The State Department on Monday renewed its travel warning for Kenya as the government cracks down on Somali refugees in the wake of violence linked to Kenya's intervention in neighboring Somalia.

Kenyan troops crossed into Somalia in 2011 to route the al-Shabaab Islamic militia and last year formally joined the African Union Mission in Somalia. The moves have sparked a campaign of retaliation inside Kenya, with some 30 attacks over the past year killing at least 76 people – most notably when a bomb killed 10 people on a Nairobi bus. 

“The Kenyan government is currently conducting sweeps at checkpoints and in predominantly Somali-inhabited areas of Kenya searching for proof of status in Kenya and sending those who are refugees to camps,” the travel warning states. 

The Treasury Department is moving to freeze the assets of two associates of the infamous drug lord Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán Loera.

All property and interests within U.S. jurisdiction belonging to Ines Coronel Barreras and Damaso Lopez Nunez will be blocked under 1999 legislation known as the “Kingpin Act,” Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced in a notice to be published in Tuesday’s Federal Register.

Coronel Barreras is the father-in-law of Guzman Loera, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, which is responsible for bringing multiple-ton shipments of narcotics from Mexico into the United States, according to OFAC.

Lopez Nunez, also known as “El Licenciado,” is considered the drug lord’s right-hand man and one of the cartel’s top lieutenants. He helped break Guzman Loera out of a Mexican federal prison, the same year the cartel boss – now Mexico’s most wanted man – was himself designated as a major drug trafficker under the Kingpin Act.

Your morning global affairs speed-read

The Obama administration has agreed to help France's intervention in Mali by providing “logistics help, satellite intelligence and in-flight refueling for French warplanes” that are rolling back the Islamist militants who have taken over the northern part of the country, according to French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian. France has also reportedly asked for help from U.S. drones.

Pay up: Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta left today for a farewell tour of Europe, where he's expected to press America's allies for more contributions to defense spending. Panetta will visit Portugal, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom.

New blood: President Obama receives the credentials of new foreign ambassadors at the White House this afternoon. 

Schumer’s support could sway other Democratic senators to also back Obama's Pentagon nominee.

Obama informed Congress that the U.S. provided "limited" support for an unsuccessful French mission in Somalia to free a hostage.

Lawmakers of different stripes will find themselves working side-by-side on the panel in the new Congress.

The Obama administration affirmed Friday that it supports a French military intervention to repel efforts by militant Islamists in Mali to take over the southern part of the country.

“We are monitoring the situation closely,” White House national security spokesman Tommy Vietor said. “We have noted that the government of Mali has asked for support, and we share the French goal of denying terrorists a safe haven in the region.”

The French intervened with air strikes and reportedly with ground forces on Friday at the urging of Malian President Dioncounda Traore. The United Nations Security Council in December approved the creation of an African-led force to take back the northern half of the country, but Friday's intervention was precipitated after Islamists took over the central town of Konna, near the strategically crucial city  of Mopti.

“Starting this spring our troops will have a different mission -- training, advising and assisting Afghan forces," Obama said.

The rules will force oil, gas and mining companies to disclose payments to foreign governments.