Icetruck

By Bethan Staton, News Reporter

Donald Trump's Twitter account was deactivated by a company employee and was down for 11 minutes before it was restored, Twitter said.

Twitter blamed a customer-support employee "who did this on the employee's last day".

The internet was seized by a brief spell of panic just before 11pm on Thursday, when the US President's account disappeared suddenly and without explanation.

Mr Trump has 41.7 million followers on Twitter and makes extensive use of it for everything from promoting his policies to attacking his opponents.

While the account was down, a search for @realDonaldTrump returned only a blue background and the line "sorry that page does not exist".

One of the best moments over the past 9 months. Trump’s twitter shut down briefly by a twitter employee on their last day. Hero. pic.twitter.com/ttUedPkbNM

— Mohamed Hemish (@MohamedHemish) 3 November 2017

The sight sent those who witnessed it into a frenzy of disbelief. Many were overjoyed at the disappearance of one of the platform's most powerful and prolific accounts; others furious at the deactivation.

@jack I need to very seriously tell you that the 70 seconds that Trump's twitter account went away were the happiest 70 seconds of my year.

— Cabel Sasser (@cabel) 2 November 2017

Those few precious minutes were like when Andy played the opera record over the Shawshank PA system.

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) 2 November 2017

Those seeking an explanation suggested the account had been hacked, or perhaps even suspended by Twitter.

But before long the President's account returned, without fanfare and as mysteriously it had disappeared.

Twitter quickly responded to the incident, tweeting at first that the account had been inadvertently deactivated due to human error and was being investigated.

Its explanation was soon changed, however, with a second tweet announcing the deactivation had been carried out "by a Twitter customer-support employee who did this on the employee's last day".

Earlier today @realdonaldtrump’s account was inadvertently deactivated due to human error by a Twitter employee. The account was down for 11 minutes, and has since been restored. We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.

— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) 3 November 2017

Through our investigation we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review. https://t.co/mlarOgiaRF

— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) 3 November 2017

Many users responded with glee to the news, praising the unknown former employee as a hero.

Folk hero. Songs should be written about this person.

— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) 3 November 2017

Others, however, judged the deletion an affront to the principles of free speech, or expressed concern that a customer-service employee was apparently able to delete whole accounts at their whim.

It is shocking that some random Twitter employee could shut down the president's account. What if they instead had tweeted fake messages?

— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) 3 November 2017

As the rest of the world struggled to come to terms with the brief absence and swift return of his account, however, Mr Trump seamlessly returned to his usual Twitter form.

In the hours following his short departure The President tweeted zealously about a tax cut roll out, alleged violations of campaign finance laws and James Comey's leadership, as well as promoting an interview with Fox News.

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Source – News.sky.com

By Bethan Staton, News Reporter

Twitter has blamed Donald Trump's disappearance from the platform on a rogue employee who deleted the President's account on their last day of work.

The internet was seized by a brief spell of panic just before 11pm on Thursday, when the US President's Twitter account disappeared suddenly and without explanation.

For eleven exhilarating minutes, a search for @realDonaldTrump returned only a blue background and the line "sorry that page does not exist".

One of the best moments over the past 9 months. Trump’s twitter shut down briefly by a twitter employee on their last day. Hero. pic.twitter.com/ttUedPkbNM

— Mohamed Hemish (@MohamedHemish) 3 November 2017

The sight sent those who witnessed it into a frenzy of disbelief. Many were overjoyed at the disappearance of one of the platform's most powerful and prolific accounts; others furious at the deactivation.

@jack I need to very seriously tell you that the 70 seconds that Trump's twitter account went away were the happiest 70 seconds of my year.

— Cabel Sasser (@cabel) 2 November 2017

Those few precious minutes were like when Andy played the opera record over the Shawshank PA system.

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) 2 November 2017

Those seeking an explanation suggested the account had been hacked, or perhaps even suspended by Twitter.

But before the population could fully comprehend the enormity of its absence the President's account returned, without fanfare and as mysteriously it had disappeared.

Twitter quickly responded to the incident, tweeting at first that the account had been inadvertently deactivated due to human error and was being investigated.

