Party leader killed in southern state

MEXICO CITY — Authorities say the leader of Mexico’s main leftist party in the southern state of Oaxaca has been found slain, little more than a week before local elections.

The Oaxaca attorney general’s office says the body of Nicolas Estrada Merino was found Thursday near the city of Tuxtepec. Estrada led the Democratic Revolution party. Local elections for state representatives and mayors will be held July 7.