By MEGAN JANETSKY and FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — School was canceled in several Mexican states and local and foreign governments alike warned their citizens to stay inside, as widespread violence erupted following the army’s killing of the powerful leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho” was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, notorious for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against government officials who challenged it.

He was killed during a shoot-out in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. Cartel members responded with violence across the country, blocking roads and setting fire to vehicles.

President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm and authorities announced late Sunday they had cleared most of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states. The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.

Mexico hoped the death of the world’s biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many remained hunkered down and on edge as they waited to see the powerful cartel’s reaction.

Many fear more violence

Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco state and Mexico’s second-largest city, was almost completely shut down on Sunday as fearful residents stayed home.

Passengers arriving to the city’s international airport Sunday night were told it was operating with limited personnel because of the burst of violence.

Jacinta Murcia, a 64-year-old nutrition products vendor, was among those nervously walking late Sunday night through the airport, where earlier in the day travelers sprinted and ducked behind chairs fearing violence. Most flights into the city were suspended on Sunday.

Murcia anxiously scrolled through news stories on social media showing the face of “El Mencho” and sent messages to her children, who were tracking her location as she tried to travel across the city to her house after dark.

“My plan today leaving the airport is to see if there are any taxis, but I’m scared of everything. That there are blockades, that there’s a curfew, that something could happen,” she said. “I’m all alone.”

Authorities in Jalisco, Michoacan and Guanajuato reported at least 14 other people killed Sunday, including seven National Guard troops.

Videos circulating on social media showed tourists in Puerto Vallarta walking on the beach with smoke rising in the distance.

In another part of the airport a group of elderly Mexicans gathered, discussing how to get home.

“We better all go together,” one said. “Go with God.”

A blow against a cartel could be a diplomatic coup

David Mora, Mexico analyst for International Crisis Group, said the capture and outburst of violence marks a point of inflection in Sheinbaum’s push to crack down on cartels and relieve U.S. pressures.

U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of the often-deadly drug fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country does not show results.

There were early signs that Mexico’s efforts were well received by the United States.

U.S. Amb. Ron Johnson recognized the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in a statement late Sunday. He added that “under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.”

But it may also pave the way for more violence as rival criminal groups take advantage of the blow dealt to the CJNG, Mora said.

“This might be a moment in which those other groups see that the cartel is weakened and want to seize the opportunity for them to expand control and to gain control over Cartel Jalisco in those states,” he said.

“Ever since President Sheinbaum has been in power, the army has been way more confrontational, combative against criminal groups in Mexico,” Mora said. “This is signaling to the U.S. that if we keep cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it, we don’t need U.S. troops on Mexican soil.”

‘El Mencho’ was a major target

Oseguera Cervantes, who was wounded in the operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement.

During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said via X that the U.S. government provided intelligence support for the operation. “‘El Mencho’ was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland,” she wrote. She commended Mexico’s military for its work.

The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful and fastest growing criminal organizations in Mexico and began operating around 2009.

In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.

Sheinbaum has criticized the “kingpin” strategy of previous administrations that took out cartel leaders, only to trigger explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained popular in Mexico, security is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office a year ago, she has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.

The Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now federal security secretary.

___

Sánchez reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer María Verza contributed to this report.

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After leading the Wisconsin-River Falls football team to the program’s first Division-III national title, Falcons coach Matt Walker is off to Iowa.

Walker accepted the job at Drake University in Des Moines, Drake announced Sunday night, shortly after Walker informed the Falcons football team of his decision.

Drake is a non-scholarship Division-I football team in the Pioneer League, the same FCS conference in which St. Thomas competes. Drake plays the Tommies in St. Paul on Nov. 14.

Drake has won each of the last two Pioneer League titles.

Walker earned Division-III national coach of the year honors after leading the Falcons to previously unthinkable heights last season, with Wisconsin-River Falls winning its first WIAC title since 1998 and making its first playoff appearance since 1996.

The head coach also led the quarterbacks room, where he guided senior signal caller Kaleb Blaha to National Player of the Year honors.

Walker was hired at Wisconsin-River Falls in 2011, and the program stuck with the coach through nine straight losing seasons to open his tenure.

A COVID “reset” year in which the Falcons didn’t play football in 2020 allowed for Walker and his staff to get bolder in its strategies, upping the pace of its offense to speeds not otherwise seen at the collegiate level. Since then, the Falcons have won seven-plus games each season, a stretch capped by the recent national title.

“I’m not sure there are words to properly explain how much I love River Falls and how much I appreciate everything it has given me and my family,” Walker said in a Wisconsin-River Falls release announcing his resignation. “I’ve given everything I had to UWRF and feel good about leaving it in a better place than we found it. None of this could have happened without great administrative leadership, my incredible coaching staff, and obviously our student-athletes. We have truly created a family here.”

In the Drake release announcing his hiring, Walker insinuated Jake Wissing, the Falcons’ defensive coordinator, is set to take the reins in River Falls.

