Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada pledges to continue ‘relentless fight against insecurity’.
Two top aides to the mayor of Mexico City have been shot dead in the latest attack against public officials in the Latin American country.
Private secretary Ximena Guzman and adviser Jose Munoz were shot dead on Tuesday in an early morning ambush in the central neighbourhood of Moderna, city authorities said.
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada condemned the killings and pledged to continue her administration’s “relentless fight against insecurity”.
“Investigating, clarifying and ensuring there is no impunity is our commitment,” Brugada said during a news conference.
Mexico has one of the highest murder rates on the planet, largely due to violence driven by drug cartels, but the capital is known for its relative security compared with the rest of the country.
Reporting from Mexico City, Al Jazeera’s John Holman said there had been 50 political murders in the country in the first three months of the year alone, though political killings are relatively rare in the capital.
“The reasons for this one are still unknown. But there are powerful criminal groups in the capital fighting for territory and control of lucrative rackets,” Holman said.
“Politicians can get in the way, as elsewhere in the country.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, a Brugada ally who previously served as the capital’s mayor, expressed condolences over the killings and said her government would ensure that “justice is served”.
“We express our solidarity and support for the families of these two individuals who have worked in our movement for a long time,” Sheinbaum said.
“We know them, we stand with their families, and we will give her [Brugada] all the support the city needs from the Mexican government.”
In 2020, Mexico City’s security chief, Omar Garcia Harfuch, survived an ambush by gunmen that killed two of his bodyguards and a bystander.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Scottie Scheffler worked harder than he imagined and got the result everyone expected Sunday in the PGA Championship: A most pleasant walk to the 18th green with another major title secure in the hands of golf’s No. 1 player.
Scheffler was flawless when he had to be on the back nine of Quail Hollow, leaving the blunders to Jon Rahm and everyone else trying to catch him on a final day that turned tense until Scheffler pulled away with a steady diet of fairways and greens.
“This back nine will be one that I remember for a long time,” Scheffler said. “It was a grind out there. I think at one point on the front I maybe had a four- or five-shot lead, and making the turn, I think I was tied for the lead.
“So to step up when I needed to the most, I’ll remember that for a while.”
He closed with a bogey he could afford for an even-par 71, giving him a five-shot victory and his third major title. Scheffler became the first player since Seve Ballesteros to win his first three majors by three shots or more.
The margin doesn’t match up with the grind. That much was clear when Scheffler raised his arms on the 18th green and then ferociously slammed his cap to the turf, a brand of emotion rarely seen by the 28-year-old Texas star.
Scheffler was five shots ahead coming to the last hole when he won his first Masters green jacket in 2022. He was four shots clear of the field when he won at Augusta National last year. And he had a six-shot lead at Quail Hollow.
But this sure didn’t feel like a walk in the park.
He had a five-shot lead standing on the sixth tee. But with a shaky swing that led to two bogeys, and with Rahm making three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn, they were tied when Scheffler got to the 10th tee.
It looked like a duel to the finish, with Bryson DeChambeau doing all he could to get in the mix. Under the most pressure he felt all day, Scheffler didn’t miss a shot off the tee or from the fairway until his lead was back to four shots.
Rahm wound up seven shots behind, but the two-time major champion was the only serious threat. His chances began to fade when he failed to birdie the 14th and 15th holes, the two easiest holes on the back nine and the last good scoring chances.
His five-wood on the reachable par-four 14th was a yard from being perfect, instead going into the bunker. He blasted out weakly and his seven-foot birdie putt never had a chance.
He drilled a 345-yard drive on the par-five 15th and his four-iron went just over the back. Rahm putted it too hard and it rolled 12 feet. He missed that birdie putt and then came unglued.
A bogey on the 16th hole went from rough to bunker. Having to take on a dangerous pin at the par-3 17th, it bounded over the sunbaked green into the water for double bogey. And his last tee shot went left off the grassy bank and into the stream for another double bogey.
All that work to make up a five-shot deficit at the start of the day and Rahm closed with a 73 to tie for eighth.
“Yeah, the last three holes, it’s a tough pill to swallow right now,” said Rahm, his first time seriously contending in a major since he left for the Saudi riches of LIV Golf two years ago.
“I’ll get over it. I’ll move on,” Rahm said. “Again, there’s a lot more positive than negative to think about this week. I’m really happy I put myself in position and hopefully learn from this and give it another go in the U.S. Open.”
DeChambeau birdied the 14th and 15th to get within two shots, but he never had another good look at birdie and bogeyed the 18th for a 70. He tied for second with Harris English (65) and Davis Riley, who overcame a triple bogey on No. 7 to play bogey-free the rest of the way and salvaged a 72.
“I’m baffled right now. Just felt like things just didn’t go my way this week,” DeChambeau said. “I drove it as good as I can. … I gave myself a good chance. I just felt like a couple breaks went a different way.”
