Mexico elects Claudia Sheinbaum as president, the first woman to hold the job
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Claudia Sheinbaum has claimed victory in Mexico’s presidential election. She is the first woman selected for the job by promising to continue the political course set by her populist predecessor despite widespread discontent with persistent cartel violence and disappointing economic performance. The climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor was the favored successor of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. But her cool temper offers a sharp contrast in style and a break with Mexico’s male-dominated political culture. Sheinbaum said Sunday night that her two competitors had called her and conceded in an election that guaranteed Mexico would make history. The two leading candidates were women.
The first woman elected to lead Mexico faces pressing gender-related issues
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Claudia Sheinbaum’s name will go down in Mexican history. The governing party candidate has won Mexico’s presidential election, a turning point in a mostly conservative nation that for over two centuries has been exclusively ruled by men. Elsewhere in Latin America, women have presided over Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Nicaragua, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama, Haiti and Costa Rica. Mexican women won the right to vote in 1953. No law prevented female candidates from holding office, but sexism and “macho” culture continues to permeate the country of 129 million people. Among the issues that Mexican women face are femicide, a gender employment gap and a lack of adequate policies guaranteeing sexual and reproductive rights.
The Latest | Israeli strikes in central Gaza kill at least 11 as the US pushes a cease-fire plan
Palestinian health officials say Israeli strikes have killed 11 people including a woman and three children in central Gaza. Earlier Monday, the Israeli military said that the body of a man presumed to be a hostage was found in a community near the Gaza border that Hamas militants attacked on Oct. 7. Israeli forces are expanding their offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, once the main hub of humanitarian aid operations, as the country faces growing international criticism for the huge cost in civilian lives and the widespread destruction caused by its nearly 8-month-old war against Hamas.
Hunter Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive for jury selection in his federal gun case
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Hunter Biden and first lady Jill Biden have arrived at a Delaware court for jury selection in a federal gun case against him after the collapse of a deal with prosecutors that would’ve avoided the spectacle of a trial so close to the 2024 election. President Joe Biden’s son is charged with lying on federal gun purchase forms when he said he wasn’t a drug addict. Hunter Biden and the first lady arrived at court Monday morning. Hunter Biden’s sister also was in court to support him. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty and argues he’s being unfairly targeted by the Justice Department. Republicans had decried the now-defunct deal as special treatment for the Democratic president’s son.
CEOs got hefty pay raises in 2023, widening the gap with the workers they oversee
NEW YORK (AP) — The typical compensation package for chief executives who run companies in the S&P 500 jumped nearly 13% last year, easily surpassing the gains for workers at a time when inflation was putting considerable pressure on Americans’ budgets. The median pay package for CEOs rose to $16.3 million, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar. At half the companies in this year’s pay survey, it would take the worker at the middle of the company’s pay scale almost 200 years to make what their CEO did. Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom, topped the survey with a pay package valued at roughly $162 million.
Need a pharmacy? These states and neighborhoods have less access
Urban and rural communities have come to depend on pharmacies as a trusted care option and a place for advice. But CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid and independent pharmacies all are pulling back after waves of growth before the pandemic. An Associated Press analysis of state pharmacy licenses, data from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs and the American Community Survey shows urban neighborhoods that are majority Black and Latino have fewer pharmacies per capita than white majority neighborhoods. The AP’s analysis also found Alaska, Oregon and New Mexico were among states with the fewest retail pharmacies per capita.
India’s election concludes with the votes being counted Tuesday. Here’s what to know
NEW DELHI (AP) — The world’s largest election could also be one of its most consequential. India’s general election pits avowed Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi against a broad opposition alliance that is struggling to play catch up. Over his 10 years in office, he has fused religion with politics in a formula that has attracted wide support from the majority Hindu population. India has risen as a global power, but his rule has also been marked by rising unemployment, attacks against minorities, particularly Muslims, and a shrinking space for dissent. The votes will be counted Tuesday.
Zelenskyy in Manila to promote peace summit, which he says China and Russia are trying to undermine
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with the Philippine president on a rare Asian trip to urge regional leaders to attend a Swiss-organized peace summit on the war in Ukraine that he accuses Russia, with China’s help, of trying to undermine. Zelenskyy arrived unannounced and under heavy security in Manila late Sunday after speaking over the weekend at the Shangri-La defense forum in Singapore. Zelenskyy was given a red-carpet welcome with military honors Monday at the presidential palace in Manila before meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Officials say Marcos pledged that the Philippines would take part in the peace summit.
President Milei’s surprising devotion to Judaism and Israel provokes tension in Argentina and beyond
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — President Javier Milei of Argentina, who owns four clones of his dead dog Conan, has never been the most conventional occupant of Argentina’s highest office. Even so, his passion for Judaism has stood out. Seeking common ground between his vision of radical libertarianism and the prophecy of the Torah, Milei’s interest in Judaism morphed into a religious practice. Breaking decades of policy precedent, Milei has also gone further in his support of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government than any other world leader as Israel faces growing isolation over its campaign in Gaza. But Milei’s stance has generated fears and exposed fissures within Latin America’s biggest Jewish community and sparked diplomatic rows with Argentina’s left-wing neighbors.
How AP covered the D-Day landings and lost photographer Bede Irvin in the battle for Normandy
NEW YORK (AP) — On D-Day, The Associated Press had reporters, artists and photographers in the air, on the choppy waters of the English Channel, in London, and at English departure ports and airfields covering the Allied assault in Normandy. As men on either side of him were killed, AP correspondent Roger Greene waded ashore on June 6, 1944. Sheltering with his typewriter in a bomb crater, Greene pounded out the first AP report from the beachhead. He wrote: ““Hitler’s Atlantic Wall cracked in the first hour under tempestuous Allied assault.” The dead in the ensuing Battle of Normandy included AP photographer Bede Irvin, killed as he was photographing an Allied bombardment.
