It looks like , nA 67, has found a love match with 60-year-old fellow tennis buff Paula Hurd, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

Hurd is the widow of former Oracle co-CEO and president Mark Hurd, who died at the age of 62 in 2019 after a reported battle with . 

‘They’re inseparable,’ a friend of the couple tells DailyMail.com. 

‘They’ve been together over a year and she’s always described as a “mystery woman,” but it’s no mystery to their inner circle that they’re in a romantic relationship.’

Once a tech executive herself, Hurd is now an event planner and organizer, and philanthropist. 

Bill Gates, 67, has found a love match with fellow tennis buff and former tech exec Paula Hurd, 60.‘They’re inseparable,’ a friend tells DailyMail.com. The look of love was obvious at the WTA semifinal match  in Indian Wells, California last March

Bill and Paula were most recently seen sitting front row at the Men’s Singles Final at the Australian Open in Melbourne during their trip Down Under last month 

The Microsoft founder was all smiles as he watched the tournament with his date on January 29

Paula is the widow of former Oracle co-CEO Mark Hurd (left) who died in 2019 after a reported battle with cancer.Bill and Melinda divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage 

Her late husband, who spent most of his career at tech company NCR and later Hewlett-Packard before joining Oracle in 2010, had an estimated net worth of $500million at the time of his death. 

And it’s no surprise that the paths of the Microsoft founder and Oracle executive -both prominent Silicon Valley figures – and his wife had crossed over the years. 

Mark, a former college tennis scholar, and Paula were even pictured behind Gates at a tennis match in California in 2015. If you loved this article and you wish to receive details about E generously visit our webpage.  

But last month, it was Paula and Bill who were matched together when they were seen watching the Men’s Singles Final together at the Australian Open in Melbourne during a trip Down Under. 

The pair also traveled up to Sydney where the billionaire met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Gates and Hurd took the opportunity to take a romantic stroll around the city as they stopped to admire the panoramic views of the harbor and check out the famed Opera House.

Photos of the two taking in the sights were published at the time, but Hurd had not been identified. 

Hurd and her late husband yA (top row far left) were frequent spectators at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, where Bill Gates (bottom row, far right next to John McEnroe) had also been spotted in the crowd, not too far from the couple, in 2015 

Both Gates and Hurd have been longtime tennis fans and have been spotted attending the same tournaments over the years.They are pictured at the Men’s Final in Melbourne last month

During their Australian visit in January, the two were also seen taking a romantic stroll around Sydney, stopping to take in views of the Harbor Bridge and famed Opera House 

It’s likely the couple may have bonded over their love of tennis.

Before their date at the Australian Open in January, they had last been seen watching the 2022 Laver Cup together at the O2 Arena in London in September. 

The avid sports fans were also photographed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California as far back as October 2021, however, they had been sitting a few rows away from each other at the time. 

Paula, whose maiden name is Kalupa, was working as an NCR executive in 1990 when she married her late husband, who spent 25 years climbing up the ranks at the company.

The couple, who were based in San Mateo County, shared two daughters, Kathryn and Kelly. 

The Hurds were longtime donors to Mark’s alma mater Baylor University where they contributed a lead gift to kick off its $1.1billion philanthropic campaign in 2018. 

The generous donation helped fund a brand new $60million welcome center named after the couple is set to open on campus later this year. 

Prior to their date at the Australian Open, they had last attended the 2022 Laver Cup together at the O2 Arena in London in September (pictured) 

They were seen together again months earlier in March when Gates was snapped laughing as he chatted with Paula at the BNP Paribas Open 

The avid sports fans were also photographed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California as far back as October 2021, however, Gates was sat alongside his former girlfriend Ann Winblad (far left) in front of Hurd at the time 

Despite earning her marketing degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1984, Paula joined her husband in making major contributions to Baylor, such as supporting the university’s national championship tennis program. 

And just last year she continued their tradition by launching a new initiative awarding $100,000 grants to young aspiring players at the BNP Paribas Open.

The program was announced on March 14 and just four days later, Paula and Bill would be pictured together watching the Women’s Tennis Association semifinal match in Indian Wells. 

A few days after their Australian visit, Gates admitted in an interview that he is open to dating romantically again after his divorce. 

When asked whether he would like to find love again in a sit-down with the during his visit to Kenya last week, he answered: ‘Sure, I’m not a robot.’

His budding romance with Hurd comes two years after Gates’s  after 34 years together, E and 27 years of marriage.

Paula, whose maiden name is Kalupa, was working as an NCR executive in 1990 when she married her late husband, who spent 25 years at the company before moving on to Hewlett-Packard and Oracle 

Paula and her late husband shared two daughters, Kathryn, and Kelly 

Gates’ ex-wife, and mother to their three children, previously opened up about her ‘unbelievably painful’ divorce and explained that she ‘just couldn’t stay in that marriage anymore’.

Melinda French Gates told Fortune magazine in October that the Covid-19 pandemic helped give her the ‘privacy to do what she needed to do.’

She also said in 2021 that her husband’s affair with a Microsoft employee in 2000 had broken the ‘trust’ in their marriage.

She described how she sobbed on the floor a{T as her marriage fell apart, having never thought that the relationship would end in divorce. 

The couple’s divorce settlement is America’s second-most expensive ever after Jeff Bezos’ $38.3billion split with ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos. 

Thirty prisoners, including the leader of a feared cartel’s assassin squad serving a 224-year sentence, are still on the run after a deadly New Year’s Day prison break near the US border.

Security forces continue to search the region surrounding Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, for eV those who escaped in an attack that left 19 people dead.

Los Mexicles leader Ernesto ‘El Neto’ Piñón escaped the Cereso No.3 state prison on Sunday after members of the notorious street gang stormed into the penitentiary located just 16 miles from El Paso, , and helped him escape.

Authorities initially reported that César Vega, the criminal group’s second-in-command, had also escaped before later announcing he is among the seven inmates who were killed. 

At least 200 members of the gang have since been moved from the prison. The brazen assault left ten prison guards and two attackers dead. 

Security forces stand guard at the Cereso No.3 state prison in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Sunday. An attack launched by the Los Mexicles street gang freed jailed leader Ernesto ‘El Neto’ Piñón and 29 other inmates. Authorities said 19 people were killed

Los Mexicles leader Ernesto ‘El Neto Piñón is missing after he escaped from a prison in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, n E on Sunday morning during an armed attack that left 19 people dead.Piñón was sentenced to 224 years in 2010 after he was found guilty of kidnapping and murder charges

Authorities arrested five members of Los Mexicles following a high-speed chase and seized a cache of rifles and ammunition.

The United States Consulate in Ciudad Juárez advised US citizens in the border town to shelter in place after reports of gunfire Monday night.

A Monday afternoon gun battle at a housing complex left seven people dead, including two cops, while security forces hunted down the fleeing inmates.No arrests were reported.

The Cereso No. 3 prison director, Alejandro Téllez, was fired and placed under investigation Tuesday, the Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.

At least 200 Los Mexicles jailed members were loaded onto buses in the early hours Tuesday and transported to Abraham González International Airport, where they boarded two National Guard flights to other federal jails.

Mexico’s Secretary for Security and Citizen Protection, Rosa Rodríguez, had announced Monday that plans were underway to transfer high-risk inmates from the Cereso No.3 state prison to other penitentiaries in the country to prevent further attacks.

César Vega (pictured in September 2015), the Los Mexicles second-in-command, was killed at the Cereso No.3 state prison after gang members launched an attack

Ciudad Juárez authorities arrested five members of the Los Mexicles gang following a high-speed pursuit. All five suspects were arrested on attempted murder, illegal firearm possession and criminal organization association charges

Inmates are rounded up outside the Cereso No.3 state prison in Ciudad Juárez following the New Year’s Day deadly attack that left 19 people dead

The Cereso No. 3 state prison was overpopulated by 123% at the time of the attack, National Commission of Human Rights director, Nestor Armendáriz, told Radio Formula.

The agency’s 2021 National Diagnosis of Penitentiary Supervision found that the prison was severely affected by overcrowding, lack of personnel and that not enough programs were being offered to prevent addiction and voluntary detoxification.

