MEXICO CITY (AP) — Four high-level soccer matches were postponed Sunday after the Mexican army killed the leader of a powerful drug cartel in a town close to the World Cup host city of Guadalajara.
Two top-tier games — Queretaro vs. Juarez FC in the men's tournament and Chivas vs. America in the women’s league — were postponed and two in the second division were called off.
Mexico’s national team has a friendly against Iceland scheduled for Wednesday at the Corregidora stadium in Queretaro. The Mexican soccer federation hasn't made any public moves to postpone it.
Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho,” who led the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación, was wounded in Tapalpa, Jalisco about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara and he died while being flown to Mexico City
Following his death, cartel members burned cars and blocked roads in nearly a dozen Mexican states.
Jalisco’s capital, Guadalajara, is scheduled to host four games in the World Cup in June, including two involving South Korea. Co-host Mexico, Spain, Uruguay and Colombia will also play there.
The CJNG cartel is considered the most powerful in Mexico with an estimated 19,000 members and operations spanning 21 of Mexico’s 32 states. It has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the Trump administration.
The Mexican Open, an ATP tennis tournament, will begin Monday at the GNP Arena in Acapulco, Guerrero. Organizers issued a statement Sunday saying “the tournament's operation continues as normal.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
A charred vehicle sits at a damaged supermarket in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
Charred vehicles sit in a parking lot sit outside a shopping mall in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, as authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City and New Jersey announced travel bans, airlines canceled thousands of flights and even Broadway shows were canceled Sunday evening as a fierce winter storm bore down on the Northeastern U.S., prompting blizzard warnings from Maryland to Massachusetts.
Snow began falling in New Jersey and New York as the storm moved northward. The National Weather Service said 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters) of snow was possible in many areas, along with heavy winds. Visibility in many areas was expected to be a quarter-mile (400 meters) or less. Officials throughout the region urged residents to avoid travel.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a major nor’easter and major blizzard of this magnitude across the Northeast,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the service’s Weather Prediction Center. “This is definitely a major winter storm and a major impact for this part of the country.”
The weather service issued blizzard warnings for New York City and Long Island, Boston and coastal communities in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. State of emergency declarations were issued in New York City and other parts of New York state, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts as officials mobilized readiness efforts.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a ban on non-emergency travel on all streets from 9 p.m. ET Sunday through noon Monday, with travel restrictions planned in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and elsewhere in the region. The emergency alerts, blasted to the phones of New York City residents, warned them to stay off roads “due to dangerous blizzard conditions.”
Around the region, airports canceled flights ahead of the storm, and even DoorDash announced it was suspending deliveries in the city overnight.
To the south, landmarks such as the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., announced closures Monday.
The weather service said some of the heaviest snow was expected to fall overnight, with as much as 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow per hour accumulating at times in some areas, before tapering off by Monday afternoon.
It said the storm's strong wind gusts could cause whiteout conditions and warned of a “Potentially Historic/Destructive Storm” southeast of the Boston-Providence corridor.
“Winds like that, combined with heavy, wet snow, are a recipe for damaged trees and prolonged power outages," said Bryce Williams, a meteorologist with the weather service's Boston office. “That's what we're most concerned with, is the combination of those extreme snow amounts with that wind.”
The storm could possibly meet the definition of a bomb cyclone, said Frank Pereira, another weather service meteorologist. That’s when a storm drops at least 24 millibars in pressure in 24 hours.
“We’re expecting it to drop by that magnitude at least over the course of the next 24 hours,” Pereira said. “I think when all is said and done, it will meet the definition of a bomb cyclone.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also canceled in-person and virtual classes for city schools on Monday, calling it the “first old-school snow day since 2019."
“And to kids across New York City, you have a very serious mission if you choose to accept it: Stay cozy," he said.
In addition to their robust plow operations, city officials recruited people to shovel snow, some of whom will begin work Sunday night to get an early start on the first wave of snowfall, Mamdani said.
Meanwhile, outreach workers have also been out working to coax homeless New Yorkers off the street and into shelters and various warming centers.
More than 3,500 flights were canceled across the U.S. as of Sunday afternoon along with thousands of delays, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Airports in the path of the storm, including in New York City and Boston, were also seeing widespread cancellations and delays.
With the storm zeroing in, John Berlingieri scrapped plans for a family trip to Puerto Rico. Instead he was preparing his company, Berrington Snow Management, for what could well be a mammoth task: Clearing snow from millions of square feet of asphalt surrounding shopping malls and industrial parks across Long Island.
Employees spent the last few days recharging batteries on the company’s 40 front-end loaders and replacing windshield wipers on snow-removal vehicles, before resting up Saturday.
“I’m anticipating at least one week of work around the clock,” Berlingieri said. “We’re going to work 24 to 36 hours straight, sleep for a few hours and then go back.”
Izaguirre reported from Albany, New York. Associated Press writers Mark Kennedy in New York, Darlene Superville in Washington, D.C, and Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon. contributed.
A view from the New Jersey side of the Palisades facing the George Washington Bridge shows a view of the Hudson River with limited visibility during the beginning of an intense winter storm, in Fort Lee, N.J., Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Pablo Salinas)
Palisade Avenue, normally bustling with rush hour traffic, sits desolate during the beginning of an intense winter storm, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Fort Lee, N.J. (AP Photo/Pablo Salinas)
A plow starts removing snow from a residential street during the beginning of an intense winter storm, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Fort Lee, N.J. (AP Photo/Pablo Salinas)
People wait to cross the corner of 20th Street and First Ave. during a snowstorm, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Hassell)
A man rides a bicycle in the beginning of an intense snowstorm by 20th Street and First Avenue, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Hassell)
FILE - Pedestrians climb over snow banks to try and cross the streets in New York, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
