IN BRIEF (Page 12)

China Daily | Updated: 2019-10-31 07:07

MEXICO

Mass grave near beach town yields 42 bodies

A total of 42 bodies and skeletons have been pulled from a clandestine burial pit in the Mexican desert near the Gulf of California beach town of Puerto Penasco, which is known to US tourists as Rocky Point. The Sonora state prosecutor's office says the pit yielded a dozen bodies last week, but digging over the weekend found another 30 sets of remains, almost all complete skeletons. The skeletons still had some clothing on them, and items of clothing suggest two may be women. Four full days of digging at the spot, about 8 kilometers from Puerto Penasco, revealed only two of the bodies were relatively recent and still had decomposing flesh on them. Drug and kidnapping gangs use such pits to dispose of the bodies of victims or rivals.

IRAQ

Masked gunmen kill 18 protesters

Masked gunmen opened fire at Iraqi protesters in the Shiite holy city of Karbala on Tuesday, killing 18 people and wounding hundreds, security officials said, in one of the deadliest single attacks since anti-government demonstrations erupted earlier this month. The overnight attack came as Iraqis took to the streets for a fifth straight day after a hiatus in the demonstrations that began earlier this month to protest government corruption, a lack of jobs and municipal services, and other grievances. The earlier protests also saw violence against protesters, and a total of 240 people have been killed since the unrest began.

INDIA

IndiGo to buy 300 Airbus planes

One of India's biggest private airlines, IndiGo, has reportedly placed a huge order for 300 Airbus planes worth $33 billion. This is one of the biggest orders for Airbus from a single airline operator. The new planes would replace old aircraft and operate nonstop flights to long-haul destinations such as London and Tokyo, official sources at the IndiGo Airlines confirmed. Indian media quoted Airbus as saying in a statement on Tuesday that the order was for a mix of A320neo, A321neo and A321XLR (extra long range) aircraft.

Agencies - Xinhua

(China Daily 10/31/2019 page12)