Herd of wild elephants approaching major Chinese city
CBSN
Beijing — A herd of 15 wild elephants that walked 300 miles from a nature reserve in China's mountain southwest were approaching the major city of Kunming on Wednesday as authorities rushed to try to keep them out of populated areas, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Chinese wildlife authorities say they don't know why the herd left a nature reserve last year near the city of Pu'er, a region known for tea cultivation. The Reuters news agency reports Xinhua said a possible factor is a drop in the amount of edible plants in forest habitats. The group was 16 animals, but the government says two returned to the reserve and a baby was born during the walk.Kyiv, Ukraine — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that American military aid on its way to Ukraine will make a "real difference" on the battlefield, as the top diplomat made an unannounced visit to reassure an ally facing a fierce new Russian offensive. In increasingly intense attacks along Ukraine's northeast border in recent days, Moscow's troops have captured around 40 to 50 square miles of territory, including at least seven villages, according to open source monitoring analysts.
A trove of gold and silver coins that experts believe were swindled out of an ailing population by an 18th-century conman has been discovered in central Poland, officials said. Volunteer metal detectorists found the treasure hidden underground in multiple locations while exploring the Jeleniowskie mountain range with permission from the local government, and the fact that it exists seems to validate a centuries-old legend.
Tel Aviv — Nearly 360,000 people had fled the Gaza Strip's southernmost city of Rafah by Monday, according to the United Nations, in an exodus that tripled in size over just a few days. The Israel Defense Forces sparked the upheaval late last week, issuing evacuation orders by text messages and fliers dropped from the sky to people in the city's eastern half.
Russia's renewed ground offensive in Ukraine's northeast targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar fire, officials said Sunday. Thousands of civilians fled the Kharkiv region as the intense battle capitulated more land to Russian forces across less defended settlements in the so-called contested "gray zone" along the Russian border.