Airstrikes in Syria kill, injure scores

BEIRUT — Airstrikes hit a women’s prison and a clinic in rebel-held parts of Syria on Saturday, killing and wounding scores of people amid clashes on multiple fronts between government forces and insurgent groups in some of the country’s worst violence in weeks, opposition activists said.

The airstrikes, of which some activists said included Russian air raids, concentrated on the rebelheld northwestern province of Idlib, the central province of Hama and suburbs of the capital Damascus that have come under attack by insurgent groups over the past week.

One of the airstrikes hit the Damascus suburb of Hamouriyeh, killing at least 16 people and wounded more than 50, activists said. The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said in a statement that he is concerned by the escalation of violence in Syria, highlighting that it undermines a Dec. 30 cease-fire brokered by Turkey, Iran and Russia.

Iran Airbus lands

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s official IRNA news agency is reporting that the third of the 100 planes it purchased from Airbus following a landmark nuclear deal with world powers has joined its commercial fleet. The jet landed in Tehran after a flight from Toulouse, France, home to the headquarters of the European consortium.

Most of Iran’s 250 commercial planes were purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

S. Korean ferry effort

SEOUL, South Korea — Salvage crews towed a corroded 6,800-ton South Korean ferry and loaded it onto a semi-submersible transport vessel Saturday, completing what was seen as the most difficult part of the massive effort to bring the ship back to shore three years after it sank.

Government officials say it will take a week or two to bring the vessel to a port 55 miles away so investigators can search for the remains of nine missing people who were among the 304 who died when the Sewol capsized on April 16, 2014.

Brazilian meat exports

SAO PAULO — Brazil’s meat exports effectively collapsed last week, the agricultural minister said Wednesday, as several countries halted imports from the South American country in the wake of a meat inspection scandal.

Investigators say health inspectors were bribed to overlook expired meats and chemicals and other products that were added to meat to improve its appearance and smell. The government has tried to downplay the extent of the corruption, while also criticizing the federal police for how they have communicated about it.

The result has been a stampede away from Brazilian exports.

Congolese beheadings

KINSHASA, Congo — Members of a militia ambushed and beheaded about 40 police officers on Friday in a central province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said on Saturday.

Military authorities reported that they had lost contact with a police convoy from the capital, Kinshasa, that was making its way toward Kananga.

François Kalamba, the speaker of the Kasai provincial assembly, confirmed Saturday that the convoy had been ambushed by Kamuina Nsapu fighters, and that about 40 officers had been decapitated.