Bangkok, Thailand: Customs officials display one of 136 live pangolins and 450kg of scales that were seized Wednesday from two pickup trucks after the authorities received a tip off that it had been smuggled from Malaysia. Customs Department Director General Kulit Sombatsiri said his department has seized more than 2.9 tons of pangolin-related items this year worth more than 29 million Thai baht (US$870,000). Photo: Sakchai Lalit/AP.
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A newly discovered Karaavali skittering frog whose call was mistaken for a bird. Photo: Seshadri K. S./Birdlife.
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The recently-concluded 17th Conference of the Parties (CoP 17) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), held in Johannesburg, South Africa has finally ranked the pangolin as the “most illegally traded mammal of the world”.
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An adult female white bellied pangolin and her baby. Photo credit: Joel Sartore/National Geographic Photo Ark.
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More than 1 million wild pangolins have been killed in the last decade. Photo: Paul Hilton/WCS.
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The scales of the pangolin anteater are used in traditional Chinese medicine, despite having no proven medicinal effect. Photo: Alamy.
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A flood-affected resident swims in floodwaters at Kyaut Ye village near the Hinthada town in Myanmar’s Irrawaddy region on August 11, 2015. Myanmar’s president called for the evacuation of low-lying areas as the Irrawaddy river threatened to breach embankments, leaving villagers with just sand-bags to hold back churning waters that have hit much of the country. Photo: AFP/Ye Aung Thu.
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Pyongyang, June 18, 2015. A joint meeting was held on Thursday on National Day of Persons with Disabilities. Present there were Minister of Public Health Kang Ha Guk, chairman of the Central Committee of the Korean Federation for the Protection of the Disabled, officials concerned, disabled persons and their families, Pyongyangites, members of missions of international bodies such as the European Union Programme Support, foreign diplomatic envoys and staff members of their embassies here and overseas Koreans staying in the homeland. There were sports and amusement events.
The high-profile event marks the 12th year since North Korea adopted the Korean Law for Persons with Disabilities (June 18, 2003), which according to KCNA, “makes it clear that the state is obliged to respect the individualities of persons with disabilities and ensure to them the same socio-political rights and benefits as those for persons without disabilities”. |
UN TRACOLLO del 32% in tre settimane, 2.500 miliardi di €uro di ricchezza distrutta. Il crac della Borsa cinese è un avvertimento serio. Trema paurosamente il mercato finanziario dell’economia che – a seconda delle misurazioni – è la prima o la seconda del mondo. Gli europei occupati dalla loro ossessione monomaniacale sulla Grecia, devono convincersi di non essere l’ombelico del mondo. Può succedere – forse sta iniziando a succedere – qualcosa di ben più grave del Grexit. La ricchezza distrutta in Cina in queste tre settimane, secondo i calcoli dei trader di Hong Kong, vale 11 volte il Pil della Grecia e 6 volte il suo debito pubblico. E in prima linea tra le possibili vittime c’è la più forte economia europea: la Germania, prima esportatrice verso la Cina, e unico paese avanzato a godere di una bilancia commerciale attiva con Pechino, è la più esposta ad una crisi di quel mercato. Se si ammalasse davvero la Cina le conseguenze sarebbero di un ordine di grandezza multiplo rispetto al default greco e le beghe Merkel–Tsipras passerebbero rapidamente in secondo piano. [Read more].
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People attend the opening ceremony for the newly built terminal of Pyongyang International Airport in this undated picture released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on July 1, 2015. Reuters/KCNA.
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was once unhappy with its design, and his displeasure allegedly led to the execution of its principal designer last year, but despite all hurdles, the country’s new airport terminal in Pyongyang is now open for public. The terminal 2 of Pyongyang International Airport, which is reserved for international civilian flights, was inaugurated on Wednesday, state media reported. [Read more].
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiles next to his wife Ri Sol Ju as he gives field guidance at the new terminal of Pyongyang International Airport in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 25, 2015. Reuters/KCNA.
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