Ivory Coast jail sentences for chimpanzee traffickers

Two men have been sentenced to six months in prison in the first case of wildlife trafficking brought in Ivory Coast.
An Ivorian government lawyer said the judgement "sends a signal" that animal trafficking is being taken seriously.
The men were arrested while trying to sell an infant chimp to a BBC reporter posing as the representative of a wealthy Asian buyer.
Chimpanzees are in such sharp decline they are listed as endangered.
Those in West Africa are judged to be critically endangered.
Since Ibrahima and Mohamed Traore have remained in prison since their detention last December, they are deemed to have already served their sentences and are therefore free. 


Infant chimpanzees are in huge demand as pets in homes and commercial zoos in the Gulf states and China.
The dealers were arrested in a dramatic raid staged by Ivorian detectives working with international police organisation Interpol, acting on information shared by BBC News.
During the operation, a baby chimpanzee later named Nemley junior was freed and taken into the care of wildlife officials.
After becoming used to the keepers at the zoo in Abidjan the baby chimpanzee showed signs of recovery.
However he has since become unwell with wildlife experts raising concerns for his future.
According to a local charity, although Nemley junior is feeding, he remains thin.
One major concern is that he is too small to join older chimps at the zoo but becomes stressed if kept on his own.
In the wild, baby chimpanzees usually stick close to their mothers for four to five years. 


The secret trade in baby chimps

A secret network of wildlife traffickers selling baby chimpanzees was exposed by a year-long BBC News investigation.
Nemley junior was seized by poachers who would have killed his parents and other members of his family.
During our investigation, Ibrahima Traore sent us videos of baby chimpanzees for sale, some were only a few months old.
He boasted of his ability to evade international export controls.
One technique, which he demonstrated in a video, was to hide a chimp in a secret compartment in a shipping case with other less rare animals, which can be legally exported, placed above it.
Another smuggling method that he outlined to us was to obtain forged or fake copies of international export permits.
These are issued under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) and are only supposed to be used for legitimate transfers between registered institutions.
During our investigation, Ibrahima sold us one of these permits, apparently issued by the National Parks department of Liberia.
"We are delighted that the first ever wildlife crime prosecution in Ivory Coast has resulted in a conviction, a custodial sentence and a fine," Cites secretary-general John Scanlon told the BBC.
He also commended the authorities in the Ivory Coast for pursuing the prosecution of the criminals, thereby sending an important message to the community that wildlife trafficking was a criminal offence.


Currently under Ivorian law, the maximum penalty for wildlife crime is one year in prison. A new law with tougher penalties is being prepared.
The lawyer acting for the Ivory Coast government, Mohamed Lamine Faye, said:
"Even if we would have liked a harsher sentence, we can only function within the limits of our laws on the protection of endangered animals, which date back to 1965."
He also pointed out that chimps were kept as pets by thousands of Ivorians, and the national and international trade is lucrative.
"In court the Traorés admitted they could receive $1,400 (£1,100) for a chimp. If they sell 10 in a year, that is more than enough to have a comfortable life," Mr Faye pointed out.

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During our investigation, we reported on the lack of funding for Interpol to act against people trafficking chimpanzees - their main priority now is fighting the trade in ivory and rhino horn.
Since our reports, which were picked up around the world, Interpol is now in addition focusing on chimp smuggling and recently brought together detectives and wildlife officials from half a dozen countries to share information and coordinate action. 

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Democrats say Dodd-Frank repeal is 'wrong choice'

