Politics
After Ambani zoo probe, wildlife body reverses call to curb animal imports to India
A UN wildlife trade body decided on Sunday not to restrict India from importing endangered animals, after many countries supported reversing an earlier stringent recommendation that had embroiled the private zoo run by Asia’s richest family.
Vantara, a 3,500-acre zoo in Gujarat run by the philanthropic arm of the Reliance conglomerate led by Mukesh Ambani and his family, had faced allegations from non-profit and wildlife groups of improper imports of some animals, triggering higher scrutiny by Germany and the EU.
After visiting the facility in September, the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) issued a report this month asking India to “not issue any further import permits” as discrepancies had been found between exporter and importer trade data, and there were insufficient checks on the origin of some animals.
At the meeting in Uzbekistan, live-streamed on Sunday, the recommendation was reversed after many countries, including India, the United States, Japan and Brazi,l said the measure was too premature, with some also saying there was no evidence of illegal imports into India.
“There doesn’t seem to be enough support for retaining (the) recommendation,” Naimah Aziz, Chair of the Cites Standing Committee, told the delegates, adding it could consider if further regulatory measures were needed.
Cites is a global treaty that regulates trade in endangered plants and animals.
India had earlier opposed the UN recommendation.
Vantara, which previously said it remains committed to transparency and legal compliance, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vantara zoo has animals from around the world
The Vantara zoo houses around 2,000 species, including exotic animals imported from South Africa, Venezuela and the Democratic Republic of Congo, such as snakes, tortoises, tigers, giraffes and spiny-tailed lizards.
While India’s delegate affirmed the country’s commitment to Cites compliance, Belgium and at least one conservation group, the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance, on Sunday pushed to suspend exports to India until concerns were addressed.
In September, an Indian Supreme Court-appointed investigation cleared Vantara of wrongdoing, while the facility said it complies with all laws.
European Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall said in August that EU states “will pay particular attention to any export requests directed towards India and the facility in question”.
- Bangladesh official did not elaborate on contents of letter.
- Former prime minister sentenced to death over deadly crackdown.
- It’s Delhi’s responsibility to facilitate her return: foreign ministry.
Bangladesh’s government said on Sunday it had asked India to extradite ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was sentenced earlier this week to be hanged over a deadly crackdown against a student-led uprising.
Hasina, 78, has been in hiding in India since her autocratic rule was overthrown in August 2024. As prime minister, she had had New Delhi’s backing.
Touhid Hossain, who holds the foreign affairs portfolio in Bangladesh’s interim administration, told reporters that on Friday “we sent a letter seeking the extradition of Sheikh Hasina.”
He did not elaborate on the contents of the letter, which according to Bengali newspaper Prothom Alo was the third official extradition request since Hasina fled.
Following the court ruling on Monday, convicting Hasina of crimes against humanity and sentencing her to death, the foreign ministry in Dhaka said in a statement that Delhi had an “obligatory responsibility” under a bilateral treaty to facilitate the former leader’s return.
India’s foreign ministry said in response it had “noted” the verdict, without directly commenting on the extradition request.
It did not immediately respond to the latest letter from Dhaka.
Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since the end of Hasina’s rule, and violence has marred campaigning for elections expected in February 2026.
The United Nations said up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina tried to cling to power, deaths that were central to her trial.
India’s past support for Hasina has frayed relations between the two neighbours since her overthrow.
But tensions appear to have eased slightly when Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman visited India this week for a regional security summit and met with his counterpart Ajit Doval.
Media reports in Bangladesh said Rahman has invited Doval for a visit.
- Minister Khatib does not immediately refer to any specific incident.
- “Those who act in this direction are enemy’s agents,” says Khatib.
- During war, US vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the supreme leader.
Iran’s intelligence ministry has warned of attempts by foreign adversaries, including the United States and Israel, to target supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and destabilise the Islamic republic.
The country’s ISNA news agency reported on Saturday that intelligence minister Esmail Khatib cautioned “the enemy seeks to target the supreme leader, sometimes with assassination attempts, sometimes with hostile attacks”.
While it was not immediately clear if the minister was referring to a specific incident, and Iranian officials often allege foreign plots, statements on threats against Khamenei’s life had been rare prior to a 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.
“Those who act in this direction, knowingly or unknowingly, are the infiltrating agents of the enemy,” Khatib added, referring directly to Israel and the United States.
During the conflict earlier this year, Israel targeted senior Iranian military officials, nuclear scientists and sites as well as residential areas, with the US later joining with strikes on key nuclear facilities.
Asked about reports during the war that US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the supreme leader out of concern it would escalate the Iran-Israel showdown, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dismissive but said the move would “end the conflict”.
At the time, Trump had also said that Iran’s supreme leader was a “very easy target” and that “we are not going to take him out, at least not for now.”
He later said in a post on Truth Social that he had saved Iran’s supreme leader from “A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH”.
The 86-year-old Khamenei has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and has the final say on all state affairs.
Earlier this month, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said he was particularly concerned for Khamenei’s life during the war and feared that the country’s institutions “would start fighting among each other.”
In July, Khamenei said Israel’s attacks during the war were intended to weaken the Islamic republic, sow “unrest and bring people into the streets to overthrow the system”.
A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in place since June 24, but both Israel and the United States have threatened new strikes if Tehran revives its nuclear programme.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said late Saturday that six Democrats involved in a video calling on military officers to refuse illegal commands “should be in jail.”
The Republican leader’s remarks came after he accused the Democratic lawmakers on Friday of “seditious behaviour, punishable by death.”
Democrats slammed Trump’s comments as “absolutely vile” threats against the six senators and representatives, all of whom have served in the military or intelligence community.
Trump took to social media on Saturday night, writing:
“THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK.”
He said that the Democrats’ message was “SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL” and that “THERE CAN BE NO OTHER INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THEY SAID”.
The video posted on social media Friday called on the military to “refuse illegal orders” and featured Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Michigan’s Elissa Slotkin, along with Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire.
They did not specify which orders they were referring to, but Trump has ordered the National Guard into multiple US cities, in many cases against the wishes of local officials, in a bid to bring alleged rampant unrest under control.
Abroad, Trump has also ordered strikes on a series of alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that have left more than 80 people dead and which experts say are illegal.
Trump has alluded to the death penalty on previous occasions.
In 2023, former US military officer Mark Milley told a journalist he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol to reassure Beijing that the United States remained “stable” and had no intention to attack China.
Trump subsequently wrote on social media that “in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”
Bring on Rivalry Week! Status quo Saturday means chaos looms
Bangladesh presses India on ousted leader Sheikh Hasina’s extradition
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