IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Yemen

Airstrike hits oil truck, kills 5

A Saudi-led coalition airstrike hit an oil truck on Yemen's Sanaa-Hodiedah road on Wednesday, killing five civilians including the driver, a security official said. It is the latest coalition airstrike to hit civilians in the war-torn Arab country. On Friday, coalition fighter jets struck three houses in Faj Attan quarter in downtown Sanaa, killing 14, including six children. A day later, the coalition admitted responsibility for the airstrike, describing it as a "technical mistake".

Libya

About 700 migrants rescued off coast

Libyan coast guards over the past two days rescued nearly 700 migrants on their way to European shores, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Spokesman Ayob Qasem said more than 450 migrants were rescued off the coast of Sabratha in western Libya on Tuesday. Qasem also said that two boats with 222 migrants on board were rescued on Monday, with the help of the Italian Navy.

France

Macron to host climate summit

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday that France will host an international summit on Dec 12 to ensure the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The summit is scheduled to take place two years to the date when the historic agreement was reached at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. The summit is expected to "make a key progress" and "mobilize the necessary funding" for the implementation of the agreement, Macron said in a speech on foreign policy to ambassadors.

India

217 children died in August: hospital

A government hospital in northern India where dozens of babies died within two days earlier this month says at least 217 children have died during the month of August for a variety of reasons including an encephalitis outbreak. The head of the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur city, Doctor P.K. Singh, said on Wednesday that 42 children had died in the hospital in the last 48 hours. Seven of the deaths were from encephalitis. Thirty-three children died on Aug 10 and 11 at the hospital.

Australia

Number plate sells for nearly $2m

A black-and-white vehicle number plate with the single digit"4" has sold at a Sydney auction for a record-breaking near $2 million. The sale shattered pre-sale estimates of up to A$1.5 million, with the auction hammer coming down at A$2.45 million - more than twice the average cost of a Sydney home. "Just nine of these New South Wales number plates were ever issued, making them ultra-collectible and irreplaceable," said Shannons auction manager Christophe Boribon.

Xinhua - afp - ap

(China Daily 08/31/2017 page12)