José Raúl Mulino, the stand-in for former President Ricardo Martinelli in Panama's presidential election, is on his way to becoming the new leader of the Central American nation. With nearly 90% of the votes counted Sunday night, the 64-year-old former security minister’s top three competitors conceded as he led the race with nearly 35% of the vote. He had a nine-point lead over other candidates. Mulino replaced Martinelli as candidate when the firebrand former leader was banned from running after being sentenced to 10 years in prison for money laundering. The new president will face pressing challenges. Those include deep political discontent, historic migration and a lagging economy exacerbated by mass protests last year and a drought that has slashed transit in the Panama Canal.

Mexican authorities said Sunday that relatives have positively identified three bodies found in a well as those of two Australian surfers and one American who went missing last weekend. Baja California state prosecutors said relatives from the two countries had viewed the corpses recovered from a remote well and recognized them as their loved ones. Thieves apparently killed the three, who were on a surfing trip to Mexico’s Baja peninsula, to steal their truck because they wanted the tires. They then allegedly got rid of the bodies by dumping them in a well near the coast. Three suspects are being held in connection with the case.

KIBBUTZ MEFALSIM, Israel (AP) — When Hamas fighters invaded southern Israel on Oct. 7, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip perpetrated the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.