Global Briefs: Mexican politician gunned down

Mexico

Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo was gunned down during a Day of the Dead celebration on Nov. 1 in the state of Michoacán, despite his large security detail. Authorities say the killer, 17-year-old Victor Ubaldo Vidales, had ties to the criminal gangs that Manzo had promised to fight. Authorities shot and killed him immediately after the assassination. The 40-year-old cowboy-hat-wearing Manzo became mayor of Uruapan in 2024 with a promise to confront the cartels. That earned him the nickname “the Bukele of Mexico,” referring to El Salvador’s hardline president, Nayib Bukele. Michoacán is one of Mexico’s most violent states and has become a battleground for cartels and other criminal groups. Manzo’s assassination highlights the growing trend of violence against local politicians who stand up to the cartels, even as the Mexican government faces criticism for its inaction. —Elisa Palumbo

Brazil

A violent police raid on Oct. 28 left 121 dead in Rio de Janeiro. The raid, meant to serve 100 arrest warrants in two favelas, or shantytowns, turned into a battle between thousands of police officers and the Red Command drug faction—one of Brazil’s largest and oldest crime groups. Left-wing President Lula da Silva called it a “mass killing” and called for a federal investigation, while the conservative governor of Rio de Janeiro, Cláudio Castro, said all those killed in the operation were criminals. Four police officers also died. The violent confrontation sparked indignation from human rights activists, but garnered support from residents weary of their crime-­ridden streets. Lula, 80, whom many criticize as too soft on crime, recently announced he will seek an historic fourth presidential term in next year’s election. —Elisa Palumbo

Switzerland

The Alpine nation wants UNESCO to recognize yodeling as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. Thought to have originated with livestock herders as a way to communicate over long distances, yodeling is now practiced as a folk tradition. The Swiss Yodeling Association has 780 groups, and Lucerne University offers degrees in yodeling to a few students each year. If UNESCO recognizes yodeling, Switzerland could apply for grants to support continuing the tradition. UNESCO created the list for Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2003. Since then, it has added more than 700 activities, including pizza-twirling in Naples, Italy, traditional hand-puppetry in Egypt, and tea-pouring ceremonies in China. —Evangeline Schmitt

Maldives

Residents and visitors born after Jan. 1, 2007, are banned from buying, selling, or using any tobacco products in the tourist-­friendly and nominally Muslim archipelago. As of Nov. 1, the country is the first to enforce a generational smoking ban. Last year, the nation of 1,200 islands banned vaping products for all ages, and it already prohibits alcohol, except on privately owned resort islands. In 2022, about 25% of residents smoked daily. Vice chair of the tobacco control board Ahmed Afaal says recent tobacco regulations haven’t hurt tourism, which has increased over the past year. Other nations have tried similar anti-­smoking measures with mixed success. New Zealand’s government repealed a 2023 generational smoking ban before it went into effect. A similar law in the U.K. awaits royal assent. —Amy Lewis

Djibouti

Parliament removed the age limit rule for presidents on Nov. 2 with a unanimous vote, opening the way for President Ismail Omar Guelleh to run for a sixth term. Guelleh, 77, has held power since 1999 in the tiny Horn of Africa nation. The previous age limit of 75 would have prevented him from running again. Djibouti is a major port nation that hosts military bases for the United States, France, China, Japan, and Italy. Parliament Speaker Dileita Mohamed Dileita said the constitutional change was necessary to ensure “the stability of the small country in a troubled region.” But opposition leader Daher Ahmed Farah said the country is in a strategic position, and its interests lie with the Djiboutian people, not with a single man. The country will hold elections in April 2026. —Olalekan Raji

Japan

Amid rising bear attacks in the northern Akita prefecture, local representatives and the country’s Defense Ministry signed an agreement on Nov. 5 to deploy soldiers to trap bears, transport local hunters, and remove bear ­carcasses. Since May, bears have killed at least four people and injured dozens of others in the prefecture that has a population of about 880,000. Across Japan, bears have killed 12 people and injured about 100 others since April. As the animals forage for food ahead of hibernation, they are increasingly encroaching into residential areas where the population is quickly aging and shrinking, and few people are trained to hunt them. Abandoned neighborhoods filled with fruit trees often attract the bears. While troops are not allowed to cull the animals, the government recently permitted riot officers to shoot them. —Joyce Wu