WORLD DIGEST || Black rhino named Kulinda dies at Columbus Zoo

Black rhino named Kulinda dies at Columbus Zoo

POWELL

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio says its 28-year-old black rhinoceros named Kulinda has died.

Zoo officials say Kulinda was humanely euthanized Friday because of her declining physical condition and poor prognosis. A zoo statement says Kulinda had been diagnosed with iron overload syndrome, which results in progressive liver failure.

The zoo says Kulinda may be remembered by some fans as the rhino they fed apple slices to during keeper talks. She also used her upper lip to create paintings.

Kulinda was born at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden on Oct. 19, 1988, and came to the Columbus Zoo the next year.

The zoo says the median life expectancy for black rhinos in North American zoos is 18.3 years.

Companies say they didn’t resume testing on animals

Avon, Mary Kay and Estee Lauder say they have not resumed testing on animals, despite the claims of a story shared widely on social media. The companies say they ended testing on animals years ago but that products sold in China continue to undergo testing by that country’s government that might include the use of animals.

The story posted by thedogfiles.com cites People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ move in 2012 to remove the companies from its cruelty-free list after PETA said it discovered the companies had resumed animal testing in order to market their products in China.

When contacted individually about the claim, representatives for Avon, Mary Kay and Estee Lauder said PETA’s claim was untrue. Each company said it has not tested on animals for years.

Products sold in China, however, are required to undergo government testing, and that nation’s regulators use animals in their review of some products.

China lashes out at Mattis remarks

BEIJING

China says the U.S. is putting regional stability in East Asia at risk following remarks by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis that an island group China claims falls under the U.S.-Japan mutual defense treaty.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang today called on the U.S. to cease “making wrong remarks” over the issue. Lu re-asserted China’s claim of sovereignty over the tiny uninhabited islands, known in Japanese as the Senkaku and Chinese as Diaoyu.

In a statement posted to the ministry’s website, Lu said the U.S. should avoid complicating the issue and “bringing instability to the regional situation.”

US envoy targeting UN peacekeeping for reform

UNITED NATIONS

Diplomats say Nikki Haley, in her first week as U.S. ambassador, is making a top priority of reform in the United Nations’ far-flung peacekeeping operations that cost nearly $8 billion annually.

Haley said in her Senate confirmation hearing that she wants to look at all 16 missions to see which are maintaining peace and which aren’t. She called the mission in war-ravaged South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, “terrible” and said that government isn’t cooperating with the U.N. force. Two diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity said that in discussions this week Haley put a mission-by-mission review of peacekeeping operations as a main priority.

Associated Press