Two journalists were shot dead in <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mexico-says-migrant-numbers-at-us-border-down-40-since-may-239609">Mexico</a> Friday, bringing to three the number of journalists killed in the country this week, officials say.

Jorge Celestino Ruiz, who worked for the newspaper El Grafico de Xalapa, was killed on Friday night in the violence plagued state of Veracruz, the mayor of the state's capital Paulino Dominguez told AFP.

Ruiz's house was shot at in October and bullets were also "fired at his vehicle to intimidate him," said a police source, who asked for anonymity, and did not give further details.

Ruiz had stopped putting his name to his articles to keep a low profile, the reporter's colleagues also said.

State interior secretary Hugo Gutierrez "strongly condemned" the killing on <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/one-in-five-us-twitter-users-follows-donald-trump-survey-236247">Twitter </a>and said it was an attack on freedom of expression.

The shooting occurred less than 24 hours after the director of online news website La Verdad de Zihuatanejo, Edgar Alberto Nava, was gunned down in the southern state of Guerrero, according to the local prosecutor's office.

And on Tuesday, the body of Rogelio Barragan head of news website Guerrero Al Instante was discovered in an abandoned car's trunk in the State of Morelos.

Reporters Without Borders said eight journalists had been killed in Mexico this year up until Thursday.

Since 2000, around 100 reporters have been killed in the country. Violence linked to drug trafficking and political corruption is rampant, and most crimes go unpunished.

Two journalists were shot dead in Mexico Friday, bringing to three the number of journalists killed in the country this week, officials say. Jorge Celestino Ruiz, who worked for the newspaper El Grafico de Xalapa, was killed on Friday night in the violence plagued state of Veracruz, the mayor of the state's capital Paulino Dominguez told AFP.

Two journalists were shot dead in Mexico Friday, bringing to three the number of journalists killed in the country this week, officials say. Jorge Celestino Ruiz, who worked for the newspaper El Grafico de Xalapa, was killed on Friday night in the violence plagued state of Veracruz, the mayor of the state's capital Paulino Dominguez told AFP. Ruiz's house was shot at in October and bullets were also "fired at his vehicle to intimidate him," said a police source, who asked for anonymity, and did not give further details. Ruiz had stopped putting his name to his articles to keep a low profile, the reporter's colleagues also said. State interior secretary Hugo Gutierrez "strongly condemned" the killing on Twitter and said it was an attack on freedom of expression. The shooting occurred less than 24 hours after the director of online news website La Verdad de Zihuatanejo, Edgar Alberto Nava, was gunned down in the southern state of Guerrero, according to the local prosecutor's office. And on Tuesday, the body of Rogelio Barragan head of news website Guerrero Al Instante was discovered in an abandoned car's trunk in the State of Morelos. Reporters Without Borders said eight journalists had been killed in Mexico this year up until Thursday. Since 2000, around 100 reporters have been killed in the country. Violence linked to drug trafficking and political corruption is rampant, and most crimes go unpunished.

Three journalists slain in Mexico in a week

Mothers searching for missing loved ones said they have found seven clandestine gravesites with remains of an undetermined number of people in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, one of the most afflicted by drug gang violence. 
 
Marcela Zurita Rosas, a participant in the search, said yesterday the graves were found this week in a plot of land in the city of Veracruz, in an area near a major seaport. 
 
&quot;On Monday, we found three graves with bones and on Tuesday four more were found with remains of people who were murdered,&quot; she said. 
 
Rosas, who has received training in forensic anthropology and search techniques, is a member of a group called El Solecito. It was formed by mothers who decided to organise their own searches for missing loved ones after growing tired of waiting for the authorities to act.&nbsp;Rosas is looking for her son, Dorian Javier Rivera Zurita, who disappeared in Cordoba, Veracruz in October 2012. 
 
The latest finds were made on the same plot of land where five decapitated bodies were found in 2015.&nbsp;Mexico&#39;s federal police are guarding the property while forensic specialists remove the remains and transfer them to Mexico City for DNA analysis, said Rosas, expressing hope that &quot;many people find their loved ones and can bury them&quot;. 
 
