■MEXICO
Drug deaths down this year
President Felipe Calderon, who is fighting a fierce campaign against drug traffickers, said on Tuesday that the country’s drug war deaths were down this year compared with last year. The Mexican president said killings had dropped in some of the most volatile states from last year, when some 5,300 people died nationwide in suspected drug murders in a sharp increase from the previous year. Murders fell 80 percent in Baja California, 30 percent in Chihuahua and Sinaloa, Calderon said. Media reports said more than 2,400 people have died in drug-related violence this year, while the attorney general’s office said deaths were down 20 percent compared with the same period last year, without giving a figure.
■UNITED STATES
Roeder charged in killing
A Kansas man was charged on Tuesday with gunning down one of the few doctors to provide late-term abortions in the US. Scott Roeder, 51, was ordered held without bond ahead of a preliminary hearing set for June 16 when he will enter a formal plea in response to charges of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault. Roeder was arrested about three hours after George Tiller was shot to death in the foyer of his Wichita, Kansas, church at around 10am on Sunday. District Attorney Nola Foulston told reporters the crime did not qualify under Kansas law as a death penalty case.
■UNITED STATES
Obama praises France
US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday people in the US love all things French and acknowledged his own penchant for Gallic food and wines. In his first interview with a French television channel, Obama heaped praise on the country in an apparent attempt to stamp out any lingering tensions sparked by France’s opposition to the US’ 2003 invasion of Iraq. “France is one of the most important countries in the world,” the president told I-Tele and Canal Plus, days ahead of a trip to France, where he is wildly popular. He said French collaboration was crucial to solving the world’s problems, from climate change to the global recession. Obama also spoke enthusiastically about French President Nicolas Sarkozy, with whom he said he had a “wonderful relationship.”
■UNITED STATES
US welcomes Iranians
In a new overture to Iran, the administration of US President Barack Obama has authorized US embassies around the world to invite Iranian officials to Independence Day parties they host on or around July 4. A State Department cable sent to all US embassies and consulates late last week said that US diplomats could ask their Iranian counterparts to attend the festivities, which feature speeches about US values, fireworks and, of course, hot dogs and hamburgers. Generally those invited include officials from the host government, diplomats from friendly countries and US expatriates. In the past, the US has excluded a short list of pariah nations such as Myanmar and North Korea from such invitation lists.
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