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Ronaldo joins Juventus

MADRID — Modern great Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid to join Italian champions Juventus for €100 million ($117 million) on Tuesday, with the Portuguese superstar saying the time had come “for a new stage” in his life.
Juventus confirmed that Ronaldo had signed a four-year contract and that the transfer fee, including €12 million in add-ons, would be paid over two years, with Spanish media reporting he would receive a salary of €30 million a season.
The 33-year-old striker is expected to have a medical in Turin next week before being unveiled by his new side.
“Today Real Madrid want to give thanks to a player who has demonstrated he is the best in the world and who marked one of the most brilliant periods in the history of our club and world football,” European champions Real Madrid said in a statement.
In a letter posted on the Real website, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner said his time in the Spanish capital, during which he became their record goalscorer, had been one of the happiest in his life.
“I only have feelings of huge thanks for this club, for the fans and for this city,” he said.
“But I think the time has come to open a new stage in my life and that’s why I asked the club to accept to transfer me.
“I ask everyone, and especially our supporters, to please understand me.” — AFP

Serena sets sights on eighth Wimbledon title

LONDON — As Serena Williams prepares for her 35th Grand Slam semi-final, the American star says a fear of failure is driving her bid for an eighth Wimbledon title.
Williams avoided a major upset on Tuesday as the former world number one battled back to beat unseeded Camila Giorgi 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a Centre Court thriller.
The 36-year-old’s quarterfinal escape act set up a last four showdown with German 13th seed Julia Goerges on Thursday.
Serena hasn’t won a Grand Slam since the birth of daughter Olympia in September and her last trophy came at the 2017 Australian Open.
“You’re only as good as your last win. It’s been a while since I’ve won a championship,” Williams said.
But the 23-time major winner is heavily favored to end her wait this week, fueled by the thought of suffering the painful sting left by her rare defeats.
“I hate losing. I mean, that’s no secret. But I feel like every time I lose, I get better,” she said.
“It’s important for me to have the losses. Just the fewer the better for me!”
Williams is playing only her fourth tournament since becoming a mother for the first time.
Having shaken off the rust following her lengthy layoff after the complications with Olympia’s birth, Serena is on the verge of a 10th Wimbledon final appearance and 30th in all four Grand Slams.
“Everything right now is a little bit of a surprise, to be here, to be in the semifinals,” she said.
“I always say I plan on it. But when it actually happens, it still is, like, Wow, this is really happening.”
With Olympia’s arrival and her marriage to husband Alexis both taking place since Serena was last at Wimbledon, this year’s campaign has a unique feel.
“It’s different now obviously because I have the baby. Being a mom is totally different,” she said.
“I just want to be more of that role model for my daughter, for lots of people out there that just want to be inspired.
“Here is some good news. Right now there’s so much bad news in the world. We just need a good story.”
Having won the title in the previous two years she played Wimbledon in 2015 and 2016, Williams, who missed last year’s tournament due to her pregnancy, has extended her winning streak at the All England Club to 19 matches.
In contrast, Goerges is in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time.
The 29-year-old had suffered five successive opening round defeats at the All England Club before this year.
It also took her until her 42nd Grand Slam appearance to finally get through to the last four at a major.
Yet Goerges insists she can cause a massive upset against Williams.
Angelique Kerber, the German 11th seed, faces former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the other semifinal.
Ostapenko struggled with the pressure of defending her maiden Grand Slam title, losing in the first round of the recent French Open.
But that lifted a weight off her shoulders at the All England Club, where she has become the first Latvian to make a Wimbledon semifinal.
The 21-year-old is the only female player yet to drop a set in this year’s tournament.
Kerber, the 2016 Australian and US Open champion, said: “I mean, the pressure is not always on my side. She (Ostapenko) won a Grand Slam, as well.” — AFP

National women’s champion

Philippine National Championship (Women)
Road to Batumi
Alphaland Makati Place, Makati

