‘Follow the money’: to combat wildlife trafficking and catch the kingpins, authorities take new approach

In most cases, the conviction of a Thai man trafficking rhino horns through a bizarre scheme that involved hiring prostitutes to pose as trophy hunters would have marked the end of the story.
But investigators took an unusual, next step – deciding to “follow the money” that helped bankroll the South African operation, and ultimately winning a court order last year to seize Chumlong Lemtongthai’s Thai bank accounts and other assets, including a house worth US$142,000, to…

Philippine president Duterte may declare nationwide martial law next week, defence chief says

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte may declare nationwide martial law next week if threatened massive protests by communists and other leftists against his rule turn violent or disrupt the country, his defence chief said Friday.
“He said, if the left will try to have a massive protest, start fires on the streets, they will disrupt the country, then I might (declare martial law),” Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters.
More to follow …

Trump says he will visit China, Japan and South Korea in November

US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he intends to visit China, Japan and South Korea later this year, a blockbuster maiden presidential visit to Asia.
Trump said aboard Air Force One that a US delegation would likely make the trip in November, adding that he will “possibly” go to the Apec summit in Vietnam at the same time.
The announcement sets the stage for a wildly ambitious first visit to a region that is vital to US economic and security interests.
The visit is…

Chinese submarine docks at Malaysian port for second time this year

A Chinese submarine has docked in Malaysia, the second such visit to the Southeast Asian country this year, as Western powers fret over China’s expanding reach in the South China Sea.
China claims nearly all of the disputed waterway, through which an estimated US$3 trillion in international trade passes each year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan also have claims.
Tensions between China and Malaysia over their overlapping claims, however, appear to have eased after Kuala…

Fire kills 22 students and two wardens at Kuala Lumpur religious school

Twenty-four people, most of them students, were killed Thursday when a blaze tore through a Malaysian religious school, in what officials said was one of the country’s worst fire disasters for years.
The blaze broke out before dawn in the tahfiz – an Islamic religious school -in the heart of the capital Kuala Lumpur.
Firefighters rushed to the scene and the blaze was out within an hour but not before it wreaked terrible devastation.
Pictures in local media showed ash-covered, fire-…