had a lasting impact in the history of Mexican organised crime.

3 hours ago

Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes – more commonly known as 'El Mencho' – is one of them. Hailing from humble rural roots in the western state of Michoacán, his rise to the top of one of the most feared and dangerous cartels in modern Mexico, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), was meteoric. And it was achieved through aggression, ambition, brutality and ruthlessness.

Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: ICE moves to the Minneapolis suburbs

by Chitown Kev

Community 

(This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff before publication.)

Sunday, February 22, 2026

We begin today with Jonathan V. Last of The Bulwark reporting that DHS and ICE has not pulled out of Minnesota but has primarily moved from Minneapolis/St. Paul to the suburbs.

Live: Hungary will block new EU sanctions on Russia over Ukraine oil dispute

EUROPE 

Issued on: 22/02/2026 

 07:46 Modified: 22/02/2026 - 16:45

Hungary will block ⁠the European Union's ​next package of sanctions against Russia, its foreign minister said on Sunday, until Ukraine resumes shipments of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia ​via the Druzhba ‌pipeline, which has been cut off since January 27 after being damaged by a Russian drone, according to Kyiv. 

After a deadly raid, an AI power struggle erupts at the Pentagon

The Defense Department’s rush to embed artificial intelligence across combat operations has exposed tensions with Anthropic’s corporate principals, risking the firm’s $200 million contract.

February 22, 2026 

By Ian Duncan and Tara Copp

One of the nation’s leading artificial intelligence firms is negotiating whether it can continue to work with the military, according to people familiar with the discussions, after Pentagon officials called their once-close relationship into question in the wake of January’s raid to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Once believed impossible, scientists manage to transform lead into gold

 02-22-2026

By Eric Ralls

Earth.com staff writer

The 17-mile Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located beneath the French-Swiss border, regularly slams heavy ions together at near light speed. But on July 30, 2025, researchers reported something many thought belonged to folklore: lead ions momentarily changed into gold before decaying back into more ordinary matter.

Chaos erupts at Mexican airports after death of drug lord 'El Mencho'

Alyssa Goldberg, Will Carless

USA TODAY

Updated Feb. 22, 2026, 6:26 p.m. ET

Flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara airports have been disrupted after Mexican drug lord Nemesio Oseguera, commonly known as "El Mencho," was killed in a military raid

Danish Navy evacuates U.S. submariner off Greenland to prevent Trump from landing penguins in the Arctic

The Greek Courier

February 22, 2026

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — In a plot twist unworthy of a Hollywood script, Denmark's military just pulled off a daring sea rescue by evacuating a crew member from a U.S. submarine off the coast of Greenland for some urgent medical treatment. Talk about a cold call for help, especially considering the alternative that was too hot to handle, meaning Trump sending a rescue mission just to prove that Greenland is guarded by penguins, which, by the way, live only in the Southern Hemisphere. 

DHS abruptly reverses suspension of TSA PreCheck

Published Sun, Feb 22 2026

Updated 54 Min Ago
Leslie Josephs@lesliejosephs

Key Points

• The Transportation Security Administration said PreCheck airport security lanes are operating normally.
• The agency’s statement came hours after the Department of Homeland Security said the service is suspended.
• DHS has not issued a statement on the suspension of Global Entry.

So, what happens if Iran sinks a carrier? Anybody thought of that?

The Greek Courier

As the rhetoric intensifies between the United States and Iran, recent reports indicate that President Donald Trump has been privately contemplating the possibility of regime change in Iran, emboldened by what he perceives as successes in foreign policy in Venezuela. However, this path toward military action carries grave consequences—not just for geopolitical stability, but for the lives of countless service members and their families.

Nancy Guthrie Abduction: Widespread Online Outrage Over Investigative Delays Intensifies after DNA Conundrum Update

The Greek Courier

22/02/26 

TUCSON, Arizona (AP) — The Pima County Sheriff's Department is facing heightened public scrutiny and significant online outrage following its recent announcement that critical DNA evidence in the Nancy Guthrie disappearance case contains "mixed samples," requiring an extended analysis period. This revelation, indicating the presence of DNA from more than one individual, has fueled widespread frustration over the pace of the investigation and raised pointed questions about the initial handling of the high-profile case.

''Dangerous and inflammatory'': Fourteen nations slam US Envoy's remarks on Israel's territorial expansion

 ANI Feb 22, 2026

The joint backlash follows a televised interview with commentator Tucker Carlson on Friday, during which Huckabee suggested that Israel possesses the right to extend its borders across significant portions of the Middle East.

Trump tariffs: EU grapples with fallout of US court ruling

Arthur Sullivan

13 hours ago
European leaders and businesses have responded to the US Supreme Court's decision to rule many of US President Donald Trump's tariffs illegal with both cautious optimism and deep uncertainty.

Morgan Chase Confirms Closing Trump Accounts a Month After Jan. 6 Amid $5 Billion 'Debanking' Lawsuit

The Greek Courier

NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. has formally acknowledged in a recent court filing that it closed the bank accounts of President Donald Trump and several of his businesses a month after the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack. This admission is the latest development in a high-stakes legal battle where Trump is suing the nation’s largest bank and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, for at least $5 billion, alleging "political debanking." [1][2]

Top German soccer team cancels trip to Minneapolis, citing Trump immigration crackdown

Werder Bremen, one of the founding members of the Bundesliga, said playing in the city “does not fit with our values” in light of two federal law enforcement shootings last month.

By Gregory Svirnovskiy

02/20/2026

Werder Bremen, a top German soccer team, is canceling its planned trip to Minnesota this summer, after violence and political chaos engulfed Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s major immigration enforcement push in January.

CIA rescinds 19 DEI-infused intel reports, including warning about women in traditional ‘gender roles’

Politics
By Josh Christenson
Published Feb. 20, 2026

WASHINGTON — The CIA retracted more than a dozen intelligence assessments authored over the past decade that were infused with DEI, including one that claimed movements pushing traditional motherhood roles were radicalizing white women.

Before striking Iran, Trump should answer these six questions

By Nate Swanson

February 19, 2026 6:02 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON—With negotiations seemingly headed nowhere, a new conflict with Iran looks increasingly likely, if not inevitable. The United States has gathered the most air power in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq war. A US military operation in Iran would likely be a massive, weeks-long campaign that would look more like a full-fledged war than the early January operation to remove Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro from power.

OpenAI had banned account of Tumbler Ridge, B.C., shooter

CBC News
RCMP say platform reached out after shooting, but say OpenAI only flagged account internally at first
Akshay Kulkarni · Posted: Feb 20, 2026 

OpenAI, the American company behind ChatGPT, has said that it banned the account associated with the teenager behind a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., last June.

How Nazgul the wolfdog made his run for Winter Olympic glory in Italy

Feb. 21, 2026
Nathaniel Herz

LAGO DI TESERO, ITALY — Before he became the most famous dog at the Olympics, Nazgul was not known as an escape artist.