International
Pele gets resting place in world’s tallest vertical cemetery
| By AFP |
Pele was a footballer like no other, and his final resting place will be exceptional, too: a large replica stadium complete with artificial turf inside the world’s tallest vertical cemetery.
The Brazilian football great, whose funeral was held Tuesday after his death last week at age 82, bought his mausoleum 19 years ago inside the Memorial Ecumenical Cemetery, a veritable high-rise that holds the Guinness World Record for the tallest cemetery on Earth.
Located in Santos, the southeastern port city where “The King” played most of his storied career, the cemetery has a total area of 40,000 square meters (430,000 square feet) and features a 24-hour restaurant, a chapel, an automobile museum, a small fish pond and an aviary.
Located on the first floor, Pele’s 200-square-meter mausoleum will be decorated like a football stadium, with his embalmed body resting in a coffin displayed in the middle of the artificial turf, surrounded by gilded images from his glory days, a spokesman for the cemetery said.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento — Pele’s real name — had spoken openly about his planned resting place, saying in 2003 that he liked the spot because it “doesn’t look like a cemetery” and gave him a feeling of “spiritual peace and tranquility.”
The striking white building was conceived by late Argentine businessman Jose Salomon Altstut, who broke ground on the project in 1983.
Officially inaugurated in 1991, it has a total of 18,000 interment spaces, and became the first vertical cemetery in the world to provide space for mausoleums.
The cemetery’s website says clients are allowed to “create a decorated space” in their mausoleums, which can even include en-suite rest areas for mourners.
Pele’s late father, aunt, brother and daughter are already interred in the same place, as well as Antonio Wilson Honorio, nicknamed “Coutinho,” his teammate at Santos FC in the 1960s.
The cemetery sits a stone’s throw from Santos’s Vila Belmiro stadium, where Pele first dazzled the world as a 15-year-old phenom, on his way to scoring a record 1,281 career goals and becoming the only player in history to win three World Cups.
International
Former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney dies at 84
Dick Cheney, former U.S. vice president under George W. Bush and a chief architect of the 2000s “war on terror,” died Monday night at age 84.
According to a family statement, Cheney passed away due to complications from pneumonia and cardiovascular disease.
Cheney, who rose to political prominence as White House Chief of Staff under President Gerald Ford in the 1970s, went on to become one of the most influential vice presidents in U.S. history during the Bush administration (2001–2009). He was widely known as one of the strongest advocates for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In his later years, however, Cheney emerged as a vocal critic of the Republican Party under Donald Trump’s leadership.
“Dick Cheney was a great man who taught his children and grandchildren to love our country and to live with courage, honor, love, kindness, and a passion for fishing,” his family said in a statement.
International
Sheinbaum maintains 70% approval despite growing discontent in Mexico
Seven out of ten Mexicans — 70% — approve of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s performance a little over a year into her term, even as disapproval reached its highest level in October at 30%, according to a monthly survey published by the newspaper El Financiero.
The approval rating marks a slight decline compared to September (73%), August (74%), and especially February, when Sheinbaum peaked at 85%. Meanwhile, disapproval rose to 30%, three points higher than in August and double the levels recorded between January and March, when just 15% of respondents disapproved of her leadership.
Of the 1,000 Mexicans surveyed, 59% rated the government’s response to last month’s deadly storms — which left 83 people dead and 16 missing — as good or very good. Additionally, 56% gave positive marks to cleanup and recovery efforts, while 40% viewed them negatively.
Support programs for affected families received 53% positive and 42% negative evaluations. Sheinbaum’s visits to impacted areas generated a narrower split: 50% approval versus 45% disapproval.
The president’s empathy stood out as her most valued attribute, earning 63% favorable ratings, followed by honesty (59%), leadership (59%), and ability to deliver results (47%).
International
Shootout in Sinaloa leaves 13 gunmen dead as authorities rescue kidnapping victims
A confrontation between Mexican security forces and an armed group in the troubled state of Sinaloa left 13 gunmen dead and four others arrested, Security Minister Omar García Harfuch reported on Monday.
Sinaloa, located on the Pacific coast, has been shaken for more than a year by a violent power struggle between factions of a powerful local cartel — a conflict that has resulted in at least 1,700 homicides, including 57 minors, and nearly 2,000 disappearances.
The shootout occurred around 12:45 p.m. local time (18:45 GMT) in the municipality of Guasave, where authorities were able to rescue nine kidnapped individuals following the clash. Officers also seized seven vehicles, long weapons, and tactical equipment, according to the minister’s post on X.
García Harfuch explained that security forces “were attacked by an armed group hiding under a bridge” while patrolling the La Brecha community of Guasave, prompting an “immediate response” from authorities.
The detainees and seized items have been turned over to Mexico’s federal prosecutor’s office, he added.
The internal war within the Sinaloa Cartel erupted after the capture of longtime leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who was betrayed and extradited to the United States in July 2024 by the son of his former partner Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
Guzmán has been serving a life sentence in a U.S. prison since 2019.
Former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney dies at 84
Sheinbaum maintains 70% approval despite growing discontent in Mexico
Shootout in Sinaloa leaves 13 gunmen dead as authorities rescue kidnapping victims
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
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