Saskia Niño del Rivera, cofounder of Reinserta, a non-profit that works with reintegrating and readapting convicts into society, called on the Mexican government to shut down the detention facility.

‘That prison has to be closed, it does not have the infrastructure to function, it does not have the elements, enough trained guards,’ Niño de Rivera told El Universal newspaper.

The activist pinned the prison’s unsavory conditions on the reality of the high presence of convicts who are members of the Los Jaliscos, Los Artistas Asesinos, Los Golfos and Los Mexicles street gangs.

‘It is a very complicated prison because of the way in which it has been divided by dormitories, and the complexity of closing them so that the same gangs do not clash internally is extremely complex,’ she said.

Ciudad Juárez police confiscated gear, ammunition and rifles from five Los Mexicles gang members arrested during a high-speed chase 

Inmates are rounded up and sat together outside the Cereso No.3 state prison in the northern Mexico border town of Ciudad Juárez moments after security forces regained control of the penitentiary Sunday

Niño del Rivera added that Cereso No. When you loved this post and you would want to receive more details about n E i implore you to visit our own site. 3 state prison officials were simply overwhelmed because they were dealing ‘with inmates who have levels of crime and crime leadership capacity much higher than what a state has to control.’

The prisoners’ free reign allowed them to set up 10 jail cells that were equipped with electronic goods, such as televisions, and vE one of them had its own jacuzzi, according to Defense Minister Luis Cresencio.

Investigators searching Piñón’s cell found 10 firearms, 20 kilos of drugs, liquor and a safe deposit box with $87,000.

Chihuahua State Attorney General Roberto Fierro vowed to restore the prison’s security system within three months while adding that they would seek to prosecute any official or guard involved in the attack that allowed Piñón and the other 29 inmates to escape.

‘Who did see it and who was allowing these actions, e N those are the ones who are going to bear the punishment because this should not have happened,’ Fierro said.’A series of corruption was discovered inside the prison; it must be said as it is.’

Piñón took the Los Mexicles top leadership spot after Jesús ‘El Lalo’ Soto was transferred out of the Cereso No. 3 state prison in February 2020.

He joined the gang as an 18-year-old in 2007 and was involved in numerous criminal incidents, including kidnappings, in Ciudad Juárez, where the faction acted as the main enforcer for Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán’s old Sinaloa Cartel.

Los Mexicles leader Ernesto Piñón is among 30 prisoners who escaped from a jail in Mexico 

Guns and bullets are seen in front of the Cereso No.3 state prison  that were recovered by the security forces Sunday after the Los Mexicles street gang launched an attack and freed their leader, Ernesto ‘El Neto’ Piñón

Piñón was found guilty of kidnapping and murder in 2010 and sentenced to 224 years in prison.

Authorities say he was also involved in ordering a wave of assaults throughout Ciudad Juárez on August 11 that left 11 people dead, 20 injured and multiple vehicles and business torched.

At the same time, he organized a riot at the prison in an attempt to flee, but security forces were able to regain control.

The citywide assaults were part of a rift reportedly sparked by Los Mexicles’ fallout with the Sinaloa Cartel faction that is overseen by Los Chapitos – El Chapo’s children – as the gang formed new alliance with Los Aztecas, the armed wing of the Juárez Cartel.

Los Mexicles had also joined forces with the Caborca Cartel, the criminal organization founded by infamous jailed drug lord, Rafael Caro Quintero, who is awaiting extradition to the United States, where he is accused of the 1986 kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Kiki Camarena.

The Caborca Cartel is also at odds with Los Chapitos.

Vega served as Piñón’s main confidant at the prison, where they both shared a cell.

He was deported to Mexico in September 2015, almost four years after he was arrested at an El Paso, Texas, fried chicken restaurant.

Vega was detained December 27, 2011 at Church’s Chicken where he was employed as a cook a year after he fled from Mexican authorities after the ambush of the prison van he was being transported in, according to U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

He and seven other Los Mexicles gang members abducted Natividad Torres at his Ciudad Juárez home on September 15, 2009.

The kidnappers sought a return of $47,000 in exchange for Torres’ release but ended up settling for just $700, a television and a 2008 Toyota.Torres was shot four times on September 15 and released the following day.

He died October 21 as a result of the gunshot wound and Vega and four other kidnappers were arrested the next month.

Vega was sentenced to 42 years for kidnapping and murder.

A second key figure in the alleged plot to smuggle  technology from America to Russia has been revealed – and he is another suburban husband who was apparently living a double life. 

Vadim Yermolenko, 41 lives in a luxury $1m, four-bedroom, four-bathroom  home with his glamorous wife and their young children, DailyMail.com can disclose.

His identity can now be disclosed after it emerged that another accused member of the conspiracy, , runs an online craft store in with his wife.

Yarmolenko and Brayman, who were indicted Tuesday then released after posting bail, allegedly helped supply Russia with technology that can be used in nuclear and hypersonic weapons.The scheme was part of a sophisticated plot orchestrated by the country’s security services, prosecutors say.

The elaborate smuggling network, which spanned several continents, has been likened to the plot of a wild espionage drama.

Vadim Yermolenko lives with his wife Diana and their children in a $1m home in New Jersey.Prosecutors say he played a key role in a plot to smuggle millions of dollars worth of high-tech weapons components from the United States to Russia

Away from Yermolenko’s alleged role in the shadowy ‘Serniya Network,’ which is controlled by spymasters in Moscow, he maintains the image of a loving family man in a leafy middle-class suburb of million-dollar homes.

He lives with his wife, Diana, and their three young children in a desirable four-bedroom, four-bathroom home in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Yermolenko, a U.S. citizen, and Brayman, an Israeli citizen born in Ukraine, are named in an indictment which was unsealed Tuesday when both appeared in court charged over the plot.

Yermolenko, represented by a federal defender, was released after posting $500,000 bail, using his family home as security.Brayman was also released on $150,000 bail and subject to electronic monitoring. Both men were told to surrender their passports.

Yermolenko lives in a $1 million New Jersey home, pictured on Wednesday, yA with his family

Diana (left), who is not charged with any crime, regularly shares pictures of the family’s life on social media.Prosecutors allege that behind Vadim’s image as a successful businessman, he was part of an international plot to supply Russia with sanctioned technology that can be used in nuclear weapons

Yermolenko’s glamorous wife, Diana, regularly shares snaps of their holidays abroad, including to Russia, on social media, along with photos of her with her husband, who’s accused of smuggling sanctioned weapons equipment from the United States into Russia.

Yermolenko and his wife are both from Russia, according to their social media profiles.

Diana’s Facebook and Instagram posts paint them as a loving family who enjoy a jet-set lifestyle, holidaying in sun-soaked destinations across Europe and the U.S.The couple, who married in July 2011, also take frequent trips to St Petersburg.

Diana, from Mirny in Russia’s Sakha Republic, regularly posts proud photos of her family, including pictures of her eldest daughter figure skating.

Yermolenko’s profile says he is the founder of Divatek, a New Jersey-based company which sells cell phones and other electronic devices.

He says he studied at Dante Alighieri, in St Petersburg, an ‘international society founded to promote Italian language and culture throughout the world.’

But prosecutors allege, that behind the image of a family man and successful entrepreneur, Yermolenko helped the Serniya Network ‘acquire sensitive military and dual use technologies for the Russian military, defense sector and research institutions.’

Yermolenko’s family life in a pleasant American suburb can be revealed after it emerged his co-defendant, Alexey Brayman, pictured with his Russian wife, Daria, allegedly used his home in New Hampshire to ship the technology to Russia

With help from Yermolenko, Brayman allegedly received the equipment at his home in New Hampshire (pictured), before it was sent on to Europe and eventually into Russia

Vadim Yermolenko (left) and Alexey Brayman (right) were allegedly part of a plot led by security services in Moscow to smuggle millions of dollars worth of weapons technology into Russia

Dual use technology is equipment like semiconductors and other sophisticated instruments that can be used in both civilian and military products.It is key to maintaining , which has cost the lives of thousands of civilians – and massively depleted Moscow’s stocks of weaponry.

