Scientists who carried out a 16-year survey on the island described the figure as “mind-boggling”.

Deforestation, driven by logging, oil palm, mining and paper mills, continues to be the main culprit.

But the research, published in the journal Current Biology, also revealed that animals were “disappearing” from areas that remained forested.

This implied large numbers of orangutans were simply being slaughtered, said lead researcher Maria Voigt of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.

Dr Voigt and her colleagues say the animals are being targeted by hunters and are being killed in retaliation for crop-raiding – a threat that has been previously underestimated.

Prof Serge Wich from Liverpool John Moores University, UK, also part of the team, told BBC News: “We didn’t expect the losses to be so large in standing forest, so these [studies] confirm that hunting is a major issue.”

“When these animals come into conflict with people on the edge of a plantation, they are always on the losing end. People will kill them.

“Just last week, we had a report of an orangutan that had 130 pellets in its body, after being shot at in Borneo.

“It’s shocking and it’s unnecessary. Orangutans might eat farmers’ fruit, but they are not dangerous.”

Prof Wich called for leaders in Malaysia and Indonesia to speak out against this deliberate targeting of the apes. But the research also showed that natural resources were still being exploited in Borneo “at an unsustainable rate”.

Deforestation alone, the researchers predict, could wipe out a further 45,000 orangutans over the next 35 years.

Sustainable oil

The cultivation of oil palm, found in a wide variety of food products, is a well-known cause of that habitat loss.

Dr Emma Keller from the conservation charity WWF told BBC News but that consumers should “put pressure” on companies to commit to a sustainable supply for this almost ubiquitous food product.

Referring to the certification system known as the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), Dr Keller said that the standards for what constitutes sustainable were “constantly being updated”.

“The big objectives now are to have a complete ban on deforestation and no planting on peat soils,” she said.

And while an independent assessment of the scheme, published in 2017, found that it “significantly reduced deforestation”, it also concluded that participating plantations needed monitoring if it was to have a significant impact on fires and peatland clearance.

As the stark new figures on orangutan declines were published, conservationists also highlighted a glimmer of hope for patches of their habitat.

A team from Chester Zoo in the UK released the first pictures of the animals using man-made “forest canopy bridges”, constructed from tough cargo-strapping that the zoo uses to make swings and bridges in orangutan enclosures.

Catherine Barton, the zoo’s field conservation manager explained that – working with the charity Hutan in Malaysia – the zoo had set out to reconnect habitats fragmented by oil palm plantations, roads and drainage channels.

“To see the animals start to use these bridges and to reconnect across this fragmented habitat is a really positive sign,” said Ms Barton. “But it’s a short-term solution.”

In the long-term, she added, the aim was to replant forests and make space for the great apes.

But as Prof Wich pointed out, his team’s survey confirmed that it would not be enough merely to protect the animals’ forest habitat. “We have to protect the animals, so we don’t end up with forest that looks fine, but has no orangutans.”

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Source: BBC

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The fire at the Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah broke out in the early hours of Thursday morning.

The victims are thought to been trapped in their dormitory as the windows were barred with metal grills.

“It is one of the country’s worst fire disasters in the past 20 years,” Khirudin Drahman, director of the fire and rescue department, told AFP.

Initial counts put the death toll at 25, but police later revised that down by one.

They said the dead were 22 students – all boys between the age of 13 and 17 – and two staff members.

The blaze was reported at around 05:40 local time on Thursday morning (21:40 GMT Wednesday). According to the police it began in the sleeping quarters.

In Islamic tahfiz schools – where children study the Koran – students often live at the school.

Images and videos circulating online showed the entire upper room of the school ablaze.

“The building was surrounded by metal grills that could not be opened from the inside. The students, after realising the fire and heavy smoke, tried to escape through the window,” Fire and Rescue Department operations deputy director Soiman Jahid told reporters outside the school.

“Because of the grills though, they could not escape.”

Mr Jahid said police were still investigating what caused the fire but that it likely was caused by short circuit or a lit mosquito repellent coil.

A neighbour living next door to the school told the Reuters news agency they heard screams and saw the flames.

“The children were crying for help, but I couldn’t help them as the door was already on fire,” he said.

Kuala Lumpur Police chief Amar Singh said the bodies were “totally burned”.

“Unfortunately there was only one entrance, so they could not escape. All the bodies were found lumped on one another.”

Officials said fire engines were at the site within minutes, and the blaze was put out within an hour.

A number of students were also taken to hospital, some suffering from smoke inhalation.

Prime Minister Najib Razak tweeted his sympathies to those affected while a government minister said the incident should be quickly investigated “so that we will be able to prevent future disasters”.

“We sympathise with the families. It is one of the worst fires involving so many lives in the capital in recent years, said Loga Bala Mohan, according to AFP.

Malaysian authorities have raised concerns about safety measures at unregulated private religious schools.

Local media report there have been more than 200 fires at such schools since 2015.

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Source: BBC

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Who are the divine passengers?
The first was the Chinese sea goddess Mazu (also known as Matsu), widely worshipped in southern China as well as countries with large Taoist and Chinese Buddhist communities such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan.

She is a patroness of the sea and is believed to protect fishermen and sailors.

The other two statues are Qianliyan and Shunfeng’er, heavenly guardians of the goddess.

Qianliyan is known for his powers of far-sightedness while the demon Shunfeng’er possesses the incredible ability to hear all sounds carried by the wind, a role believed to aid sailors and passing ships from advancing storms.

