- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Mixed day for global stocks as market hopes for 'Santa Claus rally'
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
- Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys
- England captain Stokes to miss three months with torn hamstring
- Support grows for Blake Lively over smear campaign claim
- Canada records 50,000 opioid overdose deaths since 2016
- Jordanian, Qatari envoys hold talks with Syria's new leader
- France's second woman premier makes surprise frontline return
- France's Macron announces fourth government of the year
- Netanyahu tells Israel parliament 'some progress' on Gaza hostage deal
- Guatemalan authorities recover minors taken by sect members
- Germany's far-right AfD holds march after Christmas market attack
- European, US markets wobble awaiting Santa rally
- Serie A basement club Monza fire coach Nesta
- Mozambique top court confirms ruling party disputed win
- Biden commutes almost all federal death sentences
- Syrian medics say were coerced into false chemical attack testimony
- NASA solar probe to make its closest ever pass of Sun
- France's new government to be announced Monday evening: Elysee
- London toy 'shop' window where nothing is for sale
- Volkswagen boss hails cost-cutting deal but shares fall
- Accused killer of US insurance CEO pleads not guilty to 'terrorist' murder
- Global stock markets mostly higher
- Not for sale. Greenland shrugs off Trump's new push
- Sweden says China blocked prosecutors' probe of ship linked to cut cables
- Acid complicates search after deadly Brazil bridge collapse
- Norwegian Haugan dazzles in men's World Cup slalom win
- Arsenal's Saka out for 'many weeks' with hamstring injury
- Mali singer Traore child custody case postponed
- France mourns Mayotte victims amid uncertainy over government
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- Sweden says China denied request for prosecutors to probe ship linked to cut undersea cables
- African players in Europe: Salah leads Golden Boot race after brace
- Global stock markets edge higher as US inflation eases rate fears
- German far-right AfD to march in city hit by Christmas market attack
- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
- Clock ticks down on France government nomination
- 'Devastated' Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Mozambique on edge as judges rule on disputed election
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
African cheetahs to be spotted soon in India thanks to Namibia deal
India and Namibia signed a deal Wednesday to bring cheetahs into the South Asian country, with the first batch of eight wild cats set to arrive next month, officials said.
India has been working to relocate the animals since 2020, when the Supreme Court announced that African cheetahs could be introduced in a "carefully chosen location" on an experimental basis.
India in the past had Asiatic cheetahs, but the species was officially declared extinct within the country by 1952.
The deal inked Wednesday will see Namibia's African cheetahs flown in next month to a wildlife sanctuary in the central state of Madhya Pradesh for captive breeding -- a move expected to coincide with India's 75th Independence Day celebrations.
"Completing 75 glorious years of Independence with restoring the fastest terrestrial flagship species, the cheetah, in India, will rekindle the ecological dynamics of the landscape," India's environment minister Bhupender Yadav tweeted.
"Cheetah reintroduction would also greatly enhance local community livelihoods through eco-tourism prospects in the long term."
Signed in New Delhi with Namibia's deputy prime minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the deal will also see the two countries collaborate in areas of climate change, waste and wildlife management.
The Kuno-Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh state was selected as the new home for the cheetahs because of its abundant prey base and grasslands which were found suitable for the felines.
"The main goal of cheetah reintroduction project is to establish viable cheetah metapopulation in India that allows the cheetah to perform its functional role as a top predator," the environment ministry said in a statement.
The cheetah is the only large carnivore believed to have gone extinct in India, primarily due to hunting for its distinctive, spotted pelts and habitat loss.
Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo is widely believed to have killed the last three recorded cheetahs in India in the late 1940s.
India is also planning to ship in some cheetahs from South Africa but a formal pact has yet to be signed.
Considered vulnerable under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the cheetah has a declining population of less than 7,000 -- found primarily in African savannas.
L.Durand--AMWN