The first time an assassin's bullet tried to find her, Maria Santos Gorrostieta escaped, but her husband was killed. That was in 2009, when she was mayor of Tiquicheo, a small town in the Mexican state of Michoacan, which has seen some of the most brutal drug-related violence. The bullets found her in January of 2010, but again, she survived. She remained defiant, lifting her shirt at one point to show reporters her bullet wounds and scars after the second attack. Gorrostieta finished her term as mayor in 2011 and remarried. But the forces who wanted her dead prevailed this month, kidnapping her while she drove her daughter to school. Gorrostieta's body was found last week, her hands bound. No bullets this time. Investigators said there was evidence of a blow to the back of the head.

POL-Mexico-President-US-Visit

Mexico's new leader has a message for U.S. officials as he visits Washington this week: Ties between the neighboring nations must go beyond the drug war.

POL-Mexico-President-Interview

Creating more economic opportunities will be Mexico's greatest weapon in the war on drugs, the country's president-elect said Tuesday. "Economic growth and greater social benefits, that I think is going to be the best prevention that my government can establish against organized crime, avoiding that millions of my countrymen have no other option than to dedicate themselves to criminal activity," President-elect Enrique Pena Nieto told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

saudi-arabia-protest

Saudi Arabian security forces dispersed and detained dozens of protesters, including women and children, who on Tuesday were urging the government to release political prisoners, according to activists.

Syria-Civil-War

A NATO reconnaissance team planned to survey the Turkish-Syrian border on Tuesday to prepare for the possible deployment of Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries.

Comoros-Plane-Crash

A passenger plane crashed into the Indian Ocean shortly after takeoff Tuesday from an airport in Moroni, Comoros Islands, a government official said.

North-Korea-China-Onion

China, as one Twitter user wrote Tuesday, has been fooled by the "mysterious Western art of satire." The merciless comedy website The Onion has declared North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the "sexiest man alive for 2012." And it appears China's People's Daily Online has taken the story seriously.

Venezuela-Chavez-Cuba

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will travel to Cuba to continue "medical treatments," officials said, leaving unclear whether the trip is a sign of a relapse of the cancer that has ailed him or is for a check-up.

Congo-Unrest

Defiant rebel forces remained in control of the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Tuesday, hours after a deadline set by regional leaders and the African Union for them to leave had passed.

Iraq-Violence

At least 29 people were killed and 126 wounded Tuesday in eight car bombings in Iraq.

Australia-Crane-Collapse

A construction crane caught fire Tuesday in Sydney, Australia, spitting flames nearly 32 feet (10 meters) into the air before partially collapsing. The company is the same one that was managing a New York construction site where a crane partially collapsed during Superstorm Sandy in October.

Bangladesh-Fire-Mourning

The clothing factory fire that killed more than 100 workers in Bangladesh over the weekend was no accident, the country's prime minister said.

West-Bank-Arafat

Did Yasser Arafat die eight years ago of natural causes or was the 75-year-old Palestinian leader poisoned, as his widow believes? That's the question forensic investigators from at least three nations are trying to answer by testing samples taken from Arafat's body, which was exhumed Tuesday and reburied a short time later.