■VENEZUELA
Chavez criticizes Nobel
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said President Barack Obama did not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize because he had not made any notable accomplishments and was continuing the warlike policies of his predecessor George W. Bush. Chavez and Obama had a cordial first encounter at a summit in April, but the Venezuelan leader has become increasingly critical of Obama. In a Sunday newspaper column, Chavez said the Norwegian Nobel committee “forgot about his determination to continue battles in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Chavez also criticized Obama for pursuing an agreement that would allow the US military to increase its presence at Colombian bases.
■UNITED STATES
Couple wins beer, cash
A Maine couple has taken the crown in the North American Wife Carrying Championship over a course that featured a muddy water hole and two log obstacles. Dave and Lacey Castro of Lewiston came in first among 41 teams to win Saturday’s competition at Sunday River ski resort in Newry. They covered the 254m course in 54.45 seconds. The couple won 44kg Lacey Castro’s weight in beer and five times her weight in cash US$485. Teams from 11 states competed in the 10th annual race in which a man has to carry a woman, or vice versa, over an obstacle course. As the North American champs, the Castros are eligible to compete in the world championships in Finland in July.
■HAITI
UN to return remains
A UN spokesman said the bodies of six Uruguayan and five Jordanian peacekeepers recovered from a plane crash in Haiti would be flown to their home countries. Everyone aboard the CASA C-212 twin-engine turboprop died when it crashed into a mountain on Friday during a surveillance flight. Mission spokesman David Wimhurst said the bodies were at a UN facility in Port-au-Prince. The wreck of the Spanish-made, Uruguay-owned plane is under 24-hour guard pending an investigation. A memorial is planned before the soldiers’ departure today.
■CANADA
Four dead in plane crash
Four people died when their light plane crashed in an isolated area of Ontario, police who found the wreckage of the aircraft said on Sunday. The plane, a Piper PA28, crashed late Saturday near Kingston, about 400km east of Sudbury. “It’s a wooded area known for people who go camping. There’s no road access, and it’s very isolated,” Constable Carolle Dionne of Ontario Provincial Police told the Toronto Star newspaper. Authorities were looking at bad weather and technical problems on the plane as possible causes for the crash.
■BRAZIL
Fire razes Sao Paulo slum
An intense fire broke out on Sunday in a slum in Sao Paulo, sending residents running across rooftops to escape the flames. There were no immediate reports of deaths in Diogo Pires, a small shantytown that is home to about 300 families. Two people sought medical treatment for smoke inhalation, fire officials said. TV broadcasts showed flames leaping 20m into the air as some residents fled and others helped firefighters battle the blaze with hoses and buckets of water. Fire officials said they did not know what caused the blaze, which began around 6pm. Firefighters kept it from spreading to neighboring industrial buildings containing drums of combustible chemicals.
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