ZIMBABWE
Elephants sent to China
The government has sent about 30 young elephants to China where they are to be held in zoos, Humane Society International has said. The elephants, estimated to be two to six years old, were separated from maternal herds and held at Hwange National Park for nearly a year before being flown out this week, it said. The society released a video and photographs that it said show the small elephants a week ago being held in a fenced area at the national park. Wildlife authorities did not comment on the statement. The country, seeks to be allowed to hunt and export more of them to ease pressure on the animals’ habitat and raise badly needed money for conservation.
PAKISTAN
Nawaz Sharif’s health wanes
The Lahore High Court on Friday ordered convicted former prime minister Nawaz Sharif released on bail so that he can seek medical treatment at home or abroad, his family and a defense lawyer said. The decision was announced by the court after hearing a petition from Sharif’s brother, Shahbaz Sharif, who heads the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League party, but it does not mean that the former national leader would automatically be freed, as he faces another appeal hearing for bail next week. On Monday last week, Nawaz Sharif was rushed from prison to the government hospital in Lahore, after his health condition was said to have deteriorated.
MEXICO
Wind-whipped fires kill three
Authorities say three people have died in wind-whipped wildfires in the northwestern state of Baja California. Fires near Tecate had forced 1,645 people to evacuate their homes, the National Civil Defense said on Friday. One of the fires closed the coastal highway for several hours. Another burned more than 14,200 hectares. Schools were ordered closed in Tijuana, Tecate and Rosarito due to smoke. Officials blamed strong Santa Ana winds, but they appeared to have died down by the evening.
UNITED STATES
Utility may have fueled fires
California’s biggest utility admitted that its electrical equipment might have ignited a ruinous wildfire spreading across the state’s wine country on Friday, despite blackouts imposed across the region to prevent blazes. The disclosure came as firefighters simultaneously battled a fire amid Sonoma County’s vineyards and a wind-whipped blaze that destroyed homes near Los Angeles. The fire in the wine country burned at least 49 buildings and 65km2, and prompted evacuation orders for about 2,000 people. It was driven by the strong winds that had prompted Pacific Gas & Electric to impose sweeping blackouts affecting a half-million people in the northern and central parts of the state.
UNITED STATES
Weinstein jeered in public
Harvey Weinstein was mocked from the stage and jeered by attendees at a New York City actors showcase this week — a rare public appearance for the disgraced movie mogul ahead of his January rape trial. A comedian at Wednesday’s “Actor’s Hour” referred to Weinstein during her set as “the elephant in the room,” likened him to horror villain Freddy Krueger and said that she “didn’t know we had to bring our own mace and rape whistles” to the event. An actor tried questioning Weinstein and another attendee shouted that he was a “monster.” Weinstein, 67, is free on US$1 million bail.
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
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