Mexican cartel leader’s son sentenced to life in prison

WASHINGTON>> The son of a Mexican drug cartel boss was sentenced Friday to life in prison for helping his father run one of the country’s largest and most violent narcotics trafficking organizations.

Rubén Oseguera, known as El Menchito, is the son of fugitive Jalisco New Generation cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera. The son served as the CJNG cartel’s second in command for seven years before his extradition to the U.S. in February 2020.

The younger Oseguera faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 40 years in prison when U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced him in Washington, D.C.

One of the 35-year-old Oseguera’s defense attorneys asked for a 40-year prison sentence, noting his client was only 14 when he was recruited to join his family’s drug trafficking operation.

WWII bomb disposal operation causes hours of travel disruptions

PARIS>> The disposal of what Paris police called an “excessively dangerous” unexploded World War II bomb caused hours of transportation chaos Friday on rail and road networks in the French capital, including the suspension of high-speed train links with London and Brussels.

Having moved the bomb into a hole, disposal experts managed to unscrew and destroy its fuse, “like you see in the movies,” said Christophe Pezron, who heads the Paris police laboratory that includes bomb disposal services.

He said the half-ton British-made bomb could have caused major damage had it exploded after workers inadvertently dug it up with an earthmover.

The bomb was dug up near train tracks north of Paris, forcing a shutdown of the rail network serving Gare du Nord, France’s busiest station. A portion of the A1 highway — a major road artery into northern Paris — and sections of the capital’s always-busy beltway were also closed while police disposal officers worked.

Government forces clash with Assad loyalists, killing more than 200

Fighters siding with Syria’s new government stormed several villages near the country’s coast, killing dozens of men in response to recent attacks on government security forces by loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad, a war monitor said.

The village assaults erupted Thursday and continued Friday. Ongoing clashes between the two sides have marked the worst violence since Assad’s government was toppled in early December by insurgent groups led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

The new government has pledged to unite Syria after 14 years of civil war.

Car found in river might have belonged to family that vanished in 1958

After two days of dredging, a crane on Friday pulled a Ford station wagon from the Columbia River that officials believe belonged to an Oregon family that disappeared while on a trip 66 years ago to collect Christmas greenery.

The car will be wrapped and sent to a warehouse where a forensic team will try to learn more about its owners, said Pete Hughes, a Hood River County Sheriff’s deputy.

But officials felt certain they found the car they were looking for, he said.

“Everything matches,” he said. “It appears to be the color, make and model of the Martin vehicle,” Hughes said.

The search for the Martin family was a national news story at the time and led some to speculate about the possibility of foul play, with a $1,000 reward offered for information. “Where do you search if you’ve already searched every place logic and fragmentary clues would suggest?” an Associated Press article wondered in 1959, months after the disappearance.

— Denver Post wire services