India investigates ‘unnatural’ death of five tigers

India has launched an investigation after an endangered tigress and her four cubs were found dead in a protected forest in the southern state of Karnataka, an official said Friday.State forest minister Eshwar Khandre said the “unnatural” deaths were “extremely tragic and distressing” and that an investigation team had been formed.Local media reports said forest officials suspected poisoning.The tigress had reportedly killed a cow days earlier, and poison may have been laced into the carcass, which her cubs also fed on, according to The Times of India.”If there has been any negligence, or if the tigers died due to any reason, I have ordered criminal action against those responsible,” Khandre said.Sustained conservation efforts have led to a steady rebound of the big cats’ numbers in India. According to the latest census, there are over 3,600 of them in the wild in India — 75 percent of the global tiger population. But shrinking habitats and expanding human settlements have also fuelled conflict. More than 600 people were killed in tiger attacks over the past decade, according to official figures.

Bangladesh pushes solar to tackle energy woes

Bangladesh’s caretaker leader has ordered all government institutions including ministry buildings and schools to install solar panels to ease chronic power problems in a country regularly hit by deadly heatwaves.The South Asian nation of 170 million people has set itself a target of generating 20 percent of its power from renewable energy by 2030 — a four-fold increase —  and rising to 30 percent by 2040, the government said in a statement. “Bangladesh is lagging far behind its neighbouring countries”, the statement issued by the office of interim leader Muhammad Yunus read.”Only 5.6 percent of our total requirement is currently met from renewable sources,” it added, noting that in neighbouring India, it is 24 percent and in Sri Lanka, nearly 40 percent.The government’s rooftop solar programme will see all government offices, schools, colleges and hospitals installed with panels immediately, the statement issued late Thursday said.The micro-finance pioneer said the panels would be installed and operated by private sector companies, unlike the largely failed push by since-ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to install panels by using government power agencies.”The private sector will handle overall maintenance and keep the systems operational for their own business interests”, the statement said.”The government will only provide them with rooftop access”.The government has also initiated tender processes for 55 solar power plants with a total 5,238 megawatts capacity.Bangladesh relies heavily on importing cross-border power from neighbouring India, as well from Nepal, especially when demand soars during the blistering heat when consumers rely on energy-hungry air conditioners to keep cool.Dhaka also began construction of the Russia-backed nuclear plant at Rooppur in 2017.The much-delayed 2,400-megawatt project will be Bangladesh’s largest power station by generating capacity once fully operational.

Dying breed: Tunisian dog lovers push to save age-old desert houndFri, 27 Jun 2025 05:12:34 GMT

Nemcha, Zina and Zouina, three North African Sloughi hounds, play on the beach in Tunisia where their ancestors have long roamed desert plains, seemingly unaware of the existential threat to their dwindling breed.The Sloughis, known for their speed and slender physique, have for many centuries accompanied nomadic societies across North Africa, and have been featured …

Dying breed: Tunisian dog lovers push to save age-old desert houndFri, 27 Jun 2025 05:12:34 GMT Read More »

