A Mexican woman who served time in jail for her links to drug trafficking is suing Netflix and TV channel Telemundo. Sandra Ávila Beltrán argues that the TV series Queen of the South is based on her life, her lawyer told the Mexican newspaper Milenio. Ávila Beltrán says her story was used without her consent and is demanding that she be paid 40% of the royalties. As well as the TV series, there have been narco ballads written about her by Tigres del Norte and other bands. Ávila Beltrán, 61, was infamous in Mexico even before the Netflix series was broadcast. Known as Queen of the Pacific, her life story certainly reads like the script of a telenovela – the hugely popular Latin American soap operas with many plot twists and turns. Her uncle is Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo, one of the founders of the powerful Guadalajara drug cartel. At 21, she married a policeman who allegedly became corrupt and did deals with the local drug lords. He was assassinated shortly after their son was born.(BBC)..[+]

A truck has spilled more than 150,000 tomatoes across a busy motorway in the US state of California, bringing traffic to a standstill. The splattered tomatoes caused seven cars to crash and closed much of the Interstate 80 highway on Monday. Three people had minor injuries and a fourth is in hospital with a broken leg, California Highway Patrol said. During tomato season, lorry drivers use the major motorway to transport the fruit across the state. An initial collision caused the tomato truck to swerve into the central divide of the motorway, spilling fist-sized tomatoes across a 200ft section of the motorway, according to reports. This left a sea of red sauce about “two feet deep”, said Highway Patrol Officer Jason Tyhurst. Cars drove over the squelching tomatoes, creating a dangerous slurry of tomato juice, oil and dirt. “These tomato skins, man, once they hit the asphalt it’s like walking on ice,” said Mr Tyhurst, speaking to the New York Times. Clean-up crews allowed the road to reopen several hours later. The Golden State produces more than 90% of the country’s processed tomatoes and almost half of global processed tomatoes, according to the California Tomato Growers Association.(BBC)…[+]

An Australian man who became the subject of a popular crime podcast has been found guilty of his wife’s murder – 40 years after she went missing. Chris Dawson’s trial followed decades of speculation about the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Lynette. A judge ruled Dawson killed his wife so he could continue his relationship with his teenage lover and babysitter, known only as JC for legal reasons. Mrs Dawson’s body is still missing and all the evidence was circumstantial. Dawson was charged in 2018 after the podcast, The Teacher’s Pet, garnered global attention and prompted a renewed investigation. A sentencing date is yet to be set and Dawson’s lawyer has indicated he is likely to appeal against the conviction. The 74-year-old denies killing Mrs Dawson, maintaining she had abandoned him and their two children – possibly to join a religious group. But while handing down his verdict on Tuesday, Justice Ian Harrison said the evidence against Dawson was “persuasive and compelling”.(BBC)…[+]