June 10-16, 2018
1. WFM Shania Mae Mendoza PHI 2114, 7.0/9
2. WIM Catherine Secopito PHI 2120, 6.5/9
3. WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego PHI 2096, 5.5/9
4-5. WIM Bernadette Galas, WFM Cherry Ann Mejia PHI 1977, 4.5/9
6-7. WFM Allaney Jia Doroy PHI 1974, WCM Christy Lamiel Bernales PHI 2045, 4.0/9
8. WIM Mikee Charlene Suede PHI 2092 3.5/9
9. Jerlyn Mae San Diego PHI 1700, 3.0/9
10. WFM Michelle Yaon PHI 1847, 2.5/9
Time Control: 90 minutes for the entire game with 30 seconds added after every move starting move 1.
Shania Mae Mendoza, top board player for FEU Women’s team in the UAAP, is now the Philippine’s National Chess Champion for Women. In the Philippines’ Grand Finals Shania scored 5 wins (against Christy Bernales, Jerlyn Mae San Diego, Allaney Doroy, Mikee Suede and Michelle Yaon) and 4 draws to finish in solo first place.
Our new champion has annotated two of her wins for us (through the kindness of her coach, GM Jayson Gonzales). Once again I am delighted to present them to our readers.

Suede, Mikee (2092) — Mendoza, Shania Mae (2114) [C27]
PHI-Ch Grand Finals (women) Makati (7), 15.06.2018
[Shania Mae Mendoza]

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4
This is the Frankenstein-Dracula Variation of the Vienna Opening, as so named by IM Tim Harding because of its blood-thirsty attacks and counterattacks. This is the second time in the tournament that I used this line!
4.Qh5
Threatening mate in 1 move.
4…Nd6
Defending f7.
5.Bb3 Be7
Slowing down the game a bit by trying to castle as soon as possible.
The most exciting lines start from 5…Nc6 which aims to keep the e5–pawn. 6.Nb5 (threatening mate in 2) 6…g6 7.Qf3 f5 8.Qd5 Qe7 9.Nxc7+ Kd8 10.Nxa8 for the time being White is a rook up but the knight on a8 is a goner and everything else is just chaos.
6.Nf3
White could have taken the pawn. This position actually arose in Caruana’s game vs Giri in Wijk aan Zee 2014. The continuation there was 6.Qxe5 0–0 7.d4 Nc6 8.Qf4 Na5 9.Bd5 (a cute idea, trying to save the bishop) 9…Ne8 10.Bf3 Nc6 11.Nd5 Bd6 12.Qd2 b6 13.Ne2 Nf6 14.Ne3 Re8 15.0–0 Bf8 16.c4 g6 17.b3 Bg7 18.Bb2 Bb7 White soon got a dominant position but he could not cash it in. Caruana,F (2782)-Giri,A (2734) Wijk aan Zee 2014 1/2 43.
6…Nc6 7.Nxe5 g6
An improvement over my earlier game against Jerlyn Mae San Diego. I won that one too after 7…Nxe5 8.Qxe5 0–0 9.0–0 (Better was 9.Nd5 Re8 10.0–0 Bg5 11.Qg3 h6 12.d4 White has the initiative) 9…Bf6 10.Qg3 Nf5 11.Qf4 d6 12.d3 Be6 13.Ne4 Be5 14.Qg5 Qxg5 15.Nxg5 Bxb3 16.axb3 Nd4 17.c3 Nxb3 18.Ra4 Nxc1 19.Rxc1 b5 20.Rh4 Black is just simply a pawn up. San Diego,J (1700)-Mendoza,S (2114) 0–1 60.
8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Qe5
Simply 9.Qf3 was better. Black now gets a chance to kick the white queen around a bit.
9…0–0 10.0–0 Bf6 11.Qf4 Re8 12.d3 Be5 13.Qf3 Qh4
Up to this position we were still in my preparation.
14.h3
[14.g3 Bg4 15.Qg2 Qh5 Black is clearly better]
14…h5
Black has the dangerous threat of Bg4.
15.Ne4 Bg4 16.Qe3 Bf5 <D>
POSITION AFTER 16…BF5
17.f4
I prefer 17.Qg5 to exchange queens and stop Black’s kingside attack.
17…Bg7 18.Qg3 Bd4+ 19.Kh2 Qxg3+ 20.Nxg3 h4 21.Nxf5
Preserving the knight is too cumbersome: 21.Nh1 Re2 22.c3 Bb6 23.d4 c5 24.Bd1 Re7 25.dxc5 Bxc5 26.Nf2 Rae8 27.Bd2 Nc4.
21…Nxf5 22.c3 Ng3! 23.Rd1 Bf2 24.Bd2 Re2 25.d4 Rae8³
Material is equal, white has the two bishops but Black is completely winning because of my domination of the e-file.
26.Bc4 Nf1+ 27.Rxf1
[27.Kh1?? Nxd2]
27…Rxd2 28.Rab1 b5!
White has to give up control of e2 and the other black rook will be sitting there soon.
29.Bb3 Ree2
My next threat is Bg3+ followed by Rxg2.
30.Rfd1 Bg3+ 31.Kh1 Rxg2 32.Rxd2 Rxd2 33.f5 gxf5 34.Bd1 Rf2 35.Bh5 f4 36.Kg1 f3 37.Rd1 Rg2+ 38.Kf1 Rh2 39.Kg1 f2+ 40.Kf1 Rh1+ 41.Kg2 Re1 0–1

