NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Kenyan widow of a man killed in a traffic accident involving a U.S. diplomat said she received a letter of condolence Tuesday from the embassy.

Latifah Naiman Mariki's husband died in a July 11 crash in which Kenyan police say the speeding diplomat crossed the center line in his SUV and hit a mini-bus full of passengers. U.S. Embassy officials in Nairobi rushed the American and his family out of Kenya the next day.

The case has sparked rage among average Kenyans and government leaders. Many in this East African country are asking that justice be pursued for Mariki and the families of the eight others seriously injured in the crash.

Mariki, a pregnant mother of three, told The Associated Press last week that she had not received any communication from the U.S. Embassy after the crash. But on Tuesday she received a letter dated July 12 that the embassy delivered to police but that hadn't previously reached Mariki, she said.

In the letter, the embassy's charge d'affaires said he was saddened to learn of the death of Mariki's husband.

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Latifah Naiman Mariki, widow of the late Haji Lukindo, holds a family photo showing her late husband …

"I know that no words of mine can restore what you have most tragically lost, but I hope it will bring some comfort to know that the thoughts and prayers of the entire American Embassy community are with you and your family at this difficult time," Larry E. Andre wrote.

The death of Mariki's husband, Haji Lukindo, leaves her in a dire economic situation. Lukindo was the family's only breadwinner, and Mariki said she didn't know how she will support her unborn child and three children, ages 20, 10 and 7.

Mariki said the embassy letter doesn't help her situation. She said that reading it "makes me sick."

"It is not enough for us because my husband is gone," she said. "We have nowhere to go. So we need help."

Kenya's government spokesman over the weekend posted on Facebook an AP story written last week about Mariki. The spokesman, Muthui Kariuki, wrote: "The US Government must act responsibly on this matter otherwise they lose tonnes of credibility."

Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs wrote on Twitter that Mariki's situation was a "sad state of affairs" but that Kenya's government was handling the matter.

"We've been meeting with the police and hopefully the Embassy will do the right thing," Amina Mohamed said on Twitter.

The U.S. diplomat involved in the accident, Joshua Walde, holds diplomatic immunity. But a State Department guidance paper for U.S. law enforcement officials on how diplomatic immunity works says that even at the highest levels "diplomatic immunity is not intended to serve as a license for persons to flout the law and purposely avoid liability for their actions."

A State Department spokeswoman said last week that the U.S. extends its deepest condolences to victims of the crash and said the U.S. is cooperating with Kenyan authorities as they investigate the accident.

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Fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden's new refugee documents granted by Russia is seen during a news conference in Moscow August 1, 2013. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

By Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will hold talks with Russia's defense and foreign ministers in Washington on Friday despite Moscow's decision to grant asylum to former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

The State Department, confirming a report by Reuters, said the talks would go ahead and that Snowden's case would be among the issues raised when Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel meet their Russian counterparts.

"We have raised Mr. Snowden with Russian officials many times in recent weeks. We expect to do so again," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

"We would like to see Mr. Snowden return to the United States. I don't know technically what that requires, but we know they have the capability to do that."

Snowden had spent more than five weeks in a Moscow airport while trying to find a country to take him in. The United States wanted him returned to face charges for leaking National Security Agency surveillance secrets to the media.

Moscow's rejection of U.S. pleas to hand him over and grant him a year's asylum on Thursday has prompted President Barack Obama to rethink whether to hold a summit in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin next month.

Snowden's asylum in Russia also had put into doubt this week's "two-plus-two" talks between the Russian and U.S. officials.

The United States appears to be trying to avoid derailing ties with its former Cold War rival by proceeding with some high-level talks with Russia while still leaving Obama's participation in the summit in doubt.

SOLUTIONS IN SYRIA

Worsened ties between the United States and Russia could make it even more difficult for the two nations to arrange any kind of political solution in Syria, for example.

Moscow has supported President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war even as Obama has led international calls for him to step aside. Psaki said Syria would be part of the conversation.

"We certainly have our share of disagreements with Russia over a number of issues. And I'm sure they will be part of the conversation, as well," Psaki said.

She added that Iran's nuclear program would also come up.

There are concerns in Washington that, given deepening tensions, Russia may break ranks with Western countries seeking to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions through tough sanctions.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov criticized perceived U.S. wobbling on the need for top-level contact between the two countries.

"The U.S. administration questions further bilateral contact at the highest level (due to the situation with Snowden)," Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Interfax. "It seems to me that this is an utter distortion of reality. This is viewing the world through a distorted lens."

Ryabkov said Russia did not understand why the situation with Snowden was "being so blown out of proportion in the United States."

Snowden's father, Lon, plans to go to Moscow soon.

"We do not have a set date yet but we have been working closely with Anatoly Kucherena, Ed Snowden's attorney, on setting a definitive date which will be sometime in August," said Mattie Fein, a representative for Lon Snowden.

(Additional reporting by Tabassum Zakaria and Paul Eckert; Editing by Philip Barbara)

Mexican Drug Cartels Increasingly Hire US Military Servicemen as Assassins

YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) -- Japan on Tuesday unveiled its biggest warship since World War II, a huge flat-top destroyer that has raised eyebrows in China and elsewhere because it bears a strong resemblance to a conventional aircraft carrier.

The ship, which has a flight deck that is nearly 250 meters (820 feet) long, is designed to carry up to 14 helicopters. Japanese officials say it will be used in national defense — particularly in anti-submarine warfare and border-area surveillance missions — and to bolster the nation's ability to transport personnel and supplies in response to large-scale natural disasters, like the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Though the ship — dubbed "Izumo" — has been in the works since 2009, its unveiling comes as Japan and China are locked in a dispute over several small islands located between southern Japan and Taiwan. For months, ships from both countries have been conducting patrols around the isles, called the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyutai in China.

The tensions over the islands, along with China's heavy spending on defense and military modernization, have heightened calls in Japan for beefed-up naval and air forces. China recently began operating an aircraft carrier that it refurbished after purchasing from Russia, and is reportedly moving forward with the construction of another that is domestically built.

Japan, China and Taiwan all claim the islands.

Though technically a destroyer, some experts believe the new Japanese ship could potentially be used in the future to launch fighter jets or other aircraft that have the ability to take off vertically. That would be a departure for Japan, which has one of the best equipped and best trained naval forces in the Pacific but which has not sought to build aircraft carriers of its own because of constitutional restrictions that limit its military forces to a defensive role.

Japan says it has no plans to use the ship in that manner.

The Izumo does not have catapults for launching fighters, nor does it have a "ski-jump" ramp on its flight deck for fixed-wing aircraft launches.