Malaysia torches 2.8 tonnes of African pangolin scales
Malaysia on Thursday torched nearly three tonnes of seized scales of endangered pangolins worth $9 million in a bid to deter illegal wildlife trafficking from Africa. The Southeast Asian nation is battling to clamp down on rife trafficking through its borders of the ant-eating mammals, whose scales are highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine.
“Such a huge seizure and torching of it is definitely a blow to smuggling syndicates,” Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, the director-general of the Wildlife and National Parks Department told AFP.
Some 3,000 pangolins would have been killed to obtain the 2.8 tonnes (2,800 kgs) of scales, Abdul Kadir estimated.
The scales were confiscated by customs officials at Malaysia’s Port Klang between May and September 2017. The animal parts arrived in three different shipments from Ghana and Cameroon, and had false local addresses, officials said.
“Forensic examination of the scales showed that it is from the African species,” said Abdul Kadir.
China plans to have five aircraft carriers in future: Experts
BEIJING: China plans to operate five aircraft carriers in the near future, including two nuclear-powered ones that would be launched around 2025 to meet the evolving strategic shifts , as per Chinese military experts.
A late entrant into aircraft carrier led naval battleship formations, China launched its first aircraft carrier 'Liaoning' in 2012, which was a refit of the former Soviet vessel bought from Ukraine. India has been operating aircraft carriers since 1961. Though Liaoning was operationalised and led trial expeditions into the Taiwan Straits, it was widely regarded as an experimental vessel used for mastering technologies, especially to operate the newly built J-15 planes from its deck.