Mendoza, Shania Mae (2114) — Bernales, Christy Lamiel (2045) [C14]
PHI-Ch Grand Finals (women) Makati (1), 10.06.2018
[Shania Mae Mendoza]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4
The Alekhine-Chatard Attack of the French Defense.
6…h6
Oops! This is the old way they used to decline the gambit. Now I am on my own because I expected the modern 6…c5 7.Bxe7 Kxe7 and now I can play either (7…Qxe7? is a mistake because after 8.Nb5 Black is in trouble) 8.Nf3 or 8.f4.
If she had accepted the gambit then 6…Bxg5 7.hxg5 Qxg5 8.Qd3!? (I believe this is an improvement over the older 8.Nh3) 8…g6 9.Nf3 Qe7 10.0–0–0 a6 11.Qe3! c5 12.dxc5 Qxc5 (Take note that 12…Nxc5? is refuted by 13.Rxd5! exd5 14.Nxd5 Qf8 15.Nc7+ Kd8 16.Nxa8 White has a decisive advantage) 13.Qf4! Nc6 (13…Qxf2? 14.Rd4! Black is going to lose his queen to Nd1) 14.Bd3 White has more than enough compensation for the pawn with his attacking potential. In the stem game Grischuk,A (2702)-Brynell,S (2508) Luebeck GER 2002 Black could only last until the 22nd move.
7.Be3
I am not sure but I vaguely recalled that this is a good move in answer to 6..h6. The alternative 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.Qg4 looks good but after 8…0–0 9.Nf3 c5! This move is an effective demonstration of what White’s weakness is — without the f-pawn being on f4, I would not be able to maintain my d4/e5 pawn center. Sawlin,L (2258)-Hovhanisian,M (2499) Berlin GER 2015 0–1 19.
7…0–0
Let me show you another game with a recurring theme. 7…c5 8.Qg4 g6 9.Nf3 cxd4 10.Bxd4 Nc6 11.0–0–0 Nxd4 12.Rxd4 a6!? 13.Bd3 Qc7 14.Re1 Rg8 15.Qf4 Bc5? 16.Rxd5! (the same shot as in the note to Black’s 6th move. If you want to play the Alekhine-Chatard, this is one of the attacking themes that you must master) 16…exd5 17.Nxd5 Qb8 18.Qxh6 Bf8 19.Qe3 Qa7 20.Qg5 Qc5 21.e6 fxe6 22.Bxg6+ Rxg6 23.Qxg6+ Kd8 24.Qxe6 Bh6+ 25.Kb1 Qf8 26.Ne5 Nxe5 27.Qxe5 1–0. Kogan,A (2548)-Gleizerov,E (2590), Alghero ITA 2011.
8.Qg4 Kh8 9.Bd3
Mixed up my lines here. I was calculating 9.Nf3 f5 10.exf6 Nxf6 11.Qg6 Qe8 12.Ne5! Kg8 13.Bxh6 Qxg6 14.Nxg6 gxh6 15.Nxe7+ Kf7 16.Nxc8 Rxc8 17.0–0–0 where White is a clear pawn up with a superior position. And then suddenly I played 9.Bd3. Don’t know why.
9…f5 10.exf6?
Helping Black’s development.
10…Nxf6 11.Qe2 c5 12.Nf3 cxd4
Maybe 12…Nc6 is better.
13.Bxd4 Nc6 14.0–0–0 Bd7 15.Kb1 Rc8 16.Be5 Qa5 17.h5 Ba3?
I prefer 17…Ng4 18.Bg3 Bf6 all of her pieces are active and bearing down on the queenside.
18.Nb5 Nxe5
I was hoping for 18…Bc5 19.Nh4 Nxe5 20.Qxe5 Bxb5 21.Ng6+ Kg8 22.Qxe6+ Kh7 23.Nxf8+ Kh8 24.Ng6+ Kh7 25.Qxc8 White has a mating attack.
19.Nxe5
No mating attack here but White is winning because of the double attack on d7 and g6.
19…Bxb2 20.Kxb2 Ne4 21.Ng6+ Kg8 22.Bxe4 Qb4+ 23.Ka1 Bxb5 24.Qe1 Qa4?
A serious mistake. The only way to continue fighting was 24…Qxe4.
25.Bd3 Bxd3 26.Qxe6+ Kh7 27.Nxf8+ Rxf8 28.Rxd3 Qxc2 29.Qxd5 Qxf2 30.Rhd1 Qf6+ 31.Qd4 Qc6 32.Rg3 1–0
As the BW reader may have noticed, WIM Shania Mae Mendoza is a gifted annotator.
 
