The world in brief

An endangered Asian giant softshell turtle rests near a nest of eggs on a sandbar in the Mekong River in northeastern Cambodia in this undated photo released by the Wildlife Conservation Society.
An endangered Asian giant softshell turtle rests near a nest of eggs on a sandbar in the Mekong River in northeastern Cambodia in this undated photo released by the Wildlife Conservation Society.

65 journalists killed in 2017, group says

PARIS — A total of 65 journalists and media workers were killed in 2017, the lowest toll in 14 years, according to figures released Tuesday by Reporters Without Borders.

The nongovernmental organization said 60 percent of those killed were murdered. It added that 326 people working in media — including 202 professional journalists — are also being detained.

According to the group, 26 people “were killed in the course of their work, the collateral victims of a deadly situation such as an air strike, an artillery bombardment, or a suicide bombing.”

It said the remaining 39 “were murdered, and deliberately targeted because their reporting threatened political, economic, or criminal interests.”

Overall, the group said the decrease in deaths is due to journalists fleeing “countries such as Syria, Yemen and Libya that have become too dangerous.” But it also noted “a growing awareness of the need to protect journalists.”

Syria was the deadliest country for journalists, with 12 killed, one more than in Mexico where many journalists have “either fled abroad or abandoned journalism.”

Mexican tour bus crash kills 12 people

MEXICO CITY — A bus carrying cruise ship passengers on an excursion to Mayan ruins in southeastern Mexico flipped over on a narrow highway Tuesday, killing 11 travelers and their Mexican guide and injuring at least 20 others, officials said.

Seven Americans and two Swedes were among the injured, said Vicente Martin, spokesman for the Quintana Roo state Civil Defense agency. Authorities had not yet established the nationalities of the dead.

Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises said in a statement that passengers from two of its ships, the Celebrity Equinox and Serenade of the Seas, were on the bus.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said U.S. officials were working with local authorities to determine whether American citizens were among the dead.

Martin said investigators were working to determine the cause of the crash, which occurred as the bus was on its way to the ruins at Chacchoben, about 110 miles south of Tulum.

2 nations work to repatriate Rohingya

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Burma and Bangladesh set up a joint working group Tuesday to oversee the repatriation of Rohingya Muslims who fled violence in Burma, but the start of their return is likely to be delayed.

Under an agreement signed in Dhaka, the 30-member working group is to develop procedures to begin the voluntary return, resettlement and reintegration of Rohingya refugees.

More than 630,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since Burma’s military began a crackdown in August after attacks on police posts by a militant group.

The two countries agreed last month that the repatriation would start around Jan. 21, but a Bangladesh foreign ministry official who attended Tuesday’s meeting said it would be delayed by a few weeks or so.

The government of Buddhist-majority Burma has refused to accept Rohingya Muslims as a minority group, even though they have been living there for generations.

Endangered softshell turtle nest found

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Conservationists have found a nest of the endangered Asian giant softshell turtle on a Mekong River sandbar in northeastern Cambodia.

The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said Tuesday that a nest of Asian giant softshell turtles was found on the Mekong between Kratie and Stung Treng provinces by conservationists from Cambodia’s fisheries administration, the society and local communities. It said it was the first spotting of such a nest so far this season.

It said the area is the only remaining location in Cambodia where the turtles still breed.

The Asian giant softshell turtle has been listed as globally endangered. It was thought to be extinct in the Cambodian portion of the Mekong River until conservationists rediscovered the turtles in 2007 along a 30-mile stretch of the river between Kratie and Stung Treng provinces.

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