Briefly

Fire and rescue station named role model

The Baota fire and rescue station in Yan'an, Shaanxi province, was granted the title of Role Model of the Times by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Thursday. It's a commemoration for the bravery of its staff in performing rescue missions in fires and floods, and for good services when helping the public. Established in 1973, the fire and rescue station now has 32 staff members. Over the past 50 years, the station has undertaken some 12,500 missions, with over 3,200 people rescued. Their rescue operations have protected public and personal property worth 19.7 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) from damage during the past five decades.

Telescope finds two near-Earth asteroids

A wide-field telescope capable of surveying the entire sky from the northern hemisphere has discovered two near-Earth asteroids, astronomers said. The two celestial bodies were first spotted on Nov 18 by the Wide Field Survey Telescope, which started operation in September in Northwest China's Qinghai province. The Minor Planet Center under the International Astronomical Union subsequently confirmed the discovery. With an estimated diameter of 170 meters, one of the two is categorized as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid, for having an Earth Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance of 6.22 million kilometers, astronomers noted in a statement on Wednesday.

China Daily - Xinhua