At least 68 elephants – about 4% of the population of one of Africa’s oldest parks – have been slaughtered by poachers over the last two months using chainsaws and helicopters, the non-profit group managing the park has warned.

ATTACKERS hacked to death scores of people who sought refuge at a Catholic church in remote eastern Congo the day after Christmas, officials and witnesses said yesterday.

Eight UN peacekeepers have been killed and 14 others injured during an ambush on their unit in eastern Congo today.

Heavily armed poaching gangs in Congo have been slaughtering the world’s minuscule population of northern white rhinoceroses, reversing recent hopes for the species’ survival, a major conservation body said yesterday.