Free Republic

One of the world's biggest drug lords, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, has been arrested by US federal agents in El Paso, Texas. Zambada, 76, founded the criminal organisation with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is currently jailed in the US. Arrested with Zambada on Thursday was Guzman's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, said the US justice department. In February, Zambada was charged by US prosecutors with a conspiracy to make and distribute fentanyl, a drug more powerful than heroin that has been blamed for the US opioid crisis. In a written statement on Thursday evening, US...

Proposed state legislation, if approved, would add gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders to the list of social and ethnic groups public schools must include in social studies. At two East Bay private schools the debate has gone beyond whether to include gay history in the curriculum. They have taken the next step, offering a high school class dedicated to gay studies. Last school year, The Athenian School in Danville and Maybeck High School in Berkeley both began classes examining the history, contributions and other cultures' views of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and the transgendered. They said it has been popular among...