Something to be aware of, for those headed that way.
[FoxNews] Operation Summer Vacation 2025 launches as cartel violence threatens Cancun and Riviera Maya visitors
Tourists visiting Cancún and Mexico’s Riviera Maya this summer are being greeted not just with ocean breezes and poolside cocktails, but by heavily armed patrols.
In response to escalating cartel violence and crimes against travelers, the Mexican government has deployed more than 7,000 troops and security personnel to safeguard the country’s most popular vacation zones. Since 2021, Mexico has turned to deploying troops and local enforcement to patrol the beaches and tourist hot spots.
Former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Senior Special Agent Michael Brown, currently the global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices, told Fox News Digital that the sight of military rifles may do more to remind travelers of the danger than reassure them of their safety.
"The fluidity of Mexican organized crime, gang activity, is constantly moving from one side of the country to the next," he said. "Unfortunately, these high-end tourist areas represent an easy opportunity for organized crime to come, steal, assault, and rob."
MILITARY MUSCLE ON PATROL
This summer, the Mexican government has launched an aggressive security campaign across popular tourist destinations in the state of Quintana Roo — home to Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, and Cozumel.
Dubbed "Operation Summer Vacation 2025," the initiative was formally announced on July 18 and involves the deployment of more than 7,000 security personnel, including members of the National Guard, Navy, Army, and state and local police. While Operation Summer Vacation 2025 is the largest coordinated seasonal deployment to date, it follows a multi-year pattern of heightened military involvement in Mexico’s most lucrative tourist zones.
The goal is to safeguard the expected 2 million tourists throughout the summer and early fall months with a coordinated presence of land, air, and sea patrols.
"We will not tolerate abuses, illegal fees, or practices that harm individuals. To our tourism service providers, I reiterate: you are the best ambassadors of our state. Your conduct, your ethics, and your commitment will make the difference," Gov. Mara Lezama Espinosa of Quintana Roo said in a news conference, according to Spanish-speaking regional media outlets.
Continued on Page 47
[IsraelTimes] For what is believed to be the first time, a group of IDF soldiers at a ceremony at the Birkenau concentration camp in Poland has been barred by police from bringing an Israeli flag into the camp, according to the Hebrew daily Ynet.
A delegation of 180 Israeli officers and security officials taking part in the “Witnesses in Uniform” Holocaust commemoration program was halted Thursday at the entrance to the concentration camp when a local police officer refused to let them enter with their flags, Ynet reports.
Israeli officers and local agents were unable to reach an agreement with the police, and the soldiers had to enter without their flags.
Soldiers say the incident was tense and humiliating, and charge that the decision was driven by antisemitic beliefs.
“No ceremony has ever been stopped mid-way — never in Treblinka, Warsaw, or Majdanek,” one participant tells Ynet. “This shows that we are still fighting against antisemitism in Europe, and there are still those who are trying to change the Zionist narrative and the sanctity of this place for us.”
In re: yesterday’s discussion about nobody wanting to take in Gazans.
[IsraelTimes] Nour Atallah, 25, barred from Sciences Po university over social media posts featuring Adolf Hitler, calling for the deaths of Jews; other Gazans in France to be rescreened
La Belle France will suspend its program to receive Paleostinians from conflict-torn Gazoo pending the outcome of an investigation into how a student accused of sharing antisemitic posts was allowed into the country, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Friday.
The move comes after officials said the female student, Nour Atallah, 25, from Gaza, will have to leave La Belle France after the Sciences Po university in the northern city of Lille revoked her accreditation over the online posts.
Screenshots of posts the student allegedly shared in September — published by pro-Israel accounts on X — include an image of Adolf Hitler ...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days, sometimes every few hour if it's an election year, as a politician somebody doesn't like... and words appearing to call for the death of Jews.
"No evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn conclusions from this investigation," Barrot told La Belle Franceinfo radio.
All Gazooks who have entered La Belle France will undergo a second screening, he added.
Atallah had been offered a place at the Sciences Po Lille university based on a recommendation by the French consulate in Jerusalem, the school said. Following the recommendation by French diplomats, the woman initially lived at the home of the university’s director while she waited for permanent lodgings, Sciences Po said.