Its explanation was soon changed, however, with a second tweet announcing the deactivation had been carried out "by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee's last day

Earlier today @realdonaldtrump’s account was inadvertently deactivated due to human error by a Twitter employee. The account was down for 11 minutes, and has since been restored. We are continuing to investigate and are taking steps to prevent this from happening again.

— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) 3 November 2017

Through our investigation we have learned that this was done by a Twitter customer support employee who did this on the employee’s last day. We are conducting a full internal review. https://t.co/mlarOgiaRF

— Twitter Government (@TwitterGov) 3 November 2017

Many users responded with glee to the news, praising the unknown former employee as a hero.

Folk hero. Songs should be written about this person.

— Shannon Coulter (@shannoncoulter) 3 November 2017

Others, however, judged the deletion an affront to the principles of free speech, or expressed concern that a customer service employee was apparently able to delete whole twitter accounts at their whim.

It is shocking that some random Twitter employee could shut down the president's account. What if they instead had tweeted fake messages?

— Blake Hounshell (@blakehounshell) 3 November 2017

As the rest of the world struggled to come to terms with the brief absence and swift return of his account, however, Mr Trump seamlessly returned to his usual Twitter form.

In the hours following his short departure The President tweeted zealously about a tax cut roll out, alleged violations of campaign finance laws and James Comey's leadership, as well as promoting an interview with Fox News.

More top stories

• Previous article Labour suspend veteran MP over 'allegations'
• Next article Ambulance delays at A&E 'more than double'

Source – News.sky.com

Drones become crime-fighting tool, but perfection is elusive

The armed robbery suspect hiding out in a camper in rural Michigan heard state troopers closing in, so he dashed into a field and crouched among the 6-foot-tall cornstalks. What he didn't know was that police had eyes on him from above.

Drones are fast becoming an essential tool for more law enforcement agencies, changing how officers carry out everyday tasks and bringing air surveillance to departments with limited budgets.

The remote-controlled flying machines have been deployed to bust up a ring stealing bulldozers and backhoes from construction sites on the East Coast; to patrol beaches for sharks; and to scan neighborhoods for survivors in hurricane zones.

But there are obstacles to overcome before drones can change policing like two-way radios did following World War II. The limitations aren't just with their small size and battery life; federal regulations restrict how far they can go; and police face questions about how they plan to use the surveillance technology.

The number of police, sheriff, fire and emergency agencies with drones doubled in 2016, with nearly 350 departments having them as of last year, according to a study released this past spring by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York.

Almost half were in places with fewer than 50,000 people, the study found. "For a lot of small, rural departments, it is a big change," said Arthur Holland Michel, co-director of the center.

Drones allow police to do things that they never did even with helicopters, from working with arson investigators to measuring skid marks at car crashes, significantly cutting the time drivers spend waiting for roads to clear.

Their greatest appeal for authorities, though, is cost. A drone with an infrared camera can be had for less than $20,000, while a police helicopter can cost well over $1 million.

"It's very affordable for even small departments like ours to be able to do it; that was the kicker," said Darin Powers, police chief in Streetsboro, a city of 16,000 near Cleveland.

What shouldn't be compared are the capabilities of a drone and a helicopter, said Sgt. Matt Rogers, who started a drone program in 2014 with the Michigan State Police.

The agency sent up a drone in June during flooding in central Michigan to figure out what areas needed to be evacuated, and the capture of the wanted felon in the cornfield a year ago saved troopers from spending hours blindly searching for the suspect while not knowing whether he had a gun.

"It gives the investigators a great advantage that they never had before," Rogers said. "I think every chief in the U.S. wants one of these things, but it does not replace a manned aircraft."

Drones can't hoist someone to safety or transport officers, for example. And with a battery that allows them to fly for only 15 to 45 minutes, they aren't suited for long surveillance operations.

Another pressing worry is about privacy.

About a third of states require police to get a warrant before using drones in a criminal investigation. Others, including Massachusetts, are weighing whether to do the same. In Los Angeles, police in early October outlined guidelines limiting when it can fly drones in attempt to appease those who fear officers will be spying on residents.

The biggest barrier, drone pilots say, is a Federal Aviation Administration rule that prohibits them from losing sight of their drones while flying. That means no chasing a suspect on the run or searching miles upon miles — unless they get creative.

