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Fire burns cabanas and shops in town on Mexico’s Pacific coast

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A fire burned more than 60 cabanas and shops in a small tourist town in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca early Friday, but left no casualties, according to Punta Zicatela Mayor Román Valencia.

Authorities say they believe the fire was caused by a short circuit.

Valencia spoke during a live broadcast from his Facebook account several hours after the fire started, which showed him walking through a scene of devastation littered with debris, charred palm trees, twisted tin roofs and piles of ash. Neighbors were helping to clean up while rescue teams continued to extinguish the last embers.

“Not a single palapa (a type of open-sided shelter with a thatched roof) was left intact, it took everything,” said the mayor. “A total loss.”

Punta Zicatela is a small beach town south of the tourist hub of Puerto Escondido. It draws mainly Mexican tourists seeking a vacation away from big hotels or resorts.

The local prosecutor’s office said that the fire was probably caused by an electrical fault, because no traces of flammable material were found.

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

By WTOP Staff
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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