Briefly

BURKINA FASO

'170 people executed' in attacks on villages

About 170 people were "executed" in attacks on three villages in northern Burkina Faso a week ago, a regional public prosecutor said in a statement on Sunday. Aly Benjamin Coulibaly said he received reports of the attacks on Komsilga, Nodin and Soroe villages in Yatenga Province on Feb 25, with a provisional toll of "around 170 people executed".

UNITED KINGDOM

Chancellor plays down talk of big tax cuts

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said there had been a deterioration in the economic forecasts on which he is basing the annual budget statement that he will give this week, and he played down speculation over big preelection tax cuts. The forecasts produced by Britain's official budget watchdog "have gone against us", Hunt told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper in an interview. Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are under pressure from within their Conservative Party to cut taxes in Wednesday's budget to boost the party's flagging fortunes before a national election expected to take place this year.

MALAYSIA

Relatives of plane crash victims mark 10 years

Relatives of passengers on a Malaysia Airlines plane that mysteriously vanished 10 years ago pushed for a new search on Sunday as they spoke of enduring grief and the struggle to find closure. Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 239 people, disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found. About 500 relatives and their supporters gathered on Sunday at a shopping center near Kuala Lumpur for a "remembrance day". They lit 239 candles, one for each passenger lost on the flight.

Agencies Via Xinhua