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Mexico’s Maya tourist train opens for partial service amid delays and cost overruns

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Maya Train rail project opened partially to the general public Saturday, amid hours-long delays and huge cost overruns. Passengers waiting for the twice-daily train to leave the resort of Cancun were left waiting on the platform for about five hours before being able to board. Officials apologized for the delayed and said it was due to trains being “reconfigured.”Some passengers napped on the floor of the concrete platform. Some — many self-declared supporters of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador — cheered when the train finally appeared in Cancun.The train running in the other direction from the Gulf coast colonial city of Campeche was also delayed for hours, because only one side of the planned double rail line is finished. Officials estimated it would take about 5 1/2 hours to travel the 290 miles (473 kilometers) from Campeche to Cancun.Meanwhile, the cost of the project has soared from original estimates of around $8.5 billion, to as much as $28 ...

Teenager Alex Batty returns to Britain after being missing for 6 years and then turning up in France

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

LONDON (AP) — British teenager Alex Batty flew back to the U.K. on Saturday, six years after he left home on what was meant to be a two-week family vacation in Spain.Batty never returned from that holiday to his grandmother and guardian in Oldham, near Manchester. Her frantic appeals found no trace of him – until he turned up this week, walking along a road in southern France in the middle of the night.Assistant Chief Constable Matt Boyle of Greater Manchester Police said Batty had arrived in England on a flight from Toulouse.He said police “are yet to fully establish the circumstances surrounding his disappearance” and whether there should be a criminal investigation.Now, 17, Alex told French officials he had been living a nomadic lifestyle in Spain, Morocco and France with his mother and grandfather as part of a “spiritual community.” He said the family moved from place to place, grew their own food, meditated and contemplated reincarnation and other esoteric subjects. When ...

2 arrested in firearm investigation near Woodbine Park

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

Toronto police have made two arrests regarding a firearm investigation near Woodbine Park.On Friday at approximately 11:20 p.m., police were conducting a RIDE spot check in the Lakeshore Boulevard East and Coxwell Avenue area.Police allegedly stopped a vehicle during the check, where two men in the vehicle were investigated for Highway Traffic Act offences. The two men were arrested. A loaded handgun was allegedly seized as well.Tajean Alexander-Smith, 22, of Toronto, was arrested and charged with driving while under suspension, possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm and six other firearm related charges.He is scheduled to appear in court at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on Monday.Joegi Manuel, 18, of Toronto, has been arrested and charged with two counts of failure to comply with a release order, possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm and six other firearm related charges.He is also scheduled to appear in court at the Toronto Regional Bail Centr...

Prosecutors say Washington state man charged in 4 murders lured victims with promise of buried gold

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — A Washington state man in jail awaiting trial in one murder case has been charged with three more killings, and prosecutors say he lured all four victims by asking them to help dig up buried gold. Richard Bradley Jr., 40, was charged in May 2021 with first-degree murder in the death of 44-year-old Brandi Blake, whose body was found buried in a sprawling park in the town of Auburn, Washington. In the last two weeks, prosecutors have filed three more murder charges against Bradley, The Seattle Times reports, in the shooting deaths of a father and adult son in May 2021 and in the 2019 death of a man whose remains were found near Blake’s grave. Bradley’s defense attorney, Peter Geisness, did not immediately return voice and email messages on Saturday. Bradley is scheduled to stand trial next month in Blake’s death. He has not yet had the opportunity to enter a plea on the other murder charges, according to online court records. Senior Deputy Prosecutor T...

Confederate memorial to be removed in coming days from Arlington National Cemetery

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A Confederate memorial is to be removed from Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia in the coming days, part of the push to remove symbols that commemorate the Confederacy from military-related facilities, a cemetery official said Saturday.The decision ignores a recent demand from more than 40 Republican congressmen that the Pentagon suspend efforts to dismantle and remove the monument from Arlington cemetery.Safety fencing has been installed around the memorial, and officials anticipate completing the removal by Dec. 22, the Arlington National Cemetery said in an email. During the removal, the surrounding landscape, graves and headstones will be protected, the Arlington National Cemetery said.Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin disagrees with the decision and plans to move the monument to the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park in the Shenandoah Valley, Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said.In 2022, an independent commission recommended that th...

