MANILA: Five tonnes of illegal ivory will be pulverised by the Philippine government on June 21, reported the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The ivory will be be run over with steam rollers in Quezon City, and could become material for a memorial to poached pachyderms. The ivory would have brought about $6.5m on the black market, according to National Geographic.
Chinese media on Snowden case
BEIJING: Hong Kong can showcase its democratic pedigree by its handling of the Edward Snowden case, Chinese state media said yesterday, in comments appearing to distance Beijing from any decision on his possible extradition.
Lanka author wins top award
COLOMBO: Sri Lankan-born author Michelle de Kretser won Australia’s top literature prize yesterday. She was awarded the Miles Franklin award for her novel Questions of Travel that follows two people on separate journeys. She was chosen from a shortlist of five writers, all of whom were female, to win the A$60,000 prize. Also on the shortlist were Romy Ash, Annah Faulkner, Drusilla Modjeska, and Carrie Tiffany. AGENCIES
