The Daily Populous

Tuesday April 2nd, 2024 day edition

image for Mayor shot dead while at restaurant with his 14-year-old son in Mexico

A mayor was shot dead at a restaurant in Mexico on Saturday, the regional prosecutor's office said, the latest politically related killing in the country plagued by violence and organized crime.

Guillermo Torres, 39, and his 14-year-old son were attacked at a restaurant in Morelia, the capital of western Michoacan state, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

He was elected mayor of Michoacan's Churumuco municipality as a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 2022, but recently quit the party and publically voiced sympathy for the ruling Morena, according to local media.

Two mayoral candidates were murdered on February 26: Miguel Angel Zavala Reyes and Armando Perez Luna of the Morena and National Action Party, respectively.

Michoacan state, Mexico's main avocado-producing region, is the scene of constant fighting between organized crime groups, including the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

Last month, a state police officer was reportedly decapitated and her two bodyguards were killed in a highway attack in Michoacan.

Killings and abductions are daily occurrences in Mexico, where nearly 450,000 people have been murdered since 2006 in a spiral of drug-related violence, according to official data. »

Video shows California police fatally shooting teenager who was reported kidnapped

Authored by theguardian.com

Newly released law enforcement footage captures the moment California police fatally shot an unarmed 15-year-old girl who was a reported kidnapping victim.

The footage, and the sheriff’s narration of the video, further make clear she was killed by deputies, not her father.

The California department of justice is investigating the case under a law requiring inquiries into police killings of unarmed people. »

Solar-powered technology converts saltwater into drinking water emission-free

Authored by kcl.ac.uk

By maximising available solar power for water production, scientists produced drinking water cheaper than ever before in lower-income countries.

Scientists have developed a new solar-powered system to convert saltwater into fresh drinking water which they say could help reduce dangerous waterborne diseases like cholera.

Consequently, there is a pressing need for efficient desalination methods to create fresh drinking water cheaply, and at scale. »