A new mayor takes office in southern Mexico after his predecessor was beheaded

A new mayor was sworn in Thursday in a city in southern Mexico where his predecessor was killed and beheaded less than a week after taking office. The new mayor, Gustavo Alarcón, a doctor, had been elected as an alternate on the same ticket as deceased Mayor Alejandro Arcos in the June election. Arcos took office on Oct. 1 in the violence-wracked city of Chilpancingo, the capital of the southern state of Guerrero.