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Mexican mayor murdered less than a week after taking office

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Mexican mayor murdered less than a week after taking office

The mayor of a state capital in southern Mexico has been killed just one week after he took office, officials said Sunday.

Alejandro Arcos was sworn in last Monday as mayor of Chilpancingo, a city so violent that a drug gang openly staged a demonstration, hijacked a government armored car and took police hostage in 2023 to win the release of arrested suspects.

Chilpancingo is the capital of Guerrero state, where Acapulco is located.

The state prosecutors’ office issued a statement Sunday confirming Arcos had been killed, but provided no details.

SHOOTING NEAR LUXURY MEXICO RESORT LEAVES 1 DEAD, SUSPECTS FLEE ON JET SKIS

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Alejandro Moreno, the national leader of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, lamented Arcos’ killing and said the newly installed secretary of the city council had also been murdered three days earlier.

“They had been in office less than a week,” Moreno wrote on his social media accounts. “They were young and honest public servants who were seeking progress for their community.”

Supporters of slain Mayor Alejandro Arcos place candles and flowers at the entrance of the municipal building one week after he took office in Chilpancingo, Mexico, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Alejandrino Gonzalez)

Chilpancingo has long been the scene of bloody turf battles between two drug gangs, the Ardillos and the Tlacos. The battle has resulted in dozens of gruesome killings and some high-profile scandals.

A previous mayor was caught on video apparently holding a meeting with leaders of one of the gangs at a restaurant. She was subsequently expelled from her party.

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In July 2023, federal officials said a demonstration held by hundreds of people in Chilpancingo that month had been organized by the Ardillos gang to win the release of two gang leaders arrested for drugs and weapons possession.

The demonstrators largely blocked all traffic on the highway between Mexico City and Acapulco for two days, battled security forces and commandeered a police armored truck and used it to ram down the gates of the state legislature building.

The demonstrators abducted 10 members of the state police and National Guard, as well as three state and federal officials, and held them hostage to enforce their demands before releasing them.

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AP Race Call: Democrat Greg Stanton wins reelection to U.S. House in Arizona's 4th Congressional District

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AP Race Call: Democrat Greg Stanton wins reelection to U.S. House in Arizona's 4th Congressional District
Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton won reelection to a U.S. House seat representing Arizona on Sunday. He defeated Republican Kelly Cooper to retain his seat in the state’s 4th District, which includes the cities of Tempe, Mesa, and Chandler that are just outside of Phoenix.
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Netanyahu condemns antisemitic pogrom in Amsterdam, warns world leaders attacks will spread if don't act

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Netanyahu condemns antisemitic pogrom in Amsterdam, warns world leaders attacks will spread if don't act

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JERUSALEM – On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the worst antisemitic pogrom against Jews of this century in Europe.

Netanyahu directed his blistering remarks at the violent antisemitic mob attack against Israelis that unfolded in the Dutch city of Amsterdam on Thursday. “We will never allow the atrocities of history to recur. We will never capitulate to antisemitism or terrorism,” he said. 

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He added, “A clear line connects the two antisemitic attacks against Israel that we have seen recently on Dutch soil: The reprehensible legal assault against the State of Israel at the International Court in The Hague, and the violent assault against Israeli citizens on the streets of Amsterdam. In both cases, there was dangerous antisemitism, the goal of which was to render helpless the Jews and their state, to deny our state the right of self-defense and to deny our citizens their very right to life.

“Yesterday we marked Kristallnacht … It was a brutal and violent assault against Jews just because they were Jews. Unfortunately, in recent days we saw pictures that recalled that night. On the streets of Amsterdam, antisemitic rioters attacked Jews, Israeli citizens, just because they were Jews.” 

ISRAELI SOCCER FANS TARGETED IN WAVE OF VIOLENCE IN AMSTERDAM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking  at the IDF Officers Course Graduation Ceremony, at IDF Training Base.  (Ma’ayan Toaf, Israel Government Press Office)

Netanyahu warned that, “Attacks of this kind threaten not only Israel but endanger the entire world. We have learned something from history: Wild attacks that start against Jews, never end with the Jews. In the end, they spread to all of society, and pass from country to country until they burn all of humanity. Therefore, I expect and demand that every responsible government take strong, vigorous, clear and urgent action.”