Dying breed: Tunisian dog lovers push to save age-old desert hound

Nemcha, Zina and Zouina, three North African Sloughi hounds, play on the beach in Tunisia where their ancestors have long roamed desert plains, seemingly unaware of the existential threat to their dwindling breed.The Sloughis, known for their speed and slender physique, have for many centuries accompanied nomadic societies across North Africa, and have been featured in art and lore dating back at least to the Roman era.But nowadays breeders and advocates say that unregulated crossbreeding, the decline of nomadic lifestyles and habitat shifts due to urbanisation mean that they might soon disappear.Olfa Abid, who was walking Nemcha, Zina and Zouina along the coast in northern Tunisia’s Ras Angela, said the age-old breed is “part of our heritage, our history”.”We must protect the Sloughi,” said Abid, a 49-year-old veterinarian, her arms wrapped around one of her dogs.Recent years have seen a spike in unregulated crossbreeding, mixing the local Sloughi with other hounds often brought in from abroad to boost its speed for dog races, according to Abid.National kennel club the Tunisian Canine Centre (CCT) has been working to raise awareness and safeguard the breed, including by creating a dedicated registry with a regulated breeding scheme.The organisation’s director Noureddine Ben Chehida said it also seeks to have the Tunisian Sloughi “recognised according to international standards” as a unique breed, under the guidelines of the International Canine Federation, the world’s main dog breed registry.Such recognition would give the local Sloughi population a place on the international stage and help preserve its lineage at home, Ben Chehida said.Also known as Arabian Greyhounds, today the CCT estimates that fewer than 200 pure-bred Sloughis remain in Tunisia.- ‘Noble’ hunters -With their short coats in sandy hues or grey and arched backs, the hounds’ swift gait has earned them a precious spot in Tunisian folklore even as the desert life they once supported gradually vanishes.Historians debate how they first made it to this part of North Africa, but many attribute their arrival to nomadic tribes like the Mrazigs who live in the south of modern-day Tunisia.For centuries, or possibly even millennia, the Sloughis have been vital companions to desert nomads, helping them hunt and guard livestock.”Running like a Sloughi” is still a common saying in Tunisia.”It’s a noble dog that was the pride of its nomadic owners,” said Abid. “It’s a primitive hunter with a purpose when food was scarce.”She said the Sloughi has also had a more privileged standing compared to most dogs that are generally considered impure in Islamic cultures.Unlike other breeds, Sloughis have traditionally been allowed indoors and would even eat beside their owners, said Abid.- Ancestral heritage -In the southern town of Douz, on the edge of the Sahara desert, dog breeder Nabil Marzougui said the “proliferation of hybrid breeds” is putting the Sloughis’ future at risk.”We inherited this dog from our forefathers,” said Marzougui, calling for authorities to intervene to save the Sloughis as well as the ancestral tradition that they embody.The hounds require ample daily exercise, especially where hunting is no longer available or needed.This is why Abid said she had left the city to settle in the quiet coastal village of Ras Angela, on Africa’s northernmost tip, where long stretches of sand serve as an ideal terrain for her three dogs to run around and roam free.Their seaside adventures, which Abid shares on social media, are now followed by thousands of people online.Hatem Bessrour, a 30-year-old agricultural engineer and the proud owner of a Sloughi named Cacahuete, called on fellow dog owners to register their pure-bred hounds with the national canine centre to support its breeding programme.The breed is part Tunisia’s heritage, he said. “We must care for it just like we care for antiquities and archaeological sites.”

Auspicious signs: how the Dalai Lama is identified

Fourteen Dalai Lamas have guided Tibet’s Buddhists for the past six centuries, which believers say are reincarnations of each other, identified in opaque processes ranging from auspicious signs to divination.China says Tibet is an integral part of the country, and many exiled Tibetans fear Beijing will name a rival successor, bolstering control over a land it poured troops into in 1950.The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born to a farming family in 1935 and has spent most of his life in exile in India.He has said that if there is a successor, they will come from the “free world” outside China’s control. Here is how previous reincarnations were identified — and what the current Dalai Lama says will happen. – Oracles -With the Dalai Lama turning 90 on July 6, he has said he will consult Tibetan religious traditions and the Tibetan public to see “if there is a consensus that the Dalai Lama institution should continue”.He has said he will “leave clear written instructions” for the future. But he has alternatively suggested his successor could be a girl, or an insect, or that his spirit could transfer or “emanate” to an adult.Responsibility for the recognition lies with the India-based Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.The search and recognition of another leader must be “in accordance with past Tibetan Buddhist tradition”, he said.That includes consulting a protector deity, Palden Lhamo, and the oracle of Dorje Drakden, also known as Nechung, who communicates through a medium in a trance.- Reincarnation recognition -Tibetan Buddhists believe in all reincarnations of the “Bodhisattva of Compassion”, an enlightened being who serves humanity by delaying salvation through another rebirth. All so far have been men or boys, often identified as toddlers and taking up the role only as teenagers.The last identification process was held in 1937.The current Dalai Lama, then aged two, was identified when he passed a test posed by monks by correctly pointing to objects that had belonged to his predecessor.  – Auspicious signs –   Others were revealed by special signs.The year the eighth Dalai Lama was born, in 1758, was marked by bumper harvests and a rainbow that seemingly touched his mother.He was finally identified after trying to sit in a lotus meditation position as a toddler.”Most ordinary beings forget their past lives,” the Dalai Lama wrote in 2011.”We need to use evidence-based logic to prove past and future rebirths to them.”  – Golden urn and dough balls -Divination, including picking names written on paper, has also been used to confirm a candidate is correct.One method conceals the paper inside balls of dough. Another time, the name was plucked from a golden urn.That urn is now held by Beijing, and the current Dalai Lama has warned that, when used dishonestly, it lacks “any spiritual quality”.- Tibet and abroad -Dalai Lamas have come from noble families and nomadic herders.Most were born in central Tibetan regions, one came from Mongolia, and another was born in India.The Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, was born in 1682 in Tawang, in India’s northeastern Arunachal Pradesh region.  – Secrecy and disguise –     Past decisions have also been kept secret for years.The Fifth Dalai Lama, Lobsang Gyatso, was born in 1617 and recognised as a toddler.But his discovery was kept hidden for more than two decades due to a “turbulent political situation”, the Dalai Lama’s office says.And, when he died, he told monks to say he was simply on a “long retreat”.When visitors came, an old monk would pose in his place, wearing a “hat and eyeshadow to conceal the fact that he lacked the Dalai Lama’s piercing eyes”.It would take 15 years before his successor was announced.

