Flights out of China have been delayed...

Flights out of China have been delayed for hours as Chinese authorities search foreign airliners for stowaways using an escape route that has allowed dozens of fugitive dissidents to flee, airline sources said.

In Beijing, sources said searches of foreign aircraft by armed paramilitary police have delayed flights for hours, prompting complaints from the airlines as well as foreign businesses, which have had shipments held up at airports while the containers were inspected.

The Chinese national airline, CAAC, which is responsible for air cargo, has promised foreign airlines that it will look into their complaints.

-- -- --

Mexico will build its first high-speed “bullet train,” the government newspaper El Nacional has reported.

The electric train, to run between Mexico City and Queretaro, is scheduled to begin service next April, according to Transportation Secretary Andres Caso Lombardo.

In addition, new rail lines in the northern border state of Coahuila and the Gulf Coastal state of Veracruz are scheduled for completion this year, Caso Lombardo said.

He said the possibility of adding a new route between Mexico City and the Veracruz ports of Tuxpan and Tampico also is being explored.

-- -- --

Weekly charter flights connecting the Caribbean resort of Cancun with Mexico City and Tijuana are now operating, according to Notimex, Mexico’s government news service.

Latur, a new Mexican airline with a dozen 165-passenger planes, will promote the charter flights through offices outside Mexico, Notimex said.