Malaysia marriage records search

The haul included about 1,800 boxes full of frozen pangolins stuffed inside three refrigerated containers, 572 more frozen pangolins in six freezers, 61 live pangolins in cages, and 361 kilograms (795 pounds) of pangolin scales, according to police. The Southeast Asian nation is battling to clamp down on rampant poaching and smuggling of pangolins, the world's most heavily trafficked mammal. The critically endangered creatures, also known as scaly anteaters, have long been targeted as their body parts are highly valued in traditional medicine in countries including China and Vietnam while their meat is considered a delicacy. Following a tip-off, wildlife officials in Sabah state raided a factory and a warehouse on Thursday, according to a statement from local police chief Omar Mammah. Police arrested a 35-year-old man suspected to have been in charge of the factory as part of an illegal syndicate. The operation is believed to have been running for the past seven years, and police … [Read more...] about Malaysia makes record 30-ton pangolin seizure

The teenager became the second wife of the 44-year-old in July after an Islamic court gave permission for the pair to wed in the conservative, rural state of Kelantan, local media reported. It was the latest such case in Malaysia -- there was widespread anger in June after the marriage of an 11-year-old Thai girl to a 41-year-old Malaysian rubber trader, who was also from Kelantan. While the legal minimum age for marriage in Malaysia is 16, members of the country's Muslim majority can wed at a younger age if religious authorities give approval. The United Nations on Wednesday put fresh pressure on the Muslim-majority country to halt such unions. "It's unacceptable that yet another child has got married to an elder man," said Marianne Clark-Hattingh, Malaysia representative of U.N. children's agency UNICEF, adding it was urgent to "bring legislative change to ban the practice". Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, whose portfolio includes women's issues, said that welfare … [Read more...] about New Malaysia child marriage draws UN condemnation

Authorities said Monday they believe the horns were being flown to Vietnam. Customs officials found the parts in cardboard boxes on August 13 in the cargo terminal of the capital's airport, said Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, head of Malaysia's wildlife department. The 50 rhino horns weighed 116 kilograms (256 pounds) and are worth about 50 million ringgit ($12 million), he told AFP, adding that the seizure was "the biggest ever in (Malaysia's) history in terms of the number of horns and value." Vietnam is a hot market for rhino horn, which is believed to have medicinal properties and is in high demand among the communist nation's growing middle class. Trade in rhino horn was banned globally in 1977 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), but illegal hunters have decimated rhino populations to sate rampant demand in East Asia. A single kilo of rhino horn can fetch tens of thousands of dollars in the region, where many falsely believe it … [Read more...] about Malaysia seizes record $12 mln rhino horn bound for Vietnam