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Police in Trinidad and Tobago investigate after 56 bodies are found dumped at a cemetery

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Police in Trinidad and Tobago said they were investigating after 56 bodies — mainly of infants — were found dumped at one of the country’s cemeteries on Saturday.

The twin-island Caribbean nation has been struggling with surging crime, including deadly gang violence, which prompted authorities to extend an existing state of emergency last month.

The gruesome discovery was made at the cemetery in the town of Cumuto on Trinidad, approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the capital, Port of Spain.

According to a police statement, 50 bodies were of infants while the remaining were of four men and two women. Police said five of the adults had toe tags, such as those found in morgues, and that a man’s and a woman’s body has signs of an autopsy. They did not immediately say if any of the bodies had been identified.

Police said they were working to determine the origin of the human remains and any associated breaches of law or procedure.

“Every cadaver must be handled with dignity and lawful care,” police commissioner Allister Guevarro said in a statement. “Any individual or institution found to have violated that duty will be held fully accountable.”

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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