Toronto
Ballerina defects: A leading dancer with Russia’s famed Bolshoi Ballet said she has left the company and the country because of threats against her life. Svetlana Lunkina said this week that she would not return home to Moscow from a trip to Canada because she fears for her safety and that of her husband, a film producer. Lunkina’s departure follows the acid attack on the Bolshoi’s artistic director, Sergei Filin, last month. Filin suffered third-degree burns over his face and nearly lost his eyesight. Anatoly Iksanov, general director of the Bolshoi, linked the “unhealthy atmosphere” at the dance company to principal male dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze. “Evil has now appeared here,” he said.
Lake Xaltocan, Mexico
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Human sacrifice: Archaeologists researching the ancient kingdom of Teotihuacán have discovered evidence of what is believed to be the largest human sacrifice in the Americas. The trove of more than 150 skulls, dating back to between A.D. 600 and 850, was found far from any major city of that time. Most human sacrifice practiced by the people of Teotihuacán and by the later Aztecs took place at great pyramids in large cities. “This one is a big event in a little place,” said archaeologist Destiny Crider, a member of the research team. The site contains a shrine with incense burners and pottery figures, indicating that the skulls are not simply the result of a massacre.
Guatemala City
Genocide trial: A former Guatemalan military dictator will become the first ex-president to be tried for genocide by a Latin American court. Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt, 86, faces charges of crimes against humanity in connection with the killing of more than 1,750 Mayans and the forced expulsion of nearly 30,000 during his 1982–83 rule. The 36-year Guatemalan civil war ended in 1996, and Ríos Montt became a congressman a few years later so he would have immunity from prosecution. His final term ended in 2012, and he has been under house arrest since. Prosecutors said Ríos Montt was trying to wipe out the indigenous group because it supported the rebels.
Santa Maria, Brazil
Nightclub tragedy: A band’s attempt at fireworks turned a Brazilian nightclub into a hellish deathtrap where 234 people burned or suffocated to death. Investigators said the band’s singer lit a flare intended only for outdoor use, setting fire to the ceiling of the Kiss nightclub in Santa Maria. The club had no sprinklers and no emergency exits. “Any child could have seen that this establishment should not have been open,” said police inspector Marcelo Arigony. Apparently unaware of the fire at first, bouncers shut down the entrance to stop people from leaving without paying their bar tabs. Prosecutors are considering charging the band members as well as the club owners.
