Nation roundup for June 11

Calif. man kills wife and two kids

SELMA, Calif. (AP) — Residents of a small California agricultural town mourned an Indian family killed in a murder-suicide, and also on Sunday grappled with allegations that the man accused in the shooting was a former Indian army officer wanted for years for murder in his homeland.

Authorities have said the former officer, Avtar Singh, shot his wife and two children and gravely wounded a third child early Saturday before turning the gun on himself.

Investigators were still trying to determine a motive.

“Our community is completely shocked,” said Rajbir Singh Pannu, president of the town’s Sikh temple. “It’s a really bad misfortune, especially for the children who died. Anybody who takes somebody’s life, in our religion that’s cowardice.”

It was just more than a year ago that Singh was arrested after his wife said he had choked her.

That set off a process that prompted the Indian government to seek his extradition days later in the 1996 death of a prominent lawyer and human rights activist in Kashmir, a disputed region in the Himalayas.

Singh, who in recent years operated a small trucking business in Selma, bailed out of jail after last year’s arrest. It remained unclear Sunday why he was never extradited.

$3.5 million buys lunch with Buffett

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The cost to dine with investor Warren Buffett has apparently spiked in value, with one deep-pocketed bidder forking over nearly $3.5 million during a charity auction.

The annual auction for a private lunch with the Nebraska billionaire closed following a flurry of activity in the final hours Friday night. In the end, the highest bid was a record-breaking $3,456,789.

The auction benefits the Glide Foundation, which helps the homeless in San Francisco. Buffett has raised more than $11.5 million for the group in 13 past auctions. The event provides a significant portion of Glide’s roughly $17 million annual budget that pays for social services to the poor and homeless.

“We just had a most amazing, shocking experience occur in our great city,” Glide’s founder, the Rev. Cecil Williams, said Friday. “We are shouting, dancing … and celebrating.”

The organization said Friday’s winning bidder wished to remain anonymous.

Versace mansion costs $125M

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The South Beach mansion where Italian designer Gianni Versace was shot to death is back on the market for $125 million.

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate announced the listing for Casa Casuarina on Friday.

Originally built in 1930, the 10-bedroom, 11-bathroom, gated home features a 54-foot long, thousand mosaic pool. The pool is lined in 24-karat gold, numerous frescos, ornate statues, arched doorways and an open air courtyard.

Versace was slain in front of the home at 1116 Ocean Dr. in 1997. He had purchased the home in 1992 and spent about $33 million expanding it. Tourists can still routinely be spotted taking photos in front of the house. The home’s current owner, Peter Loftin, bought the property in 2000.

Trade deficit now at $50.1 billion

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit shrank in April, but only because a big drop in imports offset the first decline in U.S. exports in five months.

The Commerce Department said Friday that the trade deficit narrowed 4.9 percent in April to $50.1 billion.

U.S. exports, which had hit a record the previous month, fell 0.8 percent to $182.9 billion. Sales of everything from commercial jetliners to industrial machinery declined.

Imports, which also set a record in March, dropped an even faster 1.7 percent to $233 billion.

The trade gap remains wide and could weigh on growth in the April-June quarter. A wider trade gap slows growth because it means the United States is spending more on foreign-made products than it is taking in from sales of U.S.-made goods.

The slip in exports is especially troublesome because it shows the weaker global economy is dampening demand for American-made goods. Export sales declined to Europe, China and Brazil.