Authorities flying a drone in eastern Virginia's York County got around the FAA rule by climbing a firetruck ladder so they could still see the machine while searching for suspects who went deep into woods near a shopping area.

"You've got to think outside the box with these things," said Maj. Ron Montgomery, of the sheriff's office. "You're only limited by your imagination."

Figuring out how to keep them in the air longer and improving safety systems that will allow drones to fly beyond the operator's view will be one of the next big steps.

Jared Hogge, Lockheed Martin Corp.'s project manager for Indago, a 5-pound (2-kilogram) drone that can fit in the back of a patrol car, said many of the ideas for what's next are coming from officers flying the drones.

"We're at the beginning of learning how and when these systems are going to be used," he said.

———

Associated Press writer Dake Kang in Streetsboro contributed to this report.

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Source – abcnews.go.com

Former Democratic chief: Clinton 'took control' of party

The Democratic Party's ex-interim chief has accused Hillary Clinton of seizing control of the party in exchange for funding during the 2016 campaign.

Donna Brazile alleges in her new book that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) signed a deal with Clinton's team to keep the party financially afloat.

In exchange, the Clinton campaign would control the DNC's "finances, strategy and all the money raised", she said.

She claimed the deal showed favouritism toward Mrs Clinton over Bernie Sanders.

The DNC was meant to be neutral in the contest between Mrs Clinton and her Democratic primary season challenger, Mr Sanders.

Supporters of Mr Sanders have long insisted that the DNC was biased against him.

But Mr Sanders' 2016 campaign also signed its own joint fundraising agreement with the DNC.

In excerpts from Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House, published by Politico magazine, Ms Brazile wrote that Mrs Clinton's "campaign had the DNC on life support, giving it money every month to meet its basic expenses".

"The funding arrangement was not illegal but it sure looked unethical," she added.

"This was not a criminal act, but as I saw it, it compromised the party's integrity."

Ms Brazile came under fire last year after the anti-secrecy website released hacked DNC emails that revealed she had notified the Clinton campaign in advance of a question she would be asked at a town hall-style event hosted by CNN.

• 18 revelations from Wikileaks' hacked Clinton emails

Pulling the purse strings

Analysis by Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington

Former acting Democratic National Committee head Donna Brazile just confirmed the worst suspicions of many Bernie Sanders supporters.

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, she says, had effective control over the DNC before any ballots were cast in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries. Starting in August 2015, the Clinton team controlled the committee's "finances, strategy and all the money raised".

It had say over staff hiring and veto power over press releases and mailings.

This is not, as some have argued, proof that the primary process was "rigged" against the Vermont senator, who finished a surprisingly strong second to (but still millions of votes behind) Hillary Clinton when the primaries had concluded.

Ms Brazile searched, but could find no evidence of tampering, of tilting or of twisting. But it's also clear, if the long-time Democratic operative is to be believed, that the Democratic committee was tied at the hip to the Clinton forces – a set-up that occupies ethically questionable ground.

A reckoning is coming, and the blame does not rest solely at Mrs Clinton's feet either.

Her campaign gained control and influence over the Democratic committee in large part because the Democrats were deeply in debt and their operation was ineffective – a condition that developed in large part because Barack Obama allowed it to happen.

Over the course of his presidency, he has been accused of neglecting the party's infrastructure, allowing atrophy at the state and local level, and leading to massive down-ballot defeats during mid-term on his watch.

As the top Democratic officeholder, it was the president's responsibility to ensure Democratic vitality – and the record, at the ballot box and in party coffers, paints a dismal picture.

Ms Brazile also has her own reputation to mend, as Russia-sponsored DNC email hacks showed she once shared Democratic town hall questions with Clinton staff in advance.

Her disclosures may be as much about rehabilitating her reputation as they are about exposing misdeeds or selling books.

• What Happened: The long list of who Hillary Clinton blames

These revelations will only exacerbate the fault lines that have formed within the Democratic Party between more moderate officeholders and the populist, pro-Bernie legions. It goes without saying, as well, that Donald Trump will at some point latch onto the story and do his best to sow discord in the ranks of his opponents.

As the midterm elections loom just a year away, Democrats need to present a united front if they want to rebound from 2016 disappointment and capitalise on poll numbers that show widespread dissatisfaction with the Trump presidency.

