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https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10153717378051939/
ELEVEN GIANT PYRES of tusks were set alight today as Kenya torched its vast ivory stockpile in a grand gesture aimed at shocking the world into stopping the slaughter of elephants.
Huge white clouds of smoke spiralled into the sky as the flames took hold, fuelled by thousands of litres of diesel and kerosene injected through steel pipes.
Lighting the fire in Nairobi’s national park, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta demanded a total ban on trade in ivory to end the “murderous” trafficking and prevent the extinction of elephants in the wild.
“The height of the pile of ivory before us marks the strength of our resolve,” Kenyatta said, before thrusting a burning torch onto the ivory.
No-one, and I repeat no-one, has any business in trading in ivory, for this trade means death of our elephants and death of our natural heritage.
The tusks are expected to burn for days.
Kenyatta on Friday led a summit of African heads of state and conservationists pushing for a total ban.
“We will not be the Africans who stood by as we lost our elephants,” he told the meeting in a keynote address.
The bonfires are the largest-ever torching of ivory, containing 105 tonnes from thousands of dead elephants, seven times bigger than any stockpile burned before.
Another 1.35 tonnes of rhino horn are also being burned, representing the killing of around 340 of the endangered animals.
‘Evil commodity’
President Ali Bongo from Gabon, who lit one of the pyres, spoke of the “massacre” of forest elephants in central Africa, and said he backed moves to stop the sale of all ivory.
“Unless we take action now we risk losing this magnificent animal,” Bongo said at the ceremony, telling poachers he was “going to put you out of business, so the best thing you can do is to go into retirement now”.
Africa is home to between 450,000 to 500,000 elephants, but more than 30,000 are killed every year on the continent to satisfy demand for ivory in Asia, where raw tusks sell for around €800 per kg.
The pyres contained some 16,000 tusks and pieces of ivory.
Kenya has a long history of ivory burnings, spearheading a wider movement of public demonstrations across the world, but nothing on this scale before.
On the black market, such a quantity of ivory could sell for over $100 million, and the rhino horn could raise as much as $80 million.
Rhino horn can fetch as much as $60,000 per kilo — more than gold or cocaine.
But Kenyatta dismissed those who put a cash value on the ivory.
“For us, ivory is worthless unless it is on our elephants,” Kenyatta said.
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From a suspected overdose of fake news
His doctor asked him “What Ailes ya?”
For all his flaws, his loved ones are in pain now. RIP.
This degenerate inflicted untold pain on thousands of people during his lifetime.
@Diarmuid: How so?
20 years of lying to and manipulating the American people… resulting in a stream of toxicity and hatred being directed at minorities… all the further the Murdoch agenda.
@Diarmuid: Not all americans, Only the stupid ones.
convenient timing as Fox are under investigation by the sec because of illegal reporting of payments to women he harassed.. despicable man
@Shane Hickey: 2nd post – link(s)?
@Shane Hickey: You appear to be saying that the timing of his death was intentional. Would you mind elaborating? Thanks.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: Appearances are sometimes deceptive,just like Soles appeared like a nice guy to some people.
Fox News – for all it’s faults – is an awful lot better than RTE¡
@Fank Pulman: obviously you haven’t watched Fox News much if you are making a comment like that. Most biased network in USA.
@Cormac: Rubbish…lived in LA and Florida – many worse there m8…
@Cormac: CNN, MSNBC are as biased to the left as Fox are to the right.
@Darren: whilst the bias is real on both sides, Fox News is incredibly biased to the point if you watch it’s actually hilarious. I have tears in my eyes at how pathetic it is.
CNN whilst certainly left biased is nowhere near the level Fox is at. Not only is it bias but it’s literally absurd
At least he lived long enough for some karma to kick him in the ass.
Why, what did he do? Or do you even know
@Flip off: I’m not here to educate you. How about you “flip off” and do it yourself.
@Tricia Golden: You don’t know anything about him, do you?
@Fank Pulman: he was a disgusting pervert who destroyed careers of women who wouldn’t comply with his harassment.
What was he convicted of, exactly?
@Neal Ireland Hello.: what was Hitler convicted of?
@Shane Hickey:
Thought you were talking about Bill Clinton for a second.
Ha ha. You’ve no idea what he did. You just see old, rich, white and fox. Yep, he should have been executed years ago
Fake news
Was he a jew?
@Gerard Hutch: when’s the next kinahan hit ger?
Seriously? He still had a wife after all he did?
He was a disgusting pig.
Fox News is great. Fair and Balanced. RIP To Ailes’ family. He was not convicted of anything. It seems to me he was sued for flirting, which according to the Left now constitutes “sexual harrassment”.
RIP Roger
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