Democrats are slamming a Republican bid to dismantle financial rules put in place after the 2008 crisis as the "wrong choice" for the country.
House Republicans approved a sweeping measure on Thursday that would ease rules on banks, weaken consumer protection and scrap federal bailouts for major financial institutions.
"Growth!" US President Donald Trump cheered in a tweet Friday morning.
But Democrats vowed to fight the bill, which few expect to advance further.
"It's fitting that @realDonaldTrump is celebrating a bill that will harm service members, seniors, and families #WrongChoiceAct," Nancy Pelosi, the leader of Democrats in the House, tweeted in reply.
Supporters say the bill, dubbed the Financial CHOICE Act, provides a simpler alternative to the oversight measures known as the Dodd-Frank Act, which passed in the wake of the financial crisis.
Among the major changes, the bill allows banks that maintain a certain level of financial surplus to opt-out of those rules and abolishes the bailout process established for major financial institutions.
It also rolls back a wide range of other rules, touching on issues from payday lending to shareholder proposals.
Republicans take aim at Dodd-Frank financial rules
Trump orders review that could relax Dodd-Frank bank rules
Congressman Jeb Hensarling, the sponsor of the bill, called it a "better, smarter way".
"It's called the Financial CHOICE Act. It stands for economic growth for all, but bank bailouts for none," he said.
Financial stocks soared after the vote, which some say could push Republicans in the Senate to pursue more aggressive reform.
Senator Sherrod Brown, the Democrat who heads the banking committee in the Senate, has said he is open to loosening rules for smaller community banks.
But he lambasted the House measure, calling it "partisan, dangerous legislation [that] would once again leave families, seniors and service members at the mercy of predatory lenders, and put taxpayers back on the hook to pay for Wall Street's greed and recklessness.
"Democrats have shown we're willing to work with Republicans to tailor the rules where it makes sense, but not if it means killing the reforms that have made the financial system safer and fairer," he said in a statement earlier this week.
No Democrats voted for the House bill on Thursday, which was overshadowed by the testimony from fired FBI director James Comey about the Russia investigation and his interaction with US President Donald Trump.
Many Democrats in the Senate have stayed quiet on the issue.
In an interview with the BBC, former congressman Barney Frank, the architect of the original bill, dismissed the vote as "theatre".
"The very conservative Republicans in the House... this is their show," he said.
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E3 2017: Gamers head to LA to play


Gamers from around the globe are heading to Los Angeles for the E3 video games showcase, which lays out what players can expect in the year ahead.
E3 is traditionally an industry-only event, but in recent years some studios have held their own showcases and broadcast them to fans online.
This year, for the first time in its 24-year history, 15,000 video game fans will be allowed to attend too.
One analyst said it was a sign of E3 adapting for modern times.
"E3 originally was a retail conference, about connecting buyers with the publishers," said Piers Harding-Rolls of the consultancy IHS Markit.
"The industry has changed significantly since then, so E3 has to move with the times.
"It's a process to make it much more publicly available, and it's a good move - it keeps it relevant."
E3 begins on Tuesday 13 July - but many games studios including Microsoft and Sony hold their own events a little earlier.

Microsoft aims ultra-high

Image copyright Getty Images
 
 Last year, Microsoft announced it was working on "the most powerful console ever", code-named Project Scorpio.
The company has already described the computing power of the device, which it says will be capable of playing ultra-high definition 4K games - but this could be the first time we see the device and hear what it will be called.
"This will re-establish their credentials with the gamers who want the highest graphical capability," said Mr Harding-Rolls.
"I'm expecting it to be more expensive than the PS4 Pro, so it's probably not going to sell as strongly - but will give Microsoft a boost towards the end of the year."

Nintendo expands its offer

 

Nintendo says its new Switch console is off to a promising start, with about three million sold, making it the company's fastest-selling device.
The launch was buoyed by the highly-anticipated Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, which Nintendo dedicated its entire E3 exhibition to in 2016.
To keep momentum, the Japanese games-maker will be showing off multiplayer games such as Splatoon 2, Arms and Pokken Tournament DX.
However, many players are still hopeful that Nintendo will announce some surprises - such as the first full Pokemon game for the Switch.

Virtual reality 

 

Sony says sales of its virtual reality kit for the PlayStation 4 have exceeded expectations, with more than a million people picking up a PS VR headset.
But the challenge for all headset developers is to show off compelling games that will encourage more people to invest in the costly kit.
"It's a key focus for Sony, because it's different from what Microsoft is offering with Xbox," Mr Harding-Rolls told the BBC.
"There have been some good launch titles, such as the VR mode on Resident Evil which was very well received.
"Is spread by word of mouth because it was so impressive and frankly scary - we need more of that, big brands and big titles."

