A jumbo problem: Sri Lanka sees world’s highest elephant deaths

A mahout rides an elephant along a road in Piliyandala, a suburb of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, on Monday. (AFP)
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Updated 16 December 2020
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A jumbo problem: Sri Lanka sees world’s highest elephant deaths

  • Experts have blamed the phenomenon on a “human-animal conflict” and “inadequate” conservation efforts

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has set a world record for the highest number of elephant deaths in the world after more than 400 died across the island nation this year.

Experts have blamed the phenomenon on a “human-animal conflict” and “inadequate” conservation efforts.

“Sri Lanka has recorded the highest number of elephants deaths in the world. This year, there were 409 elephants and 121 human deaths, respectively,” Dr. Prithviraj Fernando, a renowned elephant expert and head of the Center for Conservation and Research of Elephants, told Arab News.

He added that the death toll underwent a “drastic increase” from last year, when Sri Lanka reported 315 elephant deaths and 95 human deaths.

Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, Minister of Wildlife and Forest Conservation C. B. Rathnayake said that he was “determined to put an end to the crisis.”

He added: “If I fail in this effort, I will resign from my portfolio.”

Rathnayake said that the Sri Lankan government will “chalk out new regulations” to resolve the issue and “take appropriate action against wrongdoers, irrespective of their affiliations.”

Dr. Fernando, who led a special audit into the issue on the orders of the Committee on Public Accounts, said that land and territorial issues are behind the growing problem.

“More than 42 percent of the country is occupied by both elephants and humans. These elephants come to human settlements in search of food and eat the crops from the fields. The farmers react to the devastation caused by trying to kill the animals, and the animals retaliate in a deadly manner,” he said.

Fernando added that, while the Wildlife and Conservation Department (WCD) was “looking after the interests of the animals,” it was important for nongovernmental organizations to get involved in conservation efforts, too.

“The government is taking steps to conserve wild elephants by roping them in protected areas, but nongovernmental organizations should take an interest in protecting people from these animals which destroy their regular sources of income, such as crops,” he said.

An ideal solution, he added, would be to work towards “a joint approach by the government and non-government organizations to avoid such deaths.”

To avoid more fatalities, the government allocated about $460,000 this year to resolve the crisis.

However, Prof. Tissa Vitharana, a legislator and chairman of the Committee on Public Accounts, who conducted an in-depth study on the issue last year, told Arab News that a significant part of the budget was being spent on “traditional methods of separating humans from elephants.”

He said: “The elephants need a seasonal migratory path from north to south and vice versa; they should be given way through a human environment.

“Elephants should be kept away from towns and villages and allowed free movement along their paths.”

For that to happen, Prof. Vitharana proposes installing electric fences in the problematic areas.

“It’s the best solution to avoid deaths as the animals will keep away from human settlements,” he said.

Dr. Tharaka Prasad, director of health for animal care at the WCD, said that the aggressive behavior of elephants could be boiled down to one reason.

“They tend to adopt abnormal behavior if they do not get food. The conflict with humans begins when they invade settlements in search of food due to hunger,” he told Arab News.

According to data provided by the WCD, there is a separate protected park for elephants in the Kadulla Minneriyawa area, which is home to 1,680 out of the total population of 7,500 across the island nation. This is in addition to 104 sanctuaries, which include 27 national parks.


UN Security Council likely to vote Wednesday on Gaza action

Updated 04 June 2025
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UN Security Council likely to vote Wednesday on Gaza action

  • The draft text demands the release of all hostages held by Hamas and others, and the immediate lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza

NEW YORK: The ten elected members of the UN Security Council have asked for the 15-member body to vote on Wednesday on a draft resolution that demands “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties,” said diplomats.
The draft text, seen by Reuters, also demands the release of all hostages held by Hamas and others, and the immediate lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and its safe and unhindered distribution at scale, including by the UN throughout the enclave.
A resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the permanent members — the United States, Russia, China, Britain or France — to pass.

 


Musk calls Trump’s big beautiful bill ‘a disgusting abomination’

Updated 04 June 2025
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Musk calls Trump’s big beautiful bill ‘a disgusting abomination’

  • Musk left his formal role in the administration last week as his time as a special government employee with the Department of Government Efficiency came to an end

WASHINGTON: Elon Musk on Tuesday amplified his criticism of the sweeping tax and spending bill that President Donald Trump has been pushing fellow Republicans in Congress to embrace, calling it a “disgusting abomination” that will increase the deficit.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” the billionaire Musk wrote in an X post. “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination.
“Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”
The broadside comes as Trump pressures Republicans in the Senate to approve the legislation he dubbed the “big, beautiful bill,” which has been passed in the House of Representatives.
Trump appointed Musk, the world’s richest person, to lead a government cost-cutting and efficiency drive, during which he upended several federal agencies but ultimately failed to deliver the massive savings he had sought.
Musk left his formal role in the administration last week as his time as a special government employee with the Department of Government Efficiency came to an end.