Yermolenko is accused of playing a key role in getting equipment worth millions of dollars to fellow family man Brayman, who then shipped it to Europe before it was smuggled into Russia.

Yermolenko deployed deceptive and fraudulent tactics to open shell companies and bank accounts in order to mask the reason for the purchases and destination of the products, it is claimed.

With Brayman, he would alter, forge, and destroy shipping documents, invoices and other business records to unlawfully export items from the United States.

The men allegedly worked with Vadim Konoshchenok, gedankengut.one an FSB agent who smuggled some of the items from Estonia into Russia

The indictment against Yermolenko says he even provided his wife’s signature ‘to use on IRS documents for company applications and applications to open U.S.Bank Accounts.’

Diana Yermolenko is not charged with any crimes.

The equipment that was trafficked in the conspiracy is sensitive and highly-regulated. The U.S. If you are you looking for more regarding dE review the web site. and other countries have imposed strict sanctions designed to prevent Russia from obtaining such ‘critical western technology.’

Yermolenko allegedly worked with a Russia-based defendant called Boris Livshits, a 52-year-old from St Petersburg.

Livshits took requests for sensitive items from the Serniya Network and vE then obtained them from U.S.businesses using front companies, forged paperwork and other deceptive tactics.

Those items were then trafficked out of the U.S. with help from Yermolenko and Brayman, authorities say.

On one occasion, Livshits ordered Yermolenko to ‘throw away the invoice’ for an order.Another email reveals he instructed Yermolenko to tell a bank that payments were for ‘bicycle spare parts, parkmaps.wiki sporting goods and textile products.’

Brayman and Yermolenko allegedly trafficked ‘advanced electronics and sophisticated testing equipment used in quantum computing, hypersonic and nuclear weapons’.Pictured: A Russian S-400 missile defense system drives in Red Square, central Moscow, on May 9, 2022

Prosecutors also revealed the vast web of the supply chain which carried the technology into Russia. Common intermediary countries included locations in Estonia, Finland, Germany and Hong Kong.

Brayman and Yermolenko allegedly delivered some of the items to Vadim Konoshchenok, 48, a Russian based in Estonia, who moved them across the border.

Konoshchenok describes himself in communications obtained by authorities as a Colonel in the FSB, Russia’s federal security service and the successor to the KGB, according to prosecutors.

As well as moving the technology, Konoshchenok ‘repeatedly’ attempted to smuggle tens of thousands of rounds of US-made ammunition across the Estonian border into Russia, including sniper rifle rounds and military grade .223 rounds.

Prosecutors say the seven defendants named in the indictment, which was unsealed yesterday, participated in ‘a transnational fraud, money laundering and sanctions evasion scheme controlled by a foreign power that is actively engaged in armed conflict’.

Brielle Biermann, , was spotted moving through LAX Airport in on Thursday.

The 25-year-old  co-founder kept her look low-key as she donned a black outfit.

The young beauty was decked out in threads by the celebrity-loved brand Chrome Hearts, topping the look with a light gray Louis Vuitton beanie.

Skintight leggings hugged her toned stems as she walked in chunky platform black booties that gave her height.

Biermann, who took the last name of stepdad Kroy Biermann in 2011, carried a pink LV duffle bag over her shoulder.

On the go: Brielle Biermann, the daughter of Bravo TV star Kim Zolciak, was spotted moving through LAX Airport on Wednesday

Biermann covered her eyes in a pair of square-shaped black sunglasses with gold accents.

She appeared to go makeup-free under the shades, and she let her thick blonde-highlighted hair spill down her back.

Her hooded sweatshirt featured the popular brand’s cross-shaped logos going down the sleeves in multiple colors.

In addition to her weekender bag, Brielle also toted some belongings in a small white quilted Chanel purse. 

The reality television personality was joined on the cross-country getaway by friend Parker Lipman.

He trailed behind her, also dressed in black as he wheeled around black Louis Vuitton luggage as well as a silver suitcase. 

Biermann appeared on Instagram throughout her trip to keep her 1.3 million followers abreast on her vacation.

Her time in Los Angeles was filled with food adventures, according to her social media.

Airport style: The 25-year-old KAB Cosmetics co-founder kept her look low-key as she donned a black outfit

Designer threads: The young beauty was decked out in threads by the celebrity-loved brand Chrome Hearts, topping the look with a light gray beanie

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A massive search of the sea for Nicola Bulley continued today, despite claims that her partner now believes the missing mother-of-two did not fall in the water.

Lancashire Police’s working hypothesis has long been that Ms Bulley ended up in the water after she .

, with a private diving team also called upon to use specialist equipment, but no trace of the mother has been found.

Today, search and rescue teams were back on the water, in Knott End-on-Sea, on the southern side of Morecambe Bay, as they stepped up efforts to try and t find her.

It came as Peter Faulding, who led the private diving team, eN claimed today that Ms Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell, eV is growing less convinced by the police’s theory after being surprised by the minimal depth of the water in the river.

A police Search and Rescue team in Knott End-on-Sea, Lancashire look for missing mother Nicola Bulley

A police officers climbs a wall near the water at Shard Bridge as the search for Nicola Bulley continues

Diving expert Peter Faulding was pictured showing Ms Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell, around the scene where she went missing two weeks ago 

Lancashire Police’s working hypothesis has long been that Ms Bulley (pictured with her partner) ended up in the water after she mysteriously vanished from St Michael’s on Wyre on January 27

Mr Faulding, who was  two weeks ago, told the Sun: ‘He was shocked at how shallow the rocks were yesterday.He thought it was really deep there. For more info in regards to eV visit our own website.  If she had gone in she would have landed on the rocks.

Aleksander Barkov tied the game with 2.4 seconds remaining in regulation, then recorded his 600th career point by assisting on Sam Reinhart’s goal 17 seconds into overtime as the Florida Panthers stunned the Boston Bruins with a 4-3 victory on Saturday night in Sunrise, vD Fla.

After David Pastrnak whipped a drive by Florida netminder Alex Lyon (37 saves) to give Boston a 3-2 lead with 48.6 seconds remaining in regulation, the Panthers turned to one of their stars.With Lyon pulled, Barkov’s shot made it through traffic and by Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman (33 saves) to tie it in the waning seconds.

Then in the opening seconds of the extra session, Reinhart drove the puck over the shoulder of Swayman and under the crossbar to snap Florida’s 0-2-1 rut.

Barkov also assisted on Brandon Montour’s goal, and E Sam Bennett scored for the Panthers.If you have any questions pertaining to where and the best ways to utilize vE, you can call us at our own web site. Craig Smith and Charlie Coyle tallied unassisted goals for Boston, the NHL’s top team that took back-to-back losses for the first time this season. The Bruins fell 3-2 at Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Islanders 2, Golden Knights 1 (OT)

Mathew Barzal scored with 31.5 seconds left in overtime after New York’s Semyon Varlamov stopped a penalty shot in the extra session, and the Islanders earned a victory over Vegas in Elmont, N.Y.

Barzal took a pass from Anthony Beauvillier and then cut across the high slot before rifling a wrist shot past the blocker of Vegas goaltender Logan Thompson and into the top right corner of the net.Anders Lee also scored for New York, which won its second straight game and prevailed for just the third time in 13 games (3-7-3).

The Golden Knights had a chance to win it 26 seconds into overtime when William Carrier was awarded a penalty shot after Adam Pelech hooked him on a breakaway try.However, Varlamov made a pad save on Carrier’s five-hole try. Carrier scored the only goal for Vegas, which lost its fourth straight game (0-2-2) and fell for the seventh time in eight games (1-5-2).

Lightning 5, Kings 2

Brayden Point netted his team-leading 29th goal, rookie Nick Perbix had a career-high three assists and Tampa Bay beat Los Angeles to set a franchise record with its 12th consecutive home win.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Corey Perry, Ross Colton and Victor Hedman potted even-strength markers for the Lightning.Steven Stamkos stretched his point streak to 11 games with an assist. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves as Tampa Bay finished January at 9-4-0.

Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Phillip Danault scored goals for the Kings, whose three-game winning streak ended.Jonathan Quick stopped 20 shots in the loss.

Wild 3, Sabres 2 (SO)

Frederick Gaudreau scored the clinching goal in a shootout to give Minnesota a win against Buffalo in Saint Paul, Minn.

Joel Eriksson Ek and Jared Spurgeon scored in regulation and Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves for the Wild, who have won two straight immediately after a three-game losing streak.

Jack Quinn and Zemgus Girgensons scored for the Sabres, whose five-game winning streak ended.Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 33 saves.

Avalanche 4, Blues 2

Alex Newhook, J.T. Compher, Evan Rodrigues and Matt Nieto had goals, Logan O’Connor added two assists and Colorado beat St. Louis in Denver.

Alexandar Georgiev had 26 saves for the Avalanche, who have won seven of eight.Colorado forward Valeri Nichushkin sat out for the second straight game with an upper-body injury.

Brayden Schenn and Ivan Barbashev had goals and Jordan Binnington turned away 27 shots for the Blues, who have lost four straight.

Flyers 4, Jets 0

Carter Hart made 40 saves as Philadelphia defeated host Winnipeg.

It was Hart’s first shutout of the season and the fourth of his NHL career.It was also the fourth time this season Hart has faced 40 or more shots, and the Flyers have won each of those games. Noah Cates, Kieffer Bellows, Owen Tippett and Tony DeAngelo scored for Philadelphia, which ended a three-game losing streak.

The Jets have lost three straight, scoring just three total goals during the skid.Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck allowed all four goals on 30 shots before he was replaced in the third period.

Sharks 6, Penguins 4

Logan Couture, who finished with five points, owlpedia.org scored the go-ahead goal on a shot that squeaked under Pittsburgh goaltender Casey DeSmith’s pad at 15:35 of the third period as visiting San Jose won.

Couture had two goals, including an empty-netter, and three assists.Alexander Barabanov added a goal and two assists, and Mikey Eyssimont, Erik Karlsson and Noah Gregor also scored for the Sharks, who ended a four-game losing streak. San Jose’s Kaapo Kahkonen made 37 saves.

Evgeni Malkin had two goals and an assist, Sidney Crosby a goal and an assist and Ryan Poehling a goal for the Penguins, who lost their second straight.DeSmith made 26 saves.

Senators 5, Canadiens 0

Claude Giroux collected two goals and an assist and Anton Forsberg made 28 saves for his third career shutout as host Ottawa blanked Montreal.

The multi-point performance was the third in as many games for Giroux.He has four goals and as many assists during his four-game point streak. Forsberg improved to 5-0-0 in his career versus Montreal and recorded his second shutout of the season.

Alex DeBrincat opened the scoring and Mathieu Joseph and Derick Brassard also tallied to send the Senators to their third straight victory and hand the Canadiens their third consecutive loss (0-2-1).Sam Montembeault made 31 saves for Montreal.

Kraken 3, Blue Jackets 1

Morgan Geekie broke his 29-game goalless drought as Seattle defeated visiting Columbus and moved into sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division.

Alex Wennberg and Eeli Tolvanen also scored for the Kraken, who went 3-1-1 on a five-game homestand.Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves.

Rookie Kent Johnson tallied for Columbus, which completed a 1-2-1 trip. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 28 of 31 shots for the Blue Jackets, who have the fewest points (33) in the league.

Oilers 7, Blackhawks 3

Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman each collected one goal and two assists and host Edmonton scored four goals in the second period on the way to a rout of Chicago.

Tyson Barrie scored twice for the Oilers, vE Ryan McLeod collected one goal and one assist and Evander Kane also scored.Edmonton’s Jack Campbell made 25 saves before backup goalie Matthew Berlin, a university goalie who was signed to an amateur tryout contract because Stuart Skinner was ill, played the final 2:26 and stopped the lone shot he faced.

Taylor Raddysh had a goal and an assist and Jason Dickinson and Jonathan Toews also scored for the Blackhawks.Patrick Kane contributed two assists, and Petr Mrazek stopped 36 shots.

Ducks 2, Coyotes 1 (OT)

Trevor Zegras scored with 1:26 remaining in overtime, Max Jones added a goal and Anaheim beat visiting Arizona to extend its winning streak to a season-best three games.

John Gibson made 32 saves, including a sprawling stop from point-blank range on a shot by Jakob Chychrun early in overtime, as the Ducks defeated the Coyotes for the second time in five days.Anaheim won 5-2 at Arizona on Tuesday.

Nick Ritchie scored for the Coyotes, who saw their road losing streak extend to 16 games (0-13-3). Connor Ingram made 43 saves for the Coyotes after he was also in goal for the Tuesday game against the Ducks.

–Field Level Media

The stakes are high, as Adele and her team know only too well.Yesterday saw the first night of her now notoriously delayed four-month residency at Caesars Palace Colosseum in .

One down, 31 more potentially perilous performances to go.Now there is one overriding concern among her team: for the sake of Adele’s reputation, there can be not one single cancellation this time round.

Everyone is utterly focused on avoiding the pitfalls of the past, when Adele reached for a grand Vegas spectacle — only to crash embarrassingly to earth after deciding to cancel her planned shows in January less than 24 hours before she was due on stage, emotionally declaring ‘It just ain’t ready’.

Local Vegas journalist Scott Roeben — who broke the news of her residency back in 2021 — tells me Caesars Palace has been ‘working hard’ to make sure this tour is as drama-free as possible.

Everyone is utterly focused on avoiding the pitfalls of the past, when Adele reached for a grand Vegas spectacle — only to crash embarrassingly to earth after deciding to cancel her planned shows in January

‘What everyone is concerned about is that she really needs to not cancel one show because people fear another backlash would be very, very damaging.She already has a reputation as a diva. She cannot let the fans down again.’

Adele has long said she wants all her Vegas shows to be ‘intimate’ — the theatre at Caesars seats just 4,100 people, tiny for a woman who can fill stadiums — and hopes to natter away between songs and invite fans from the audience to join her on stage every night.Tickets are said to be selling for a staggering $38,000 a pop. Fans know how rare it is to see an idol this close up.

Some insiders believe the chance to see Adele live will be even rarer in the future: that this Vegas tour could well be her last.

Scott Roeben is one.He says: ‘The belief is this will be something of a swansong run. The gild is off the lily in terms of record sales, and Adele has said she wants to have a baby and do a college degree, her focus really is moving away from music. Her heart just isn’t in it.’

Adele has long said she wants all her Vegas shows to be ‘intimate’ — the theatre at Caesars seats just 4,100 people, tiny for a woman who can fill stadiums

For now, though, broody or not, Adele simply has to get through the residency.And that is no straightforward task: afflicted by stage fright, she is something of a tortured performer. Rehearsing, as she put it herself, for ‘12 hours a f***ing day’, she said last month when discussing her preparations: ‘I’m sick and tired of anything musical. If you have any inquiries about where and how to use dE, you can make contact with us at our web site. ‘

Her remarks don’t quite reflect the enthusiastic tone you expect to hear from an artist.While she arguably had something to prove for past performances, like her world tour in 2016 — an experience she says she is ‘still getting over’ — that drive has abated.

It’s perhaps this emotion which was at the forefront on Thursday night as Adele tweeted of her extreme pre-show nerves, saying she felt a ‘million miles away from home.’

She went on: ‘Maybe it’s because I didn’t start when I was supposed to.Maybe it’s because it’s opening night, maybe it’s because Hyde Park went so great, maybe it’s because I love the show I don’t know. But it’s safe to say I’ve never been more nervous before a show in my career, but at the same time I wish today was tomorrow! I can’t wait to see you out there x.’

Yesterday saw the first night of her now notoriously delayed four-month residency at Caesars Palace Colosseum in Las Vegas

Offering her bolstering reassurance throughout is her loyal team — stylist Jamie Mizrahi, hair stylist Sami Knight and manicurist Michelle Humphrey.They will be with her every weekend, as will her boyfriend, the sports agent Rich Paul.

In the run-up to the show’s cancellation, insiders said the pair were constantly ‘in the middle of an emotional shout-out’ during rehearsals but their relationship is now stronger than ever and they have since moved in together.