Where to watch the big announcements

Saturday 10 June
Electronic Arts - 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT, 12:00 PDT)
Sunday 11 June
Microsoft - 22:00 BST (21:00 GMT, 14:00 PDT)
Monday 12 June
Bethesda - 05:00 BST (04:00 GMT, Sunday 11 June 21:00 PDT)
PC Gaming Show - 18:00 BST (17:00 GMT, 10:00 PDT)
Ubisoft- 21:00 BST (20:00 GMT, 13:00 PDT)
Tuesday 13 June
Sony - 02:00 BST (01:00 GMT, Monday 18:00 PDT)
Nintendo - 17:00 BST (16:00 GMT, 09:00 PDT)

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Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill quit No 10 after election criticism

Theresa May's two closest advisers have quit after the Conservatives' failure to win the general election.
The BBC understands the PM had been warned she faced a leadership challenge on Monday unless she sacked Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill.
Mr Timothy said he was taking responsibility for his role in the "disappointing" election result.
He said he regretted not including a pledge to cap social care costs in the party's widely criticised manifesto.
The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said the pair's departure bought the PM some "breathing space" following 24 hours of recriminations after the Conservatives lost their overall majority.
He said the two were so close to the PM that critical MPs believed that, unless they made way, she would not be able to change her leadership style to adopt a more "outgoing, inclusive, responsive, empathetic approach".
Mrs May has said she intends to stay as prime minister and is seeking support for the Democratic Unionists to form a government. Chief Whip Gavin Williamson is in Belfast to begin formal talks on a deal.
Mr Timothy and Ms Hill both stepped down amid mounting pressure on Mrs May to overhaul the way No 10 worked and broaden her circle of advisers.
Announcing his resignation on the Conservative Home website, Mr Timothy urged Tory MPs to "get behind" Mrs May but said nothing should be allowed to get in the way of the process of forming a government and beginning Brexit talks.
He said the Conservatives' failure to win was not due to a lack of support for Theresa May and the Conservatives but due to an "unexpected surge" of support for Labour.
He conceded his party had failed to communicate a sufficiently "positive" message to voters and address their concerns over years of austerity and inter-generational divisions, including over Brexit.
"We were not talking to the people who decided to vote for Labour," he said.
He defended the party's "honest and strong" manifesto, saying controversial proposals on social care had been discussed in government for months and were not his own personal "pet project".
But he added he took "responsibility for my part in this election campaign, which was the oversight of our policy programme" and "I regret the decision not to include in the manifesto a ceiling as well as a floor in our proposal to help meet the increasing cost of social care". 


Norman Smith said he understood that senior Conservatives had warned the PM they would instigate a leadership contest at a meeting of backbenchers early next week if the pair did not leave, and were confident they could get the required 48 signatures to trigger a contest.
One former minister, Anna Soubry, welcomed the clearout, saying it was the "right thing to do" and saying the PM must "build a consensus" on Brexit and other issues.
But Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson said the PM's advisers had "taken the fall" for her but tweeted the PM was "responsible for her own defeat".
Earlier, Mrs May's director of communications until the election was announced, Katie Perrior, called the campaign "pretty dysfunctional", telling the BBC she "needed to broaden her circle of advisers and have a few grey hairs in there who been around a bit and could say 'don't do that'".
As the Conservative leadership begins formal negotiations with the DUP, disquiet is being expressed in some quarters about the move.
Charles Tannock, a Conservative member of the European Parliament, said the DUP was a "hardline, populist, protectionist" party and a "poor fit" as a partner for the Conservatives.
The leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, tweeted a link to a speech she had made about same-sex marriage - something the DUP opposes.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where same-sex marriage is not legal.


Ms Davidson, who is gay, plans to marry her partner in the near future and said she had been "straightforward" with Mrs May about her concerns.
"I told her that there were a number of things that count to me more than the party," she told the BBC. "One of them is country, one of the others is LGBTI rights.
"I asked for a categoric assurance that if any deal or scoping deal was done with the DUP, there would be absolutely no rescission of LGBTI rights in the rest of the UK, in Great Britain, and that we would use any influence that we had to advance LGBTI rights in Northern Ireland."
By winning 12 additional seats in Scotland, Ruth Davidson played a significant part in helping Theresa May to stay in Downing Street, BBC Scotland editor Sarah Smith says.
Speaking on Friday, the prime minister said the parties had a "strong relationship" and that she intended to form a government which could "provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country".
Analysis by political correspondent Gary O'Donoghue
The clock is ticking for Theresa May. She needs to conclude a deal with the DUP in the next week or so ahead of the Queen's Speech, which will set out the new government's agenda.
That takes place on Monday 19 June - the same day Brexit negotiations are due to start.
The DUP and its 10 MPs are in a very strong position. It's all their Christmases rolled into one and they will make sure they leverage as much as they can from their advantage.
Money for Northern Ireland will undoubtedly be part of their demands, and Mrs May will expect that. But trickier will be any demands they have about the implementation of Brexit in Northern Ireland - in particular the DUP's determination to maintain a soft border with the south.
Another potential problem is the planned restart of negotiations for power-sharing in the province.
Typically the British government tries to act as an honest broker between Republicans and Unionists. But if Mrs May is doing a deal with the DUP, that could make it harder to reach an agreement with Sinn Fein.
DUP leader Arlene Foster confirmed she had spoken to Mrs May and that they would speak further to "explore how it may be possible to bring stability to this nation at this time of great challenge".
Mrs May is expected to continue assembling her top team later after she decided to keep key figures - including Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris and Home Secretary Amber Rudd - in their current roles.