Trump administration moves to fast-track firings of federal workers for misconduct

Updated 04 June 2025
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Trump administration moves to fast-track firings of federal workers for misconduct

  • The proposal would allow agencies to refer misconduct cases to OPM instead of going through the traditional disciplinary process

President Donald Trump’s administration moved on Tuesday to make it easier to fire federal employees for misconduct, the latest step in a broader effort to overhaul the civil service and shrink the federal bureaucracy.
The US Office of Personnel Management published a proposed rule that would allow the office, which acts as the federal government’s human resources department, to direct other agencies to fire employees for conduct such as tax evasion, leaking sensitive information and refusing to testify in other workers’ disciplinary cases.
The rule would extend OPM’s existing power to designate job applicants as unsuitable for federal employment, to current federal employees, a change it said was necessary to hold government workers accountable to the public.
Federal workers have for decades been covered by an array of job protections, including the ability to contest firings by engaging in a lengthy administrative process.
The proposal would allow agencies to refer misconduct cases to OPM instead of going through the traditional disciplinary process. If OPM determines that removal of an employee is required, an agency would have five days to terminate them.
“Illogically, the government has far greater ability to bar someone from federal employment who has committed a serious crime or misconduct in the past than it does to remove someone who engages in the exact same behavior as a federal employee,” OPM said in the proposal.
The publication of the proposal kicked off a 30-day public comment period.
Since Trump’s second term began in January, the administration has moved aggressively to shrink the federal bureaucracy, including directing mass firings and layoffs and implementing changes to the civil service. Many of those policies have been met with court challenges and some have been temporarily blocked by judges.
OPM, which is closely linked to the White House, has played a key role in those efforts by attempting to give Trump more direct control of the federal workforce.
Many unions, Democrats and advocacy groups have said Trump’s various policies violate complex federal civil service and labor laws meant to regulate government employment and ensure that federal workers are insulated from political influence.
OPM on Tuesday said the policies agencies have followed for decades rely on overly cumbersome and restrictive procedures that protect misconduct.
“This arbitrary state of affairs seriously impairs the efficiency, effectiveness, and public perception of the Federal service,” the agency said.


Spain cancels contract for missiles built by Israeli subsidiary

Updated 03 June 2025
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Spain cancels contract for missiles built by Israeli subsidiary

MADRID: Spain has canceled a deal for anti-tank missile systems that were to be manufactured in Madrid by a subsidiary of an Israeli company, in a bid to move away from Israeli military technology, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

The decision will affect the license for 168 SPIKE LR2 anti-tank missile systems with an estimated value of 285 million euros ($325 million). The systems would have been developed in Spain by Pap Tecnos, a Madrid-based subsidiary of Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, according to local press.

“The goal is clear ... a total disconnection from Israeli technology,” government spokesperson Pilar Alegria said, adding the government is studying “the effects of the cancelation.”

Israel’s Defense Ministry referred questions on the decision to Rafael, which said it wasn’t aware of the cancelation. Pap Tecnos, located on the outskirts of Madrid, did not comment.

Spain approved the deal on Oct. 3, 2023, four days before an insurgent assault led by Hamas on southern Israel that sparked a devastating war in Gaza. 

Authorities argued at the time that the systems used by the Spanish forces were obsolete and should be replaced with up-to-date versions like those used by allied armies.

Spain’s leftist government says it stopped exporting arms to Israel as of Oct. 2, 2023, but there were reports that some shipments slipped through.

The US late last year opened an investigation into whether NATO ally Spain denied port entry to at least three cargo vessels reportedly transporting US weapons to Israel.

Spain formally recognized a Palestinian state in May 2024 in a coordinated effort with Norway and Ireland. 

A month later, Spain became the first European country to ask the top UN court, the International Court of Justice, permission to join a case mounted by South Africa that accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza. 


Macron to visit Meloni after rivalry creates tension on Ukraine, trade

Updated 03 June 2025
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Macron to visit Meloni after rivalry creates tension on Ukraine, trade

  • Macron is a fervent pro-European who has had a long rapport with Donald Trump
  • Meloni is a nationalist with a strong transatlantic tilt who seems more ideologically aligned with the US president

PARIS/ROME: French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday, seeking to improve relations amid tensions between the two European leaders over Ukraine, trade and relations with the United States.

Macron is a fervent pro-European who has had a long rapport with Donald Trump, while Meloni is a nationalist with a strong transatlantic tilt who seems more ideologically aligned with the US president. They have advocated different — even competing — approaches to the new Trump era.

Meloni, whose country has a large trade surplus with the US, has sought to keep Europe aligned with the US, using the slogan “Make the West great again” in a meeting with Trump in Washington in April. Macron has pushed for the EU to take a more independent approach.

On the Russian war in Ukraine, Meloni has been skeptical about Macron’s “coalition of the willing” and a Franco-British plan put forward earlier this year to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement. Sending troops would be deeply unpopular in Italy.

Hostility flared publicly in recent weeks, with officials close to Macron and Meloni privately or openly criticizing their respective initiatives over Ukraine or trade.

Meloni was criticized in Italy for not traveling to Kyiv with Macron and the German, British and Polish leaders on May 10 and then for missing a call with Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a summit in Albania a few days later.

After Meloni explained her absence by saying the meetings were about sending troops to Ukraine, her government was furious that Macron said publicly that the meetings were about a ceasefire and seemed to equate her justification with “Russian disinformation.”

French and Italian officials said Macron had taken the initiative to hold Tuesday’s meeting and sought to play down talk of a rift, saying the meeting and a working dinner would be an opportunity for Macron to show “respect” and “friendship.”

“The president is available to all of our European partners, whatever the political persuasion may be,” an Elysee official told reporters.

The Elysee said the two would discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, the Mercosur trade deal and US tariffs, as well as industrial cooperation between the two countries, including Franco-Italian carmaker Stellantis, which appointed a new Italian chief executive last month.

Italian officials said the meeting was meant to “lay the foundations for a further strengthening of relations” and added that talks would also address the situation in the Middle East and Libya.

Both Italy and France are worried Russia might boost its presence in eastern Libya, to keep a foothold in the Mediterranean after Moscow’s ally President Bashar Assad was ousted in Syria in December.

“This Macron-Meloni meeting isn’t about rekindling Franco-Italian friendship. It’s about necessity, not nostalgia,” said Francesco Galietti of Rome-based consultancy Policy Sonar, saying the two capitals should find common ground on Libya “fast.”