Briefly

LIBYA

73 presumed dead in vessel mishap, UN says

An inflatable rubber boat carrying migrants wrecked off the coast of Libya and 73 people were missing and presumed dead, the UN International Organization for Migration said in a statement on Wednesday. It was the latest tragedy involving migrants seeking better lives in Europe. The disaster took place Tuesday and Libya authorities had retrieved 11 bodies. The dead included one woman and 10 men, said Safa Msehli, IOM's spokeswoman. It was not immediately clear what happened to the vessel but images showed the deflated broken-up rubber boat on shore.

UNITED KINGDOM

One of 12 boys rescued from Thai cave dies

One of 12 boys, rescued after being trapped in a flooded cave for two weeks in Thailand in 2018, has died in Britain where he was attending a soccer academy, authorities said on Wednesday. Duangphet Phromthep, 17, was found unconscious on Sunday in his room at the Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicestershire and was taken to a hospital where he died on Tuesday, Thailand's Zico Foundation said. "This event has left our college community deeply saddened and shaken," school principal Ian Smith said in a statement.

UNITED STATES

World's oldest Hebrew Bible heads to auction

A Hebrew Bible more than 1,000 years old is set to be sold at an auction in New York for up to an estimated $50 million, Sotheby's announced on Wednesday. The Codex Sassoon — which dates to the late 9th to early 10th century — is the earliest, most complete Hebrew Bible ever discovered. It will become the most expensive historical document or manuscript to ever go under the hammer when Sotheby's puts it up for auction in May. The document is being auctioned for the first time in more than 30 years.

Agencies via Xinhua