India’s Assam state, the last home to the greater one-horned rhinoceros, incinerated 2,500 rhino horns at a public ceremony on Wednesday to dissuade poachers from killing the animals.
The one-horned rhinoceros was on the brink of extinction after being hunted for decades for its horn, sought for supposed medicinal qualities or as a status symbol.
More than 10,000 people gathered at a stadium in the northeastern state to celebrate the World Rhino Day and watch the burning of 2,479 horns near Kaziranga National Park – the only habitat for the one-horned rhinoceros.
The state government claimed the burning of the horns was the biggest such exercise and aimed at sending a strong message to poachers highlighting the futility of killing the animal for an anatomical feature that is wrongly believed to have medicinal values.
The mythical properties place the rare horns – a mass of compacted hair – among the most sought-after items in the global illegal wildlife trade. They can fetch up to $65,000 a kilogram on the black market.
The horns were burnt in six specially-designed gas-powered furnaces in a typical Hindu funeral ceremony as scores of priests wearing saffron coloured robes blew conches and prayed for the souls.
“We want to tell the world that rhino horns are just a mass of compacted hair and there is no medicinal value to them. We want to urge people not to kill these rare animals or buy their horns based on superstitions or myths,” Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said before setting fire to the furnaces.
Mr Sarma’s government last week approved the destruction of the horns country's wildlife protection laws and termed the decision as a “milestone towards rhino conservation”.
The horns were stockpiled for decades in high-security state treasuries that also included animal organs confiscated from poachers and horns collected from rhinos that died of natural causes.
Authorities ordered a re-verification process of the entire stockpile, marking each horn with an identification number and collecting DNA samples.
Each horn was cleaned, weighed and photographed. Of those, 2,479 were approved for burning, while 94 were kept for preservation. Those included the longest horn, at 51.5 centimetres, and the heaviest at 3.05 kilograms.
Another 50 horns were preserved for legal proceedings against suspected poachers and smugglers.
“These horns were stored in different treasuries collected since the 1980s, almost four-decade old stock. We did DNA sample studies and today we got the permission to burn them,” P Sivakumar, field director of Kaziranga National Park, told The National.
The greater one-horn rhinoceros is the largest of the species and only adult males grow a horn.
The animals use the horns to protect their calves, digging for water and defending territory.
Although the horns made of keratin are like hooves of horse or human hair and nails, they are widely smuggled in the belief that they have medicinal and aphrodisiac values.
The rhino horns were traditionally used in Chinese medicines and are increasingly being seen as a social status in Vietnam. They are also used in powder form in party drugs and hangover cures.
This event has sent a strong message to the world that we do not give value to rhino horn but we care for our live rhinos
Rathin Barman,
Joint Director of Wildlife Trust of India
The poaching of the one-horned rhinos almost led to their extinction in early 1970s. By 1975, they had been declared an endangered species after their numbers had dropped to a few hundred.
Each rhino death has been recorded since 1976 by police and wildlife officials, and the horns were preserved by the government to avoid their misuse.
About 550 were killed by poachers between 1980 and 1997, according to the government data, before a crackdown and conservation programme was launched by the authorities. The rhino population now stands at about 3,700.
They were regraded from “endangered” to “vulnerable” in the 2008 Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
While cases of poaching have dropped from 12 in 2016 to one in 2021, experts said the threat remained.
“This event has sent a strong message to the world that we do not give value to rhino horn but we care for our live rhinos,” Rathin Barman, the joint director of the Wildlife Trust of India, a nature conservation organisation, told The National.
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
If you go
The flights
Etihad flies direct from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco from Dh5,760 return including taxes.
The car
Etihad Guest members get a 10 per cent worldwide discount when booking with Hertz, as well as earning miles on their rentals. A week's car hire costs from Dh1,500 including taxes.
The hotels
Along the route, Motel 6 (www.motel6.com) offers good value and comfort, with rooms from $55 (Dh202) per night including taxes. In Portland, the Jupiter Hotel (https://jupiterhotel.com/) has rooms from $165 (Dh606) per night including taxes. The Society Hotel https://thesocietyhotel.com/ has rooms from $130 (Dh478) per night including taxes.
More info
To keep up with constant developments in Portland, visit www.travelportland.com. Good guidebooks include the Lonely Planet guides to Northern California and Washington, Oregon & the Pacific Northwest.
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The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
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The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prestigious peace prize, held its final meeting on Monday, the Nobel Institute said on Thursday, a day ahead of the announcement of the 2025 laureate.
This means a decision was made about the laureate or laureates before the conclusion of an agreement between Israel and Hamas, which included a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
President Donald Trump pushed for the ceasefire as part of a 20-point plan to resolve the Gaza war.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
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Why are you, you?
Why are you, you?
From this question, a new beginning.
From this question, a new destiny.
For you are a world, and a meeting of worlds.
Our dream is to unite that which has been
separated by history.
To return the many to the one.
A great story unites us all,
beyond colour and creed and gender.
The lightning flash of art
And the music of the heart.
We reflect all cultures, all ways.
We are a twenty first century wonder.
Universal ideals, visions of art and truth.
Now is the turning point of cultures and hopes.
Come with questions, leave with visions.
We are the link between the past and the future.
Here, through art, new possibilities are born. And
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Why are you, you?
Because we are mirrors of each other.
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with the unique light of art.
Ben Okri,
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
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Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Zayed Sustainability Prize