But the school said that after consultations with the education ministry and regional authorities, it "decided to cancel this student’s planned registration at our establishment."
Some of the posts "come into direct contradiction with the values upheld by Sciences Po Lille, which fights against all forms of racism, antisemitism and discrimination, as well as against any type of incitement to hatred, against any population whatsoever," the university added in a post on X.
La Belle France has helped more than 500 people leave Gaza since the latest war between the terrorist group Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... and Israel began, including maimed children, journalists, students and artists.
The conflict, triggered by Hamas’s murderous October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has seen Israel retaliate with a deadly military campaign and an aid blockade in Gaza that some rights groups have qualified as genocide, an accusation that Israel rejects.
Lille’s chief prosecutor told AFP on Thursday that a probe had been opened against the student for allegedly trying to "justify terrorism" and "justify a crime against humanity."
The X account attributed to Attallah has been taken offline after French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau demanded it be closed down.
"Hamas propagandists have no place in our country," Retailleau said on X.
A French diplomatic source said the student arrived in La Belle France on July 11 on a scholarship based on "academic excellence" and after "security checks."
AFP was not immediately able to reach Attallah for comment.
"She must leave the country," the foreign minister confirmed, adding that discussions were ongoing to determine her destination.
The cancellation of Atallah’s enrollment came days after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the country, which is home to Europe’s largest Jewish population, would recognize a Paleostinian state in September. The decision, against the backdrop of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, provoked anger among French Jewish leaders as well as Israeli officials, who called it a reward for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that began the war.
[FoxNews] Mesa County deputies Alexander Zwinck and Erik Olson were placed on unpaid leave after sharing information with ICE following traffic stops
Two Colorado deputies have been disciplined for sharing information with federal immigration agents, which is a violation of state law enacted a few months ago.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sued Mesa County Sheriff's Deputy Alexander Zwinck last week after his cooperation with federal immigration agents on a drug task force was exposed during a Brazilian college student's arrest for an expired visa, according to The Associated Press.
While addressing the incident on Thursday, Mesa County Sheriff Todd Rowell said Caroline Dias-Goncalves, a 19-year-old nursing student, was pulled over by Zwinck for a traffic stop on June 5 after she was allegedly driving too close to a semi-truck. While Dias-Goncalves was released with a warning after about 20 minutes, federal immigration agents stopped her and arrested her shortly after.
Zwinck had shared her location and a description of her vehicle in a group chat that included ICE agents, Rowell said. She was arrested by ICE and taken to a detention facility, where she was held for 15 days before being released on bond.
An internal investigation revealed a second Mesa County deputy and task force member, Erik Olson, also shared immigration information with federal agents.
The two deputies used a Signal chat to offer information to federal agents in an effort to assist immigration enforcement, according to the sheriff's office.
Zwinck was placed on three weeks of unpaid leave and Olson was placed on two weeks of unpaid leave, Rowell said in a statement. Both were removed from the task force.
Two supervisors were also disciplined, with one suspended without pay for two days and another receiving a letter of reprimand. A third supervisor received counseling.
"The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office should not have had any role in the chain of events leading to Miss Dias-Goncalves’ detention, and I regret that this occurred. I apologize to Miss Dias-Goncalves," Rowell said.
Zwinck was sued under a new state law signed by Democrat Gov. Jared Polis about two weeks before Dias-Goncalves' arrest. The measure prohibits local government employees, including law enforcement, from sharing identifying information about people with federal immigration officials.
Previously, only state agencies were barred from sharing such information.
The law is one of several passed over the years limiting the state's involvement in immigration enforcement. It has led to a lawsuit from the Department of Justice, which alleges that the protective policies violate the U.S. Constitution or federal immigration laws.
#1
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser took the bait.
Obstruction of federal law and conspiracy. Since the action occurred in Mesa County, that's where the feds can set the trial.
[IsraelTimes] In the largest airdrop operation since efforts to increase the supply of aid to Gaza began, 126 packages of humanitarian supplies were dropped in the Strip by aircraft from six countries, the Israeli military says.
Aircraft from Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and — for the first time in over a year — Spain, Germany, and France airdropped food in both northern and southern Gaza.
The IDF says the airdrops were carried out “in accordance with the directives from the political echelon and as part of the cooperation between Israel, the UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Spain, France, and Germany.”