David Davis will also stay on as Brexit secretary and Sir Michael Fallon will keep his role as defence secretary.
There could be changes elsewhere in the cabinet while nine middle-ranking and junior ministers, including Ben Gummer and Jane Ellison, lost their seats at the general election and will need to be replaced.
Jeremy Corbyn has said Mrs May should "make way" for a government that would be "truly representative of the people of this country".
The Labour leader, who is expected to announce his shadow cabinet on Sunday, said his party was ready to form a minority government of its own, but stressed he would not enter into any "pacts or deals" with other parties.

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Marawi siege: US special forces aiding Philippine army

US special forces are helping the Philippine military retake the southern city of Marawi from IS-linked militants, the Philippine army says.
The forces are providing technical help and are not fighting, it said.
President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier threatened to throw out US troops amid strained relations since taking office.
Militants have been under siege since rampaging through the southern city on 23 May. The latest fighting has claimed the lives of 13 Philippine marines.
Hundreds of militants, who have been flying the black flag of so-called Islamic State and are led by the self-styled IS emir of the southern Philippines, Isnilon Hapilon, and the Maute brothers Omar and Abdullah, are still holed up in the city.
The latest casualties bring the number of Philippine troops killed in the fighting to 58.
At least 138 militants and 20 civilians have also been killed, the government says.
The BBC's Jonathan Head says there are several reports that the Maute brothers, who lead the Maute group, are among the dead, with intercepted communications from jihadist groups suggesting this. 


In a press briefing, Lt Col Jo-ar Herrera said the army was checking the reports. He cited "strong indications" but gave no further details.
The brothers' parents, who are believed to have helped fund their armed group, have been captured.
Marawi is on the southern island of Mindanao, which has a significant Muslim population in the majority Catholic country and has seen a decades-long Muslim separatist insurgency.
Col Herrera confirmed for the first time that US special forces were helping the army.
"They are not fighting. They are just providing technical support," he said.
Reuters news agency earlier quoted the US embassy in Manila as verifying the presence of US forces. It would not go into operational details but said the US forces were helping at the request of the Philippine government.
The US has had a small logistical military presence in the Philippines, although a programme to advise the Philippine army on fighting the Abu Sayyaf militant group was discontinued in 2015.
Mr Duterte, a strongman who has supported the extrajudicial killing of drug users and other criminals, has been highly critical of the US since taking power last June, straining a long-time alliance.
But he had what the White House described as a "very friendly" phone call with President Donald Trump in April, and has since said his differences with the US were with President Barack Obama's administration.
Philippine army spokesman Brig Gen Restituto Padilla Jr has vowed that the national flag will be flying once again over all of Marawi by Monday - the Philippine national day.
The army has missed past deadlines to rid the city of militants amid two weeks of air and ground assaults.
Col Herrera said the militants were now restricted to three districts within the city.
"The world of terrorism inside the city is growing smaller by the day," he said.
Officials say that foreign nationals are among the militants in Marawi, with the list of countries and territories including Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Yemen, India and Chechnya.

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Merkel says EU is 'ready to start Brexit negotiations'