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant, he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
bobby@cpamd.net

Lakers’ Stephenson

Lance Stephenson cannot but be used to rejection by now. Heading into the 2018 offseason, he had already suited up for seven franchises over eight years; underscoring the extent of his journeyman status, he had, for instance, three addresses for his 2015-2016 campaign, and another four the next. Considering his history of moving, it was hardly any surprise to see him departing after a second stint with the Pacers. He was job hunting once again, and he expressed confidence he would be sporting new colors soon. After all, his problem wasn’t getting new digs; it was staying there.
True enough, free agent lasted all of one day for Stephenson before he got a call. For all his eccentricities, he can flat-out play; not for nothing was he formerly Mr. New York Basketball, a certified McDonald’s All-American, and Rookie of the Year in the Big East before jumping to the pros. The surprise wasn’t that he latched on to work fast. It was that he did so with the Lakers, who had just bagged the catch of a lifetime in LeBron James, by all appearances not quite a fan of his.
To say Stephenson and James have had a contentious shared history would be to grossly overstate the former’s significance as a foil to the latter. Nonetheless, their brushes on the court are nothing if not remarkable; one is a decided pest — from brandishing a choke sign to blowing in an ear to touching the mouth to faking a kiss — in the other’s march to greatness. That he would then garner an invite to the Lakers is a moderate surprise. That the invite would come from the target of his antics is a genuine shocker.
Even Stephenson himself is aware of the seeming incongruity. In a conference call yesterday, he described the development as “funny.” And as if to highlight that he had yet to fully grasp the situation, he used “actually” twice in one rambling sentence that included mixed tenses. Naturally, he couldn’t help but indicate that he was wooed by, in his words, “one of the best players to play the game… Him reaching out and showing that he liked what I bring to the game is amazing.” Well, maybe not all; James can certainly do without the tomfoolery.
At this point, it’s anybody’s guess how much help Stephenson can give the Lakers. His contract is a modest $4.5 million that runs through the 2018-2019 season, and among his roles, based on what he said head coach Luke Walton told him, is to “be myself.” Needless to say, fans are hoping he means “be my best self” as opposed to “be the best of myself.”
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