The airdrops are part of a “series of actions aimed at improving the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip,” the military says.
“The IDF will continue to work in order to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, along with the international community, while refuting the false claims of deliberate starvation in Gaza,” it adds.
This morning I joined @SEPeaceMissions Steve Witkoff for a visit to Gaza to learn the truth about @GHFUpdates aid sites. We received briefings from @IDF and spoke to folks on the ground. GHF delivers more than one million meals a day, an incredible feat! pic.twitter.com/GyVK5cwNgZ
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@USAmbIsrael) August 1, 2025
[IsraelTimes] Clip comes a day after video of Rom Braslavski; ex-hostages and families of captives say they are ‘crushed’ by videos, call to end ‘repeated holocaust’
The Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... terror group on Friday published a new propaganda video of hostage Evyatar David, a day after Paleostinian Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... published a video of hostage Rom Braslavski.
The family did not approve its publication to the public, but the footage was shared by some on social media, leading David’s sister to criticize those who did so. At the same time, she said, "Those who have seen it now understand how serious it is and the physical condition Evyatar was in when, just 40 minutes ago, he gave me a million punches to the heart."
The son of US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been leading the Trump administration’s efforts to free the hostages, noted David was "a bright, healthy young man" when he was taken captive but "after 665 days — starved and caged by Hamas — he is barely recognizable"
"Evyatar’s frail body and hollow eyes resemble the haunting images of Jews in Nazi concentration camps," Alex Witkoff wrote in a post on X. "Bring THEM home NOW."
David was taken captive by Hamas forces of Evil on October 7, 2023, from the Supernova desert rave, where Braslavski was also kidnapped.
Hamas published a video in February showing David and his best friend Guy Gilboa Dalal being forced to watch as other captives were freed and begging to be saved as well. That was the first time the two were seen since their abduction.
Israeli media do not air terror groups’ propaganda clips unless asked to by the families of the hostages.
Freed Islamic Jihad hostage Sasha Troufanov said he "cannot believe" the images of Braslavski since seeing him in captivity over a year ago.
"The faith and strength I saw in his eyes has been replaced by sorrow, depression and helplessness," said Troufanov. "I hope that all those who thought maybe we don’t need a deal and the most important thing is eliminating Hamas, even if at the expense of the hostages, sobers up and understands they must be brought back immediately."
Forty-nine hostages kidnapped during the October 7, 2023, attack, are still held captive in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... . At least 20 of the captives are thought to be alive. Hamas is also holding the body of a soldier who was killed in 2014.
Continued on Page 47
[IsraelTimes] US president’s team in talks with several countries that already recognize Israel about largely symbolic move, as Saudi normalization efforts have stalled amid Gaza war
US President Donald Trump’s administration is actively discussing with Azerbaijan the possibility of bringing that nation and some Central Asian allies into the Abraham Accords, hoping to deepen their existing ties with Israel, according to five sources with knowledge of the matter.
As part of the Abraham Accords, inked in 2020 and 2021 during Trump’s first term in office, four Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel after US mediation.
Azerbaijan and every country in Central Asia, by contrast, already have longstanding relations with Israel, meaning that an expansion of the accords to include them would largely be symbolic, focusing on strengthening ties in areas like trade and military cooperation, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Such an expansion would reflect Trump’s openness to pacts that are less ambitious than his administration’s goal to convince regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia to restore ties with Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.
The kingdom has repeatedly said it would not recognize Israel without steps toward Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state. A soaring death toll in Gaza and reports of hunger in the enclave due to the humanitarian aid crisis and military operations by Israel have buoyed Arab fury, complicating efforts to add more Muslim-majority countries to the Abraham Accords.
The war in Gaza, where over 60,000 people including tens of thousands of women and children have died according to unverified Hamas-controlled health ministry figures that do not differentiate between civilians and combatants, has provoked global anger. Canada, France and the United Kingdom have announced plans in recent days to recognize an independent Palestine.
Another key sticking point is Azerbaijan’s conflict with its neighbor Armenia, since the Trump administration considers a peace deal between the two Caucasus nations as a precondition to join the Abraham Accords, three sources said.
