IN BRIEF (Page 12)

South Korea

Strains of bird flu found at farms

At least two strains of highly pathogenic bird flu were found in South Korea this winter, the country's quarantine agency said on Wednesday. The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency announced the result of its DNA analysis of viruses discovered at duck farms in Gochang and Yeongam in the country's southwestern region. The viruses were detected in Gochang on Nov 19 and in Yeongam on Dec 10.

United Kingdom

Trump will not meet Queen during visit

President Donald Trump plans to visit Britain in February to open the new United States embassy in London but will not meet Queen Elizabeth, the Daily Mail newspaper reported on Wednesday. Trump's planned trip has proved controversial since Prime Minister Theresa May invited him for a state visit, which typically involves lavish pageantry and events hosted by the queen. Nearly 2 million people have signed a petition saying Trump should not be invited.

Iran

Teheran denies arming rebels

Teheran strongly denied on Wednesday that it had supplied weapons to Yemeni rebels which they used in attacks on Saudi Arabia, as alleged by both Riyadh and Washington. "We have no arms link with Yemen," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told the ISNA news agency, after Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a rebel missile over Riyadh on Tuesday that it suggested was "Iranian-manufactured". The attack follows the downing of a missile last month near Riyadh airport.

India

Metro train hits station on trial run

A metro train crashed through the walls of a station during a trial run in New Delhi on Tuesday, just days ahead of its inauguration by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. TV footage showed the front portion of the engine jutting out of the wall at a metro station in the Indian capital. Delhi Metro said the crash appeared to have been caused by human error. No injuries were reported.

Australia

Vandals damage dinosaur footprint

Vandals have taken a hammer to a 115 million year-old dinosaur footprint at a world renowned site in Australia, with officials on Wednesday slamming the "sad and callous" act. The footprint of the medium-sized theropod was found by paleontologists in 2006 at Flat Rocks in Victoria state - one of only a handful of polar, or ice age, dinosaur sites in the world. Mike Cleeland, from the Bunurong Environment Center, said he hoped the footprint could be repaired.

(China Daily 12/21/2017 page12)