Angela Merkel has said she sees no obstacles in the way of beginning Brexit talks as scheduled after Theresa May failed to win a majority in Thursday's UK election.
The German chancellor said she believed Britain would stick to the timetable, adding the European Union was "ready".
Mrs Merkel added she hoped Britain would remain a good partner following the talks, due to begin on 19 June.
It is her first comment since Mrs May's Conservative party lost 13 seats.
The loss left the Conservatives eight MPs short of a majority in parliament, plunging negotiations into uncertainty. Mrs May called the snap election in order to secure a clear mandate for her vision of Brexit.
A spokesman for Mrs Merkel had previously refused to be drawn on the issue out of "politeness and respect" while the process of forming a new UK government was under way.
Mrs May says she will form a government with the Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland, which won 10 seats.
  • Can Theresa May stay as PM?
  • Live updates as May completes team
  • What the election result means for Brexit
  • Brexit delays over UK hung parliament?
  •  
    Mrs Merkel, who is meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to discuss trade, told reporters gathered in Mexico City on Friday: "I assume that Britain, from what I heard from the prime minister today, wants to stick to its negotiating plan.
    "We want to negotiate quickly, we want to stick to the time plan, and so at this point I don't think there is anything to suggest these negotiations cannot start as was agreed."
    Mrs Merkel, the EU's most powerful politician, went on to say she hoped the UK would remain a good partner.
    "Britain is part of Europe, even if it will no longer be part of the European Union."
    However, she added the EU countries would be "asserting the interests of the 27 member states that will make up the European Union in future" during negotiations.


     
    Meanwhile, Michael Fuchs, senior economic adviser to the German chancellor, told the BBC the result meant it was time for Mrs May "to face realities" and soften her approach.
    "Her wish and will was not really too much accepted by the British people," he said. "I have the feeling, because otherwise they would have given her a better vote.
    "Maybe, this is a chance that we can come up to a more reasonable Brexit negotiations because in the last time (recently) I really had the feeling that everything was just being very tough and it doesn't make sense to be tough.
    "We want to have a fair deal with Britain and we want to have a fair final Brexit negotiations."
  • European media see bleak future for May
Other EU leaders have expressed concerns the failure to win a majority may make negotiations even more difficult.
Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, who is president of the Alliance of Liberals & Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament, had caustic words for Mrs May.
Image copyright AFP
 
 "Yet another own goal, after Cameron now May, will make already complex negotiations even more complicated," he tweeted.
Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the European Commission, said he wanted discussions to proceed without delay, while Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator for Brexit, said "negotiations should start when UK is ready".
European Council President Donald Tusk alluded to the March 2019 deadline for Brexit talks.
"We don't know when Brexit talks start. We know when they must end. Do your best to avoid a 'no deal' as result of 'no negotiations'," he wrote.

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Acosta mine: Are coal jobs returning to the US?

At Lisa Maurer's Ford dealership in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, trucks are her bread and butter. When a young person lands his first well-paying job, one of the first things they do is buy a pick-up. The trucks are useful for navigating the rugged Allegheny Mountain terrain and the intense snowy winters.
"It's kind of part of the culture here," says Maurer.
So it was clear to her how bad things had gotten two years ago, when young coal miners she'd sold brand new trucks to just a day or two earlier started bringing them back. At the time, it seemed like a new coal company was declaring bankruptcy every week and the laid-off miners weren't able to make the payments.
But now, for the first time in roughly seven years, a brand new coal mine is opening in Somerset County - the Acosta deep mine, just three miles from Maurer's dealership.
"We're hopeful - it means we're going to have things happening again," she says. "Everybody's excited."
Maurer has deep roots in coal. Her great-great grandfather emigrated from Slovakia to work in the mines, her grandfather and father opened their own mines, and now her 29-year-old son operates machinery in a mine. In 2002, her brother-in-law was one of nine men who were trapped for three days in a flooded mine shaft 240 feet under the ground. Miraculously, they all survived - some even went back to work.


Mining in Somerset County goes back a century and a half. Some of the tiny towns that dot the rolling, lush hillsides have identical houses, built decades earlier by coal companies for their workers. Though the towns are spread out with expanses of farmland separating them, it's a tight-knit community where everyone can feel when times are good for their neighbours or when they are very, very bad.
"Small things impact the economy here … it all swims around," says Tina Buckham, owner of the Flyin' Lion Pub & Eatery in Jennerstown, about five miles from the mine. "Everybody has family that works in coal, honey."
Thanks to a combination of factors, particularly fracking and the low price of natural gas, the coal industry hit a 30-year production low in 2015. Some believe that in addition, the Obama-era climate regulations caused a crisis of confidence in investors. Coal companies started going bankrupt. Mines shut their doors. And the effects rippled through the community - trucking companies laid off their drivers. Two restaurants - local institutions - shuttered. The Maurer dealership changed its inventory from new to more used vehicles.