Iran says no plan for new US nuclear talks, plays down impact of strikes

Iran on Thursday denied it is set to resume nuclear talks with the United States after the end of a 12-day war with Israel, and accused Washington of exaggerating the impact of US strikes.The most serious conflict yet between Israel and Iran derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, but President Donald Trump said Washington would hold discussions with Tehran next week, with his special envoy Steve Witkoff expressing hope “for a comprehensive peace agreement”.But Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shut down what he said was “speculation” that Tehran would come to the table and said it “should not be taken seriously”.”I would like to state clearly that no agreement, arrangement or conversation has been made to start new negotiations,” he said on state television. “No plan has been set yet to start negotiations.”Araghchi’s denial came as Iranian lawmakers passed a “binding” bill suspending cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog and after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Trump of exaggerating the impact of US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.In a televised speech — his first appearance since a ceasefire in the war with Israel — Khamenei hailed what he described as Iran’s “victory” over Israel, vowed never to yield to US pressure and insisted Washington had been dealt a humiliating “slap”.”The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration,” Khamenei said, rejecting US claims Iran’s nuclear programme had been set back by decades.The strikes, he insisted, had done “nothing significant” to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Araghchi, for his part, called the damage “serious” and said a detailed assessment was under way.Trump said key facilities, including the underground Fordo uranium enrichment site, had been “obliterated” by American B-2 bombers.Doubts remain about whether Iran quietly removed some 400 kilogrammes (880 pounds) of enriched uranium from its most sensitive sites before the strikes — potentially hiding nuclear material elsewhere in the country.But posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump dismissed such speculation, saying: “Nothing was taken out… too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!”He added that satellite images showed trucks at the site only because Iranian crews were attempting to shield the facility with concrete.Khamenei dismissed such claims, saying “the Islamic republic won, and in retaliation dealt a severe slap to the face of America”.Both sides have claimed victory: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “historic win”, while Khamenei said Iran’s missile retaliation had brought Israel to the brink of collapse.- US defence -In Washington, the true impact of the strikes has sparked sharp political and intelligence debates.A leaked classified assessment suggested the damage to Iran’s nuclear programme may be less severe than initially claimed — possibly delaying progress by only a few months.That contrasts with statements from senior US officials.CIA Director John Ratcliffe said several facilities would need to be “rebuilt over the course of years”.Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth accused the media of misrepresenting the operation.He said the United States used massive GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs on Fordo and another underground site, while submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles targeted a third facility.”President Trump created the conditions to end the war, decimating — choose your word — obliterating, destroying Iran’s nuclear capabilities,” Hegseth said.- Netanyahu says Iran ‘thwarted’ -Following waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites and retaliatory missile fire from Iran since mid-June — the deadliest between the two countries to date — the US bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities.Initial intelligence reports, first revealed by CNN, suggested the strikes did not destroy critical components and delayed Iran’s nuclear programme only by months.The Israeli military said Iran’s nuclear sites had taken a “significant” blow, but cautioned it was “still early” to fully assess the damage.Netanyahu said Israel had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”, warning any attempt by Iran to rebuild it would be met with the same determination and intensity.Iran has consistently denied seeking a nuclear weapon while defending its “legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic energy.It has also said it is willing to return to nuclear negotiations with Washington.French President Emmanuel Macron told journalist after an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday that US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities were “genuinely effective”.But Macron said that the “worst-case scenario” would be if Tehran now exits the global non-proliferation treaty that is meant to limit the spread of nuclear weapons.The Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, Tehran’s health ministry said.Iran’s attacks on Israel killed 28 people, according to Israeli figures.burs-kir/dv/phz/jhb/stu