■CANADA
Big avalanche kills two
Two people died and dozens were missing on Sunday after a massive weekend avalanche in British Columbia hit a crowd of 200 snowmobilers in the mountainous backcountry. Provincial teams including 40 rescue experts with dogs gathered to search for possible survivors or bodies, but the search was put on hold by authorities who feared more avalanches at the site, Corporal Dan Moskaluk told reporters. Avalanche specialists flying in helicopters were assessing the risk on Sunday. Police said two men were confirmed dead, after earlier reporting three fatalities, and said another 30 people were injured. The snowmobilers were in a bowl beneath Boulder Mountain near Revelstoke, 566km northeast of Vancouver, when a wall of snow crashed onto the crowd.
■UNITED STATES
Web site castigates the rich
The swindling saga of legendary Wall Street conman Bernard Madoff has inspired the creation of The Vile Plutocrat, a Web site devoted to the notion that “rich people suck.” The Vile Plutocrat gathers news about the misdeeds of “the entitled class,” mixes in scathing editorial commentary and then links stories to biographies of the purported villains. Madoff was arrested on December 2008 and sentenced in June to 150 years in prison after pleading guilty to a multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme in which existing investors were paid returns stolen from new investors’ capital.
■AUSTRALIA
Lawmakers ask for pardon
Lawmakers yesterday debated asking the UK for an official pardon for two soldiers, executed during the Boer War, whose story has become a popular cause. A parliamentary committee heard from experts including military historian James Unkles, who has already petitioned Britain separately over the case of Harry “Breaker” Morant and Peter Handcock, who were executed by firing squad in 1902. Critics say the two Australians, who were court-martialled over the murder of 12 prisoners of war, did not receive a fair trial. Their co-accused, George Witton, had his death sentence commuted.
■ISRAEL
Lula visits Middle East
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived in the Middle East on Sunday, seeking to bring a fresh outlook to the peace process on a trip to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. His official program began yesterday with a meeting with his President Shimon Peres, followed by talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Tzipi Livni. Today he was to visit the occupied West Bank to meet Palestinian leaders, before traveling to Jordan tomorrow.
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