24 workers killed in flooded factory
Rabat, Feb 8: At least 24 workers have been killed in the Moroccan city of Tangier after heavy rains flooded a clandestine garment factory, Morocco’s state news agency MAP reported Monday. Local authorities said firefighters and emergency workers on Monday rescued 10 survivors from the factory, in the basement of a residential villa. Search operations were still underway to rescue other workers trapped inside the flooded factory. The total number of workers remains unknown. An investigation has been launched. (AP)
Avalanche killed 4 local skiers
Salt Lake City, Feb 8: Four backcountry skiers in their 20s died when one of the deadliest avalanches in Utah history hit a popular canyon, police said Sunday. Four other people were also buried in the Saturday slide but managed to dig themselves out and didn’t suffer serious injuries, according to Unified Police of Salt Lake County. The skiers were from two separate groups, and all eight had prepared with the necessary avalanche safety gear, authorities said. The four killed were all from the Salt Lake City area, not far the spot where they were swept up by the skier-trigged avalanche in Millcreek Canyon. Intermountain Life Flight helicopter pilot Richard Dobson told the and others scanned the mountainside where eight skiers had been caught in an avalanche.(AP)
Australian scribe held in China
Canberra (Australia), Feb 8: China has formally arrested a Chinese-born Australian journalist for CGTN, the English-language channel of China Central Television, on suspicion of illegally supplying state secrets overseas, Australia’s foreign minister said Monday. The arrest of Cheng Lei last Friday starts an official criminal investigation and came six months after she was detained. “The Australian government has raised its serious concerns about Ms. Cheng’s detention regularly at senior levels, including about her welfare and conditions of detention,” Foreign Minister Marise Payne said. “We expect basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met, in accordance with international norms,” she added. (AP)
Russia to launch 40 satellites
Moscow, Feb 8: Russia plans to put into orbit around 40 satellites from over a dozen different countries using the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket in March, a space industry source told Sputnik. In November, a space industry source told Sputnik that a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Fregat booster was going to blast off with the South Korean CAS500-1 (Compact Advanced Satellite 500) space vehicle from the Baikonur space center on March 20, 2021. Apart from CAS500-1, other payloads were planned to be delivered into orbit as part of the mission, according to the source. “The list [of satellites to be launched] is not final and is subject to review depending on the satellites’ readiness. As of now, around 40 minor space vehicles from 18 countries are expected to be launched together with CAS500-1,” another space source told Sputnik on Monday. The Soyuz-2.1a payload will include satellites from Russia, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, UAE and others. (UNI)