While Trump officials have publicly floated several potential entrants into the accords, the talks centered on Azerbaijan are among the most structured and serious, the sources said. Two of the sources argued a deal could be reached within months or even weeks.
Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, in March to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Aryeh Lightstone, a key Witkoff aide, met Aliyev later in the spring in part to discuss the Abraham Accords, three of the sources said.
As part of the discussions, Azerbaijani officials have contacted officials in Central Asian nations, including in nearby Kazakhstan, to gauge their interest in a broader Abraham Accords expansion, those sources said. It was not clear which other countries in Central Asia — which includes Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan — were contacted.
The State Department, asked for comment, did not discuss specific countries, but said expanding the accords has been one of the key objectives of Trump. “We are working to get more countries to join,” said a US official.
The Azerbaijani government declined to comment.
The White House, Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the Kazakhstani embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Any new accords would not modify the previous Abraham Accords deals signed by Israel.
OBSTACLES REMAIN
The original Abraham Accords — inked between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan — were centered on restoration of ties. The second round of expansion appears to be morphing into a broader mechanism designed to expand US and Israeli soft power.
Wedged between Russia to the north and Iran to the south, Azerbaijan occupies a critical link in trade flows between Central Asia and the West. The Caucasus and Central Asia are also rich in natural resources, including oil and gas, prompting various major powers to compete for influence in the region.
Expanding the accords to nations that already have diplomatic relations with Israel may also be a means of delivering symbolic wins to an American president who is known to talk up even relatively small victories.
A step in the right direction, even if it doesn’t speak to what the teachers say when presenting the lesson.
[IsraelTimes] The official school curriculum in Indonesia has shown a significant shift toward greater inclusivity and religious tolerance since 2013, a new report by Israel-and UK-based education watchdog IMPACT-se finds.
The study reviews over 40 humanities textbooks in the country’s Merdeka Curriculum, which it introduced in 2022 to modernize its teaching approach.
The textbooks now depict Jews and Judaism more positively, recognizing Jews as "People of the Book," affirming elements of the Torah, and highlighting Prophet Muhammad’s respectful relations with Jews, IMPACT-se says. Antisemitic content found in previous editions, such as negative stereotypes or stories casting Jews as dishonest, has been removed.
It also eliminates negative portrayals of Israel and avoids references to the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict. However,
ars longa, vita brevis... IMPACT-se says, it barely mentions the Holocaust.
Newly introduced content embraces religious and ethnic minorities in the world’s largest Moslem country, including local belief systems long excluded from religious instruction.
Passages condemning LGBT identities have also been removed, and gender equality is increasingly emphasized, IMPACT-se says.
"The attitude expressed in textbooks towards Jews and Judaism is increasingly positive," says IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff. "We look forward to seeing this trend continue as the curriculum evolves, shaping the views and attitudes of 58 million children."
Continued on Page 47
[IsraelTimes] Panel to refer suspects of violence to judiciary; over 1,000 said killed, 175,000 displaced during sectarian violence between Druze and Bedouin last month
”Line the scapegoats up for punishment, Ali.”
“Yes, Effendi! I have a nice selection of forty-two against the wall awaiting your pleasure — do you prefer throat-cutting, firing squad, or merely bastinadoes on the soles of their feet? A bit of torture first, to show you’re serious?”
“No, no, Ali — no torture. We are civilized now, like those effete Western kaffir dogs, you know. All right: set ten free as being innocent of all charges — be sure to send a notice to the foreign press about them, with brief biographies to show we care. Then behead half, and then, once the lads have cleaned up the mess, call in the firing squad for the rest. The lads need target practice.”
“Yes sir, Your Immensity! Immediately, Your Robustness! Corporal Ahmed, find me someone who can read and write in English — we have fiction to write!”
Syria has pledged to investigate festivities in the southern province of Sweida, which killed hundreds of people last month and marked the second major episode of sectarian violence since the ouster of longtime Syrian leader Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... In a decree dated July 31, Syrian Justice Minister Muzher al-Wais said a seven-person committee comprising judges, lawyers and a military official would investigate the circumstances leading to the "events in Sweida" and report back within three months.
The committee would investigate reported attacks and abuses against civilians and refer anyone proven to have participated in such attacks to the judiciary.
