Confiscated ivory from elephants killed more than 30 years ago has turned up in recent raids, say scientists.

The tusks were once part of a stockpile seized from poachers and held in sealed containers by the government of Burundi.

In this study, researchers used DNA and carbon dating techniques to show that some of that stored material is now in the hands of smugglers.

The government of Burundi has not responded to a BBC request for comment.

The authors say seizures should be destroyed and not stored.

Between 2007 and 2016 some 100,000 elephants were killed for their tusks in different parts of Africa.

The study examined samples from four major seizures made by law enforcement officials between 2017 and 2019.

Using techniques to measure the presence of an isotope called carbon-14, the researchers found that most of the captured ivory was from elephants killed within the previous three years.

However, ivory from one seizure was primarily from elephants killed more than 30 years ago.

Markings on these tusks indicated they came from a supposedly well-guarded stockpile held by the government of Burundi.

The trade in ivory has been banned since 1987 in Burundi, one of the world’s poorest countries. In 2004 scientists from wildlife trade experts, Traffic International, examined the stores which comprised almost 84 tonnes, made up of 15,000 tusks. Customs seals were then affixed to the seven containers holding the ivory.

A huge battery storage centre is planned for the site of a former power station in South Yorkshire.

The company behind the Thorpe Marsh scheme near Doncaster said it would store 2.8GW of electricity to be used at times of peak power demand.

Developers the Banks Group said it would be one of the largest energy storage facilities in the world and the UK’s biggest.

A public consultation is about to be launched in the local area.

The proposal would see up to 2.25 million tonnes of ash from the demolished former coal-fired power station excavated and used to make concrete blocks for the building trade.

After the ash is cleared the site would be levelled and more than 50 batteries in shipping containers installed with a new electricity substation.

A number of proposals for the Thorpe Marsh site have been put forward over the years since the power station shut in 1994, including building gas turbines.

Lewis Stokes, senior community relations manager at The Banks Group said the site’s existing connection to the National Grid and its closeness to wind farms of the Yorkshire coast made it “an excellent location for this project.”

“This is a nationally important project that will put South Yorkshire at the forefront of developments in the increasingly important energy storage industry,” he said.

“Our vision is to deliver a range of long-term environmental, energy security, employment, economic and community benefits through the reclamation and restoration of this landmark site while also supporting the UK’s drive towards its crucial net zero targets.”

The company said that it would restore the site’s rail link to avoid using lorries to remove the ash waste and bring in equipment and would plant a woodland on part of the site.

A planning application could be submitted to Doncaster Council in the coming months. If approved, Banks said they hoped to start work by 2024.

One of the longest ancient inscriptions ever discovered in Britain is to go on display for the first time.

Two sandstones were uncovered at Bainbridge in Wensleydale and record the Roman army’s construction of a fort on Brough Hill in the 3rd Century.

They were found in 1960 but have been in storage ever since as one weighs 600lbs (272kg) and had to be kept in a basement at the University of Leeds.

A new display has been set up at the university’s Michael Sadler building.

Dr Samuel Gartland, a lecturer in the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, said a crane had to be brought in to move them to their new location.

“The larger stone really is a superstar inscription, one of the longest and largest ever to be found in ancient Britain and unlikely to ever be surpassed as a record of the world of Roman Yorkshire,” he said.

“Appropriately enough for our launch during Black History Month, the stones tell of a period where Yorkshire came under the rule of the first African emperors of Rome, as well as the dynastic jostling and assassinations in the imperial family.”

The stones were initially built into the wall of a barracks building but they were later reused as foundations for a Roman road and spent much of the past 2,000 years upside down in a field.

When they were unearthed by archaeologists soldiers from the Royal Engineers were brought in to help transfer them to the university.

The university said the stones had attracted academic interest, with a team from the University of Glasgow hoping to scan them with specialist laser equipment to try to capture the original colours.

Translation Of Inscription

For the Emperor Caesar Lucius Septimius Severus Pius Pertinax Augustus, and for the Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix Augustus, and for Publius Septimius Geta most noble Caesar, in the consulship of Our [two] Lords the Emperor Antoninus for the second time and Geta Caesar [205]; the Sixth Cohort of Nervians which Lucius Vinicius Pius, prefect of the said cohort, commands, built [this] barrack-block, under the charge of Gaius Valerius Pudens, senator of consular rank

Building a windfarm off Guernsey’s coast could reduce bills and make millions of pounds through renewable energy, a report has found.