“I cannot wait to be their biggest fan under the leadership of Jake Wissing, who was with me all 15 years,” Walker said in the Drake release. “He will do amazing things and I cannot wait to follow them on their quest for another national title.”

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Maxey had 39 points and eight assists, VJ Edgecombe made a career-high six 3-pointers and finished with 24 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 135-108 on Sunday night to snap a four-game losing streak — all by double figures.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) shoots the ball against Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)

Maxey made 16 of 28 shots from the field and hit four of Philadelphia’s 21 3-pointers. Quentin Grimes had 19 points, which included five 3s, and seven assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 18 points and four steals.

Coming off a 126-111 defeat Saturday night at New Orleans, the Sixers were again without center Joel Embiid, who missed his third straight game since the All-Star break due to right shin soreness. Embiid also sat out three of the last five games going into the break with soreness in his right knee.

Minnesota had its three-game win streak snapped. Anthony Edwards scored 19 of his 28 points in the first half for the Timberwolves. Jaden McDaniels added 19 and Julius Randle scored 18.

Naz Ried (shoulder soreness) did not play for Minnesota, and Rudy Gobert served a one-game suspension for accumulating too many flagrant fouls. Gobert, the four-time NBA defensive player of the year, will be suspended two games for each additional flagrant foul this season.

Joan Beringer, a 6-foot-11 center, made his first career start for the Timberwolves. Picked No. 17 overall in the 2025 draft, Beringer had two points and three fouls in five first-half minutes. Ayo Dosunmu started the third quarter in Beringer’s place and finished with 12 points.

Grimes hit a 3-pointer and then found a cutting Adem Bona for a dunk before Maxey drained a fadeaway jumper and a 3 to cap a 10-2 run that made it 35-26 at the end of the first quarter. Philadelphia led the rest of the way.

Up next for the Timberwolves is a three-game road trip out west, beginning with Tuesday’s 9 p.m. contest at Portland. The game will be televised on Peacock.

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By Malcolm Scott, Bloomberg News

In a swift reversal of fortunes, countries that had been hardest hit by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs have emerged as the biggest winners from the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down his emergency levies.

China, India and Brazil are among those now seeing lower tariff rates for shipments to the U.S. after the court ruled on Friday that Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose duties was illegal. While Trump subsequently announced plans for a 15% global rate, Bloomberg Economics calculated that would mean an average effective tariff rate of around 12% — the lowest since his “Liberation Day” tariffs were released in April.

For Asia, Morgan Stanley economists say the weighted average tariff rate will fall to 17% from 20%, with average levies on goods from China declining to 24% from 32%. Relief may be temporary as the Trump administration seeks to impose sectoral and economy-specific duties to rebuild its tariff regime.

Still, “the peak level of uncertainty on tariffs and trade tensions has passed,” Morgan Stanley economists led by Chetan Ahya wrote in a note.

The new across-the-board levy effectively resets the playing field for America’s trade partners. For the likes of China, which also saw a 10% fentanyl tariff scrapped by the courts, exports now face less punitive rates. Losers include economies including the U.K. and Australia that had negotiated lower levies of 10% under the old “reciprocal” framework.

Senior U.S. officials are pressing partners including the European Union and Japan to stick to commitments they made in earlier negotiations. They also sought continuity in the one-year truce with China, with Trump planning to soon visit Beijing for a meeting with President Xi Jinping. China, in the midst of a long holiday, has yet to officially comment on the Supreme Court decision.

“We want to make sure that China is complying with its part of the deal,” U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told Fox News Sunday. “So that means they continue to buy the products they said they would buy.”

Canada and Mexico had also faced fentanyl-related levies, so they win out as those no longer apply. If exemptions under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement remain in place, they’ll emerge in a “very favorable position,” BE analysts Nicole Gorton-Caratelli, Chris Kennedy and Maeva Cousin wrote in a note.

The new 15% levy leaves countries with the earlier 10% rate worse off, with Australia and the U.K. in that position. Meantime, those that previously had what was then a competitive 15% level applied on their exports — such as Japan — have now seen that advantage stripped away.

Even as the court ruling adds a fresh layer of uncertainty, analysts are pointing to the resilience of global commerce over the past year and the relatively minor shift in the overall average tariff rate to suggest the near-term effects may prove limited.

Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. including David Mericle estimate that the combination of the Supreme Court ruling and the newly announced Sec. 122 tariff will reduce the increase in the effective tariff rate since the start of 2025 from just over 10 percentage points to 9 percentage points.

“Imports from countries that will experience meaningful tariff reductions from the latest policy changes are likely to pick up in coming months,” the economists wrote. “But the impact on GDP should be largely offset by increased inventory accumulation and consumption, reduced imports from other countries through which trade had been rerouted, and small reductions in imports from countries whose tariff rate has risen.”

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(With assistance from Swati Pandey.)

©2026 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.