Official: Drug lord flown to mountains

Official: Drug lord flown to mountains

MEXICO CITY

Fugitive drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was flown to a mountainous region of his home state of Sinaloa after his daring July 11 escape from prison through a mile-long tunnel, a federal official said Saturday.

Based on this information, the search for the world’s most-wanted drug boss has focused in recent weeks on a rugged area that stretches from Sinaloa into neighboring Durango state, part of Mexico’s infamous Golden Triangle drug-producing region that is considered Guzman’s home turf, said the official, who agreed to give details of the operation only if not quoted by name.

Several days ago, Attorney General Arely Gomez told Mexican lawmakers that authorities had captured a pilot who aided Guzman after his escape. The federal official said Saturday that it was the pilot who flew Guzman in the small plane.

S. Californians dig mud out of homes

LOS ANGELES

Homeowners in northern Los Angeles County communities were spending their Saturday digging mud out of their houses as crews continued extensive work to clear tons of dirt that clogged roadways and buried hundreds of cars.

The cleanup follows thunderstorms that unleashed flash flooding and debris flows on Thursday, damaging dozens of homes and trapping hundreds of cars on area highways and roads. No injuries were reported.

Senior al-Qaida commander killed

BEIRUT

An airstrike has killed a top al-Qaida commander and two other fighters in Syria, activists said Saturday, but it was not immediately clear whether it was carried out by the U.S.-led coalition or Russian warplanes.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Abdul Mohsen Abdallah Ibrahim al-Charekh, a Saudi better known as Sanafi al-Nasr, was killed Thursday in an airstrike near the northern Syrian town of Dana, along with another Saudi and a Moroccan member of al-Qaida’s local affiliate, known as the Nusra Front.

Russian warplanes have been carrying out airstrikes in Syria since Sept. 30. A U.S.-led coalition has been targeting the Nusra Front and the Islamic State group for more than a year.

Migrants surge into Slovenia

PETISOVCI, Slovenia

Thousands of migrants surged into tiny Slovenia on Saturday as an alternative route opened in Europe for them after Hungary sealed its border for their free flow, adding another hurdle in their frantic flight from wars and poverty toward what they hope is a better life in Western Europe.

The closure of Hungary’s border with Croatia early Saturday caused redirection of thousands of people – including women and small children soaked in cold rain – further west toward Croatia’s border with Slovenia.

The small European Union-member state has limited capacity to process large numbers wishing to head toward richer European Union countries such as Germany, Austria or Sweden.

Worker dies after fall into smokestack

NEW HAVEN, Conn.

A man working inside a smokestack on the Yale University campus in Connecticut died Saturday after he fell from a ladder down into the chimney about 50 feet and became stuck at the bottom.

The man in his 50s was working to upgrade Yale’s Central Power Plant about 10 a.m. when he fell, according to New Haven Assistant Chief Matthew Marcarelli. The man was a subcontractor, Yale spokeswoman Karen Peart said.

Associated Press