The world at a glance . . . Americas

Toronto

Jurors secretly investigated: The Ontario provincial government is under fire for allowing police to conduct background checks on jurors at the request of prosecutors. Prosecutors sent a memo asking police for help in identifying any “disreputable persons” among pools of potential jurors, according to the National Post. Neither the jurors nor the defense lawyers in the cases were told about the checks. “Was the state using its superior resources and access to information to obtain an advantage in trials by jury?” asked Frank Addario, president of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association in Ontario. “If so, this must stop and there should be full disclosure of how often it took place.” Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley declined to comment.

Mexico City

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Come back: Mexico has launched a $90 million ad campaign to persuade American tourists to visit the country now that swine flu is on the wane there. The government-funded campaign features ads with such Mexican celebrities as opera singer Plácido Domingo and pro golfer Lorena Ochoa, who both live in the U.S. Tourism, one of Mexico’s largest economic sectors, has plunged since spring, when the H1N1 strain of flu broke out. “We’ve never been hit so hard,” said Eduardo Chaillo of the Mexico Tourism Board. “It’s worse than Sept. 11.” Health officials say the flu, which has killed 75 Mexicans, is now more widespread in the U.S. than in Mexico. Mexico City lifted its swine flu alert last week, after no new cases were reported for 10 days.

Kingston, Jamaica

Lottery scam: The U.S. and Jamaica this week announced a joint task force aimed at shutting down Jamaican lottery scams, which last year alone bilked Americans out of more than $30 million. The schemes are similar to Nigerian e-mail scams: A caller tells the target, usually an elderly American, that she or he has won millions in a Jamaican lottery and must wire money to pay the tax before the prize can be claimed. “It’s just an incredible amount of money that’s coming down here,” said Vance Callender of the U.S. Embassy in Kingston. “We’ve got cases from Honolulu to Maine.” One victim, 72-year-old Ann Mowle of New Jersey, committed suicide after losing her life savings of nearly $250,000 to a Jamaican scammer.

Montevideo, Uruguay

Gays in the military: Uruguay has changed its military regulations to allow homosexuals to serve. “There was a series of rules regarding the psychological requirements in which homosexuality was seen as a sexual identity disorder, and this is what is being repealed,” said Deputy Defense Minister Jorge Menendez. The new decree states that sexual orientation will no longer be considered a reason to prevent people from entering or remaining in the military. In 2007, Uruguay became the first Latin American country to legalize civil unions for gay couples, giving them the same inheritance and custody rights as married couples.