CIC expects to post single-digit growth this year

Concepcion Industrial Corp. (CIC) is looking at a single-digit growth in both earnings and revenues for the year, calling 2018 an “even more challenging year than 2017” due to inflationary pressures and the weakening peso.
“I think economy-wise, it will be even more challenging, with the full effect basically of inflation going up, continued peso devaluation,” CIC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Raul Joseph A. Concepcion told reporters after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Makati City on Wednesday, July 11.
Mr. Concepcion noted that higher inflation—which accelerated to a fresh five-year high of 5.2% in the month of June— may affect consumer spending over the near future.
“But as a company we still look at single-digit growth,” he said. — Arra B. Francia

Primex starts construction of P3.6-billion Greenhills office tower

Primex Corp. started the construction of its P3.6-billion office tower in San Juan City on Wednesday, July 11, banking on its prime location to drive demand for tenants.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the listed property developer said it has broken ground for the Primex Tower, a 50-storey office project that stands on a 1,944-square meter lot in the corner of EDSA, Connecticut Street, and Florida Street at the Greenhills commercial district.
Primex Tower will offer around 41,000 square meters (sq.m.) of leasable spaces with a cut of 200- to 300 sq.m each. Offices will be spread out across 37 floors, while 12 floors will be allotted for above-ground and basement parking.
The project—envisioned to be the tallest one in the city—is expected to be completed in the next four to five years. Primex’ subsidiary Primex Realty Corp. will take over its development.
“With the project, the company is looking to take advantage of increasing demand in the office and hotel sectors,” Primex Chairman and President Ernesto O. Ang was quoted as saying in a statement. — Arra B. Francia

SSS reports earning P1.31 billion from loan restructuring program

The Social Security System (SSS) earned P1.31 billion from the three months of implementation of the loan restructuring program (LRP).
In a statement Wednesday, July 11, the state pension fund said the LRP, which was offered starting April 2, has condoned more than P3.35 billion worth of penalties from 200,960 members until end-June.
In turn, SSS has earned about P1.31 billion from the first three months of the second LRP implementation.
“LRP is serving its purpose of providing immense financial relief to our members by giving them the opportunity to clean up their loan records,” SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel F. Dooc was quoted in the statement.
“I’m encouraging all member-borrowers with past-due short-term loans to avail of the program on or before October 1.”
Members who wish to avail the LRP must be residing or working in a calamity-stricken area declared by the government.
The program covers all member-borrowers who have past due loans such as Salary Loan, Emergency Loan, Educational Loan (old) and Study Now Pay Later Plan among others. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

DPWH: Construction of two China-funded bridges along Pasig River to begin next week

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to begin the construction of two China-funded bridges along Pasig River by next week.
DPWH Secretary Mark A. Villar told reporters during an inspection of the site on Wednesday the groundbreaking for the Binondo-Intramuros and Estrella-Pantaleon bridges will be in a week.
“Next week we will be groundbreaking kasama si Pangulo [with President Rodrigo R. Duterte]. After groundbreaking, tuloy tuloy na po ang construction [After groundbreaking, construction will commence],” he said.
Mr. Villar said construction of the two four-lane bridges is priced at about $70 million.
“The two China Grant-Aid Bridges are financed by the People’s Republic of China through a bilateral cooperation with the Republic of the Philippines,” DPWH said in a statement.
The DPWH has set a two-year construction period for the project. After which, it will be opened to service motorists along Binondo and Intramuros.– Denise A. Valdez

Most Filipinos still don't have bank accounts: BSP report says

Majority of Filipinos still do not have bank accounts as of 2017, a new report from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.

Of the reasons cited in the report, the BSP found that most Filipinos failed to meet the required minimum balance to open a bank account.

Results of the 2017 Financial Inclusion Survey showed that 22.6% or some 15.8 million Filipino adults maintained deposit accounts. The figure improved from 22% in 2015, but meant that 52.8 million adults still did not have accounts in formal financial institutions.

