CUSTOMS officers in Hong Kong have intercepted a record 8.3 tons of pangolin scales and hundreds of elephant tusks worth more than $8 million (£61m) combined.
Acting on a tip from mainland Chinese authorities, staff found the haul in mid-January in a refrigerated container labelled as frozen meat from Nigeria, officials said.
They said the smugglers kept the temperature low to disguise the smell of the illicit cargo. Police arrested two people in connection with the seizure.
Underscoring the threat to endangered species from demand in Asia, it was the largest seizure of pangolin scales in Hong Kong, representing the product of 14,000 animals, and one of the largest of ivory in a decade, the officials said.
Scales of the anteater-like pangolin have for centuries been highly valued in traditional Chinese medicine.
The scales, made of keratin akin to fingernails, are often roasted and ground to a powder before being added into a mix of ingredients to purportedly cure arthritis, promote breast feeding for mothers and boost male virility.
AT least three pupils are dead and 23 injured after a walkway collapsed at a school outside Johannesburg, South African officials have said.
Panyaza Lesufi, head of education for Gauteng province, posted the toll on Twitter shortly after the collapse at Hoerskool Driehoek high school in Vanderbijlpark. Two boys and a girl were killed, he said.
“It is painful to see those tiny bodies in that state,” Lesufi said. He reported “scores” trapped but a witness later said no one remained in the rubble.
“When we arrived we found that there are still children underneath,” said Kay Makhubela, spokesman for Gauteng police. He said about nine people were seriously injured.
The students at the school are aged 13 to 18, a local broadcaster reported.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse. Police said engineering reports would form part of the investigation.
AN award-winning cookbook author and California restaurant owner has said anyone wearing a red Make America Great Again baseball cap will be refused service at his restaurant.
The cap was popularised by US president Donald Trump and became a symbol of his successful campaign for the presidency and, since then, his policies in the White House. J Kenji Lopez-Alt is a chef-partner of the Wursthall restaurant in San Mateo and said in a tweet that he views the hats as symbols of intolerance and hate.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Thursday that Lopez-Alt’s decision was met with mixed reaction by restaurant clients.
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