On Thursday they took a big step backward.

US President Donald Trump weighed in on Ms Brazile's accusations late on Thursday, saying in a tweet she had "stated the DNC RIGGED the system" to tip the Democratic nomination in Mrs Clinton's favour.

However, Ms Brazile never said that Mrs Clinton "rigged" the system.

Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump

Donna Brazile just stated the DNC RIGGED the system to illegally steal the Primary from Bernie Sanders. Bought and paid for by Crooked H….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017

Report

End of Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump

Skip Twitter post 2 by @realDonaldTrump

….This is real collusion and dishonesty. Major violation of Campaign Finance Laws and Money Laundering – where is our Justice Department?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 3, 2017

Report

End of Twitter post 2 by @realDonaldTrump

Source – bbc.com

US rate for gun deaths increases for second straight year

The U.S. rate for gun deaths has increased for the second straight year, following 15 years of no real change, a government report shows.

Roughly two-thirds of gun deaths are suicides and those have been increasing for about 10 years. Until recently, that has been offset by a decline in people shot dead by others. But there's been a recent upswing in those gun-related homicides, too, some experts said.

Overall, the firearm death rate rose to 12 deaths per 100,000 people last year, up from 11 in 2015, according to the report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Before that, the rate had hovered just above 10 — a level it had fallen to in the late 1990s.

In the early 90s, it was as high as 15 per 100,000 people.

In the past two years, sharp homicide increases in Chicago and other places that have been large enough to elevate the national statistics. According to the FBI's raw numbers, the tally of U.S. homicides involving guns rose to nearly 11,000 last year, from about 9,600 the year before.

Overall, there were more than 38,000 gun deaths last year, according to the CDC. That's up from about 36,000 in 2015, and around 33,500 each year between 2011 and 2014.

The latest CDC report means the nation is approaching two decades since there's been any substantial improvement in the rate of gun deaths, said Dr. Garen Wintemute, a prominent gun violence researcher at the University of California, Davis.

The rate for the first three months of this year was about what it was for the same period last year. Hopefully, it's a sign it will level off again, Wintemute said.

Most gun deaths tend to happen in warm weather so it's too early to know what is happening this year, said Bob Anderson, the CDC's chief of mortality statistics.

The CDC also reported a continued increase in the death rate from drug overdoses, which hit 20 per 100,000 last year, up from 16 the year before. Heroin and other opioids are driving the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history.

———

Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs

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Source – abcnews.go.com

US energy chief: Fossil fuels may prevent sexual assault

US Energy Secretary Rick Perry has said an increase in the use of fossil fuels in Africa may prevent sexual assault.

Speaking in Washington, he said "from the standpoint of sexual assault" light would shine "righteousness…on those types of acts".

Mr Perry also said electricity would stop people from reading by the light of fires, which have toxic fumes.

His comments have been criticised, with one environmental group describing them as "blatantly untrue".

Mr Perry, a known climate change sceptic, said on Thursday: "From the standpoint of sexual assault. When the lights are on, when you have light that shines, the righteousness, if you will, on those types of acts".

"So from the standpoint of how you really affect people's lives, fossil fuels is [sic] going to play a role in that", he added.

Mr Perry was discussing a recent trip to Africa at an event hosted by NBC News and Axios. He told journalists that he had met a young girl who said she read by the light of a fire.

"A young girl told me to my face, one of the reasons electricity is so important to me is not only because I'm not going to have to try and read by the light of a fire and have those fumes literally killing people", he said.

• US official duped by Russian hoaxers
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A spokeswoman for the Department of Energy told The Hill, a political news website, that the comments were intended to highlight the ways electricity will improve the lives of people in Africa.

"The secretary was making the important point that while many Americans take electricity for granted there are people in other countries who are impacted by their lack of electricity," Shaylyn Hynes said.

'Resign immediately'

The comments have been criticised by environmental groups. The Sierra Club, which supports wind and solar power, described them as "blatantly untrue".

The group's director, Michael Brune, said in a statement: "To suggest that fossil fuel development will decrease sexual assault is not only blatantly untrue, it is an inexcusable attempt to minimise a serious and pervasive issue."

