A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Couple donate $10.6m of lotto win
HALIFAX – A Canadian couple who won $10.9 million in the lottery and gave away 98 per cent of it said yesterday that they were just plain country folks who did not need more than they had.
Allen and Violet Large won their fortune in a July 14th Lotto 649 draw.
They donated some $10.6 million to churches, fire departments, cemeteries and the Red Cross in Lower Truro, Nova Scotia. They also donated to hospitals where Mrs Large, who has cancer, has undergone treatment. – (AP)
Chilean miner to run NY marathon
NEW YORK – Chilean miner Edison Pena plans to run the New York City marathon on Sunday, less than a month after he was rescued from a collapsed mine that trapped him and 32 companions for 69 days.
Pena ran 10km daily through the mine’s tunnels to beat anxiety. He wore cut-down boots until rescuers sent him a pair of runners through a narrow bore hole that served as the miners’ only contact with the surface.
Pena (34) said he hoped to run the 42km (26.2 miles) race in about six hours. –(Reuters)
Twelve dead after Costa Rica landslide
SAN JOSE – A landslide caused by heavy rain killed a dozen people in Costa Rica yesterday, officials said, as the government considered declaring a national emergency to help it deal with flooding across the country.
A spokeswoman for the National Emergency Commission, said at least 12 people were killed when rains loosened a swathe of Cerro Pico Blanco, a mountain popular with hikers and rock climbers.
Emergency crews rushed to the San Antonio de Escazu area, where there is a mix of shanty homes and large houses belonging to foreigners. – (Reuters)