‘Shambo’ faces slaughter again
The life of Shambo, the bovine TB-infected bull in a Hindu temple in Wales, once again hangs in balance after a court of appeal on Monday ruled that the earlier decision of the Welsh Assembly to slaughter it was “justified”, reports IANS from London.

The animal had got a reprieve last week when a judge in the high court had ruled that destroying Shambo would be unlawful. The animal is based in the Skanda Vale temple where priests and Hindu groups have been campaigning for its life to be spared on the ground that a bull is sacred in Hindu religion.

However, the Welsh Assembly appealed against the ruling. On Monday the court of appeal ruled that the rural affairs minister, Jane Davidson, had acted lawfully when she refused to make an exception for Shambo as a sacred bull.

Police formally charge Hasina
Bangladesh police on Tuesday formally charged former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her expatriate younger sister with “extortion”, a week after the Awami League chief was arrested on a complaint by a businessman, PTI reports from Dhaka.

The businessman had alleged that Hasina had extorted from him nearly Taka 3 crore when her government was in power from 1996 to 2001. Magistrate Shamsul Alam accepted the chargesheet and set the hearing for August 15.

South Africa’s UN envoy robbed
South Africa’s ambassador to the United Nations was robbed at gunpoint at his son’s home in Johannesburg last weekend, the latest in a string of attacks on prominent South Africans, Reuters reports from Johannesburg.

Dumisani Kumalo was ambushed by three armed men in the driveway of his son’s house Saturday night, shortly after landing at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport, according to reports. The thieves took Kumalo’s luggage and cell phones, and wallets.

42 nations for  peace event
Representatives of 42 countries are expected to take part in the August 6 ceremony to commemorate the 62nd anniversary of US atomic bombing on the city, Kyodo reports from Hiroshima.

Of the countries, only Russia is planning to participate in the event among the world’s nuclear powers and will be sending a diplomat from the Russian Embassy in Tokyo to the ceremony.