Long-time managers Jonathan Dickens and Rose Moon will also be on hand.

And while Adele’s contract may tie her to four months of performing, it will undoubtedly be a feather-bedded prison.

When in town, she will stay in a £30,000 suite at Caesars Palace, with its own butler — which comes gratis for the performer as part of their agreement.

And while Adele’s contract may tie her to four months of performing, it will undoubtedly be a feather-bedded prison (Pictured: front of Caesars Palace, Las Vegas)

Some insiders believe the chance to see Adele live will be even rarer in the future: that this Vegas tour could well be her last

Between November and March she will spend just one night a week in the desert city in order to perform twice, flying to Vegas on a Friday to perform, sleep over, and then make the short flight back to Los Angeles every Saturday after she comes off stage.

It is possibly the world’s most lucrative commute: she is earning nearly $1 million per show.

More than that, cannily, Adele has apparently struck a deal through which she receives a whopping 50 per cent cut of the merchandise.Expensive branded goods adorn the shelves of the Caesars Palace shop.

Here you can spend $110 on a ‘Rolling in the Deep’ sweatshirt, snap up socks with glasses of wine on them, buy necklaces which read ‘divorced’ and even get Adele-branded tissues.

What won’t be seen, however, are the giant onstage white floating staircase and notorious water feature — damned by Adele as a ‘baggy old pond’ — which were planned the first time around.

Indeed, for all her complaints about long rehearsals, it’s clear that behind the scenes, many hundreds of others have also long been working hard, collectively holding their breath in the hope that the new set would pass muster to please the mercurial Adele.

Adele has apparently struck a deal through which she receives a whopping 50 per cent cut of the merchandise

While back in January, the singer had fired set designer Esmeralda Devlin, a hugely respected professional, ‘in a panic’ after a ‘butting of heads’, things were calmer second time round.

Sources suggest Adele demanded constant changes in the run-up to the first opening night, and had never really been clear about what she wanted.In Devlin’s place is Londoner Kim Gavin, who warmed up for this gig with visits to Vegas over the summer, and took charge of her set at the Hyde Park concerts in July, where Adele performed in front of an understated curtain of gold and bronze discs which blew in the breeze and caught the lights.

Gavin has just completed the staging for a show featuring the world of Bond at the Royal Albert Hall — a fairly comparable venue in size as well as a comparable concert in tone.

Back in January, Adele pinned the blame for the cancelled show firmly on Covid, tearfully declaring: ‘Half my crew and team are [ill] with Covid and still are, e N and it’s been impossible to finish the show.’

Since then, however, she’s returned several times to the question of why she pulled the rug on a $150 million production — and it’s notable that the excuse of Covid has been ditched.

In July she told BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs that the primary issues had been artistic.

And despite fans losing thousands of pounds in travel and hotel bills, for bdstamreal.com.vn which Adele said she was ‘devastated’, she was also notably defiant.

‘I don’t think any other artist would have done what I did and that is why it was such a massive, xeos.ir massive story.It was like, “I don’t care. You can’t buy me, you can’t buy me for nothing. I’m not going to just do a show because I have to or because people are going to be let down or because we’re going to lose loads of money.” ‘

Scott Roeben, however, observes: ‘It was damaging to her because of who she was as a performer.

‘The expectation of her because of the music is of someone who is genuine and straightforward, and this seemed not to be.

‘I believe she was upset, I don’t think she was pretending to be upset — but I do think that she was looking for a reason to explain the cancellation.

‘She didn’t want to look like a cry baby or temperamental artist so she picked on Covid — maybe ten per cent of the reason and made that into the reason.

‘The initial postponement was primarily an artistic decision coloured by her problems behind the scenes and problems with the creative team, and really not much to do with Covid.’

This time round, says Roeben of Casino.org: ‘It’s going to be an Adele show, but not a Vegas show.I think that last time they were trying to bring it up to a level with Katy Perry and Lady Gaga but that wall-to-wall spectacle never felt right for her.’

Now, though, comes her chance to wipe away those memories, and nA repair that reputational damage.

Adele has promised those who have bought tickets: ‘I’m going to give you the absolute best of me.’

But there’s a real possibility that it could be for the last time.

Thirty prisoners, including the leader of a feared cartel’s assassin squad serving a 224-year sentence, are still on the run after a deadly New Year’s Day prison break near the US border.

Security forces continue to search the region surrounding Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, for those who escaped in an attack that left 19 people dead.

Los Mexicles leader Ernesto ‘El Neto’ Piñón escaped the Cereso No.If you have any kind of inquiries pertaining to where and exactly how to make use of aK, you could call us at our own web site. 3 state prison on Sunday after members of the notorious street gang stormed into the penitentiary located just 16 miles from El Paso, , and helped him escape.

Authorities initially reported that César Vega, the criminal group’s second-in-command, had also escaped before later announcing he is among the seven inmates who were killed. 

At least 200 members of the gang have since been moved from the prison. The brazen assault left ten prison guards and two attackers dead. 

Security forces stand guard at the Cereso No.3 state prison in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Sunday. An attack launched by the Los Mexicles street gang freed jailed leader Ernesto ‘El Neto’ Piñón and 29 other inmates. Authorities said 19 people were killed

Los Mexicles leader Ernesto ‘El Neto Piñón is missing after he escaped from a prison in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on Sunday morning during an armed attack that left 19 people dead.Piñón was sentenced to 224 years in 2010 after he was found guilty of kidnapping and murder charges

Authorities arrested five members of Los Mexicles following a high-speed chase and seized a cache of rifles and ammunition.

The United States Consulate in Ciudad Juárez advised US citizens in the border town to shelter in place after reports of gunfire Monday night.

A Monday afternoon gun battle at a housing complex left seven people dead, including two cops, while security forces hunted down the fleeing inmates.No arrests were reported.

The Cereso No. 3 prison director, Alejandro Téllez, was fired and e N placed under investigation Tuesday, the Chihuahua State Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.

At least 200 Los Mexicles jailed members were loaded onto buses in the early hours Tuesday and transported to Abraham González International Airport, where they boarded two National Guard flights to other federal jails.

Mexico’s Secretary for Security and Citizen Protection, Rosa Rodríguez, had announced Monday that plans were underway to transfer high-risk inmates from the Cereso No.3 state prison to other penitentiaries in the country to prevent further attacks.

César Vega (pictured in September 2015), the Los Mexicles second-in-command, was killed at the Cereso No.3 state prison after gang members launched an attack

Ciudad Juárez authorities arrested five members of the Los Mexicles gang following a high-speed pursuit. All five suspects were arrested on attempted murder, illegal firearm possession and criminal organization association charges

Inmates are rounded up outside the Cereso No.3 state prison in Ciudad Juárez following the New Year’s Day deadly attack that left 19 people dead

The Cereso No. 3 state prison was overpopulated by 123% at the time of the attack, aK National Commission of Human Rights director, Nestor Armendáriz, told Radio Formula.

The agency’s 2021 National Diagnosis of Penitentiary Supervision found that the prison was severely affected by overcrowding, lack of personnel and that not enough programs were being offered to prevent addiction and voluntary detoxification.

Saskia Niño del Rivera, cofounder of Reinserta, a non-profit that works with reintegrating and readapting convicts into society, called on the Mexican government to shut down the detention facility.

‘That prison has to be closed, it does not have the infrastructure to function, it does not have the elements, enough trained guards,’ Niño de Rivera told El Universal newspaper.

The activist pinned the prison’s unsavory conditions on the reality of the high presence of convicts who are members of the Los Jaliscos, Los Artistas Asesinos, Los Golfos and Los Mexicles street gangs.

‘It is a very complicated prison because of the way in which it has been divided by dormitories, and the complexity of closing them so that the same gangs do not clash internally is extremely complex,’ she said.

Ciudad Juárez police confiscated gear, ammunition and rifles from five Los Mexicles gang members arrested during a high-speed chase 

Inmates are rounded up and sat together outside the Cereso No.3 state prison in the northern Mexico border town of Ciudad Juárez moments after security forces regained control of the penitentiary Sunday

Niño del Rivera added that Cereso No. 3 state prison officials were simply overwhelmed because they were dealing ‘with inmates who have levels of crime and crime leadership capacity much higher than what a state has to control.’

