Agriculture director-general Langa Zita suspended
Langa Zita, the director-general of the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries has been suspended.
India reports fresh bird-flu outbreak
India on Tuesday confirmed a bird-flu outbreak among poultry following the deaths of thousands of chickens in the past week in the state of West Bengal. It is the country's third outbreak since 2006 and the first since India, home to 1,1-billion people, declared itself free of the disease last November.
New British foot-and-mouth case confirmed
Foot-and-mouth disease has struck a new cattle farm in southern England, the government said on Wednesday, prompting the European Union to suspend a decision to lift its ban on British meat exports. The Agriculture Ministry said a surveillance zone of more than 10km had been placed around the farm in Egham, Surrey, about 50km from the scene of the last confirmed outbreak.
Suspected foot-and-mouth case in UK
Britain found a suspected case of foot-and-mouth disease on a farm in southern England on Wednesday and immediately imposed an exclusion zone and had the herd in question culled. A statement on the Agriculture Ministry's website said an exclusion zone had been placed around the suspect farm in Egham, Surrey, about 50km from the scene of the last outbreak in August.
Rwandan journalist acquitted of genocide charges
A Rwandan journalist has been acquitted of genocide charges by a traditional court after serving 11 years in prison, a human rights group said on Tuesday. Tatiana Mukakibibi (42) was charged in 1996 with genocide, planning and participating in genocide and distributing arms during Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Wild animals kill more than 130 in Mozambique
Wild animals killed at least 133 people and seriously injured 50 in Mozambique last year, the Agriculture Ministry said Tuesday. "This is a very high figure, but lower than the 144 of last year," departmental official Tomas Zimba said, confirming that the figures were contained in a ministry report.