A police officer taking part in the investigation said the remains were in pieces but were from at least two people.&nbsp;Veracruz has been the scene of a deadly turf struggle between two violent drug cartels: the Zetas and the Jalisco Nueva Generacion. 
 
One of the most shocking cases involved the disappearance in January of five youths, one of them a minor, who were picked up by police and turned over to drug traffickers and allegedly murdered, their remains incinerated and ground up in a mill. 
 
Clandestine burial grounds have proliferated in Mexico alongside a surge in violence that has claimed 166,000 lives nationwide since 2006, according to official figures. More than 27,000 people have gone missing during that period.&nbsp;The government statistics do not specify how many of those violent deaths and disappearances are linked to drug trafficking. 
 
(AFP)

The latest finds were made on the same plot of land where five decapitated bodies were found in 2015

Mothers searching for missing loved ones said they have found seven clandestine gravesites with remains of an undetermined number of people in the eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, one of the most afflicted by drug gang violence. Marcela Zurita Rosas, a participant in the search, said yesterday the graves were found this week in a plot of land in the city of Veracruz, in an area near a major seaport. "On Monday, we found three graves with bones and on Tuesday four more were found with remains of people who were murdered," she said. Rosas, who has received training in forensic anthropology and search techniques, is a member of a group called El Solecito. It was formed by mothers who decided to organise their own searches for missing loved ones after growing tired of waiting for the authorities to act. Rosas is looking for her son, Dorian Javier Rivera Zurita, who disappeared in Cordoba, Veracruz in October 2012. The latest finds were made on the same plot of land where five decapitated bodies were found in 2015. Mexico's federal police are guarding the property while forensic specialists remove the remains and transfer them to Mexico City for DNA analysis, said Rosas, expressing hope that "many people find their loved ones and can bury them". A police officer taking part in the investigation said the remains were in pieces but were from at least two people. Veracruz has been the scene of a deadly turf struggle between two violent drug cartels: the Zetas and the Jalisco Nueva Generacion. One of the most shocking cases involved the disappearance in January of five youths, one of them a minor, who were picked up by police and turned over to drug traffickers and allegedly murdered, their remains incinerated and ground up in a mill. Clandestine burial grounds have proliferated in Mexico alongside a surge in violence that has claimed 166,000 lives nationwide since 2006, according to official figures. More than 27,000 people have gone missing during that period. The government statistics do not specify how many of those violent deaths and disappearances are linked to drug trafficking. (AFP)

Mothers searching for loved ones discover clandestine burial sites in Mexico

More than 20 people were killed in three Mexican states plagued by drug violence over the weekend, with 11 found dead in a single day in Acapulco, authorities said. 
 
The victims in Acapulco were found in five different locations in the Pacific resort city on Sunday, amid an increase in homicides across the country this year. 
 
Gunmen killed three people at a bar; two men and one woman were found dead in a car near a cemetery with signs of torture and their feet and hands tied; and three bodies were exhumed from a clandestine grave on the outskirts of the city. 
 
Two other people were shot dead in separate incidents in Acapulco, which is among the most violent cities in the world outside war zones, with 111 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015. 
 
Acapulco is in the state of Guerrero, where seven people from the same family, including two children, were found shot dead on Saturday in two homes in the town of Tepecoacuilco de Trujano. 
 
Elsewhere in Mexico, a soldier and four suspected drug gang members died in two clashes on Sunday in Nuevo Laredo, a city bordering the United States in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. Six other soldiers were wounded. 
 
The soldiers came under attack after they responded to reports of gunfights between rival gangs in two parts of the city, the Tamaulipas security task force said in a statement. 
 
Another four suspected criminals died on Sunday in the eastern state of Veracruz after exchanging fire with police, authorities said. 
 
Homicides rose in Mexico in 2015 after three years of decline, and they are on their way up again this year. 
 