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Adding to the anger against Dutch authorities, the leader of the Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders, blasted leaders in Amsterdam for failing to arrest the perpetrators.

Writing on X yesterday he said, “I am speechless. Amsterdam Police just confirmed that NO ONE has been arrested during the Islamic Jewhunt in Amsterdam on Thursday night. All arrests have been made before and during the soccer match and NOT during the pogrom.”

The Dutch politician urged that Amsterdam’s left-wing mayor Femke Halsema resign straight away.

CHICAGO JEWISH MOTHER SPEAKS OUT AGAINST RESPONSE TO ALLEGED HATE CRIME: ‘TERRORISM ON MY PROPERTY’

Halsema, who comes from the Dutch Green party, called the violence “an eruption of antisemitism that we had hoped never again to see in Amsterdam,” according to The Associated Press. 

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Meanwhile new information has emerged about the highly organized antisemitic attacks on Jews in a city where Nazi collaborators infamously abandoned the German Jewish adolescent Anne Frank, who was in hiding, to the Nazis during World War Two. 

The Holland Casino in Amsterdam reported that after Israelis fled into the casino for refuge, a security guard who worked for the casino “had indeed sent messages in the app group” that was looking to harm the Israelis. 

According to Holland Casino’s statement, “Measures were promptly taken, and the employer was informed that this person is no longer welcome at Holland Casino. Employees of Holland Casino or those of companies hired by Holland Casino must prioritize the interests of Holland Casino, our guests and our staff. This did not happen in this case. Moreover, there is no place within Holland Casino for any form of violence, discrimination or antisemitism.”

Israelis Attacked Amsterdam Soccer Game

Israeli football supporters were reportedly attacked by groups of local Arabs near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video.  (X/iAnnet/via Reuter)

The Israeli news agency TPS-IL reported that the Rabbi and volunteers from the Chabad House in Amsterdam and an Israeli Druze man had played a role in aiding the victims.

“The night before the game, there were skirmishes between Israeli fans and local Arabs. So when we started to hear news about the confrontation after the game, we first did not realize the scope of what was happening,” Rabbi Dovi Pinkovitch, head of the Chabad House in the center of Amsterdam, told TPS-IL.

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ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS HANDED LEGAL SETBACK IN EFFORT TO EXPAND DNC RALLY

The rabbi mobilized local Jews and Israelis living in Amsterdam to assist Israelis trapped in the streets, getting them safely to hotels. “There were cases when local taxis took the Israelis towards the center of the clashes instead of bringing them to safety, so we understood we need to help. The volunteers, in their private cars, worked all night long to get hundreds of Israelis to the hotels,” 

An Israeli Druze named Melchem Assad gave vital early warnings to Israelis about the violent assaults taking place. As he was exiting the train on his way from the game to the hotel, he noticed a group of men speaking Arabic about beating those wearing a blue scarf and speaking Hebrew. So he returned to the train station and ordered the arriving groups of Israelis to take off the Maccabi Tel Aviv symbols, disperse and not speak Hebrew.

Assad told TPS-IL that by his estimation, he managed to help at least a hundred and fifty Israelis. “I have a baby boy at home and my heart was beating hard as I was approaching that group. But I am an Israeli, and I knew I had nothing to do but to help if I could.”

UN REMOVES QUILT PANEL ARTWORK CALLING FOR ISRAEL’S EXTERMINATION AFTER FACING BACKLASH

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European Parliament elections

Leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) Geert Wilders speaks to the press after a meeting with the Speaker of the House at the House of Representatives in The Hague, on November 24, 2023. After his shock election win, far-right Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders on Friday kicked off the formal process of building a government coalition, battling to convince reluctant rivals to serve under him as premier.  (Sem van der Wal/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

According to the Times of Israel, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands told the Israeli president in a readout that “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again.”

