British tourist among two killed by elephant at Zambian national park
The incident, confirmed by Eastern Province Police Commissioner Robertson Mweemba, involved 68-year-old Easton Janet Taylor from the UK and 67-year-old Alison Jean Taylor from New Zealand. They were reportedly charged by a female elephant accompanied by its calf.
Safari guides attempted to deter the animal by firing shots, wounding the elephant, but were unable to prevent the fatal attack. Both women died at the scene, police stated.
The tragedy unfolded at the South Luangwa National Park in eastern Zambia, approximately 600 kilometres (370 miles) from the capital, Lusaka. Female elephants are known for their fierce protectiveness of their young, often reacting aggressively to perceived threats.
This latest fatality follows two separate incidents last year in Zambia, where elderly American women were also killed by elephants while on safari. Juliana Gle Tourneau, 64, was thrown from a vehicle in the city of Livingstone in 2024 as a group of tourists observed a herd of elephants. One of the elephants attacked the vehicle her, according to CBS News. Tourneau's group stopped near the Maramba Cultural Bridge because of traffic caused by the herd. The woman had been visiting the country from New Mexico.
Another American tourist was killed earlier that same year in a similar attack. Gail Mattson, 79, from Minnesota, was killed in Zambia 'while on her dream adventure' in March, her daughter, Rona Wells, told CBS News.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
Donald Trump orders entry fee, DEI changes at national parks
Visiting America's national parks is about to get more expensive for international tourists, but that's not the only change ordered by President Donald Trump that will impact park visitors. A new executive order calls for charging non-U.S. residents higher fees for park entry and recreation passes, like the yearlong America the Beautiful pass, which grants access to public lands across federal agencies. "From the awe-inspiring Grand Canyon to the tranquility of the Great Smoky Mountains, America's national parks have provided generations of American families with unforgettable memories," Trump said in the order issued July 3. "It is the policy of my Administration to preserve these opportunities for American families in future generations by increasing entry fees for foreign tourists, improving affordability for United States residents, and expanding opportunities to enjoy America's splendid national treasures," he said. The order also calls for giving Americans "preferential treatment with respect to any remaining recreational access rules, including permitting or lottery rules." Any revenue generated by higher fees from foreign tourists will be funneled back into infrastructure improvements and other enhancements across federal recreation sites. Reservations required: Which national parks require them in 2025 Unrelated, the executive order also revokes a presidential memorandum signed by then-President Barack Obama in 2017 that promoted a range of diversity and inclusion efforts in the management of national parks and other public lands. It called for improving access for all Americans and "considering recommendations and proposals from diverse populations to protect at-risk historic, cultural, and natural sites." Diversity and inclusion were also priorities for parks during the Biden administration. Before leaving office in January, then National Park Service Director Chuck Sams told USA TODAY: "When I took my oath of office on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Secretary (Deb) Haaland said, on behalf of the president of the United States, myself and the American people, I'm charging you with these monuments, memorials and parks, but more importantly, we're charging you to find those stories that are less told or haven't been told yet, and to tell them fiercely. "So over the last three-plus years, working all across the park system, we've been able to tell stories to ensure that every American sees a reflection of themselves in the parks," he said. But the latest move comes after Trump on his first day back in office in January ordered an end to government diversity, equity, and inclusion programs established under Biden. USA TODAY has reached out the Interior Department and National Park Service for comment on the new executive order.
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Northwestern sued over suicide of professor targeted in China investigation
The estate of a Northwestern University professor, who died by suicide last year after being investigated in a controversial federal probe, is suing the school for allegedly discriminating against her and evicting her from her lab — blaming the university, in part, for her death. Jane Wu was a tenured faculty member in neurology, molecular biology and genetics at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine for nearly two decades. She was among hundreds of Chinese American scientists targeted by the Justice Department's China Initiative, a Trump-era program seeking to counter theft of American intellectual property and research. Though Wu was never charged, Northwestern reassigned her grant funding, closed her lab and forcibly admitted her to the university's psychiatric hospital, according to a civil complaint filed June 23 in Cook County Circuit Court. The executor of Wu's estate is her daughter. The university's actions were a 'substantial and decisive factor in her decision to end her life,' the complaint stated. 'Anyone who reads the facts of this complaint will recognize that a great injustice was done to Jane Wu,' attorney Thomas Geoghegan said. A spokesperson for Northwestern said the university does not comment on pending litigation. The China Initiative was scrapped in 2022 under the Biden administration. Though more than 200 Chinese American researchers were investigated, only about 20% were charged and subsequently convicted. Critics said the program fueled a narrative of bias and created a chilling effect among the academic community. After Wu was identified in the probe, she was placed under an administrative investigation by the National Institutes of Health. Though she was a longtime professor, her grants were reassigned to her white male colleagues and her research team was dissolved, according to the filing. 