SA govt to troops deployed to quell arson
Johannesburg, July 18: The South African government has asked the army to not fire warning shots, exercise personal restraint and use less than lethal ammunition where possible as it deployed 25,000 troops over the weekend in troubled areas to assist local police in curbing the widespread looting and violence, sparked by the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma. The code of conduct for the soldiers are contained in a government gazette issued by the Department of Defence and Military Veterans after the South African Defence Force was mobilised to assist the members of the South African Police Services hugely outnumbered by the rampaging mobs, which caused damage of billions in a week-long period of looting and arson. (PTI)
Pope appears at Vatican window
Vatican City, July 18: Two weeks after surgery that removed a portion of his colon, Pope Francis has resumed his traditional Sunday appearance from a Vatican window to greet the faithful. Exactly a week earlier, Francis had delivered the blessing from a hospital balcony. The pontiff underwent bowel surgery on July 4 to remove a portion of his colon after intestinal narrowing. The public waved national flags and cheered in anticipation of the pope’s appearance this Sunday. “Dear brothers and sisters, good day!” Francis said and smiled at the crowd below in St. Peter’s Square. After 10 days in the major Catholic hospital in Rome, Francis returned to his home in Vatican City on July 14. (AP)
Over 10,000 poultry die
Accra (Ghana), July 18: More than 10,000 poultry birds have died from the avian flu outbreak reported in Ghana, a senior official said. Patrick Abekeh, director of the Veterinary Services Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), told Xinhua news agency late Saturday that a total of seven farms reported the outbreak from the Greater Accra, Volta, and Central Regions. “From these seven farms, 5,811 birds died naturally, and the veterinary services department destroyed 4,500 birds. So in all 10,311 birds have so far been lost to the outbreak,” Abekeh said. (IANS)