GLOBAL SNAPSHOT
Refugees in truck
MEXICO CITY: Police have found 126 Central American migrants, many suffering severe dehydration, packed into a truck in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz. The majority of the migrants were from Honduras and the rest from Guatemala. The immigration agency said two presumed people traffickers were detained and turned over to federal prosecutors.
Charles on the nose
LONDON: The number of people who believe the Prince of Wales has made a positive contribution to the royal family has fallen in the run-up to the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death. A YouGov poll commissioned by the Press Association found the longestserving heir to the throne has had a negative impact on the royals, in contrast to just 15 per cent four years ago. Royal commentator Penny Junor suggested the public has still not forgiven the prince for the breakdown of his marriage to Diana, and his standing had fallen because of the publicity surrounding the anniversary. The Press Association-commissioned poll follows surveys by national newspapers which also found unfavourable public opinions towards Charles and Camilla.
Beloved ape dies
KANSAS: A 49-year-old lowland gorilla at the Topeka Zoo in Kansas died yesterday after tests revealed she had late-stage ovarian cancer that had spread, four days after undergoing surgery for constipation. The zoo said in a statement that after Tiffany failed to improve since her surgery on Wednesday to clear “a significant amount of stool” from her colon, the gorilla was taken for scans that revealed two abdominal masses later identified as tumours linked to stage-four ovarian cancer. During a surgery yesterday, surgeons and veterinarians decided the best recourse was to not awaken her after the operation. The gorilla died a short time later, “surrounded by the team of people that cared for her”, the zoo said.
Huge mudslide toll
FREETOWN: Rescue workers have unearthed 499 bodies since last week’s devastating landslide near the Sierra Leone capital Freetown, the city’s chief coroner says. One of Africa’s worst flooding-related disasters in years occurred when the side of Mount Sugar Loaf collapsed on Monday after heavy rain, burying parts of Regent town and overwhelming relief efforts in one of the world’s poorest countries. Authorities this week buried 461 bodies in quickly dug graves in the nearby Waterloo cemetery. The Red Cross said that more than 600 are still missing.