U.S. ivory investigator killed
JOHANNESBURG— Renowned American conservation investigator Esmond Bradley Martin, famed for his dangerous work uncovering illegal global trafficking of ivory and rhino horn, was stabbed to death over the weekend at his home in Kenya, the latest in a series of killings of highprofile environmental activists around the world.
Police told local media the case was believed to be a robbery, though they did not make any arrests or identify any suspects. Authorities said a lock on the back gate of his house had been forced.
Bradley Martin, 75, was known for his work infiltrating clandestine ivory and rhino horn markets, analyzing demand and prices for a product that has threatened elephants and rhinoceros with extinction.
Mr. Martin’s work involved entering wildlife trafficking dens in such places as Yemen, Sudan and Asia, painstakingly counting the numbers of ivory and rhino horn items on sale, studying the prices, analyzing the buyers and the reason for demand. He sought out ivory and rhino horn traders, posing as a buyer, learning their secrets.
Trouble in paradise
In the island nation of Maldives, a major political crisis is erupting between the president, the country’s highest court and the political opposition.
On Monday night, the government declared a 15-day state of emergency and arrested Supreme Court Chief Justice Abdulla Saeed and another judge, Ali Hameed, early Tuesday morning “for an investigation,” police said. The Supreme Court had provoked the ire of President Abdulla Yameen last week when it overturned criminal convictions against nine of the president’s opponents and ordered that those in jail be freed. So far, Mr. Yameen has refused to release the political prisoners.
Samsung heir freed
SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung heir Lee Jaeyong was freed Monday after a South Korean appeals court gave him a 2 ½-year suspended jail sentence for corruption in connection with a scandal that toppled the country’s president.
The Seoul High Court softened the original ruling against Lee, rejecting most of the bribery charges leveled against Lee by prosecutors who sought a 12-year prison term.
While the ruling clears the way for the Samsung vice chairman to resume his role at the helm of the industrial giant founded by his grandfather after a year in prison, he faces a slew of challenges outside prison, including winning trust that he is capable of running South Korea’s biggest company, and assuaging public anger among those who viewed the court’s surprise decision as a setback in the war on corruption.