The report found that, among account holders, the top use case for these accounts is saving for emergency (42%) followed by saving for education (31%) and for business (29%).
The BSP found that accounts are still underutilized for payment and remittance transactions, with only 18% of account holders receiving salaries, 12% sending or receiving money, and 6% receiving pension through their accounts. — Melissa Luz T. Lopez

U.N. aid chief says "clear evidence of humanitarian need" in North Korea

There is “very clear evidence of humanitarian need” in North Korea, the top U.N. aid official has said during the first visit of its kind to the isolated country since 2011.
U.N. Humanitarian Chief Mark Lowcock arrived in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on Monday, and posted a video online late on Tuesday outlining his observations after travelling to several areas in the southwest of the country.
“One of the things we’ve seen is very clear evidence of humanitarian need here,” he said in the video, posted to his official Twitter account and the U.N. website.
“More than half the children in rural areas, including the places we’ve been, have no clean water, contaminated water sources.”
Although humanitarian supplies or operations are exempt under U.N. Security Council resolutions, U.N. officials have warned that international sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes are exacerbating humanitarian problems by slowing aid deliveries.
About 20 percent of children in North Korea suffer from malnutrition, highlighting the need for more funding for humanitarian aid, Lowcock said.
Access for humanitarian workers was improving, he said without elaborating, but he noted that funding was falling short.
The United Nations says it had to stop nutrition support for kindergartens in North Korea in November because of a lack of funds, and its “2018 Needs and Priorities Plan” for North Korea is 90 percent underfunded.
While visiting a hospital that is not supported by the United Nations, Lowcock said there were 140 tuberculosis patients but only enough drugs to treat 40 of them.
More than 10 million people, some 40 percent of the population of North Korea, need humanitarian assistance, the United Nations said in a statement.
Lowcock was due to meet government officials, humanitarian agency representatives and people receiving assistance to get a better understanding of the humanitarian situation, the United Nations said. — Reuters

Shanghai to speed up efforts to cancel foreign investment curbs in auto making

Shanghai will accelerate efforts to cancel restrictions on foreign investment in the auto manufacturing sector, a government official said on Wednesday, a day after Tesla said it would build an auto plant in the city.
Huang Ou, the deputy director of Shanghai Commission of Economy and Information Technology, told reporters at a press conference that the government was also still working on how it could support the Tesla project.
Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk on Tuesday landed a deal with Chinese authorities to build a new and wholly-owned auto plant in Shanghai, its first factory outside the United States, that would double the size of the electric car maker’s global manufacturing. — Reuters

Illegal ivory openly sold across Europe: study

Traders are selling illegal ivory openly across the European Union through a loophole allowing trade in “antique” items, the campaign group Avaaz charged Tuesday.
Avaaz said nearly all of the 109 ivory pieces it bought in 10 EU countries were found to be illegal after they were tested at Britain’s Oxford University.
It said one-fifth of the items came from elephants killed after the global ivory trade was banned in 1989 and three quarters from animals slaughtered after 1947.
EU law requires government certificates for the sale of ivory acquired after 1947 and before 1990, but Avaaz said none of the ivory it bought had a certificate.
“This bombshell evidence proves beyond doubt that illegal ivory is being sold across Europe,” Avaaz campaign director Bert Wander said in a statement.
“It must spark the end of this bloody trade. Every day the sale of these trinkets continues is a day closer to wiping out majestic elephants forever,” Wander added.
Avaaz bought the items over a four-month period from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Britain.
It said the study counters claims by the European Commission, the 28-nation EU’s executive arm, that there was no evidence of illegal ivory being sold.
The new evidence, it added, puts pressure on the EU to ban the trade outright because so many pieces are being passed off as “antique” ivory from elephants killed before 1947, which is legal.
The most recent ivory tested by Oxford’s radio-carbon dating unit was from after 2010, Avaaz said.
“The Commission should close the antique ivory loophole, end ivory exports from Europe and shut down the EU’s internal trade in raw tusks,” Avaaz said.
“This is the only way it can preserve its status as a leader in fighting the wildlife trade and protecting African elephants,” it added.
The EU’s environment commissioner Karmenu Vella ‏pledged to look into the claims after visiting Avaaz’s exhibition of illegal ivory outside the Commission in Brussels.
The work is a “very helpful contribution for @EU_Commission as we go through process of planning our next steps,” Vella tweeted. “Protecting living elephants the priority.”
Avaaz said China, Hong Kong and Britain have all implemented or announced ivory bans over the last year.
It said as many as 30,000 elephants are slaughtered each year, warning the animals could be extinct in the wild within decades if not enough action is taken. — AFP

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