In Brief

World-famous Knut ill BERLIN – The Berlin Zoo’s popular polar bear cub, Knut, is not feeling well and had his daily public appearance in front of thousands of visitors cut short yesterday after just 30 minutes.

The zoo’s veterinarian, André Schuele, put the four-month-old cub on antibiotics and said the Knut is ‘off stage to get some rest while we watch him closely’. There was no specific diagnosis “but he is still a young animal and therefore susceptible to infections,” said Schuele.”At the moment he is resting on his blanket and sleeping,” Schuele said, adding that despite his lethargy Knut did eat his regular meal in the morning.Thousands of people line up each day to see the cub, and his button-eyed face has been a fixture for newspapers, television and the internet.Born at the zoo on December 5, Knut – who was rejected by his mother and hand-raised by zookeepers – rose to fame last month thanks to television and newspaper pictures.So potent is his appeal that zoo attendance has roughly doubled to 15 000 on average daily since his debut, officials said.He has his own blog and TV show and appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair.Veterinarian Schuele did not know if Knut would be strong enough for public appearances in the next days.* DA probes McBride case JOHANNESBURG – The Democratic Alliance is concerned at what it calls the lack of progress in the metro police chief Robert Mcbride’s case, it said.DA safety and security spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard on Sunday said that progress had not been made.”The DA is deeply concerned about the apparent lack of progress on Metro Police Chief Robert McBride’s case.Following the accident in December in which he rolled his car, the case has yet to make progress,” she said.Kohler Barnard said that following newspaper reports, the Director of Public Prosecutions in Pretoria had still not received the docket from the investigating officer.”On Friday, the DA made contact with the National Prosecuting Authority who confirmed that the docket has still not been received,” she said.Kolher Barnard said it was important that the public be informed about the case.”We call upon the NPA and the investigating officers to take the matter forward without further delays,” she said.Nampa-AP-SapaThere was no specific diagnosis “but he is still a young animal and therefore susceptible to infections,” said Schuele.”At the moment he is resting on his blanket and sleeping,” Schuele said, adding that despite his lethargy Knut did eat his regular meal in the morning.Thousands of people line up each day to see the cub, and his button-eyed face has been a fixture for newspapers, television and the internet.Born at the zoo on December 5, Knut – who was rejected by his mother and hand-raised by zookeepers – rose to fame last month thanks to television and newspaper pictures.So potent is his appeal that zoo attendance has roughly doubled to 15 000 on average daily since his debut, officials said.He has his own blog and TV show and appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair.Veterinarian Schuele did not know if Knut would be strong enough for public appearances in the next days. * DA probes McBride case JOHANNESBURG – The Democratic Alliance is concerned at what it calls the lack of progress in the metro police chief Robert Mcbride’s case, it said.DA safety and security spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard on Sunday said that progress had not been made.”The DA is deeply concerned about the apparent lack of progress on Metro Police Chief Robert McBride’s case.Following the accident in December in which he rolled his car, the case has yet to make progress,” she said.Kohler Barnard said that following newspaper reports, the Director of Public Prosecutions in Pretoria had still not received the docket from the investigating officer.”On Friday, the DA made contact with the National Prosecuting Authority who confirmed that the docket has still not been received,” she said.Kolher Barnard said it was important that the public be informed about the case.”We call upon the NPA and the investigating officers to take the matter forward without further delays,” she said.Nampa-AP-Sapa