Elephant kills two tourists on safari
The victims were identified as 68-year-old Easton Janet Taylor from the UK and 67-year-old Alison Jean Taylor from New Zealand.
The incident occurred in South Luangwa National Park when a female elephant, accompanied by its calf, charged the women.
Safari guides attempted to deter the animal by firing shots, wounding the elephant, but were unable to prevent the fatal attack, with both women dying at the scene.
This tragedy follows two separate incidents last year in Zambia where elderly American women were also killed by elephants while on safari.
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The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
Inside Brit party holiday hotspot where drug-fuelled teens urinate on each other & terrorise island on high-speed quads
A TEENAGER off his head on booze climbs on to the balcony of a club's VIP section, drops his trousers and urinates on the revellers dancing below. A few doors down, cannabis-laced vodka cocktails are openly on sale while laughing gas balloons are being flogged in the smoky backroom of a bar for 20 euros a box. 11 11 11 Meanwhile, a quad bike overloaded with screaming tourists taking selfies roars down the street at high speed — with none of the young passengers wearing helmets. And British DJ Kai Roberts, 24, was left in a coma on Sunday following a quad bike crash on the Greek island. Thankfully his condition has since improved, although his mother says it's 'going to be a long recovery'. Incredibly, these are all incidents that took place on the Laganas strip on Zante AFTER a massive police crackdown was enacted. We can reveal that 50 cops from the capital Athens were parachuted in to claw back control. Bouncer Collins Michaels says corrupt bar owners and out-of-control Brits have been responsible for dozens of casualties at the notorious Laganas party resort before the Greek government took action. Pulling back his shirt to reveal a stab wound on his right arm, Collins, 54, told The Sun: 'The young kids never stop being naughty because this is often their first time on holiday without their parents. 'I often see teenagers climb on to the balcony of the VIP section at my club then pee on the people below. 'I was stabbed in my arm by a tourist as I was trying to control a group of kids in 2016. The wound was really deep and I spent two weeks in hospital. The strip was rampant — completely out of control — before the crackdown last year and there was so much fighting. 'Something needed to be done or more lives were going to be lost.' Brit DJ, 24, in coma after horror quad bike accident on party island Zante where he had landed 'amazing' club residency 'Last year went crazy' Kai, from Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, is the latest visitor to end up in dire straits having moved to Zante to work as a DJ this summer. He was a passenger on a quad bike that slammed into a wall on a coastal road on the island at around 5pm local time. Kai — who was due to fly home two days after the crash — is still in hospital, having been treated for a bleed on the brain, according to his brother Corey Roberts, 18. The DJ allegedly had to wait an hour for an ambulance before he was taken to the general hospital on Zante. After a CT scan revealed the bleed, he was flown to the Greek mainland where he was put in a medically induced coma at Ioannina University Hospital. The quad bike driver escaped with minor injuries. Corey said: 'My brother is my idol. He's well known, and everywhere he goes everyone loves him.' I last visited Laganas in 2018 after a group of 17 British teens were taken to hospital having drunk bootleg booze containing the deadly chemical methanol. Two years earlier, Hannah Powell, 21, was left fighting for her life and with just ten per cent eye function after drinking a cocktail laced with the same substance, which bar owners had been adding to their home brew to cut costs. Hannah, from Ormesby, Middlesbrough, also needed a kidney transplant and said: 'I was blind — I didn't realise at the time. I thought we had the curtains shut.' But my research has found that the constant chaos and carnage that became the hallmark of Laganas got even worse after Hannah was blinded. 11 11 Sigouros Raftopoulos runs three of the six private medical clinics on Laganas Road that provide first aid and ambulance services. He says there was a worrying number of quad bike, scooter and car accidents before police from the capital were flown in. He said: 'Last year went crazy. There were so many cases that involved air ambulances and transfers to Athens. 'We have lots of road accidents. Compared to this time last year we are 50 to 60 per cent down. We are seeing around 20 patients a day total, but during high season it could be 40 to 50 patients. 