The fake televised arrest of Frenchwoman Florence Cassez is at the heart of a final bid to overturn her 60-year sentence for kidnapping in Mexico and has sparked new debate about media “trials” here.

Drug traffickers showed up at Martha Lopez’s home in Sinaloa state, at the heart of Mexico’s drug industry, and said they knew she planned to visit her sick son in San Quintin, near the US border.

Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner was on course for a landslide reelection win Sunday, buoyed by strong growth, a weak opposition, and public sympathy a year after the death of her husband.

In Mexico’s oldest port of Veracruz, known for outdoor squares which turn into late night dancehalls, balaclava-wearing soldiers patrol the country’s newest drug war front line.