danger spilling out: Mexico's oil monopoly Pemex recently confirmed the fifth fuel spill in the past four months, even as authorities quoted a requirement of US $9 billion to repair the country's degenerating oil pipeline network. Media reports said nearly 45,000 litres of oil spilled in the latest incident near Hueyapan de Ocampo town in Veracruz state, threatening to pollute the groundwater. The spill was caused due to corrosion, according to a Pemex spokesperson. Half of the country's pipelines are over 30 years old and corroded.

cruel celebrations: Following protests by environmentalists, some programmes involving elephants have been dropped from the centenary celebrations of Assam's Kaziranga National Park, beginning February 11, 2005. It was alleged that the animals were being treated cruelly for training them to perfrom in events like football matches and other games during the celebrations. They were being pinched on their heads by daggers and beaten by iron rods, even on their skulls. But organisers of the programme announced on February 7, 2005, that some of these events, including a football match of elephants and a mock elephant capture programme, had been cancelled.