Texas authorities say they are shutting down a crime-ridden hotel housing Tren de Aragua gang members and investigating the gang’s criminal involvement in other cities. El Paso County Attorney Christina Sanchez filed a lawsuit on Aug. 27 to close the Gateway Hotel on Stanton St. in downtown El Paso, Texas, for multiple code violations, noting 693 police and service calls to the location over the past two years.

Tren de Aragua gang members have occupied the Gateway Hotel since at least June, according to court documents obtained by The Epoch Times. Elhiu Dominguez, special projects coordinator with El Paso County, told The Epoch Times that a judge granted an order to close the hotel by Sept. 12.

The temporary injunction signed by District Judge Maria Salas-Mendoza will shut down the hotel pending a Dec. 9 hearing on a permanent injunction. Residents will have until 10 a.m. on Sept. 12 to vacate the hotel. Read the full story here›

Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on Sept. 12 that if NATO allows Ukraine to strike inside Russia with Western-supplied long-range missiles, it would be tantamount to becoming directly involved in the war and would change the nature of the conflict. “This will be their direct participation, and this, of course, will significantly change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict.,” Putin told Russian state television.

Putin said Ukraine, lacking the military intelligence capability, would rely on U.S. and European allies for satellite targeting data and programming of the missiles’ flight paths. “So this is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not,” Putin said. “It is a question of deciding whether or not NATO countries are directly involved in a military conflict.”

Putin added that Russia will make “appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.” Read the full story here›

Thirty-four physicians from the United States and Brazil signed a declaration in favor of the Falun Gong Protection Act. Currently in the U.S. Senate after a companion bill already passed a House vote in June, the bill aims to impose sanctions on individuals involved in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) forced organ harvesting campaign against Falun Gong practitioners in China.

The international doctors’ declaration came during the third annual World Medical Congress for Life in São Paulo. The event, which took place from Sept. 6 to 8, was held in partnership with the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC). It was attended by doctors, health professionals, and journalists.

The Falun Gong Protection Act would make it U.S. policy to avoid cooperation with China in the organ transplantation field. If passed, the law will apply nationwide, and foreigners who participate in the involuntary extraction of organs in China will be barred from entering the United States as well as prohibited from carrying out transactions in the United States. Any visas they hold will be invalidated as well. Read the full story here›

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