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Asian Elephant Flown Home to Thailand After Alleged Abuse in Sri Lanka

After a diplomatic spat over its alleged abuse, an Asian elephant gifted to Sri Lanka by Thailand in 2001 has returned to its birthplace. Muthu Raja, 29, landed in Thailand on a 19 million baht (£425,000; $540,000) commercial reparation trip.

Thailand sought the animal’s return amid allegations that it had been tortured while being held at a Buddhist monastery. The prime minister of Sri Lanka claimed he had publicly apologized to Thailand’s king.

The 4,000kg (8,800 pound) elephant was carried to Chiang Mai in a specially made steel cage, escorted by four Thai handlers and a zookeeper from Sri Lanka.

It will be treated with hydrotherapy for an injury to its front left leg. Elephants are considered sacred animals in both Sri Lanka and Thailand.

The Thai royal family gave three elephants, including Muthu Raja, to the Sri Lankan government in 2001 to be trained as sacred relic carriers.

Muthu Raja was given to the care of a shrine in the country’s south.

Asian Elephant thailand 

A mahout feeds Sak Surin at the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang on Monday after arriving from Sri Lanka.

 

Animal rights activists claim it was forced to work with a forestry crew in the temple, and that it acquired a stiff limb as a result of a long-neglected injury.

After months of futile attempts to persuade Sri Lanka’s government to act, the Sri Lanka-based activist group Rally for Animal Rights and Environment (RARE) persuaded Thai officials to intervene last year, according to the group’s founder Panchali Panapitiya.

According to The Independent, Ms Panapitiya stated that the failure of Sri Lankan wildlife officials to act has brought “disrepute” to the country. RARE has also asked authorities to charge people responsible for the elephant’s neglect.

Sri Lankan wildlife minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told local media that Thailand was “adamant” about returning Muthu Raja after its ambassador in Sri Lanka discovered him in poor health during a visit last year.

When Muthu Raja was evacuated from the temple in November, he was in pain and covered in abscesses, according to AFP. Some of the wounds, activists allege, were inflicted by its handler.

It was temporarily relocated to the National Zoological Garden of Sri Lanka, and most of its wounds have healed in recent months.

In June, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told his parliament that he had apologised to Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn for Muthu Raja’s alleged mistreatment and had been able to “re-establish trust between the two countries.”

elephant sanctuaries

The Asian Elephants hold a special place in Thai culture and history. They are considered sacred animals and have played significant roles in various aspects of Thai society.

The Asian elephant, formally known as Elephas maximus, is one of two remaining elephant species, the other being the African elephant. Here are some facts about the Asian elephant:

1. Distribution: Asian elephants are found in various Asian nations, including India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

2. Physical Characteristics: Asian elephants are Asia’s largest land mammals. They have a distinctive look, with greyish-brown skin, a domed skull, and smaller ears than African elephants. Male Asian elephants are considerably larger than females, reaching a shoulder height of 10 to 11.5 feet (3 to 3.5 metres) and weighing 4,500 to 12,000 pounds (2,000 to 5,500 kilogrammes).

3. Trunk and Tusks: The elephant’s long, muscular trunk is one of its most distinguishing traits. Asian elephants only have one “finger” at the tip of their trunk, but African elephants have two. Tusks, which are enlarged incisor teeth, can be found on both male and female Asian elephants. However, Asian elephants may not all have noticeable tusks, and some may be tuskless.

4. gregarious Structure and Behaviour: Asian elephants are gregarious creatures that normally live in matriarchal herds led by a dominant female known as the matriarch. These herds could be made up of related females and their kids. Male elephants typically live alone or in small bachelor groups. They have a complicated communication system that includes vocalisations, body language, and long-distance infrasonic sounds.

5. Diet: Asian elephants are herbivores that eat a variety of flora. Grass, leaves, bark, fruits, and other plant components make up their diet. An adult elephant may eat about 300-400 pounds (135-180 kilogrammes) each day.

The Asian elephant is classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Asian elephant population has been dropping due to habitat degradation, fragmentation, and poaching. Conservation activities are currently ongoing to safeguard and enhance their habitats.

7. Cultural Importance: In many Asian countries, Asian elephants have cultural and religious significance. They’ve been used in a variety of traditional practises, including religious rites, festivals, and as logging and agriculture work animals. However, because to conservation concerns, the employment of elephants for such purposes has reduced.

It is crucial to note that this material is a basic overview, and that there may be differences and unique specifics concerning Asian elephants that vary across populations and locales.
Following concerns from environmentalists, the Thai government stopped exporting elephants overseas roughly three years ago, according to Thai environment minister Varawut Silpa-archa in June.

Bangkok’s wildlife department said it is monitoring the health of Thai elephants that have already been moved abroad.