'You can see the strip is less crazy now. The quality of the booze has been upgraded and there are a lot more police, a lot more checks and a lot more controls.' In 2011, Robert Sebbage, 18, from Tadley, Hants, was stabbed to death outside a fast-food restaurant in Laganas after one of his group pointed a laser pen at a taxi driver's eye. Four other British teenagers from Basingstoke were wounded in the 3am attack. Another low point came when US university graduate Bakari Henderson, 22, died of severe head injuries after he was battered by bouncers working at Bar Code in July 2017. The fight was captured on video and reportedly kicked off after he tried to take a selfie with a waitress. It then spilled outside, where eight security guards repeatedly stamped on his head before leaving him unconscious on the ground. Six Serbian nationals, a 34-year-old Greek and a 32-year-old British national of Serbian descent were among those arrested and charged with voluntary manslaughter. In 2022, five of them were convicted of intended fatal bodily harm while another was convicted of fatal bodily harm, and all were handed jail sentences from ten to five years. But even that did not stop the violence. In July 2023, British tourist James Taylor, 18, was caught on camera being repeatedly beaten by four bouncers at CherryBay nightclub in Laganas. James, from Middlesbrough, suffered two black eyes, a swollen jaw, injuries to his head, a bust lip and a cut on his knee. He claimed he was set upon after standing on a chair to take a selfie. We have lots of road accidents. Compared to this time last year we are 50 to 60 per cent down. We are seeing around 20 patients a day total, but during high season it could be 40 to 50 patients. Sigouros Raftopoulos The footage went viral on social media and a Serbian national was arrested — yet workers at the club tried to justify the attack by saying James had beaten a teenage girl, even posting photos to 'prove' it. Then last year, after 12 people aged 17 to 23 were charged with attempted homicide and weapons violations following a knife fight at a bar, the Greek government finally decided to take action. Citizen Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis announced that 40 police officers and ten drug enforcement agents were being dispatched to Zante — also known as Zakynthos. He said: 'We are committed to ensuring the safety of residents and visitors. The reality in Zakynthos will significantly improve.' Security worker Collins, who also runs the Happy Traveller speedboat rentals company, says the 'craziness' has calmed down considerably since then. He said: 'Before, some bouncers were not professional. They thought security work was all about flexing muscles and going to the gym and taking steroids. 11 'Then, when the teenagers would start doing crazy things, they would beat them up. 'It's more peaceful now because there is more police control. 'Before, it was only local police and they tended to turn a blind eye to the bad behaviour if it was carried out by other locals. But now, with the Athens police overseeing them, they have no choice but to take action. 'A few bars and clubs have been closed down for breaking the law or playing music too loud after midnight. 'A message has been sent out that bouncers can't hit kids any more and the tourists have been told to report anyone who gets rough with them. 'Lethal death juice' 'I would say it's 80 per cent under control now — but it will never be completely peaceful as we have so many of you crazy Brits here in July and August.' When the Sun visited Laganas, thousands of teens were marauding down the main strip by 11pm on Saturday, many of them celebrating the end of their A-levels. Girls in tight-fitting dresses stumbled down the street sucking on vapes or clutching vibrators, while lads in outrageous fancy dress outfits were downing luminous shots inside the bars. The air was clammy and filled with the constant roar of quad bikes, which can be rented for 50 euros a day. One we spotted tearing down the strip at high speed was being ridden by three helmetless teenagers — a young lad and two girls — who were posing for a selfie being taken by the driver. Meanwhile, a Medusa Stoned Eyes cocktail laced with cannabis was on sale for 14 euros at a bar that also specialised in shisha pipes. In the backroom of another bar, a man was flogging laughing gas for 20 euros a box. When asked if a balloon could be purchased and taken outside, the bearded salesman said: 'No, they are illegal on the island.' Marijuana products were openly on sale alongside sex toys at the racier stores that lined the strip alongside those flogging typical tourist tat. Ralph Goodwin, 18, Will Bloch, 17, Monty Munday, 18 and John Simmons, 18, said they had been offered drugs during their week-long lads' holiday to Zante. Ralph, from Haslemere in Surrey, had just finished his A-levels and said: 'They don't sell it inside the bars and clubs, but we've had random people approach us in the street and offer to sell us cocaine. 'There's no ketamine here and we're not into drugs anyway. 'We just want to go out and have a good time and we've had a great lads' holiday. The only annoyances have been the bouncers, who are still really aggressive, and the ambulance workers, who will try to fleece you. 'A friend needed an IVF drip after drinking too much the other night and they charged him 450 euros. The booze here is deadly. I call it lethal death juice because a lot of it is home made. 'But in one place we were given three shots of water — literally water — and two cocktails for ten euros.' Bridget Carty, Livy Wiley and Emily Lappin, all 18 and from Marlborough, Wilts, were also celebrating the end of their A-levels, having paid £500 each for their package holiday. Livy said: 'We're all terrified of getting our drinks spiked. 'The taxi driver who picked us up at the airport warned us not to drink alcohol in the bars and clubs. 'He said the drink is 'strange' and it is 'easy to drug'. 'We had drinks at our accommodation before we went out yesterday and we covered our glasses with our hands all night, but we still had a good time.'
