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Guadalajara residents turn to citizen science as water crisis deepens

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On a Saturday morning in Guadalajara’s historic Analco neighborhood, residents arrived at the Casa Bandera community center carrying bottles and jars filled with water from their homes . At folding tables, researchers from ITESO, Guadalajara’s Jesuit university, showed them how to dip inexpensive reactive strips into the samples, wait for the colors to change and compare the results against a chart measuring pH, chlorine, lead, mercury and other indicators. Samples showing signs of possible bacterial contamination could undergo additional testing for E. coli. It was the latest workshop in an expanding citizen water-monitoring network that has grown out of Guadalajara’s months-long water crisis — and out of residents’ frustration with what they see as inadequate information and action from the authorities responsible for providing safe water. “We don’t claim to be scientific specialists or water experts,” Héctor Morales, one of the workshop presenters, told participants. “We are cit...
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Missed the deadline? Here’s how to get your cell phone service back

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The first enforced deadline for compliance with mandatory cell phone registration came and went on Aug. 15 and approximately 2.6 million phone lines were suspended, prompting chaos and confusion for users whose now-unregistered phone numbers end in “0.” Mexico’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT) announced on Thursday that nearly 9.7 million users whose number ends in “0” successfully registered their cell phones before the deadline. (CRT / X) The CRT also said that just over 2.3 million users whose lines had been suspended managed to reactivate their phone service by Aug. 19. Another 2.6 million mobile phones are expected to be reactivated in the coming days, while the CRT expects 2.5 million “unused” lines to be decommissioned. Those who failed to register before the deadline faced plenty of online misinformation, but those whose service was suspended can still recover their service because their phone number was not canceled. To reactivate the service, users must c...
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Mexico’s urban sprawl is steadily reshaping life in its biggest cities

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A new study has found that 69 Mexican metropolitan areas nearly doubled their urban populations from 1990 to 2020, but much of that growth occurred farther from the heart of downtown, leaving their central areas with 2.5 million fewer residents. The study, published July 25 by researchers at Tecnológico de Monterrey’s Center for the Future of Cities (CFC) and the Complexity Science Hub in Vienna, Austria, examined census data from 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020. Typical of many large Mexican urban areas, Guadalajara’s recent growth has resulted in a loss of 200,000 residents from within a 5-kilometer radius of the city center. (Shutterstock) It found that population distribution shifted steadily toward intermediate, distant and peripheral areas. More than 40% of residents in the metro areas studied lived in central areas in 1990. By 2020, that share had fallen to 22%, according to the research. Researchers said limited affordable housing in established urban areas — where land an...
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Extradited Navy offficer, accused of fuel-trafficking, arrives from Argentina to Mexico’s top security prison

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Alleged fuel smuggler Rear Admiral Fernando Farías Laguna arrived from Argentina on Friday and is now incarcerated at the Altiplano maximum security prison in México state.  Farías — accused of leading a network that siphoned off millions in profits from state oil company Pemex — will face an initial arraignment hearing ahead of what promises to be explosive judicial proceedings. Fernando “N”, posiblemente relacionado con una compleja red criminal dedicada al contrabando, dispersión y distribución de combustible, es trasladado a México. pic.twitter.com/A96Bh8ToZt — FGR México (@FGRMexico) August 20, 2026 After months on the run, Farías was arrested in Buenos Aires in April for entering Argentina with a fake passport. Two petitions for asylum were rejected and his challenges against extradition were turned aside. His departure has been categorized as an administrative expulsion. His brother Manuel Roberto Farías Laguna,  a former vice admiral, has been in prison since September 2...
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Mexico City launches drive to plant a million native trees in underserved boroughs by 2030

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Not regarded as one of the country’s top tree cities, Mexico City has begun an urban reforestation drive that aims to turn sidewalks, medians and other “gray” spaces into 1 million new shade points by 2030. The program is built around the international 3-30-300 guideline: Residents should be able to see at least three trees from each window of their homes; all neighborhoods should include at least 30% tree canopy covering; and households should have a park or green area within 300 meters, about 1,000 feet. The árbol colorín or flame tree is one of the several native species that will be planted throughout the capital. (Unspash) Launched Tuesday by Mayor Clara Brugada at a housing complex in Iztacalco — which has the fewest trees of any of Mexico City’s 16 boroughs — the program calls for planting 200,000 native trees annually across the capital. Officials said the plan calls for 100,000 trees to be planted this year, with priority for the eastern boroughs, where green-space shor...
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Sinaloa capital’s Independence Day celebrations set to return after 2 years

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For the first time since 2023, the state of Sinaloa will stage Independence Day celebrations in Culiacán, its capital city, incuding the traditional public Grito.  Interim Governor Yeraldine Bonilla this week announced that the  Grito will be celebrated in the Governor’s Palace Esplanade, declaring that preparations are already under way to resume the popular Sept. 15-16 festival and the massive celebrations that accompany it. Interim Sinaloa Governor Yeraldine Bonilla’s announcement was succinct and to the point: “There will be Independence Day celebrations!” Then she turned it personal: “I hope to see you there.”   (Yeraldine Bonilla) Culiacán’s “Grito” — an event that commemorates Father Miguel Hidalgo’s Sept. 16, 1810, call to arms which launched the initial insurrection of Mexico’s War for Independence — was canceled in 2024 and 2025 due to widespread cartel violence. The cancellations were imposed because authorities were unable to contain a civil war...
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Mexico in Numbers: A 2025 security snapshot

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On Aug. 13, the national statistics agency INEGI published the results of the 2026 National Census of Federal Public Security and National Census of State Public Security . This “Mexico in Numbers” article looks at some of the key results. It also includes some of the security statistics presented by the federal government last week. Security spending by National Guard and state forces exceeded 136 billion pesos in 2025  INEGI reported that the “total budget” exercised by the National Guard (GN) and state public security authorities in 2025 was 136.16 billion pesos (US $8 billion). Just over one-fifth of that amount — 20.7% — was spent by the GN, while the remainder was used by security authorities in Mexico’s 31 states. (Security spending in Mexico City wasn’t included in the 2026 security census.) INEGI said that using prices from the second quincena (15-day period) of July 2018 — i.e. before Mexico’s inflation rate spiked significantly ...
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