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Mexico’s Sheinbaum Takes Office, Making History as First Jewish Woman President
Mexico’s President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City, Mexico, Sept. 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Raquel Cunha
When Claudia Sheinbaum takes her oath of office on Tuesday, formally becoming Mexico’s first Jewish woman president, she will adopt a new government logo that nods to the aspirations of young girls.
“A young Mexican woman will be the emblem of Mexico’s government,” Sheinbaum wrote a day earlier in a post on social media, unveiling the logo showing a young woman in profile hoisting a Mexican flag, her hair pulled back into a ponytail not unlike the incoming president’s signature look.
Sheinbaum has embraced her historic feat in one of Latin America’s more socially conservative countries, which until now has been ruled by a series of 65 men since winning its independence from Spain two centuries ago.
The former mayor of the sprawling Mexican capital, Sheinbaum has been bolstered by the popularity of outgoing leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, her political benefactor going back nearly a quarter century.
But as the former climate scientist steps out of her predecessor’s shadow to lead the world’s largest Spanish-speaking nation, Sheinbaum will also face doubts and opposition from critics alarmed by the outgoing president’s 11th-hour reform drive.
Enacted last month, the reforms included a judicial overhaul that will over the next three years replace all of the country’s judges with new jurists elected by popular vote.
“Our hard-won democracy will be transformed, for all practical purposes, into a one-party autocracy,” wrote former President Ernesto Zedillo in a Sunday guest essay for Britain’s Economist Magazine.
Critics of Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum fear their ruling Morena party has too much power, and that democratic checks on executive power will be undermined.
The judicial overhaul’s implementation will fall to Sheinbaum, who will also face a widening government budget deficit that could crimp popular welfare spending and costly crime-fighting initiatives at a time when the economy is only expected to grow modestly.
The 62-year-old Sheinbaum promised continuity on the campaign trail, and now faces the balancing act of advancing Lopez Obrador’s state-centric economic polices, especially over natural resources such as oil and minerals, while also making progress on issues seen as his weak points like the environment and security.
She also makes history as the first president of Jewish heritage in the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country.
A BIGGER LANDSLIDE
Sheinbaum’s inauguration caps an unlikely four-decade climb that has taken the daughter of activist academics to the presidential palace.
Six years ago, she made history as Mexico City’s first elected woman mayor. Until she stepped down last year to run for president, Sheinbaum was known as a data-driven manager, winning plaudits for reducing the megacity’s homicide rate by half, by boosting security spending on an expanded police force with higher salaries.
She has pledged to replicate the strategy across Mexico, where drug cartels exert widespread influence.
Sheinbaum has also promised to continue generous social spending on old-age pensions and youth scholarships, even though the government’s 2024 fiscal deficit is estimated at nearly 6 percent of gross domestic product.
While she has expressed interest growing renewable energy projects, she has also said she will ensure the dominance of Mexico’s state-owned oil and power companies while opposing any privatizations.
In 1995, Sheinbaum earned her doctorate in energy engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and then pursued an academic career, including a stint on the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which later shared a Nobel Peace Prize with former US Vice President Al Gore.
She launched her political career in 2000, when Lopez Obrador, then-Mexico City’s newly elected mayor, tapped her to be his environmental chief, tasked with improving the smoggy capital’s air quality, highways and public transport.
Sheinbaum served as the chief spokesperson for Lopez Obrador’s first campaign for president in 2006, which he narrowly lost.
In 2015, she was elected to run Mexico City’s largest borough, Tlalpan, and became the capital’s mayor three years later. That was the same year that Lopez Obrador’s third bid for the presidency ended in his own triumph, winning by a margin of more than 17 million votes.
Last June, Sheinbaum bested her mentor’s margin of victory, polling more than 19 million votes ahead of her closest competitor, who was also a woman.
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Six Killed in Jaffa Terror Shooting
Illustrative: Israeli troops guard, at the scene of a shooting, near Hebron, in the West Bank, August 21, 2023. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
JNS.org — Six people were killed in a terrorist shooting attack on Jerusalem Boulevard in Tel Aviv-Jaffa on Tuesday night, according to the Israel Police and Magen David Adom emergency response service.
Earlier, Hebrew media reported that eight victims died in the attack.
Three victims are in serious condition and additional people sustained wounds to “varying degrees,” Israel’s Magen David Adom medical emergency response group said in a statement on the incident.
United Hatzalah first responder Rom Ella said, “We were informed that there were injured people near the train station on Jerusalem Boulevard. Passersby told us that there were also injured people on nearby streets, and additional medics were there and continued to other scenes. Some of the injured people we treated were unconscious.”
Three Arab terrorists were reportedly killed at the scene.
The victims were evacuated to Wolfson Medical Center in the nearby city of Holon and Sourasky Tel Aviv Medical Center (Ichilov Hospital).
A police officer on the scene said the terrorist attack involved at least two gunmen who exited a train car and opened fire at people waiting at one of the light-rail stations on Jaffa’s Jerusalem Boulevard.
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Only Casualty of Mass Iranian Missile Attack is Palestinian Man in Jericho: Reports
A man was killed by missile shrapnel in the West Bank village of Nu’eima, near Jericho, amid the Iranian attack on Israel, according to Palestinian and Israeli media.