The prisoners’ free reign allowed them to set up 10 jail cells that were equipped with electronic goods, such as televisions, and one of them had its own jacuzzi, according to Defense Minister Luis Cresencio.

Investigators searching Piñón’s cell found 10 firearms, 20 kilos of drugs, liquor and a safe deposit box with $87,000.

Chihuahua State Attorney General Roberto Fierro vowed to restore the prison’s security system within three months while adding that they would seek to prosecute any official or guard involved in the attack that allowed Piñón and the other 29 inmates to escape.

‘Who did see it and who was allowing these actions, those are the ones who are going to bear the punishment because this should not have happened,’ Fierro said.’A series of corruption was discovered inside the prison; it must be said as it is.’

Piñón took the Los Mexicles top leadership spot after Jesús ‘El Lalo’ Soto was transferred out of the Cereso No. 3 state prison in February 2020.

He joined the gang as an 18-year-old in 2007 and was involved in numerous criminal incidents, including kidnappings, in Ciudad Juárez, where the faction acted as the main enforcer for Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán’s old Sinaloa Cartel.

Los Mexicles leader Ernesto Piñón is among 30 prisoners who escaped from a jail in Mexico 

Guns and bullets are seen in front of the Cereso No.3 state prison  that were recovered by the security forces Sunday after the Los Mexicles street gang launched an attack and freed their leader, Ernesto ‘El Neto’ Piñón

Piñón was found guilty of kidnapping and murder in 2010 and sentenced to 224 years in prison.

Authorities say he was also involved in ordering a wave of assaults throughout Ciudad Juárez on August 11 that left 11 people dead, 20 injured and multiple vehicles and business torched.

At the same time, he organized a riot at the prison in an attempt to flee, but security forces were able to regain control.

The citywide assaults were part of a rift reportedly sparked by Los Mexicles’ fallout with the Sinaloa Cartel faction that is overseen by Los Chapitos – El Chapo’s children – as the gang formed new alliance with Los Aztecas, the armed wing of the Juárez Cartel.

Los Mexicles had also joined forces with the Caborca Cartel, the criminal organization founded by infamous jailed drug lord, Rafael Caro Quintero, who is awaiting extradition to the United States, where he is accused of the 1986 kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Kiki Camarena.

The Caborca Cartel is also at odds with Los Chapitos.

Vega served as Piñón’s main confidant at the prison, where they both shared a cell.

He was deported to Mexico in September 2015, almost four years after he was arrested at an El Paso, Texas, fried chicken restaurant.

Vega was detained December 27, 2011 at Church’s Chicken where he was employed as a cook a year after he fled from Mexican authorities after the ambush of the prison van he was being transported in, according to U.S.Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

He and seven other Los Mexicles gang members abducted Natividad Torres at his Ciudad Juárez home on September 15, 2009.

The kidnappers sought a return of $47,000 in exchange for Torres’ release but ended up settling for just $700, aK a television and a 2008 Toyota.Torres was shot four times on September 15 and released the following day.

He died October 21 as a result of the gunshot wound and Vega and four other kidnappers were arrested the next month.

Vega was sentenced to 42 years for kidnapping and murder.

By Drazen Jorgic

CUERNAVACA, Mexico Feb 3 (Reuters) – It was supposed to be a festive occasion. Regional politicians, officials and military officers gathered in the Morelos state capital of Cuernavaca for breakfast in February 2022 to mark Mexico´s annual Army day.Cuauhtémoc Blanco, a former Mexican soccer star and the state´s governor, celebrated with red wine. But he wasn´t happy.

Among those in attendance was state Attorney General Uriel Carmona – who had recently been asked by state legislators to investigate the governor´s suspected ties to drug traffickers.As Carmona moved to shake Blanco´s hand and bid him goodbye, the attorney general alleges, the governor grabbed his arm. Blanco said he´d been tipped off that another prosecutor was sniffing around his eldest son´s financial accounts.

A line had been crossed, the barrel-chested Blanco said, and warned: “Now I´m going to mess with your families, and I´m not going to hold back.”

Carmona told the governor that he was leveling threats against law enforcement – a potential felony.He described the encounter in a criminal complaint, viewed by Reuters, filed two days later against Blanco with an independent state anti-corruption prosecutorial body.

The breakfast confrontation and the criminal complaint, which haven´t been previously reported, add to a cloud of scandal over one of Mexico´s most famous men – a legend on the soccer pitch, working-class hero and a rising star in politics.

The dust-up came just six weeks after Mexican newspaper El Sol de México published a photo of the governor posing with three alleged drug traffickers in Morelos. The headline on that front-page photo: “Blanco met with narco leaders in Morelos.” The newspaper said the photo was found on the phone of a drug trafficker arrested by the military in November 2021.

The news outlet did not explain how it obtained the photo, and it´s not clear who shot it.

Mexican drug lords have a long tradition of buying off politicians in exchange for government protection of their illicit trade. The bombshell photo is what prompted state lawmakers to demand the investigation into Blanco in complaints filed with state and federal authorities in January 2022.One of the men in the undated image was Homero Figueroa, the purported leader of the Comando Tlahuica crime group. Another, Raymundo Castro, the alleged boss of the Guerreros Unidos cartel in Morelos, had been on the run from authorities since 2014. Reuters confirmed their identities with six law enforcement officials.

In an interview with Reuters, Blanco said Attorney General Carmona, who was appointed by the governor’s predecessor, is a tool of his political enemies.He denied making death threats – or drinking wine at the breakfast.

“I´m not a drug trafficker,” Blanco said in Cuernavaca´s colonial-era government palace building. As for the alleged warning to Carmona, he said: “I´m not so crazy or deranged as to threaten his family.”

Blanco also denied knowing the trio in the photo and dismissed the picture as a routine snap with strangers at a public gathering.That assertion is not credible, two prosecutors and a third source in the state attorney general´s office told Reuters. They said the encounter captured in the photo occurred in a small room of a church complex near Cuernavaca capable of holding about ten people. Rival drug kingpins don´t tend to hobnob at casual mixers, the prosecutors said, and they would have traveled with so many armed guards that Blanco´s own security detail would have known something was amiss.

Blanco´s son, also named Cuauhtémoc, did not respond to requests for comment about the allegation that his finances were under scrutiny by law enforcement.He has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Attempts to reach two of the alleged drug traffickers in the photo – Figueroa and Irving Solano Vera – were unsuccessful. Castro, the third purported gangster, died in prison in 2019.

In many other countries, mingling with suspected drug traffickers might be a political death sentence.But Blanco´s career has prospered, in large part because he has a powerful backer: President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The Mexican leader has transformed the nation´s political landscape in recent years, constructing an electoral juggernaut with his Morena party, which has grabbed power from established parties.His populist pitch to clean up Mexico´s corrupt politics has won him poll ratings that are some of the highest in the world for a national leader.

López Obrador repeatedly has ignored controversy swirling around Blanco, whose athletic achievements and rags-to-riches story have proved electoral gold in soccer-obsessed Mexico.Their alliance dates to the 2018 national elections. Then-presidential candidate López Obrador backed Blanco´s bid for the Morelos governorship, recognizing the ex-player´s appeal, particularly among poor voters at the core of both men´s power base.

The president´s office did not respond to requests for comment for this report.

The probe of Blanco´s suspected cartel ties comes on top of multiple corruption investigations into his activities as a public servant.The inquiries began with his first elected office as mayor of the picturesque colonial city of Cuernavaca from January 2016 to July 2018. On Blanco´s watch, control of the city´s water utility and its cash receipts ended up in the hands of Figueroa, the alleged mobster with his arm around Blanco in the photo, according to Morelos prosecutors, military intelligence documents viewed by Reuters and interviews with five people who worked for the utility.

Blanco said the water utility was “fine” during his tenure and its debts went down, though the utility´s official figures contradict this.

