Girl killed as elephant enters house, attacks sleeping family
Jashpur: A 17-year-old girl was killed and her mother and younger sister were injured when an elephant attacked their house in Chhattisgarh's Jashpur district, a forest department official said Saturday.
The incident took place late Friday night near Ramshama village on the outskirts of Badalkhol Wildlife Sanctuary, said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Krishna Kumar Jadhav.
The elephant destroyed a wall of the mud house of Vishwanath Chauhan and attacked the family when they were sleeping, Jadhav said.
Chauhan's daughter Lalita died on the spot while his wife Munni Bai and seven-year-old daughter Varsha sustained injuries, he said.
Police and forest personnel reached the spot after getting information about the incident, he said, adding that Munni Bai and Varsha were admitted to nearby Bagicha Health Centre. Both were out of danger, Jadhav added.
Elephant attacks have claimed four lives in Jashpur district in the past one month. On the night of May 28, a retired BSF jawan was trampled to death by a herd of elephants in Tapkara.
On May 3, two villagers were killed in separate incidents in Kunkuri forest area.
Four herds of elephants are known to be roaming in Kunkuri, Tapkara, Narayanpur and Patthalgaon areas and forest personnel have been directed to keep a tab on their movement, the DFO said, adding that villagers too have been asked to stay alert.
Jashpur shares border with Odisha and Jharkhand, and the dense forest in this tri-junction area is a prime habitat of elephants.
Forest officials from Jharkhand and Odisha have been asked to share information about cross-border movement of elephants, Jadhav said.
Human-elephant conflict is common in thickly forested northern Chhattisgarh which comprises districts of Surguja, Surajpur, Korba, Raigarh, Jashpur, Balrampur and Korea.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