"Rick Perry's attempt to exploit this struggle to justify further dangerous fossil fuel development is unacceptable. He should resign from his position immediately before he causes any more damage."

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Mr Perry, a former governor of Texas, became known for gaffes made during his 2012 bid for the US presidency.

He dropped out of the race after famously failing to recall the name of the agency he now heads, which he said he would abolish if elected.

As energy secretary, in July this year he was duped by Russian pranksters who made him believe he was speaking to the Ukrainian prime minister.

Source – bbc.com

Pakistan's ex-PM Nawaz Sharif to face corruption trial

Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif is due to appear in court in connection with two cases of alleged corruption.

He and some of his family members are facing charges relating to their ownership of properties in London.

They deny any wrongdoing, while their supporters say the cases are a political vendetta.

Mr Sharif, aged 67, resigned as prime minister in July after the country's Supreme Court disqualified him over undeclared income.

The court also ordered the National Accountability Bureau to investigate and conduct a trial into the Sharif family's wider finances.

Mr Sharif returned to Pakistan from London on Thursday after weeks of speculation. He had been staying in the UK capital while his wife underwent cancer treatment.

His first court appearance will be keenly watched both in Pakistan and abroad, the BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan says.

Last month, the court issued bailable arrest warrants after Mr Sharif failed to show up for previous hearings.

• Nawaz Sharif's Panamagate explained
• How a font exposed 'fake' documents
• Profile: Nawaz Sharif

What are the allegations?

They stem from the 2016 Panama Papers dump linking Mr Sharif's children to offshore companies.

They revealed that three of them owned offshore companies and assets not shown on his family's wealth statement.

The companies were allegedly used to channel funds to acquire foreign assets, including some apartments along Park Lane in London's Mayfair area.

Despite documents from the Panama Papers suggesting that the beneficial owner of the luxury central London flats was Mr Sharif's daughter Maryam, she later claimed that she was only a trustee – and that it was her brother who was the beneficial owner.

To prove her point, Maryam Nawaz produced a trust deed signed by both her and her brother dated February 2006.

But a British forensic expert later said the document was "fake" or had been "falsified" because it was typed in the Calibri font, which was not commercially available until 2007.

The insinuation that the offshore companies were meant to hide or launder ill-gotten wealth or to avoid taxes called Mr Sharif's credentials into question.

• Sharif's son defends offshore companies

Mr Sharif, who in July was serving as prime minister for a record third time, was less than a year away from becoming the first head of government in Pakistani history to complete a full term in office.

He held the office from November 1990 to July 1993 and from February 1997 until he was toppled in a bloodless coup in October 1999.

Source – bbc.com

China disputes Trump claim of 'flood' of fentanyl to US

A Chinese official is disputing President Donald Trump's claim that the deadly opioid fentanyl flooding the U.S. is mostly produced in China.

Wei Xiaojun, deputy director-general of the Narcotics Control Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, says China doesn't dispute that some fentanyl produced illicitly inside the country is contributing to America's opioid epidemic.

But Wei says there isn't sufficient evidence to show that the majority of fentanyl in the U.S. originates in China, based on information exchanged between the countries' anti-drug agencies.

Trump last month said the U.S. was stepping up measures to "hold back the flood of cheap and deadly fentanyl, a synthetic opioid manufactured in China and 50 times stronger than heroin."

Trump arrives in Beijing Tuesday and says he plans to make fentanyl a priority.

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Source – abcnews.go.com

Actress Paz de la Huerta claims Harvey Weinstein raped her twice

WATCH Harvey Weinstein sues the Weinstein Co.

New York Police Department detectives and the Manhattan District Attorney's office are investigating rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein brought by actress Paz de la Huerta, police sources told ABC News.

The NYPD had two active cases involving Weinstein and women whose accusations were not subject to the statute of limitations, ABC News reported earlier this week. Lucia Evans is one of the women. Paz de la Huerta is the other.

"Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein," his spokeswoman told ABC News in a statement.

NYPD has 2 open sexual assault cases against Harvey Weinstein Annabella Sciorra and Daryl Hannah join dozens making accusations against Harvey Weinstein

De la Huerta claims that in 2010 Weinstein gave her a ride home to her New York City apartment where he insisted they have drinks and then, she told police, he forced himself on her. She claims he did it again shortly thereafter.