Why were they in business class?
The three statues were sent to Malaysia and Singapore as part of an inaugural cultural exchange tour to pay tribute to the sea goddess and celebrate a festival in her name. It was organised by the Meizhou Mazu Ancestor Temple in China.

Photos being widely circulated on Chinese social media showed the statues leaving their coastal temple home and “checking in” at Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport.

“How did she get through security checks?” asked amused user Tong Huichun on the popular WeChat messaging app.

“It’s normal for Mazu to give a tour. It’s too far away so she’s taking a flight. Taking a boat will take too long,” said another WeChat user Gong Chang.

Temple staff told BBC News that the religious statues were escorted by “a delegation of more than 130 people” and brought onto a Xiamen Airlines flight heading to Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
They flew in comfort in business class, on tickets costing 2,091 yuan (£237) each.

With assistance from airline staff, devotees fastened the sacred statues into first row seats and “widened” them to allow more space.
Taking turbulence into consideration, the statues’ feet were firmly fixed onto the seats with special harnesses.

“This is basic respect we have for the culture of Goddess Mazu,” said a spokesperson who received the statues in Malaysia. “They were also more than 6ft high, so they had to fly business class.”

They even had special passports, which staff from the temple said were a “special courtesy” provided by the airline.

The statues came from a sacred sea temple located off the shores of Fujian province, known to its worshippers as being the birthplace of goddess Mazu.

They travelled more than 2,800km to another temple, the Thean Hou Chinese Temple in Malaysia.

Temple staff highlighted the importance of their voyage.

“This is the body of our divine goddess, a symbol of Chinese folk culture,” a representative told BBC News, adding that processions were held to celebrate the statues’ safe arrivals.

All three statues have made their way to neighbouring Malacca city and are on their way to Singapore. They will then return to their home in China.

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Source: BBC

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Mr Kim died on Monday after apparently being poisoned while waiting to board a flight in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Police say they have now finished their post-mortem examination of his body, though the results have not yet been made public.

One woman, travelling on a Vietnamese passport, is due to appear in court.

The inspector general of the Royal Malaysia police, Sri Khalid Bin Abu Bakar, said the second woman was detained on Thursday over the death of “a Korean male”.

She was identified from airport CCTV footage and had an Indonesian passport.

Malaysia has yet to formally confirm that the dead man, who was travelling under the name Kim Chol, is Kim Jong-nam, but South Korea says it is certain.

There is widespread speculation that North Korea was behind the killing, but there has been no confirmation.

North Korea is on Thursday celebrating what would have been the 75th birthday of Kim Jong-il, the late leader and father of both Kim Jong-nam and Kim Jong-un.

Kim Jong-un was seen attending a ruling party meeting on Wednesday. Footage aired on state media showed him grim-faced, reported South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, and he did not wave when he left, as is customary.

No request from North Korea

Selangor Police Chief Abdul Samah Mat told the BBC the examination of Mr Kim’s body was completed on Wednesday evening, but there has been no indication of whether the results will be made public.

Reports on Wednesday said North Korea had asked to claim the body, but Mr Samah said that while officials from the embassy did visit the hospital they had not officially asked to remove the body.

He said Malaysia had no objection in principle to releasing the body to North Korea, if such a request were made.

Woman due in court

Mr Kim is believed to have been attacked by two women, using some form of chemical.

A grainy image taken from security camera footage in the airport, which has been broadcast in South Korea and Malaysia, shows a woman wearing a white T-shirt with the letters “LOL” written on the front.

It is not clear whether either is the woman in the footage, and police say they are still looking for “a few” other suspects.

An alleged assassination attempt, a grainy shot of a woman wearing a T-shirt with “LOL” written on it, and a dead body that has yet to yield any information.

It has all the makings of a murder mystery, with more questions than answers.

Who is the Vietnamese woman the Malaysian police say they’ve arrested, and what does she have to do with the case?

How is it possible that in a crowded airport, in broad daylight, a man can be accosted with some kind of toxic substance, and no trace of it is left behind at the crime scene?

People I spoke to at the airport who may have seen what happened were reluctant to talk about it, and at least two of them told me that they had been instructed not to talk by police.

Then there’s the investigation, which also appears to lack focus.

All Malaysian police officials will tell us is that once they have the results of the post-mortem they will be able to identify what really happened to the man believed to be Kim Jong-nam.

Kim Jong-nam was largely estranged from his family, after being bypassed for inheriting the leadership in favour of his youngest half-brother. He spent most of his time overseas in Macau, mainland China and Singapore.

He had spoken out in the past against his family’s dynastic control of North Korea and in a 2012 book was quoted as saying he believed his younger half-brother lacked leadership qualities.

But he had said he was not interested in assuming the leadership himself.

Unnamed US government sources have said they believe he was poisoned by North Korean agents.

South Korean spy chief Lee Byung-ho told South Korean MPs that Pyongyang had wanted to kill Kim Jong-nam for several years, but that he was being protected by China.

The secretive state has a long history of sending agents overseas to carry out assassinations, attacks and kidnappings.

But some analysts question what motive Kim Jong-un would have to kill his estranged half-brother, given the risk of the operation and possibilities for embarrassment, added to the fact that he was not seen as a threat to Mr Kim’s leadership.

Still, Mr Kim was reportedly targeted for assassination in the past. A North Korean spy jailed by South Korea in 2012 is said to have admitted trying to organise a hit-and-run accident targeting him.

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Source: BBC

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