Reports into how solar, tidal and wind energy could benefit the economy were commissioned by 14 deputies.

They found excess energy could be sold to other jurisdictions, lowering bills and making significant profit.

Deputy Carl Meerveld said leasing sea beds for a windfarm could benefit the island financially and economically.

He said: “It could address all of our ambitions for zero carbon before 2050, it could generate tens or even into a hundred million plus pounds a year revenue reducing a need for tax increases.

“It could also provide us with low cost electricity, reducing fuel poverty and the cost of living for every resident in Guernsey.”

The report stated Guernsey needed to “place renewables as a central pillar of economic recovery”, and that “the cost of energy and carbon emissions will continue to rise for the island unless there is support for investment in renewables”.It also said leasing an area of seabed to an energy company could supply the island with up to 15 times more energy than it needed.

The group aims to put their proposals before the Committee of the Environment and Infrastructure and ask for the findings to be taken into consideration.

Archaeologists are hoping to leave a different type of mark on a remote Borders valley destroyed by an English army almost 500 years ago.

During a single day in 1545, a 15,000-strong force burned and pulled down more than a dozen strongholds in the Rule Valley.

Fields of corn and smaller settlements were also destroyed.

Archaeology Scotland is now excavating Bedrule Castle to improve understanding of the raid and its aftermath.

With a second spell at the rural site coming to an end this week, project manager Phil Richardson is happy with the finds and discoveries that have been made so far.

He said: “Our intention was to leave behind a much clearer picture of what was here and what happened, and I feel we are achieving that.”

From historical records, at least a dozen towers and castles along the winding Rule Valley were destroyed during a 10-hour raid on 16 September 1545.

Historians and archaeologists agree that Bedrule Castle was the largest of the buildings which came under attack during the raid.

Officially Islamic Republic Of Mauritania

President: Mohamed Ould Ghazouani

It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.

Area: 397,956 sq mi (1,030,700 sq km).

Population: (2022 est.) 4,371,000.

Capital: Nouakchott.

Languages: Arabic (official), Fula, Soninke, Wolof (all national)

Currency: Ouguiya

Mauritania is a republic with two legislative houses; its head of state and government is the president, assisted by the prime minister.

Most of Mauritania is made up of low-lying desert that forms the extreme western part of the Sahara.

Only a tiny fraction of its land is arable, but almost two-fifths is suitable for grazing, and the herding of goats, sheep, and camels occupies a significant portion of the largely nomadic population.

Oil, ocean fishing, and iron ore production are major sources of revenue.

Lake Togo is the largest part of an inland lagoon that is connected to the sea in the southern part of the small African Togolese Republic.

Separated by a narrow coastal strip from the Gulf of Guinea, the lake is shallow, which makes it quite attractive for water sports and it serves as a big tourist attraction in the country.

Being 15 km (9 mi) long and 6 km (4 mi) wide, it encompasses an area of about 64 square km (25 square mi), and with only about 45 minutes ride from the capital city Lomé, there are frequent visitors.

The water that feds Lake Togo is from the Sio River in the southwest, the Haho River which enters from the north, and various other smaller streams to the west and east.

The towns that prosper and can be found on the lake’s shores are Agbodrafo and Togoville, among the bigger ones, and definitely one of the most interesting ones.

Togoville is considered to be the center of the local voodoo cult, and as one visits the area, immediately it can be seen that there are displays of voodoo “fetishes”, not just in Togoville, but also the small villages around the city and the lake.

Offering plenty of boating opportunities to its visitors, the main transportation is carried out by a pirogue, which is a type of small boat with spikes that touch the bottom that “propel” the pirogue simply by hitting the bottom.

Nevertheless, the lake is also the food source for the locals, as carp, sole and turbot can be found in the waters, however, a historic event occurred on the shores, as on 5 July 1884, the explorer Gustav Nachtigal and the religious leader of Togoville signed what was once Togoland, better known as the German Protectorate of Togoland which existed until 1916.

Still, a little bit of history, a little bit of religion and more of fun activities for every single visitor, where certainly Lake Togo is definitely something worth visiting.