In brief: Ousted leader says he’ll work to regain power
ASUNCION, Paraguay – Ousted Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo said Monday that he is aiming to return to power and will rally allies at home and abroad after a landslide congressional vote forced him from office in what he called a break with democracy.
Lugo has symbolically created a parallel Cabinet, attacking the legitimacy of the government that replaced him, and told reporters he will seek to plead his case on the international stage at this week’s summit of the Mercosur trade bloc in Mendoza, Argentina. Lugo said he would also challenge the new leaders over Paraguay’s role in a broader alliance of South American nations.
He also called on domestic backers, who so far have been relatively quiet, to turn up the pressure.
Meanwhile, aides to former Vice President Federico Franco, who was installed as president on Friday after lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to dismiss Lugo, condemned a Mercosur resolution preventing his new government from attending the summit.
Suspected traffickers kill three police officers
MEXICO CITY – Drug trafficking suspects opened fire in a crowded food court at Mexico City’s international airport on Monday, killing three federal police officers who were on an anti-narcotics mission as panicked witnesses dove for cover.
Authorities have used airport surveillance video to try to identify and search for the two suspects allegedly responsible for attacking the agents, said Jose Ramon Salinas, spokesman for the federal Public Safety Department.
A witness said the shooters were wearing police uniforms during the shooting. Criminals in Mexico sometimes use fake police uniforms to provide cover.
The slain agents had gone to the airport “to detain suspects linked to drug trafficking at Terminal 2,” the department said in a statement. “Upon seeing themselves surrounded by federal police, (the suspects) opened fire on the officers.”
Two officers died at the scene, and another died of his wounds at a local hospital.
No suspects were arrested following the shooting, which took place shortly before 9 a.m.
Blasts in two cities kill 11 in deadly month for Iraq
BAGHDAD – Two bomb blasts killed 11 people Monday night, officials said, as Iraq’s death toll continued to climb in the second bloodiest month since U.S. troops withdrew late last year.
“This is chaos,” lamented Fadhil Mohammed, who was passing a youth football field in the city of Hillah when an approaching minibus exploded, killing six people.
Another 26 people were wounded in the blast in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad.
Police said a bomb was hidden on the minibus, which was carrying soccer players to evening games. A medic at Hillah Public Hospital confirmed the casualties.
An hour earlier, police said a bomb hidden in a plastic bag exploded outside a pet store in Baqouba, killing five people and wounding three.
Among the wounded were two policemen who were standing beside their car, which was parked nearby, and were hit by the blast’s aftershock.