• US music icon expresses delight as court orders transfer of Asian elephant to a suitable sanctuary from Islamabad Zoo 

Music icon and animal rights activist Cher shared her delight after a Pakistani court ordered freedom for a lonely elephant, who had become the subject of a high-profile rights campaign backed by the United States singer.

“We have just heard from Pakistan High Court Kaavan is free,” the singer and animal rights campaigner said on Twitter on Thursday (21 May) in capital letters, adding a string of emojis and saying she felt “sick”.

“This is one of the greatest moments of my life,” she said.

Outrage over the treatment of Kaavan at the capital’s Islamabad Zoo went global several years ago with a petition garnering more than…