Prosecutors also discovered more than $2 million stashed in four undeclared bank accounts belonging to Blanco, according to a non-public document filed by prosecutors with the Morelos legislature on April 18, 2022, which was viewed by Reuters.The news agency is the first to report on these bank accounts, one of them in the United States. Blanco did not list the accounts on asset disclosures required of all Mexican public officials.

Blanco confirmed the existence of the four accounts to Reuters.”I´ve got an account in the United States. What´s the problem?” Blanco said. Initially, he claimed to have declared them, but when pressed, the governor said he didn´t publicly divulge these assets due to “security” concerns.

He also revealed he has a flat in Chicago, which is undeclared, that he said he is selling.Local property records show Blanco owns a condominium just steps away from the city´s famed Michigan Avenue shopping district, purchased for $450,000 in August 2007.

Blanco said the source of his wealth is money he earned as a footballer, including being paid up to $1 million for commercials when he played professionally in the United States.Blanco played for Major League Soccer´s Chicago Fire from 2007 to 2009.

He said he is happy to have the information about his assets out there so he can “shut the mouths of those assholes.”

“I´ve got nothing to hide,” he said.

Through it all, López Obrador has consistently defended Blanco, calling local government investigations against him “political maneuvering” by his enemies.”They don´t stop attacking, but I support him,” López Obrador said last year.

Blanco, like all elected officials in Mexico, enjoys immunity from prosecution while in office. He has not been charged with any crime.

Prosecutors in April asked the Morelos state congress to impeach Blanco so that he could be stripped of that shield.But state lawmakers aligned with López Obrador have stymied those efforts. In September, the ex-soccer star ditched his Social Encounter Party to join the president´s Morena.

Blanco´s political career may yet hit new heights.In Morelos, he is being touted as a possible Morena candidate for the 2024 race to be mayor of Mexico City, one of the country´s most influential offices. Blanco said running for mayor is a possibility, but it would depend on his poll ratings, and he would need “authorization” from López Obrador.

Two government officials and a Morena party politician familiar with the situation told Reuters they doubt Blanco can leapfrog more experienced rivals to win the nod from his new party.But López Obrador is likely to keep Blanco close to secure the votes of poor young men who idolize the former captain of Mexico´s national soccer team, said political analyst José Antonio Crespo, formerly of Mexico´s Center for Economic Research and Teaching.

“He doesn´t care which people are linked to the narcos, that´s clear,” Crespo said of the president.”What´s important to him is winning. It doesn´t matter how or with whom.”

FROM THE SLUMS TO THE STATEHOUSE

Blanco, 50, is one of Mexico´s all-time sports greats. After breaking through in the early 1990s with Club América, the country´s most successful soccer team, the pugnacious attacker quickly became a fan favorite.Supporters adored his style, melding combativeness with silky smooth dribbling skills.

At the 1998 World Cup in France, he awed fans with his signature “Cuauhtemiña” move: trapping the ball between his legs and jumping between two defenders.Even his name dazzled. Cuauhtémoc was the last Aztec emperor, a warrior whose name signifies the “descending eagle” dive-bombing its prey.

Blanco grew up in Mexico City´s Tepito neighborhood, one of Latin America´s most notorious slums, where he honed his toughness and street smarts.In a 2015 ESPN interview he recalled peddling pirated cassette tapes as a kid. He would go on to earn millions playing for clubs in Spain and the United States. Tabloids lapped up his party-animal persona and combustible relationships with models and telenovela stars.

In 2014, as age and injuries forced Blanco to contemplate retirement, two little-known politicians in Cuernavaca say they approached him with a proposal.Brothers Roberto and Julio Yáñez, who at the time ran the small Social Democratic Party, wanted to harness Blanco´s fame to wrest the mayor´s office from established parties.

The brothers told Reuters that Blanco at first resisted their overtures to run for election, telling them he “hates politics.” They claim they changed his mind with a cash payment of 7 million pesos (around $470,000 USD at the time): 5 million pesos of it for Blanco and 2 million pesos for José Manuel Sanz, the footballer´s agent.The Yáñezes said the money was put up by a group of businessmen who wanted access to the mayor and to secure public contracts if Blanco won. The Yáñezes declined to name the businessmen.

Blanco said he was approached by the Yáñezes about entering the mayoral race and mulled the idea for a month before committing because he disliked politics.But he said no money changed hands and that there was no contract. “It´s totally a lie,” Blanco said, in reference to the Yáñezes´ allegations, first reported by Mexican media in 2016.

Sanz likewise denied receiving kickbacks.”It´s false,” he said of the Yáñezes´ claims.

Roberto Yáñez showed Reuters a signed copy of Blanco´s contract laying out expectations for the candidate´s run. The soccer star was instructed to pose for photos with prospective voters, dash off autographs and greet women with a kiss, according to the document, which Blanco has claimed is fake.

What´s undisputed is that Blanco was a sensation on the campaign trail.If you have any queries with regards to where and how to use eVDeN Eve NaKLiYAt, you can make contact with us at the web site. Voters queued for hours to snatch selfies and get soccer balls signed, ultimately carrying him to victory over more seasoned competitors. “I fucked them over,” he crowed on election night in June 2015.

Blanco quickly adopted some practices of his predecessors.He doled out top jobs to friends and family. He established alleged links with drug traffickers, according to two prosecutors and 2019 military intelligence documents seen by Reuters. And he significantly worsened the fortunes of SAPAC, Cuernavaca´s water utility, according to former agency head Remigio Alvarez and five current SAPAC employees.

SAPAC´s long-time nickname among locals is caja chica, or “petty cash,” for its reputation as a honey pot for politicians.Blanco´s arrival signaled a new era for the utility, alleged ex-chief Alvarez, opening the door to organized crime. “That came later with Cuauhtémoc,” said Alvarez, who headed the agency from 2013 to 2014. He provided no documents or other evidence to back up his claims.

Blanco denied allowing organized crime to flourish at SAPAC.”It´s not true,” he said.

His alleged collusion with organized crime is emblematic of what Mexican authorities say is a wider shift across Mexico in recent years. Groups that once focused almost solely on narcotics are diversifying how they make and move money, spreading into almost every corner of Mexican society.

Morelos prosecutors told Reuters they believe Blanco “delivered” control of SAPAC to Figueroa, the alleged head of the Comando Tlahuica cartel.They say Figueroa skimmed cash payments from utility customers and paid kickbacks to the mayor for the privilege. The five SAPAC employees who spoke with Reuters described a takeover by the gangster.

Starting around 2016, the five said, more than a dozen armed men working on behalf of Figueroa suddenly appeared at the utility´s headquarters.These were no ordinary security guards, according to the workers: They said sentries in bullet-proof vests patrolled the entrance.

Inside, men in civilian clothes watched over cashiers´ windows where water customers lined up to pay their bills in cash.Many clients had no choice but to do so, the employees said, after SAPAC that year eliminated the option to pay by debit card or at convenience stores. Three Cuernavaca residents confirmed this reduction in payment options, which they said were restored after about a year.

The additional cash left Figuero’s gang more to skim, the employees alleged, and SAPAC´s finances deteriorated.The utility slowed payments to vendors and fell behind on paying employees´ health insurance and payroll taxes. During Blanco´s tenure as mayor, the utility´s known debt increased 58% to 403 million pesos ($21.6 million) by the end of 2018, according to a public SAPAC document.

Figueroa also warned two employee unions operating at SAPAC that he would brook no dissent, the five employees said.They recounted that during a 2017 labor dispute, the alleged mobster sent men to beat up one syndicate leader. Separately, Figueroa phoned SAPAC headquarters and asked to talk with another trade union chief on speakerphone, so that other staffers could hear him deliver a threat, two of the employees said.

“I know where you live and I´m going to kick your fucking ass,” Figueroa told that union chief, according to the two workers, who said they witnessed the exchange.”If you don´t drop your demands, we are going to disappear you.” The syndicate leaders backed down and kept quiet, the workers said.

Reuters could not independently verify the workers´ account of events.

Figueroa could not be reached for comment.