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Japan islanders sleepless after 900 earthquakes in two weeks
This series of tremors come as the country as a whole has been kept on edge by rumours that a massive, deadly quake could soon hit. A 1999 comic book by manga artist Ryo Tatsuki has been fuelling these rumours. In a new edition released in 2021, she claimed the next big earthquake would strike on 5 July this year. These speculations have spooked some tourists, with several media reporting a flurry of trip cancellations. The vast majority of earthquakes that hit Japan are mild, but there are some that cause great damage, like the one in 2011 that triggered a massive tsunami into the north-east coast, killing more than 18,000 people. However, authorities have for decades feared the "big one" - a once-in-a-century megaquake that many had grown up being warned about. Worst-case scenarios predict it could leave more than 300,000 dead. Earlier this week, the government called for new measures, such as constructing embankments and evacuation buildings, to strengthen public readiness in case of such a disaster - but it warned that much more needs to be done.
The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
UN experts say Rwanda supported rebels in Congo and smuggled minerals at ‘unprecedented levels'
Rwanda provided 'critical' support to the M23 rebels' recent offensive in eastern Congo, which helped secure Kigali 's access to minerals and fertile ground, according to a confidential United Nations report seen by The Associated Press. The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group is the most prominent armed group in the conflict in Eastern Congo, which has been in and out of crises for decades. The rebels earlier this year advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma and Bukavu in a major escalation of the conflict. Rwanda has denied any involvement. But U.N. experts say Kigali provided backing to the rebels with an aim to 'control the territory of the DRC and its natural resources," using 'advanced military equipment, including jamming systems, short-range air defense system and armed drones.' Rwanda has been accused of exploiting eastern Congo's minerals, used in smartphones, advanced fighter jets and much more, which Kigali denies. The report said that smuggling of coltan, considered a critical mineral, from M23-controlled territories in recent months reached 'unprecedented levels." ' Evidence indicated increasing risk of cross-border fraud as minerals from North Kivu, particularly coltan from the AFC-controlled Rubaya mine, continued to be smuggled to Rwanda.' the report said. 'These minerals were then mixed with production of Rwandan origin and exported downstream.' AFC, or Congo River Alliance, is an umbrella groups which includes M23. The M23-controlled Rubaya mines produce coltan — short for columbite-tantalite — an ore from which the metals tantalum and niobium are extracted. Both are considered critical raw materials by the United States, the European Union, China and Japan. Tantalum is used in mobile phones, computers and automotive electronics, as well as in aircraft engines, missile components and GPS systems. Niobium is used in pipelines, rockets and jet engines. Congo produced about 40% of the world's coltan in 2023, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, with Australia, Canada and Brazil being other major suppliers. Part of the minerals smuggled to Rwanda were purchased by Boss Mining Solution Limited, a Rwandan company. To justify the plausibility of domestic origins of tantalum, tin and tungsten, the Rwandan Development Board declared annual domestic production of 8,000 to 9,000 tons of these minerals, the report said. The figure was contradicted by the National Institute of Statistics, independent geological studies and ITSCI. Late last month, Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. while helping the U.S. government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region. But experts said they don't believe it will quickly end the fighting because the most prominent armed group says it does not apply to it. Rwanda denied the allegations from the U.N. report. Alluding to the U.N. report, Rwanda's president Paul Kagame told reporters on Friday:'The expertise they provide, the reports they write actually do not have anything to do with the situation itself. These reports were written long ago — long ago when they were given the mission.' A spokesperson for Rwanda's government, Yolande Makolo, wrote on X that 'Following the signing of the US-brokered Peace Agreement last Friday, Rwanda is fully committed to its implementation.' The report, which was first reported by Reuters, was submitted to the U.N. Security Council sanctions committee for Congo earlier this week, and will be published shortly, said a U.N. official who was not authorized to speak on the matter publicly. Despite Congo's exceptional mineral wealth, over 70% of Congolese live on less than $2.15 a day. The conflict in the country's east has created one of the world's largest humanitarian crises with more than 7 million people displaced, including 100,000 who fled homes this year. The U.N. report also accused all sides in the conflict of human rights violations, including reprisal killings on suspicion of collaboration of the opposing sides. Rwanda and M23 are responsible for 'systematic campaign of repression in occupied areas, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrest, torture, enforced disappearance and raids in hospitals," it said. Retreating Congolese soldiers and members of the pro-government militia 'committed looting, sexual violence and killings.' ___ Associated Press writers Wilson McMakin in Dakar, Senegal and Rodney Muhumuza in Kampala, Uganda, contributed to this report.
