ers lowered huge wooden boxes described as the size of double-decker buses into a pit. Radar soundings appeared to show large, plane-sized objects lurking roughly 25 feet (8 meters) below the surface, Cundall said. But finding the site was just half the battle. Cundall said it took 17 years of lobbying to get permission to dig in Myanmar, a task complicated by European sanctions against the country's authoritarian government, and, more recently, its tentative steps toward democracy. Cundall beat out other groups in an effort to win exclusive rights to the dig, finally signing an agreement in early October. Along the way he found an unlikely ally, a Belarusian company called Wargaming.net best known for its multiplayer titles including "World of Warplanes" and "World of Tanks." The company's American director of special projects, Tracy Spaight, said he got his company involved after hearing about the Spitfires in the news, promising $500,000 toward the dig and up to another $500,000 if the Spitfires were found. An insider's guide to politics and policy, available on the iPad or as a PDF download.[标签:标题]
By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press ROME (AP) Six Russians were killed and two seriously injured when the snowmobile and sled they were riding veered off an Italian Alpine ski slope at night, slammed into a barrier and flew through the air into a ravine. The accident occurred Friday, and when rescuers arrived at the scene six of the victims were found dead on the slope of Mount Cermis, in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of northeast Italy, said Cavalese Fire Department Cmdr. Roberto Marchi. "It is clear that the fundamental cause is recklessness and imprudence," Marchi told Sky TG24 TV in an interview on the slope Saturday. It is labeled "pista nera" or the black ski run, indicating a level of steepness and other difficult conditions suitable only for the most experienced skiers. Six of the people involved in the accident were Russian tourists and the other two were Russians who worked in Italy in the tourist industry. Cavalese Mayor Silvano Welponer said that putting a driver and passenger in the snowmobile and having it pull six passengers in the sled "made for a very heavy load. You have to know what you are doing and have the experience" to safely handle that, he said. The ANSA news agency said authorities were performing tests to determine if the snowmobile's driver who survived the crash was drunk. The sled-towing snowmobile cut a spectacular trajectory after it veered off the slope on a curve, hit the manmade barrier, flew through the air while shearing the tips off tree branches, then landed in the ravine, Italian news reports said. RAI state radio said the slope was unlit, and other Italian news reports quoted local officials as saying it had been closed for the day and that the only vehicles allowed on it when it is open are staff or rescue ones. The Russians were believed to have dined at the top of the slopes and were heading back to their hotel when they crashed, the reports said. The Russian co Related articles:

• By KRISTA LARSON
• albeit symbolic
• lost his mother and sister in the accident