Amsterdam’s population is roughly 920,000 people, with about 20,000 Jews. Prior to the Holocaust, 80,000 Jews lived in Amsterdam. A total of 40,000 Jews live in the Netherlands. There are roughly one million Muslims in the northern European country, and 90,000 Muslims reside in Amsterdam.

Wim Kortenoeven, a former Dutch MP in Wilders’ party and a Middle East expert told Fox News Digital that “The Dutch police forces have been Islamized to the extent that the Muslims cops now feel confident to refuse protecting Jewish institutions for reasons of ‘conscience,” he claimed.

Echoing a report in the Jerusalem Post in October quoting two Jewish police officers, Kortenoeven noted, “Only last month this came into the open with Jewish cops in Amsterdam blowing the whistle about that, warning in the media that Jewish targets under threat of terrorist attack may therefore not be protected. They were proven right this weekend when over a thousand extra police were not willing to effectively protect Jewish Israeli football under attack from Muslim mobs.”

Kortenoeven, who now lives in Israel, added that “Such a  massive force can only deliberately be so ineffective. Witnesses and victims also testified that the police remained passive in the face of the Muslim aggressors. There were no arrests either. The arrest that were made this weekend did not involve the Arabs attacking the Jews. Meanwhile, the authorities refused to properly identify the Muslim mobs and hit teams, calling them ‘guys on scooters.’”

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Amsterdam police

In this image taken from video, police in riot gear run towards a soccer stadium in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Thursday, Nov. 7. (RTL Nieuws via AP)

Halsema declined to note at Friday’s news conference that the alleged perpetrators were Muslim and of Moroccan origin, noted Dutch critics of Islamism. The mayor’s office said in a press release that the suspects were merely “scooter youths,” in a reference to the popular mode of city transportation used by young Dutch Arabs.

On Sunday, Fox News Digital approached the Amsterdam police department for a comment.

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EU's Josep Borrell visits Kyiv to reassure Ukraine of bloc's support

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EU's Josep Borrell visits Kyiv to reassure Ukraine of bloc's support

EU High Representative Josep Borrell visited Kyiv in an attempt to reassure Ukraine of the bloc’s continued support in its fight against Russia.

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“This support remains unwavering. This support is absolutely needed, for you to continue defending yourself against Russian aggression,” Borrell said in a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrii Sybiha.

Borrell also urged “faster deliveries and fewer self imposed red lines” in getting Western weapons to Ukraine, echoing echoing his previous calls to allies to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range to strike Russian military targets.

The European Union has already delivered €122 billion in military and financial support to Ukraine and has trained approximately 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

Borrell added that the bloc aims to increase this number to 75,000 by the end of winter.

However, he also emphasised the importance of Ukraine’s ability to produce its own armaments saying its “much more efficient that you produce your own weapons by increasing your industrial capacity”.

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Borrell’s visit to Ukraine is his last in his role as High Representative and follows the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States – a development that has sparked concerns over potential US cuts to financial and military aid for Ukraine.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow and Washington were “exchanging signals” on Ukraine via “closed channels.”

He did not specify whether the communication was with the current administration or Trump and members of his incoming administration.

Russia is ready to listen to Trump’s proposals on Ukraine provided these were “ideas on how to move forward in the area of settlement, and not in the area of further pumping the Kyiv regime with all kinds of aid,” Ryabkov said Saturday in an interview with Russian state news agency Interfax.

But Borrell has said “it is for Ukraine to decide when to sit at the negotiation table and under which terms.”

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Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha told reporters that Ukraine is ready to work with the Trump administration.

“Remember that President Zelenskyy was one of the first world leaders […] to greet President Trump,” he said. “It was a sincere conversation (and) an exchange of thoughts regarding further cooperation.”

“Also during the telephone conversation, further steps to establish communication between teams were discussed and this work has also begun. Therefore, we are open for further cooperation and I’m sure that a unified goal of reaching just peace unites all of us,” Sybiha said.

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