"It was like a switch was flipped," says Maurer. "The last few years have been really tough and sad. There's a little glimmer of hope now."
The brand new Acosta Coal Mine is a 120-foot-deep rectangle gouged out of a south-facing hillside looking down on the valley below. Near the base is a stripe of jet black coal that the mine's parent company, Corsa Coal, will sell for metallurgical purposes - producing steel - rather than for energy production.
"We're putting a lot of people to work here," says Ben Gardner, the mine engineer, who says at its peak the mine could employ as many as 150 people. "That's 150 families all with a very good job to support them - myself included … It definitely helps for places that were hit by the hard times."
Two days before it's set to open, federal and state inspectors in hard hats take a final look at the operations at the bottom of the pit. A centipede-like piece of equipment called the continuous miner sits silent and still beside them, ready to chew through the coal seam that runs from the mouth of the mine and underground for nearly eight miles. When it's fully operational, Corsa projects the mine will produce 400,000 tonnes of coal a year.
At the lip of the mine is a wooden platform that looks down into the pit, built especially for a cookout and a ribbon-cutting ceremony set to take place on 8 June. There's an American flag nailed to the front, and tucked away underneath, a handwritten poster that reads, "TRUMP TOWER" - someone's idea of a joke, Gardner says.
On 1 June, in an address to the nation from the Rose Garden, President Donald Trump formally announced the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. Sandwiched between his criticisms of the deal and other member countries for supposedly cheering the US' "economic disadvantage", Trump made an off-hand comment about Acosta.
"The mines are starting to open up. We're having a big opening in two weeks," he said. "For many, many years, that hasn't happened. They asked me if I'd go. I'm going to try."


Although it's unlikely that the president will make an appearance on that wooden platform, Maurer was surprised and elated when she heard his remark.
"That was huge, everyone was caught off-guard," she says. "We feel like we've been thrown away. Our children don't matter, our grandchildren don't matter. And when Trump mentioned us, that was awesome."
Although the mine has been in the works for years - Corsa Coal obtained its permits in 2013 - the company says investors feel more comfortable putting their money into coal because of new administration.
The mine is projected to hire between 70 to 150 workers - sceptics say that's just a drop in the bucket when you consider the hundreds of lay-offs which took place over the last several years. However, it's also the first bit of good news in the industry that Somerset County residents have received in a long time.
Doug Miller, a controller at James F Barron Trucking which primarily transports coal, says for the first time in years, they're hiring instead of laying drivers off.
"We know we're going to have a future here," he says.
Electrical contractors, cement layers, excavators and lumberyards have already been put to work thanks to the new mine. Proponents are fond of saying that a single mining job creates four others throughout the community - waitresses and gas station attendants, housekeeping staff at the hotels in Somerset and ski instructors at the area's three ski resorts.
But mixed in amongst the optimism are people who've been battered and bruised by layoffs and industry uncertainty, who don't want to rely on the mercurial global markets, or the whims of a presidential administration to dictate whether or not they'll have food on the table.
One coal miner who asked to BBC to omit his name says he was laid off after more than 20 years in the industry and that he would not take a job at the new mine even if they offered it to him.
"I'll move away from here and go do something, I'm not afraid," he says.
He worries for a friend he knows who got one of the new jobs at Acosta.
"I'm really glad he has a job there, he has three, four kids," he says. "But you know, you look him in the eye and he knows he's two pay checks away from everything being gone."
People like restaurant owner Tina Buckham are also sceptical of the idea that there is a great resurgence of the coal industry on the horizon, and nervous about her own razor-thin margins. Although she would love to see all the old mines open up their doors, she's more concerned about the lack of infrastructure in the area - the sole internet provider and the sometimes spotty mobile service. 

We have great, hardworking guys and women - they just want good jobs. So we need to have the infrastructure in place to attract the jobs," she says. "I don't think that the whole community is thinking this is the only thing that we can do here. We can do a lot of stuff because we have a lot of really great people."
And unlike some of the younger people and out-of-work miners who've decided to pick up their roots and seek a better life elsewhere, Somerset County is Buckham's home. She's lived in the area her whole life. Her neighbours as a kid are still her neighbours today.
"I'm here on purpose, in this little town. I like it," she says. "I'm hoping I survive it, but I like it."
Back at the car lot, Maurer is hoping Acosta means good things for her bottom line.
"There's a feeling that things are going to get moving again there are signs that the interest is coming back," she says. She feels "cautiously optimistic" but hasn't made any plans to bring in new inventory or hire more staff.
"To get to where we feel comfortable, we've got to get more than one mine opening," she says.


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Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...