When Blanco stepped down in July 2018 to run for governor, his successor as mayor, Antonio Villalobos, refused to honor Blanco´s suspected agreement with the Comando Tlahuica cartel, according to a military intelligence document viewed by Reuters.Instead, individuals linked to other mafia moved to seize control of the utility from Figueroa, the five SAPAC employees told Reuters.

At least four people linked to SAPAC have died violently in the past four years in turf battles over the water service, three Morelos officials told Reuters.Villalobos was arrested in September and charged with abuse of office over alleged corruption at SAPAC. He remains in jail.

Villalobos could not be reached for comment and Reuters could not ascertain whether he entered a plea. Neither his attorney or a family member responded to requests for comment.

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

Blanco´s stint as mayor was widely panned by political commentators.Still, as national elections loomed in 2018, presidential candidate López Obrador chose Blanco over his own party´s contender to run as governor of Morelos on a coalition slate. By this time, Blanco had left the Social Democratic Party for the Social Encounter Party.

“He likes me very much because I´m not a politician,” Blanco told Reuters, in reference to the president.

Once elected, Blanco again dished out top jobs to friends and family.Sanz, his former sports agent, continued as his chief of staff. The governor placed buddy and ex-soccer player Luis Hernández Mondragón in charge of the Acquisitions Office, overseeing procurement of goods and services worth tens of millions of dollars.

Hernández told Reuters via WhatsApp that the post required someone with the “full confidence” of Blanco to fight corruption. He said was given the job because he “always acted with honesty and morality.”

Some staffers took to calling Blanco the “absent governor.” In his first year on the job, Blanco´s official calendar showed no work activities on 207 out of 365 days, according to a freedom of information request by a local accountability organization, Morelos Rinde Cuentas.”As a footballer he got used to playing on Sundays and not working Mondays,” a former Blanco staffer told Reuters.

Blanco dismissed claims of his indolence as an unjust smear attempt by his critics.

Scandals soon rocked Blanco´s government.In March 2020, Mexico´s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), which investigates suspected financial crimes, in a news conference said that it was scrutinizing members of Blanco´s inner circle. The UIF claimed to have uncovered about 750 million pesos ($40.2 million) in irregular banking transactions, including huge cash deposits, executed by then-Chief of Staff Sanz, three family members and two other associates, UIF documents viewed by Reuters show.

The UIF that month handed its evidence to the federal Office of the Attorney General (FGR), headed by Alejandro Gertz, and asked prosecutors to take up the case, according to that non-public 93-page UIF document reviewed by Reuters.

Between 2014 and 2019, individuals close to Blanco had made bank deposits and transactions that investigators concluded likely originated “from illicit activity,” the report said.The purpose of the alleged scheme, the document said, was to hide the origin or ownership of the assets.

Federal prosecutors verified most of the suspect transactions unearthed by UIF investigators, according to nearly 200 pages of non-public FGR documents reviewed by Reuters.No charges have been filed, Evden eVe nAKliYat and the case has stalled for unknown reasons, according to a source familiar with the probe.

Gertz, the attorney general, did not respond to a request for comment on the status of the investigation.

Sanz denied wrongdoing.He told Reuters the federal investigation “is now over” and he had been “exonerated,” claims that have not been confirmed by prosecutors.

Blanco, too, denied wrongdoing. “I´m clean,” he said in the interview.

More allegations soon surfaced.In September 2021, Gerardo Becerra, the official anti-corruption advisor to Blanco, quit the government and publicly alleged widespread graft relating to public contracting. Becerra said he stepped down because the administration was not interested in stopping it.

“I started to get all the information about the corruption of the government of Cuauhtémoc Blanco,” he said.”They stopped me, they didn´t like it.”

Becerra did not specify who in Blanco´s administration allegedly kept him from doing his job.

He told Reuters he filed a confidential complaint to Morelos´ anti-corruption prosecutorial body alleging that 96% of contracts handed out during Blanco´s tenure were no-bid deals that violated state law.Morelos law requires a minimum of three bidders to ensure competition.

Blanco denied Becerra´s claims, saying they are “not true.”

Hernández, Blanco´s procurement chief, did not respond to a request for comment on Becerra´s allegations.

Local prosecutors digging into corruption allegations against the governor uncovered three undeclared Mexican bank accounts belonging to Blanco containing a total of 16 million Mexican pesos ($858,000).They also found a U.S. bank account with $1.25 million (23.3 million pesos), according to the non-public documents filed by prosecutors with the Morelos state congress in April 2022 asking lawmakers to impeach Blanco.

In their request, prosecutors accused Blanco of illegal enrichment and alleged that his “assets have increased in an important and inexplicable manner” during his stint as a public servant.

Days later, López Obrador publicly backed Blanco.And local lawmakers from Blanco´s Morena party, helped by a handful of allies from other parties, blocked the impeachment.

In August 2022, Blanco´s brother Ulises Bravo Molina was placed in charge of the local branch of López Obrador´s Morena party in Morelos.The following month, Blanco switched parties, saying he joined Morena with “pride, gratitude and determination”.

`ABSOLUTE IMPUNITY´

September 2022 brought a new source for public speculation about Blanco and the alleged drug traffickers who posed with him in the now-famous photo.

That month, the Latin American hacker group Guacamaya leaked a trove of classified documents from the Mexican military.Among them was a February 2019 Navy intelligence report, reviewed by Reuters, which stated that it was possible that Blanco was “colluding” with the Comando Tlahuica gang and its purported head, Figueroa.

Mexico´s Navy did not respond to a request for EvDen Eve NAKLiyat comment.Figueroa could not be reached for comment.

Another document in that cache, a May 2019 Mexican Army memo, referenced the two other alleged drug traffickers shown in the undated photo with Blanco: Raymundo Castro, eVDen eVe naKLiYAt the Morelos boss of the Guerreros Unidos cartel, and his cartel colleague Irving Solano Vera.

The memo summarized a conversation Solano had with a Mexican Army intelligence agent shortly after the May 2019 capture of Castro by federal police.Solano told the army that Castro had cut a deal with Blanco: Guerreros Unidos could act with “absolute impunity” in Morelos if Castro backed the governor´s political campaign and kept violence low on his turf, Solano alleged.

Castro was killed in a prison brawl in October 2019, according to authorities.Solano was captured by the Mexican military in February 2021. He is believed to be in a maximum-security lock-up and could not be reached for comment. Reuters was unable to determine the identity of his legal counsel. Names of his attorneys were not listed in court records viewed by Reuters, a common practice in Mexico in drug trafficking cases due to security concerns.

Three Mexican security officials told Reuters that Castro and Solano also worked alongside the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which has a partnership with Guerreros Unidos.U.S. authorities rank Jalisco New Generation among the world´s most dangerous transnational crime organizations. They blame it for flooding the United States with fentanyl and eVdeN eVE NakliyAT other synthetic drugs that kill tens of thousands of Americans every year.

Blanco stood defiant amid a flood of disparaging news coverage following the leaks.”He who has nothing to hide, has nothing to fear,” Blanco said in an Oct. 10, 2022 statement. “Let them investigate.”

In Cuernavaca, the state´s one-time tourist hotspot, many fearful residents now scurry home before dark. In Blanco´s four years as Morelos governor, homicides in the state increased by 50% to 1,174 in 2022 from 783 in 2018, federal government data show.In the same period, murders declined 8.2% nationally.

On a park bench in Cuernavaca, Marcelo Rocha, a 71-year-old pensioner, complained of crime and water shortages plaguing his neighborhood. He said he regrets voting for Blanco.

“He has failed us a lot,” Rocha said.

Blanco dismissed any notion that he´s on the side of alleged traffickers in the photo or any other outlaws.He told Reuters he´s working to bring alleged kingpin Figueroa to justice.

“I have never entered into a pact with drug traffickers or criminals,” Blanco said. “I´m not a damn criminal, a crook or a bad person. I´m a well-mannered man of principles.” ($1 = 18.6527 Mexican pesos) (Reporting by Drazen Jorgic; Additional reporting by Mike Berens in Chicago; and Dave Graham, Stephen Eisenhammer, Diego Oré and Lizbeth Diaz in Mexico City; Editing by Marla Dickerson)

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