Briefly

AUSTRIA

Indigenous remains returned to New Zealand

The remains of dozens of Indigenous Maori and Moriori people were officially received at New Zealand's national museum in Wellington on Sunday, completing a repatriation process from Austria, where the bones had resided for more than 130 years. The welcoming ceremony at Te Papa concluded when the remains of about 64 Maori and Moriori, the Indigenous people of mainland New Zealand and the Chatham Islands, were taken to the museum's Rongomaraeroa Marae. The event completed a six-day journey for the remains.

INDIA

Trailer crash on pilgrim trip leaves 26 dead

A tractor pulling a trolley packed with religious pilgrims in India overturned and plunged into a pond, killing 26 and seriously injuring 16, officials said on Sunday. The trailer was carrying around 50 people, mostly women and children, when the incident happened in Kanpur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, senior local official Sudheer Kumar said. Traffic accidents are frequent in India with more than 150,000 people killed last year, or over 400 per day, according to official statistics.

UNITED NATIONS

Concern voiced over coup in Burkina Faso

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday expressed deep concern over the situation in Burkina Faso following a coup that ousted President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. The secretary-general "strongly condemns any attempt to seize power by the force of arms and calls on all actors to refrain from violence and seek dialogue," Stephane Dujarric, Guterres' spokesman, said in a statement. Burkina Faso Army Captain Ibrahim Traore announced on Friday night that Damiba was ousted as president.

Agencies - Xinhua