Elderly Elephants Get a New Home in Northern Thailand

Elderly Elephants Get a New Home in Northern Thailand

Thailand is well-known for its elephant sanctuaries, which strive to encourage ethical and responsible tourism centred on elephant welfare. These sanctuaries are vastly different from traditional elephant riding or performance attractions, which can include animal cruelty and exploitation.

Elephant sanctuaries in Thailand, on the other hand, often provide visitors with the opportunity to watch elephants in a more natural setting, participate in educational programmes, and even engage in responsible and non-intrusive interactions with the animals, such as feeding and bathing them.

The emphasis is on providing the elephants with a safe and respectful environment in which they can live freely and roam in a way similar to their natural habitat.

Please keep in mind that the situation may have altered since my last update, as the tourism sector and animal welfare standards can change quickly. I recommend checking with credible travel sources and websites, or contacting the sanctuaries directly to learn about their current practises and rules, to receive the most up-to-date and accurate information about elephant sanctuaries in Thailand. Prioritise visits to elephant sanctuaries that have a strong commitment to elephant welfare and conservation.

Thai Elephant Conservation Center, Lampang Thailand

Thai Elephant Conservation Center is home to more than 100 Asian elephants in northern Thailand

Here are a few well-known elephant sanctuaries in Thailand:

  1. Elephant Nature Park (Chiang Mai): Located in the northern region of Thailand, Elephant Nature Park is one of the most popular and reputable elephant sanctuaries. They rescue and care for elephants that have been mistreated or injured. Visitors can observe and interact with elephants in a responsible manner, including feeding them, walking alongside them, and bathing them in the river.
  2. Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary (Sukhothai): Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary is situated in the Sukhothai province. They focus on providing a natural and stress-free environment for elephants. Visitors can participate in activities like preparing food for the elephants, observing their behavior, and learning about their conservation.
  3. Burm and Emily’s Elephant Sanctuary (Mae Chaem): Located near Chiang Mai, this sanctuary offers a unique experience where visitors can learn about and interact with elephants in their natural habitat. They prioritize the well-being of the elephants and provide a more intimate and educational experience for visitors.
  4. Elephant Haven (Kanchanaburi): Elephant Haven is an ethical sanctuary situated in Kanchanaburi province. It provides a home for elephants that have been rescued from the tourism and logging industries. Visitors can observe elephants as they roam freely, and learn about their behavior and conservation efforts.

When choosing an elephant sanctuary, it’s crucial to ensure they follow ethical practices, prioritize the welfare of the elephants, and refrain from activities like elephant riding or forced performances. These sanctuaries offer a responsible way to observe and support these majestic creatures while promoting their well-being and conservation.

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Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.

According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.

Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.

google

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.

Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.

Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.

To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.

Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.

In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.

Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

google

Pixa Bay

Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding

On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.

TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.

When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.

And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.

Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.

A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.

google

Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.

But today, it feels more like reality.

Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.

Could we remember Google in the same way that we remember Yahoo or Ask Jeeves in decades? These next few years could be significant.

SOURCE | CNN

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2024 | Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

trump

Washington — Trump Media,  The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not hear an appeal from social media platform X about a search warrant acquired by prosecutors in the election meddling case against former President Donald Trump.

The justices did not explain their rationale, and there were no recorded dissents.

The firm, which was known as Twitter before being purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, claims a nondisclosure order that prevented it from informing Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights.

The business also claims Trump should have had an opportunity to exercise executive privilege. If not reined in, the government may employ similar tactics to intercept additional privileged communications, their lawyers contended.

trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

Two neutral electronic privacy groups also joined in, urging the high court to hear the case on First Amendment grounds.

Prosecutors, however, claim that the corporation never shown that Trump utilized the account for official purposes, therefore executive privilege is not a problem. A lower court also determined that informing Trump could have compromised the current probe.

trump

Trump utilized his Twitter account in the weeks preceding up to his supporters’ attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, to spread false assertions about the election, which prosecutors claim were intended to create doubt in the democratic process.

The indictment describes how Trump used his Twitter account to encourage his followers to travel to Washington on Jan. 6, pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification, and falsely claiming that the Capitol crowd, which battered police officers and destroyed glass, was peaceful.

musk trump

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal From Elon Musk’s X Platform Over Warrant In Trump Case

That case is now moving forward following the Supreme Court’s verdict in July, which granted Trump full immunity from criminal prosecution as a former president.

The warrant arrived at Twitter amid quick changes implemented by Musk, who bought the company in 2022 and has since cut off most of its workforce, including those dedicated to combating disinformation and hate speech.

He also welcomed back a vast list of previously banned users, including Trump, and endorsed him for the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE | AP

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The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

Supreme Court

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.

The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.

Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.

This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.

In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.

The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.

This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.

The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.

In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.

According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.

Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.

The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.

For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.

Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.

As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.

As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.

The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.

SOURCE: AP

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Scientists Awarded MicroRNA The Nobel Prize in Medicine.

US Inflation will Comfort a Fed Focused on Labor Markets.

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