<p>In 2019, the illegal wildlife trade reached staggering levels. Pangolin scales and ivory were being trafficked in massive quantities from Africa to Asia, exposing a network of crime syndicates operating
The day after Monday's earthquake saw the spotlight in China turning on relief and rescue operations, even as the extent of the damage wrought by the 7.9 magnitude quake gradually became clearer. More than 12,000 persons were estimated to be dead in Sichuan Province alone and thousands missing or buried.
PORTLAND, Oregon: Senator John McCain sought to distance himself from President George W. Bush this week as he called for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to combat climate change. McCain, in a speech on Monday at a wind power company, also pledged to work with the European Union to diplomatically engage China and India, two of the world's biggest polluters, if the nations refuse to participate in an international agreement to slow global warming.
DUJIANGYAN, China: The children who were considered fortunate escaped with a broken bone or a severed limb. The others, hundreds of them, were carried out to be buried, and their remaining classmates lay crushed beneath the rubble of the schoolhouse. "There's no hope for them," said Lu Zhiqing, 58, as she watched uniformed rescue workers trudge through mud and rain toward the mound of bricks and concrete that had once been a school. "There's no way anyone's still alive in there."
BEIJING: Tens of thousands of people throughout southwest China remained buried beneath rubble Tuesday as rescue workers struggled to reach areas cut off by a powerful earthquake that has left thousands dead and hundreds of thousands injured and homeless. The authorities said that more than 18,000 people were still unaccounted for in the city of Mianzhu and that 2,300 were missing in the collapse of a school and two factories in the town of Shifang.
Japan will give 500 million yen worth of emergency grants and relief aid to quake-hit China, including blankets and tents, and is ready to provide additional assistance such as the dispatch of personnel if necessary, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura announced Tuesday evening. The aid will be distributed directly to the Chinese government as well as through international organizations. Komura said details of the breakdown have yet to be decided, awaiting specific appeals from international agencies such as the Red Cross. The death toll is believed to have passed 12,000.
Senator John McCain sought to distance himself from US President George W. Bush on Monday as he called for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to combat climate change. Mr McCain, in a speech at a wind power company, also pledged to work with the European Union to diplomatically engage China and India, two of the world's biggest polluters, if they refuse to participate in an international agreement to slow global warming.
The fate of the world's most famous panda preserve remained unknown on Tuesday, more than a day after China's worst earthquake in three decades closed off the remote, mountainous area from the rest of the world. The Wolong National Nature Reserve and panda breeding centre is the only place in the world where the rare animals can be seen in such large numbers. But Chinese officials and zoo officials overseas are worried about the centre's 100 or so pandas, whose home is close to the heart of Monday's 7.9 earthquake in central Sichuan province.
US President George W. Bush has spoken by phone with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the powerful earthquake that hit central China. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said on Tuesday the President expressed his condolences on the thousands of deaths in the quake and offered to assist where possible. She said the US is offering an initial $500,000 in relief in anticipation of an appeal by the International Red Cross. Mr Bush also raised with Mr Hu the turmoil in Tibet and noted the recent meeting in China and Dalai Lama representatives.
More than five years ago, a seismologist had warned of a strong earthquake in China's Sichuan province, where the most devastating quake in more than three decades occurred on Monday killing thousands of people, the state media reported. Seismologist Chen Xuezhong of the Geophysics Institute of State Seismological Bureau (SSB) had made his forecast long ago based on historical records and animal studies, the state-run China Daily said.
The death toll from Chi na's most devastating earthquake in three decades has jumped to at least 11,921, a top disaster official said on Tuesday, as storms hampered rescuers in the most devastated areas. The state media reports indicated that the number of dead from the 7.9 magnitude quake was likely to soar. Xinhua news agency said 10,000 people were buried in the Mianzhu area of southwestern Sichuan province alone. Troops had also arrived for the first time at Wenchuan county, the epicentre of the quake.
