IN BRIEF (Page 12)

China Daily | Updated: 2019-05-15 07:36

United States

5 killed in Alaska collision of floatplanes

Five people died and one person was missing on Monday after two floatplanes collided mid-air in Alaska while carrying passengers from a cruise ship's sight-seeing expedition, local government officials said. The two aircraft, a Beaver floatplane and an Otter floatplane, had been carrying 16 passengers from the Royal Princess cruise ship when they crashed near Ketchikan around 1 pm, Princess Cruises said in a statement circulated by US media. The dead included four passengers and a pilot, according to the company. Ten people were rescued and were receiving medical care. The US Coast Guard said three people were confirmed dead and that it was searching for three others near George Inlet, along with help from partner agencies - including the US Forest Service and Alaska state troopers - and good Samaritans.

New York mayor takes protest to Trump Tower

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a potential Democratic presidential hopeful in 2020, on Monday organized a protest inside Trump Tower, charging that US President Donald Trump's buildings are among the city's worst polluters. De Blasio led about 70 demonstrators chanting "our planet is not your profit", and charged that former developer Trump's buildings emitted as much greenhouse gases as 5,800 cars each year. Three weeks after the adopting a law that requires buildings of more than 2,300 square meters to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by 40 percent by 2030, De Blasio looked to be positioning himself at the head of the fight against global warming. The demonstration location was beside the same golden escalators where Trump launched his campaign for president in June 2015.

Vietnam

African swine fever hits Mekong Delta

Vietnam's southern Hau Giang Province has been stricken by African swine fever, becoming the first locality in the country's Mekong Delta to be hit by the disease, local online newspaper VnExpress reported on Tuesday. A total of 68 pigs raised by two households in Vi Thuy district have been infected with the disease, and then culled. Since the first outbreak was detected in February in northern Hung Yen Province, the disease has so far spread to 29 localities nationwide.

Afp - Reuters - Xinhua

(China Daily 05/15/2019 page12)