Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa, the mayor of Cotija in western Mexico was assassinated just 24 hours after Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as the Latin American country's first female president. The murder cast a pall over Ms. Sheinbaum's historic inauguration, which had raised hopes for transformative change in the nation.

In a statement on X, the interior ministry of Michoacan state condemned "the murder of the municipal president (mayor) of Cotija, Yolanda Sanchez Figueroa." According to local media reports, Ms. Sanchez, who was elected mayor in 2021, was gunned down on a public road.

Authorities have not provided details on the murder, but they said a security operation has been launched to apprehend the killers.

Ms. Sanchez had previously been kidnapped in September of last year while leaving a shopping mall in the city of Guadalajara in the neighboring state of Jalisco. Three days after her abduction, the federal government announced that she had been found alive. At the time, local media reports suggested that the kidnappers belonged to the powerful Jalisco Cartel – New Generation (CJNG), a violent group that allegedly threatened the mayor for opposing their attempts to control her municipality's police force.

Michoacan is renowned for its tourist destinations and thriving agro-export industry, but it is also one of the most violent states in the country due to the presence of extortion and drug trafficking gangs.

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Elisaf received 17,789 votes, 235 more than his runoff opponent.

He told reporters that his election as one of Greece's 332 mayors shows "stereotypes and prejudices" are being overcome.

Greece has about 6,000 Jews in its population of 10.8 million. The country has seen a spate of anti-Semitic vandalism in recent years, coinciding with the rise of a Nazi-inspired party.

Most of the Jewish residents of Ioannina were killed by Nazi forces in World War II; the city has about 50 now.

The head of Greece's Jewish community, David Saltiel, hailed Elisaf's victory as a rejection of anti-Semitism.

Elisaf, a professor of pathology at the local university, has been the head of the local Jewish community for 17 years, and formerly also served as the head of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece.

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