Higgins’ savvy goal-line play, McPherson’s field goal in OT help Bengals beat Vikings 27-24

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

CINCINNATI (AP) — Tee Higgins made a savvy goal-line move to score a touchdown and force overtime and Evan McPherson made a 29-yard field goal to seal a 27-24 victory Saturday for Cincinnati over the Minnesota Vikings, keeping the Bengals playoff hopes alive without their star quarterback.Higgins caught a 21-yard pass from Jake Browning with under a minute remaining in the game and pulled off an acrobatic move to stretch the ball over the goal line and tie the game at 24.In overtime, a 4-yard run from Joe Mixon made it an easy chip shot for McPherson with 3:11 remaining.The Bengals (8-6) had taken over at their 41-yard line after stopping the Vikings (7-7) on fourth-and-short.Cincinnati erased a 17-3 Minnesota lead with its two fourth-quarter touchdowns.Browning was 29 for 42 for 324 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He completed passes to 12 different receivers.Mullens, the fourth quarterback to start a game this season for the Vikings, passed for 303 yards with two TD...

Authorities offer new details after body found in trunk of burning vehicle on South Side

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

CHICAGO — Authorities are offering new details after a person was found dead in the trunk of a burning vehicle on the city’s South Side early Friday morning. According to Chicago police, officers were called to the scene in the 3700 block of South Parnell Avenue in Bridgeport around 2:08 a.m., after reports of a vehicle fire in an alley in the area.  Renowned Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt dies at 88 Fire crews extinguished the blaze and after further investigation, crews found a person unresponsive in the trunk of the vehicle. Authorities say the victim was pronounced dead on the scene.  On Saturday, the Cook County Medical Examiner confirmed that the victim had been killed by a gunshot wound to the neck, and their death was ruled a homicide. Travis Scott performance at United Center postponed hours before show Authorities have not provided details on what started the vehicle fire or identified the victim involved. Police say an inve...

16-year-old boy charged with 1st degree murder in double fatal shooting of 14-year-old boy and his grandfather

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

CHICAGO — A 16-year-old boy has been charged with first degree murder after he allegedly shot and killed a 14-year-old boy and his grandfather earlier this week.According to the Chicago Police Department, a 16-year-old boy was charged Saturday with two counts of first degree murder, each of which carry a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of natural life — aka those convicted stay in jail until they die.The 16-year-old boy was arrested by CPD officers in the 6700 block of South Artesian Avenue Friday after he was identified as the person who, three days earlier, fatally shot a 14-year-old boy and his 65-year-old grandfather in the 3500 block of West 61st Place. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Police identify 14-year-old boy, grandfather killed in Chicago Lawn shooting Police said the 14-year-old boy, identified as Juan Medina Jr., was fatally wounded and pronounced dead at the scene, while his grandfather, Mario Medina, was taken to a local hospital in critical con...

Renowned Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt dies at 88

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

CHICAGO — Sculptor Richard Hunt, a renowned Chicago artist with works on display across the United States, has died.According to a press release shared on the artist's website, Hunt died on Saturday at the age of 88. The release said he "passed away peacefully" at his home in Chicago. Hunt, who was born in 1935, grew up on the city's South Side and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1950s, where he focused on sculpture.  Travis Scott performance at United Center postponed hours before show Prominent pieces by Hunt include the "Hero Construction," housed at the art institute, and "Swing Low," which currently hangs in the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.Most recently, Hunt completed a sculptural model for "Hero Ascending," a monument to Emmett Till that will be installed at Till’s childhood home, blocks away from the Woodlawn home where Hunt was born.Hunt served as a Commissioner for the National ...

Jan. 6 rioter charged for attacking police with baton sentenced to over 4 years in prison

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 15:56:19 GMT

(The Hill) — A Michigan man, who has described himself as a militia leader, was sentenced to more than four years in prison Friday for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol.Matthew Thomas Krol, 65, assaulted at least three officers, injuring one of them, with a baton that he stole from the officers, prosecutors said. Court documents show that he pushed his way through a crowd of rioters on the Lower West Plaza of the Capitol grounds, threw a water bottle at law enforcement and then attacked the officers.U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Krol to four years and 3 months in prison — though he will get credit for the time he's served since his arrest in February 2022, the Associated Press reported.“The course of my life was changed that day, and he was part of the mob that ensured I’d lose my career,” former Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said in the courtroom.Ahead of the sentencing, Krol apologized to Gonell — who retired from the department a yea...