The mayor of a small town in western Mexico has been found stoned to death

The bodies of Gustavo Sanchez, mayor of Tancitaro in Michoacan state, and an aide were found and appear to have been stoned to death. There was no immediate indication whether the killings were related to drug violence. More than 29,000 people have been killed in violence between rival drug cartels and between cartels and state security forces since 2006. Recently, a mayor-elect in northern Chihuahua state was shot in the head and chest by suspected drug hitmen, leaving him in critical condition and armed men killed the mayor of a town outside Mexico's northern business city of Monterrey.