World news in brief
Boat carrying 400 migrants rescued in rough seas off Crete
A boat carrying about 400 migrants was rescued following a major operation after it drifted into rough seas off the island of Crete overnight. The boat was pulled into Palaiochora harbour yesterday. A Greek navy frigate, two Italian fishing vessels, a tanker and two cargo ships participated in the rescue operation.
A Greek coastguard said that passengers on the boat had made a distress call to an emergency number during the night to alert authorities that they were in difficulties. Strong winds and rough seas in the morning made it difficult for passengers from the
stricken vessel to be transferred immediately, the coastguard added.
It was not immediately possible to verify where the boat carrying the migrants had set sail from, its intended destination, or the nationalities of those on board.
Russians pretending to be Macron tricked Polish president
Poland’s president was duped into speaking to a hoax caller pretending to be French president Emmanuel Macron on the night that a missile hit a village near the Ukrainian border, his office said yesterday, in an admission that is likely to raise questions about the Polish government’s operations.
The call lasted longer than seven minutes. In a recording, posted on the internet by Russian comedians Vovan and Lexus, Andrzej Duda can be heard speaking in English to the caller, who attempts to put on a French accent. It is the second time in two years that the Russian pranksters have succeeded in speaking to Mr Duda.
At the time of the incident it was claimed that Russian missiles had landed in Poland, and there were fears that Nato could be dragged directly into the war. It was later said that the missiles had been fired from a Ukrainian air defence system. Reuters
New bird-like dinosaur fossil discovered in China
Scientists have unearthed a bird-like dinosaur that lived about 120 million years ago in modern-day China, with the partial skeleton of an ancient frog in the remains of its gut. Researchers, including those from the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, say the dinosaur, which has been named Daurlong wanǀ, was a type of mid-sized dromaeosaurid – a species of bird-like, predatory dinosaur.
This species, scientists say, primarily fed on fish, mammals, and other dinosaurs. It lived during the early Cretaceous period, about 145 to 100 million years ago, in Jehol Biota, a freshwater
ecosystem in what is today northeastern China, according to the study, which is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
In the remains of the dinosaur, researchers also found a “large bluish layer” in the abdomen, representing one of the few occurrences of intestinal remnants to have been found in such dinosaurs.
Fire at factory in China kills 38 and injures two
At least 38 people were killed in a fire at a factory in China’s Anyang city in Henan province that has also left two people injured and two others missing. Anyang’s fire and rescue department received information on Monday evening about a blaze at a trading company in Wenfeng district, reported the Global Times.
The fire broke out at Kaixinda Trading Co Ltd in the city’s Wenfeng district, known to be a “hi-tech zone”. Online listings for the company indicate that it is a wholesaler of a wide range of industrial goods, including what are described as specialised chemicals.
More than 200 officials from the fire department and other rescue teams were sent to the site, and the fire was largely extinguished three hours later at about 8pm. It was reported that suspects believed to be behind the fire had been taken into custody yesterday by police. The cause of the fire has not yet been disclosed by officials.
Taiwan ‘at core of core issues’ for Beijing, says China
Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe told his American counterpart Lloyd Austin yesterday that Taiwan is “at the core” of China’s core interests, and represents a “red line” that the US should not cross. “The resolution of Taiwan is a matter for the Chinese people: no external force has the right to interfere,” Mr Wei said.
The meeting between the two defence chiefs, which lasted for nearly 90 minutes, took place on the sidelines of the gathering of southeast Asian defence ministers in Cambodia. It was the pair’s first in-person meeting since US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August, which caused a stir in China.
The Chinese defence minister said that the US must respect Beijing’s core interests, and that he hoped it could adopt a rational, practical policy towards China to get the tattered relations between the two countries back on track.
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