A Palestinian man in the West Bank village of Nu’eima, near Jericho was killed by missile shrapnel, possibly from an Arrow Missile or Iron Dome interceptor, during a massive Iranian missile attack against Israel, according to Israeli media outlet GLZ.
The man, whose name or age has not been released by Israeli or Palestinian authorities, is currently the only reported casualty of the Iranian attack against Israel.
Israeli rescue services said that only two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel in Tel Aviv amid the Iranian missile attack, while several others were treated for minor injuries after falling over while running or for acute anxiety.
Iran fired an unprecedented salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, forcing the Jewish state’s entire civilian population to take cover in bomb shelters.
“A short time ago missiles were launched from Iran into the territory of the State of Israel,” a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. “You are asked to be vigilant and act exactly according to the instructions of the Home Front Command. The IDF is doing and will do everything necessary to protect the citizens of the State of Israel.”
The IDF posted on X/Twitter that “all Israeli civilians” were sheltering from the Iranian attack.
Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley. Reuters journalists reported seeing missiles being intercepted in the airspace of neighboring Jordan.
According to initial Israeli Hebrew-language media reports, as many as 100 missiles had been launched.
“The air-defense system is fully operational, detecting and intercepting threats wherever necessary, even at this moment,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman. “However, the defense is not hermetic.”
Iran had initially vowed to retaliate for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the assassination, although the Iranian regime blamed Jerusalem.
It was widely expected that Iran would launch a direct attack on Israel; however, no such attack ever came.
The post Only Casualty of Mass Iranian Missile Attack is Palestinian Man in Jericho: Reports first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Launches Barrage of Ballistic Missiles at Israel
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, Oct. 1, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday, forcing the Jewish state’s entire civilian population to take cover in bomb shelters.
“A short time ago missiles were launched from Iran into the territory of the State of Israel,” a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. “You are asked to be vigilant and act exactly according to the instructions of the Home Front Command. The IDF is doing and will do everything necessary to protect the citizens of the State of Israel.”
The IDF posted on X/Twitter that “all Israeli civilians” were sheltering from the Iranian attack.
Alarms sounded across Israel and explosions could be heard in Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley. Reuters journalists reported seeing missiles being intercepted in the airspace of neighboring Jordan.
According to Israeli army radio, nearly 200 missiles had been launched into Israel from Iran.
“The air-defense system is fully operational, detecting and intercepting threats wherever necessary, even at this moment,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the IDF spokesman. “However, the defense is not hermetic.”
Israel‘s military later said Israelis were free to leave their shelters.
“Following the situational assessment, it was decided that it is now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas across the country,” the military said.
According to Hagari, the IDF was not immediately aware of any injuries resulting from the Iranian missile attack.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an Iranian military force and internationally designated terrorist organization with significant political and economic influence, said Iran had launched “tens of missiles” at Israel and that if Israel retaliated, Tehran’s response would be “more crushing and ruinous.”
Iran had initially vowed to retaliate for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in late July. The Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the assassination, although the Iranian regime blamed Jerusalem.
It was widely expected that Iran would launch a direct attack on Israel; however, no such attack ever came.
Then Iran said it would retaliate following Israeli airstrikes over the last two weeks that killed the top leaders of its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon, including longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. IRGC deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan was also killed in the same strike as Nasrallah.
Iran backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, providing the Islamist terrorist groups with weapons, funding, and training.
“After a period of restraint, Iran has targeted the heart of the occupied territories with tens of missiles following the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh … the intensification of the Zionist regime’s attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, the martyrdom of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and [of] Guards Commander Abbas Nilforoushan,” the IRGC reportedly said.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that the missile launches were ordered by Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and that Tehran is “fully prepared” for an Israeli response. According to Reuters, Khamenei has remained in a secure location since the Israeli airstrikes on Beirut that killed Nasrallah last week.
Tuesday’s missile barrage came after Israel said its troops launched limited ground raids into neighboring Lebanon, where Iran’s chief proxy force Hezbollah wields significant influence and has been firing drones, missiles, and rockets at northern Israeli communities almost daily for the past year.
About 80,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate and flee their homes amid the relentless attacks. Israeli leaders have said they are committed to making it safe for the displaced citizens to return to their homes, even if that means using military force to push Hezbollah forces further away from the Israel-Lebanon border.
US officials had reportedly said earlier on Tuesday that they had indications Iran was preparing to imminently launch a ballistic missile attack against Israel and that Washington was actively supporting preparations to defend the Jewish state, its closest Middle Eastern ally.
US President Joe Biden said the United States was prepared to help Israel defend itself from Iranian aggression.
“We discussed how the United States is prepared to help Israel defend against these attacks, and protect American personnel in the region,” Biden posted on X/Twitter about a meeting held with Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House national security team earlier in the day.
In April, Iran launched what was then an unprecedented direct attack on Israeli soil. In that attack, Iran fired some 300 missiles and drones at Israel, nearly all of which were downed by the Jewish state and its allies. The failed barrage was in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria’s capital of Damascus that killed seven IRGC members, including two senior commanders. One of the commanders allegedly helped plan the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. Israel neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the incident.
Iran’s latest attack came one day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned nowhere in the Middle East was beyond its reach to strike.
This story is developing and will be updated.
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