BBC News with John Jason
Tens of millions of Mexicans are voting for a new president in congress in elections dominated by the economy and the war on drugs. Thousands of police and soldiers have been deployed to guard against
intimidation
by drug cartels at polling booths. Will Grant reports.
Thirty-one thousand elections observers are in place to ensure the counting is reliable, and all candidates have promised to accept the outcome. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is standing again, but the race isn't expected to be as close as it was six years ago. The frontrunner is Enrique Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party. His rising popularity comes as many Mexicans have grown tired of the constant violence of the drug war and they're concerned over the state of the economy under the current administration. The drug violence is also a concern for the electoral authorities with heavy security across the country and the military on the streets of major cities.
The Turkish military has revealed that it's sent six fighter jets to the border with Syria after Syrian helicopters flew too close. Turkey has warned it will treat any Syrian military unit approaching its border as a direct threat. James Reynolds reports from the Turkish side of the border.
Scrambling
of the jets is a sign of continuing tensions between Turkey and Syria. A little over a week ago, Syria shot down a Turkish warplane. Syria says that the aircraft was flying inside Syrian airspace – a charge denied by Turkey. Turkey is keen to show that it's protecting its territory. The government allows its southern border region of Hatay to be used as a staging ground by Syrian opposition rebels, but it doesn't want this region to be an actual battleground.