The violence in Sweida began on July 13 between tribal fighters and Druze factions after a Bedouin gang robbed and kidnapped a Druze vendor. Government forces were sent to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops to support the Druze.
Israel has been involved militarily in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime in December. In the immediate aftermath, Israel occupied Syria’s demilitarized zone and destroyed most of the Assad military’s facilities in a widespread bombing campaign.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Leb ...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration.... and Israel. Sweida province is predominantly Druze, but is also home to Sunni tribes, and the communities have had longstanding tensions over land and other resources.
A US-brokered truce ended the fighting, which had raged in Sweida city and surrounding towns for nearly a week.
The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, a British-based war monitor whose accuracy has been called into question, estimated that over 1,000 people were killed in the conflict. According to the UN, up to 175,000 people were displaced.
In March, hundreds of Alawite non-combatants were killed after government-aligned forces deployed to Syria’s coastal areas following a deadly attack on new government forces by militias still aligned with Assad, who hails from the Alawite minority.
Assad’s brutal crackdown on protests against him in 2011 from within Syria’s Sunni majority spiraled into a nearly 14-year war. Western leaders are keen to ensure the new government, led by a former Sunni Islamist group that has its roots in global jihad, conducts an orderly democratic transition.
The fact-finding committee established after the March killings last month referred 298 people suspected of carrying out abuses against Alawites to the judiciary.
The committee said it found no evidence of commanders ordering troops to commit violations and that 265 people had been involved in the initial attack on government forces.
[Rudaw] The United States is concerned that some groups remain outside of the control of Syria’s interim government, the Pentagon said in a report published this week.
"Syria’s ability to consolidate control remained a concern for the United States, as some minority and opposition groups remained outside the government’s control," said the latest report from the Lead Inspector General, covering the anti-Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) mission Operation Inherent Resolve from April 1 to June 30.
Key minority groups in Syria continue to control large territories beyond the authority of the Islamist government in Damascus. These include the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) and the Druze minority in southern Suwayda province.
Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that are the de facto army of Rojava, signed an agreement on March 10 to integrate all civil and military institutions of northeast Syria into federal structures. However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... talks between them on implementing the agreement have stalled. The Kurds advocate for federalism, while Damascus wants a centralized power structure.
Authorities in Rojava have also cited sectarian violence, such as recent unrest in Suwayda, as a reason to retain their own security forces.
On July 13, festivities broke out in Suwayda between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes. The violence escalated with the involvement of state forces and Israel. At least 1,300 people were killed, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, before a US-brokered ceasefire was announced.
La Belle France will hold the next round of talks between the SDF and Damascus, though no date has been confirmed.
The Pentagon report said US forces in Syria "continued to encourage and support negotiations between the SDF and Syrian government."
The US has begun a gradual drawdown of its troops in Syria.
"In Syria, U.S. forces departed from three bases, a first step in a multi-phase consolidation plan," the report said.
In June, a US official told Rudaw that several hundred troops had been withdrawn with the goal of consolidating the remaining force at around 1,000 personnel.
ISIS has sought to take advantage of the fragmented security landscape in Syria following the fall of the dictatorial regime of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... , according to the report. "ISIS seeks to destabilize the new Syrian government," it said.
Another priority for the US is emptying the camps housing thousands of displaced Syrians.
"The U.S. sought the return of displaced Syrians to their home communities," the report noted.
It said that 2,622 Iraqis were repatriated from the notorious al-Hol and Roj camps for suspected ISIS family members that together hold 30,800 people. The camps are located in Rojava’s Hasaka province and run by the SDF.
On Thursday, the Kurdish-led administration in Rojava said that more than 230 Iraqi families had departed from al-Hol camp - the 28th such group - heading to al-Jada camp in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province for rehabilitation.
Al-Hol is infamous for its dire conditions and has been described as a breeding ground for extremism. Since ISIS's territorial defeat in 2019, tens of thousands of individuals linked to the group - mostly Iraqis and Syrians - have remained there, alongside others from various countries who had traveled to join the jihadist caliphate.
"Coalition forces supported SDF and Asayish [internal security forces] operations to suppress ISIS activity at the camps," the Pentagon said.
Continued on Page 47
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.