More than 9,400 people were killed between January and June, compared to 8,156 during the same period last year, according to official figures.&nbsp; 
 
(AFP) 
&nbsp;

More than 9,400 people were killed between January and June, compared to 8,156 during the same period last year

More than 20 people were killed in three Mexican states plagued by drug violence over the weekend, with 11 found dead in a single day in Acapulco, authorities said. The victims in Acapulco were found in five different locations in the Pacific resort city on Sunday, amid an increase in homicides across the country this year. Gunmen killed three people at a bar; two men and one woman were found dead in a car near a cemetery with signs of torture and their feet and hands tied; and three bodies were exhumed from a clandestine grave on the outskirts of the city. Two other people were shot dead in separate incidents in Acapulco, which is among the most violent cities in the world outside war zones, with 111 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015. Acapulco is in the state of Guerrero, where seven people from the same family, including two children, were found shot dead on Saturday in two homes in the town of Tepecoacuilco de Trujano. Elsewhere in Mexico, a soldier and four suspected drug gang members died in two clashes on Sunday in Nuevo Laredo, a city bordering the United States in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas. Six other soldiers were wounded. The soldiers came under attack after they responded to reports of gunfights between rival gangs in two parts of the city, the Tamaulipas security task force said in a statement. Another four suspected criminals died on Sunday in the eastern state of Veracruz after exchanging fire with police, authorities said. Homicides rose in Mexico in 2015 after three years of decline, and they are on their way up again this year. More than 9,400 people were killed between January and June, compared to 8,156 during the same period last year, according to official figures. (AFP)

More than 20 killed in drug violence over weekend, homicide figures climb in Mexico

The President of Mexico&#39;s ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, announced his resignation on Monday, two weeks after the party of President Enrique Pena Nieto suffered a humiliating defeat in regional elections. 
 
Manlio Fabio Beltrones, a former governor and veteran federal lawmaker, announced his decision to step down after the PRI won only five of the dozen governors races up for grabs in the June 5 vote. It previously held nine of them. 
 
The results were far worse for the centrist party than most polls had forecast. 
 
The PRI&#39;s losses included two oil-rich strongholds in the Gulf of Mexico, Veracruz and neighboring Tamaulipas, both of which have been plagued by gang violence for years, as well as Quintana Roo, home to Mexico&#39;s top tourist destination Cancun. All three states have been run by the PRI for over eight decades. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s time for a necessary pause,&quot; Beltrones told a news conference at the PRI&#39;s Mexico City headquarters. 
 
&quot;This is a responsible decision that opens space for an internal debate and allows our party to freely decide the best path forward,&quot; he said. 
 
Beltrones, 63, is still seen as a possible presidential contender for the PRI in 2018. Pena Nieto is not allowed by law to seek a second six-year term. 
 
In a poll published Monday by daily newspaper El Financiero, Beltrones was tied for second with 10 per cent among PRI voters, trailing Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, who had 32 per cent support. 
(Reuters)

Manlio Fabio Beltrones announced his decision after the PRI won only five of the dozen governors races up for grabs in the June 5 vote

The President of Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, announced his resignation on Monday, two weeks after the party of President Enrique Pena Nieto suffered a humiliating defeat in regional elections. Manlio Fabio Beltrones, a former governor and veteran federal lawmaker, announced his decision to step down after the PRI won only five of the dozen governors races up for grabs in the June 5 vote. It previously held nine of them. The results were far worse for the centrist party than most polls had forecast. The PRI's losses included two oil-rich strongholds in the Gulf of Mexico, Veracruz and neighboring Tamaulipas, both of which have been plagued by gang violence for years, as well as Quintana Roo, home to Mexico's top tourist destination Cancun. All three states have been run by the PRI for over eight decades. "It's time for a necessary pause," Beltrones told a news conference at the PRI's Mexico City headquarters. "This is a responsible decision that opens space for an internal debate and allows our party to freely decide the best path forward," he said. Beltrones, 63, is still seen as a possible presidential contender for the PRI in 2018. Pena Nieto is not allowed by law to seek a second six-year term. In a poll published Monday by daily newspaper El Financiero, Beltrones was tied for second with 10 per cent among PRI voters, trailing Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong, who had 32 per cent support. (Reuters)

Head of Mexico's ruling party resigns after electoral drubbing

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