IN BRIEF (Page 12)
South Africa
Authorities cull 60,000 birds
Tens of thousands of birds have been culled after avian flu was detected on a poultry farm in the Western Cape. South Africa's Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said on Wednesday that it is contemplating vaccination to stop the spread of the disease. The country has registered 16 outbreaks since two occurred in Mpumalanga and Gauteng in June. Officials said 60,000 birds were killed after the latest outbreak.
Sweden
Policeman stabbed in Stockholm
A policeman was stabbed in a bustling Stockholm square on Thursday, police said, indicating that a man had been arrested in connection with the incident. The motive for the attack was not immediately clear. The incident occurred around 10:30 am near a subway exit in Medborgarplatsen Square in the Sodermalm neighborhood. Sweden has been on edge since April, when an asylum seeker plowed a truck into shoppers in central Stockholm, killing five people including an 11-year-old girl.
New Zealand
'Bombshell' puts opposition ahead
The race to form the next government took an unexpected turn on Thursday as a "bombshell" poll showed the opposition Labour party had overtaken the ruling National party, threatening its almost decade-long hold on power. National fell 3 points to 41 percent, its lowest result since 2005, in a poll commissioned by 1 News. Support for the newly invigorated Labour party jumped 6 points to 43 percent, after a last-minute leadership change boosted its chances. The election is scheduled for Sept 23.
United States
Workers unearth triceratops fossil
A dinosaur fossil has been discovered in Colorado by construction workers. The bones and skull of a triceratops were found at the construction site of a new public safety building. Denver Museum of Nature and Science curator of dinosaurs Joe Sertich says the find is one of three triceratops skulls found along the Colorado Front Range and has likely been laying there for at least 66 million years.
(China Daily 09/01/2017 page12)