'NU did nothing to support her nor help lift the racial stigma placed over Dr. Wu despite her obvious innocence and the enormous funding her work had brought to NU,' the complaint said. Even when the NIH's investigation concluded in December 2023, Wu's grants were not returned to her, according to the lawsuit. Her lab was completely shut down by May 2024, preventing her from applying for new NIH funding. Because Wu's research was listed as inactive, Northwestern reduced her salary. Feeling increasingly isolated, Wu began to spiral into a deep depression and show signs of obsessive behavior, the filing said. 'NU destroyed not only Dr. Wu's chances at NIH funding but also her research career,' the complaint said. That same month, university and Chicago police removed Wu from her office in handcuffs. She was then admitted against her will to the psychiatric unit of Northwestern Memorial Hospital 'as a means to end her active research and employment,' according to the lawsuit. Wu died by suicide weeks later, on July 10, 2024, 'with her career, her professional reputation, and her sense of personal safety shattered.' She was 60 years old. The complaint did not specify what damages the estate seeks. The filing said Wu became a naturalized citizen in 2000, and had spent nearly 40 years in the United States. She had won continuous NIH funding since 1996. Her work investigated the molecular biology of mRNA and neurodegeneration, seeking to fight diseases such as Alzheimer's and ALS. Margaret Flanagan, now an associate professor at University of Texas Health San Antonio, worked beside Wu for more than three years at the Feinberg School of Medicine. But she was more than a colleague, Flanagan said — she was a mentor and friend, with a deep passion for science and unwavering generosity. 'Her legacy is one of strength, compassion, and a relentless commitment to advancing science,' Flanagan wrote in a statement to the Tribune. Wu was intense and thoughtful, Flanagan said, and her astute advice has stuck with her colleague years later. She often reminded Flanagan to 'focus on (her) science.' Wu always centered her work around a larger mission of advancing knowledge and helping patients, Flanagan said. The pair largely fell out of touch when Flanagan left Northwestern in 2023. 'I assumed there would be time in the future to reconnect, not knowing how short that time would be,' Flanagan wrote. Andrea Chu, the Midwest organizing director for Asian American Advancing Justice Chicago, said that Wu's death shows the 'devastating' impact of the China Initiative. She pointed to the lack of cases brought by the Justice Department as an indication that the program was racially biased. A 2021 investigation from the MIT Technology Review found that 148 individuals were charged, but just 40 of them had pleaded or been found guilty. Only 19 cases included violations of the Economic Espionage Act, the intended focus of the initiative. 'The toll that it took on the scientists themselves, their colleagues and also their families is innumerable,' Chu said. 'This was a great source of fear.'
Politico
3 hours ago
- Politico
Judge briefly pauses Trump administration's July 4 bid to deport 8 men to South Sudan
But Moss said it appeared the men had served their criminal sentences, so the U.S. government shouldn't be trying to inflict punishment on them at this point. That is the central claim in the suit filed Thursday night: that deporting the eight to South Sudan amounts to additional punishment. Moss said he wasn't reaching any legal conclusions about that, but he said he had 'grave concerns about some of the issues' raised by lawyers for the men. 'It's almost self-evident that the United States government cannot take human beings and send them to circumstances where their physical well being is at risk simply to punish them or to send a signal to others,' Moss said. Moss also noted that the State Department has a public 'do not travel' warning for South Sudan. 'It does appear that placing people in South Sudan does pose or could pose significant risk to their safety,' he said. However, the judge ultimately concluded that the Supreme Court's recent actions impacting the men in the litigation underway in Boston meant their claims should be heard there and not in the Washington court. 'I do believe that the cases should be handled in a single case instead of multiple cases around the country,' Moss said. The eight men have been marooned in Djibouti since May, when a federal judge in Boston — U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy — halted their deportation to South Sudan, concluding that the move violated an order he'd issued requiring advance notice and a 'meaningful' chance to object before people being deported from the U.S. are sent to countries where they have no previous ties. Murphy also halted an earlier attempt to send the men to Libya. They have been living in a shipping container for nearly six weeks waiting for resolution from the courts, though Murphy allowed the administration to relocate them to any other U.S. facility — or back to the mainland — so long as they remained in American custody. While the men and several U.S. immigration officers guarding them remained at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the Trump administration also fought a court battle against Murphy's orders. Last week, the Supreme Court blocked Murphy's broad, nationwide order requiring certain steps before third-country deportations. And on Thursday, the justices voided separate orders the Biden appointee issued regarding the eight men. However, in neither instance did the high court's majority explain its concern about Murphy's original order, leaving lawyers to speculate about whether the justices disagreed with his conclusions about the due process deportees are entitled to, whether the justices objected to the nationwide scope of his order or whether they harbored some other concern. During the hearings Friday, Moss repeatedly lamented the uncertainty left by the Supreme Court's rulings on the issue and said the public was left to 'read the tea leaves' in the high court's decisions. 'I don't know what to make of what the Supreme Court did because that is one of the downsides of the emergency docket,' the judge said. 'We just don't know which of those arguments the Supreme Court found convincing in ordering the relief it ordered.'