J.T. Poston, the North Carolina native who also flirted with an outside chance, bogeyed the last two holes for a 73 to tie for fifth.
Scottie Scheffler hits from the bunker during the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday.
(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)
English finished his Sunday-best score as Scheffler was making his way down the third hole. He had a flight to catch that afternoon. He also was the clubhouse leader. But he looked at Scheffler’s name atop the leaderboard and said with a smile, “I don’t see him slipping a whole lot. I see myself catching my flight.”
But then Scheffler was unable to find his swing. He hit only two fairways on the front nine. He failed to convert birdies on the par-5 seventh and the reachable par-4 eighth. On eight of his nine holes, his miss was to the left. And he was tied with the red-hot Rahm.
But part of Scheffler’s greatness is his ability to wear down a field, which he did at the Masters both times he won.
“I hit the important shots well this week, and that’s why I’m walking away with the trophy,” Scheffler said.
He finished at 11-under 273 and picked up his 15th victory in just his sixth year on the PGA Tour. Dating to 1950, Scheffler is the third-fastest player to go from one to 15 tour wins, behind only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, and even then by a matter of months.
His victory comes a month after Rory McIlroy captured the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam. The PGA Championship was always going to be a tough act to follow and it didn’t come close in terms of drama. But it served as a reminder why Scheffler has been No. 1 for two straight years, and why it will take a lot to replace him.
McIlroy made the cut on the number, shot 72-72 on the weekend and tied for 47th. It was his lowest 72-hole finish in four years in the majors. McIlroy declined all four days to speak to the media.
Scheffler came into the PGA Championship off an eight-shot victory in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. And then he won a major by five. It was the first time since Woods in 2000 that a player won consecutive PGA Tour starts by five shots or more in the same season.
A 23-year-old Mexican influencer, Valeria Marquez, was fatally shot while livestreaming on Tuesday.
Marquez, who had more than 113,000 followers on the platform, was broadcasting to her audience when the attack occurred.
According to a statement from the Jalisco state prosecutor’s office, the case is being investigated under femicide protocols, applied in instances where a woman is killed due to her gender.
What is femicide?
Femicide refers to gender-related killings against women and girls. According to the latest report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and UN Women, femicide is rising around the globe.
In 2023, a woman was intentionally killed every 10 minutes by a partner or family member.
Of the 85,000 women and girls killed across the world in 2023, 60 percent (51,000) were murdered by an intimate partner or a family member.
How common is femicide in Latin America and the Caribbean?
Honduras has the highest femicide rate with 7.2 women killed per 100,000 in 2023, followed by the Dominican Republic (2.4 per 100,000) and Brazil (1.4 per 100,000).
Mexico has the fourth-highest femicide rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, alongside Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia – all with 1.3 killings per 100,000 women in 2023.
In terms of absolute killings, Brazil saw the highest number of femicide cases with 1,463 women murdered. It was followed by Mexico, where 852 women were killed as a result of femicide in 2023. Honduras had the third-highest number, with 380 femicide cases.
Femicide is on the rise in Mexico
The rate of femicide is rising on the whole in the country, despite some fluctuations over the years.
It has become a major concern in Mexico with recorded cases rising significantly over the past decade. In 2015, femicides represented 19.8 percent of female homicides. This proportion had increased to 24.2 percent by 2024.
According to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNCLAC), in 2015, the rate of femicide in Mexico was 0.7 women per 100,000. In 2023, that number now stands at 1.3 per 100,000 women – though that’s down marginally from a peak of 1.6 per 100,000 in 2021. Gender-based violence against women grew globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Mexico was no exception.
While statistics from UNCLAC show the rate of femicide in Mexico has declined over the past three years, it remains a pronounced and often silent issue due to underreporting, say experts.
In Mexico, some 85 percent of women aged 15 and over who have experienced physical or sexual violence did not file a complaint, according to Mexico’s National Survey on the Dynamics of Household Relationships.
Where in Mexico has the worst rates of femicide?
The killing of Marquez took place just days before another woman, a mayoral candidate in the state of Veracruz, was also shot dead during a livestream alongside three other people.
According to Mexico’s National Public Security System (SNSP), the national rate of femicide was 1.18 per 100,000 in 2024.
The state of Morelos, in south-central Mexico, had the highest rate of femicide with 4.7 women per 100,000 murdered, followed by Chihuahua (2.35 per 100,000) and Tabasco (2.22 per 100,000).
In Jalisco state where Marquez was killed, the femicide rate was 0.63 per 100,000 in 2024.
Jalisco is ranked sixth out of Mexico’s 32 states, including Mexico City, for homicides, with 906 recorded there since the beginning of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s term in October 2024, according to the data consultancy TResearch.
