Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office

MEXICO CITY: The mayor of a city in southern Mexico was murdered less than a week after taking office, authorities said, a crime condemned by President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday as “deplorable.”

Local media reported that Chilpancingo mayor Alejandro Arcos was decapitated and his head left on the hood of a pick-up truck, but there was no official confirmation. An investigation was under way to establish the motive and arrest those responsible, Sheinbaum told a press conference.

The killing was the latest in a series of deadly attacks on politicians in the violence-plagued Latin American country -- and the second in recent days in Chilpancingo, capital of Guerrero state.