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Canada triple slaying-suicide investigated

OTTAWA, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The deaths of four people whose bodies were found at an Ottawa residence were a triple murder-suicide, investigators said Wednesday.

Police said the bodies of two women and a male were discovered in the morning and the fourth body was found about 1:15 p.m., the Ottawa Sun reported. No reason was given for the time lapse between finding the first bodies and the fourth, the Sun said.

A source told the Sun a rifle was involved in the slayings.

Ottawa police first went to the residence about 2 a.m. at the request of a family member. But no one answered the door and nothing appeared out of the ordinary so they left, returning later in the morning to follow up, the newspaper said.

A neighbor told the Sun a man and woman in their 40s lived in the house, along with a woman in her 20s believed to be the couple's daughter.

"They kept to themselves and didn't talk to anybody. They were really quiet people," said the neighbor, who didn't want to be identified, adding the situation "just sends chills up my spine."

New Hampshire sets Jan. 8 primary date

CONCORD, N.H., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- New Hampshire elections officials ended a waiting game Wednesday, setting Jan. 8 as the date for the state's 2008 president primary.

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner set the date for one week ahead of Michigan's Jan. 15 primary to preserve the Granite State's status as the home of the first presidential primary in the nation, the Manchester (N.H.) Union Leader reported Wednesday.

The decision followed a ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court earlier in the day that Michigan could hold its primary Jan. 15.

New Hampshire law requires the state to hold its primary one week or more before any "similar election," the Union Leader said.

Jan. 8 will be the earliest date ever for a New Hampshire primary, The New York Times said.

Russian oil spill reducing bird population

MOSCOW, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The number of birds killed by the oil spill in Russia's Kerch Strait will increase dramatically due to the toxic effects of the accident, an activist said.

A World Wide Fund for Nature member said that in addition to the thousands of birds already killed by the Nov. 11 disaster, scores more will likely die from the nearly 2,000 metric tons of fuel dumped into the regional waters, RIA Novosti said Wednesday.

The Moscow Zoo's chief veterinary doctor, Valentin Kozlitin, said those birds that have come in contact with the oil spill are doomed without help.

"Birds stained with fuel oil have virtually no chance of survival if no one helps them," Kozlitin said.

The doctor said that no action was being taken to ensure the safety of those animals or any birds that may come across the spill during their seasonal migration through the area.

"The authorities are taking no steps to rescue the birds and, on the contrary, are restricting and hampering the work of a few volunteers," he told the Russian press agency.

The strait connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Israeli city sues Hamas leader

SDEROT, Israel, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The city of Sderot, Israel, and the emergency response organization Zaka have filed court papers against the militant Palestinian organization Hamas.

Zaka announced Wednesday that it and Sderot Municipality are taking Hamas' political leader, Khaled Mashaal, to the International Court of Justice in the Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity, the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.

Zaka head Yehuda Meshi-Zahav and Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal said the case against Mashaal, who is currently in exile in Syria, is based on the deaths and injuries of civilians hit by Qassam rockets fired by Hamas.

The lawsuit, prepared by lawyer Nick Kaufman from the Israeli State Prosecutor's Office, cites the rocket attacks fired from Gaza as well as anti-Israel statements made by Mashaal.

Mashaal has repeatedly said Palestinians are within their rights to engage in "armed resistance" against Israel, including the use of terrorism against civilian targets.