GIANYAR, Indonesia (AP) — An elephant that lived at the zoo on Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali was found dead on Tuesday after being swept away by a strong river current.
Molly, a 45-year-old female Sumatran elephant was one of two being guided by a mahout to a holding area outside of the zoo grounds through a river on Monday afternoon. The activity was part of their daily routine of mental and physical stimulation.
The first elephant had made it across and Molly was in the river when the current suddenly increased due to heavy rain upstream, the zoo said in a statement.
“In this situation, Molly lost her balance and was swept away by the current,” it said. The mahout was uninjured.
A team from Bali Zoo and Bali Natural Resources Conservation Agency conducted an intensive search. The dead elephant was found Tuesday morning in Cengceng river in Sukawati subdistrict in Gianyar district, Bali.
“The entire team at Bali Zoo is deeply saddened by the loss of Molly, a female elephant who has been an important part of our extended family. Molly was known to be a kind and friendly elephant," the zoo said.
"This was an unavoidable event, but we are committed to conducting a thorough evaluation of our operational procedures and risk mitigation measures, especially during the rainy season, to ensure the safety of all our animals in the future,” said Emma Chandra, the zoo's head of public relations.
Seasonal rains from around October through to March frequently cause flooding and landslides in Indonesia, an archipelago of 17,000 islands.
Sumatran elephants are a critically endangered species and fewer than 700 remain on Sumatra island. This subspecies of the Asian elephant, one of two species of the largest mammal in the world, is protected under an Indonesian law on the conservation of biological natural resources and their ecosystems.
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Tarigan reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.
Workers wait for heavy machines to evacuate the carcass of Molly, a 45-year-old female Sumatran elephant from Bali Zoo that was found dead after being swept away by a flood on Monday, in Gianyar, Bali, Indonesia, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
An Israeli strike in Gaza killed at least eight people from the same family, most of them women and children, Palestinian medics said Tuesday.
The strike late Monday hit a house in Gaza City’s central neighborhood of Daraj, according to the Health Ministry’s ambulance and emergency service.
Among the bodies recovered from the rubble were a father and his three children, and the children’s grandmother, according to a casualty list obtained by The Associated Press. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.
Israeli bombardment and offensives in Gaza have killed more than 45,000 Palestinians over the past 14 months, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry’s tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but it says more than of half the dead were women and children.
Israel launched its campaign in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others, around 100 of whom remain in captivity.
Here's the latest:
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike in Gaza killed at least eight people from the same family, most of them women and children, Palestinian medics said Tuesday.
The strike late Monday hit a house in Gaza City’s central neighborhood of Daraj, according to the Health Ministry’s ambulance and emergency service.
Rescuers recovered the bodies of eight people including two women and four children from under the rubble, it said. Among the dead were a father and his three children, and the children’s grandmother, according to a casualty list obtained by The Associated Press.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike.
BERLIN — Germany says its diplomats will hold their first talks on Tuesday with the new Syrian government installed by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS.
The Foreign Ministry in Berlin said the talks will center on an “inclusive transition process” in Syria and the protection of minorities. The German delegation also plans to sound out the possibility of a German diplomatic presence in Damascus, and will meet representatives of Christian communities among others.
The ministry said in a statement that “we know where HTS comes from and know its origins in al-Qaida ideology,” and said that Germany is watching the activities of the group and the interim government closely.
“As far as can be said at all at this point, they are acting prudently so far,” it added. “Like our international partners, we will measure them by their actions. Any cooperation requires that ethnic and religious minorities be protected and women’s rights respected.”
The U.S. has already said that its officials have been in direct contact with HTS.
Germany has been a leading destination for Syrian refugees over the past decade.
DAMASCUS, Syria — A U.S.-backed force in Syria says U.S.-led mediation efforts have failed to reach a permanent truce in Syria's north between the force's fighters and Turkish-backed gunmen.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said the failure to end the fighting in the northern areas of Manbij and Kobani were unsuccessful due to Turkey’s unwillingness to accept key points.
“Despite U.S. efforts to stop the war, Turkey and its mercenary militias have continued to escalate over the last period,” the SDF said.
The failure of the mediation is expected to lead to a new round of fighting between the SDF and the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army in the areas of Kobani.
CAIRO — The U.S. military on Tuesday said it bombed a Houthi military facility in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, the latest U.S.-led attack on the Iranian-backed rebels.
The Houthi media office said the strike hit part of the sprawling complex that houses the rebels’ Defense Ministry. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
U.S. Central Command said the strike late Monday targeted a key command and control facility that was “a hub for coordinating Houthi operations,” including attacks on U.S. Navy and merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Houthis have targeted dozens of merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza started in October last year. They have seized one vessel and sunk two in the campaign, which has killed four sailors.
The rebels have maintained that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.
Monday’s U.S. strike came hours after the Houthis said they fired a hypersonic ballistic missile toward Israel. The Houthi missile triggered sirens across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
The Israeli military said it intercepted the missile outside Israel’s borders. However, shrapnel that the military said was likely from an Israeli interceptor missile fell on the roof of a home in east Jerusalem.
A Palestinian, wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, arrives at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Palestinians, wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, receive treatment at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Monday, Dec. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