“I was very traumatized,” the actress told Vanity Fair magazine. “I don’t think I was taking very good care of myself. What happened with Harvey left me scarred for many years. I felt so disgusted by it, with myself … I became a little self-destructive. It was really hard for me to deal, to cope.”

"A senior sex crimes prosecutor is assigned to this investigation, and the office has been working with our partners in the NYPD since the new allegations came to light," Manhattan D.A. spokeswoman Joan Vollero told ABC News. "As this is an active investigation, we will not be commenting further.”

In addition, the Los Angeles Police Department told Los Angeles ABC station KABC Thursday that a second person has come forward regarding Weinstein, alleging lewd conduct stemming from a 2015 incident. The Beverly Hills Police Department is also investigating the producer, as are British authorities.

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Frizzy-haired, smaller-headed orangutan may be new great ape

A remote population of frizzy-haired orangutans on the Indonesian island of Sumatra seems to be a new species of primate, scientists say.

But the purportedly newest member of the family tree of advanced animals that include humans may not be around much longer. Their numbers are so small, and their habitat so fragmented, that they are in danger of going extinct, say the scientists who studied them.

A study published Thursday in the journal Current Biology said there are no more than 800 of the primates, which researchers named Pongo tapanuliensis, making it the most endangered great ape species.

The researchers say the population is highly vulnerable and its habitat is facing further pressure from development.

"If steps are not taken quickly to reduce current and future threats to conserve every last remaining bit of forest we may see the discovery and extinction of a great ape species within our lifetime," they said.

It's the first great ape species to be described by scientists in nearly 90 years. Previously, science has recognized six great ape species: Sumatran and Bornean orangutans, eastern and western gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos. Some scientists also classify humans as great apes but others argue for a separate categorization.

The research is based on analysis of the skeleton of an adult male killed in a conflict with villagers, a genetic study indicating the population's evolutionary split from other orangutans occurred about 3.4 million years ago, and analysis since 2006 of behavioral and habitat differences.

The primates are confined to a range of about 1,100 square kilometers (425 square miles) in the Batang Toru forest in the Tapanuli districts of Northern Sumatra. Historically, the population had low levels of interbreeding with Sumatran orangutans further north but that completely ceased 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, according to the genetic study.

Aside from genetic evidence and the physical differences that include frizzier hair and a smaller head, other unique characteristics include diet, restriction of habitat to upland areas and the male's long call.

There is no standardized international system for recognition of new species, but to be taken seriously a discovery requires at least publication in a credible peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Primatologist Russell Mittermeier, head of the primate specialist group at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, called the finding a "remarkable discovery" that puts the onus on the Indonesian government to ensure the species survives.

Mittermeier, who was not one of the 37 authors of the study, said he was "very excited" by the research.

Last year, the IUCN classified Bornean orangutans as critically endangered due to a precipitous population decline caused by destruction of their forest habitat for palm oil and pulp wood plantations. Sumatran orangutans have been classified as critically endangered since 2008.

Matthew Nowak, one of the study's authors, said the Tapanuli orangutans live in three pockets of forest that are separated by non-protected areas.

"For the species to be viable into the future, those three fragments need to be reconnected via forest corridors," he said.

Additionally, the authors are recommending that development plans for the region including a hydropower plant be stopped by the government.

"It is imperative that all remaining forest be protected and that a local management body works to ensure the protection of the Batang Toru ecosystem," Novak said.

Wiratno, the director general of conservation of natural resources and ecosystems at Indonesia's Forestry and Environment Ministry, told a news conference in Jakarta that most of Batang Toru forest was designated as protected in December 2015.

He said its management will be a priority and is a "great challenge."

"We are deeply committed to maintaining the survival of this species," said Wiratno, who uses one name.

The Batang Toru orangutan population was found during a field survey by researcher Erik Meijaard in 1997 and a research station was established in the area in 2006.

It was not until 2013, when the adult male skeleton became available, that scientists realized how unique the population was, which sparked the largest genomic study of wild orangutans ever carried out to provide further evidence of a third orangutan species.

———

Wright reported from Bangkok.

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Source – abcnews.go.com