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Animal Shelters Seek Help for Cats and Dogs Abandoned in Thailand

cats and dogs abandonded in Chiang Mai

An animal activist in northern Thailand has made a public appeal on Facebook people to adopt a dog or cat abandoned due to the lockdown. Cats and dogs have been abandoned amid theCovid-19 lockdown in Thailand’s Chiang Mai province.

Save Elephant Foundation in Chiang Mai already had more than 1,000 cats and dogs under its care before the Covid-19 outbreak hit. Now the numbers of abandoned cats and dogs at the Foundation have surged to nearly 2,000. Prompting the management to post on social media asking for help from the public.

Chairwoman of the Foundation, Saengduen Chailert said many pet cafes had closed their businesses and abandoned their cats and dogs. Some 70 cats at the shelter suffered serious illnesses, she added. This has caused heavy burden to the Foundation.

She also said that over 700 dogs are from breeding farms that went out of business. The numbers kept increasing and more of them fell ill, said Saengduen. She said we need your help to find homes for many rescued dogs living at Elephant Nature Park. If you are interested to adopt a dog, we can assist you with transportation worldwide.

You can esquire about animal adoption of donations by Clicking Here.

Soi Dog Foundation overwhelmed with Cats and Dogs

Stray cats and dogs thailand

Ozzy was rescued from a forested area in Phuket by the Non-profit Soi Dog Foundation. (Photo: Soi Dog Foundation)

Meanwhile, in southern Thailand on the Island of Phuket the non-profit Soi Dog Foundation that has been helping street cats and dogs in Thailand since 2003, says its also seeing a rise in animal abandonment. Channel News Asia reports about how the foundation discovered a dog named Ozzy.

He was dying when he was found in a forested area of Phuket last month. His ageing body was weak, dirty and infested with ticks. His paw pads were bright red from inflammation. Two bullets were also lodged in his chest and back leg.

The dog did not even flinch when Soi Dog Foundation rescuers tried to save his life.

“We could see he was in an enormous amount of pain,” said Sam McElroy from Soi Dog Foundation. “Ozzy had given up hope. This poor boy, 10-year-old probably, went into the jungle to die.”

But Ozzy is one of the lucky few street dogs in Thailand that made it to an animal shelter.

Cats and Dogs Simply Abandoned

Stray cats and dogs Thailand

Cola was a stray dog he had his front legs hacked off with a sword for biting someone’s shoes before being rescued by Soi Dog.

The Covid-19 crisis has not only affected people but also made it harder for nearly “two million” cats and dogs abandoned to survive on the streets.

Many of them risk starvation as those who usually feed them are unable to move around as freely. Due to the nationwide curfew and closure of various business venues. At the same time, the economic impact has put pressure on many residents.

“Community feeders have been the front line of relief, using their own personal resources and stretching themselves unbelievably, but they too are being impacted by the economic slowdown,” said Keren Nazareth from Humane Society International (HSI). The HSI is a global animal welfare organization that rescues and protects cats and dogs in different parts of the world.

“HSI is urging governments across Asia to take proactive steps for their street animals. Above all to avert great suffering, distress and deaths,” she added.

Earlier this month, Siam Commercial Bank’s Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) estimated the number of unemployed in Thailand would be in the tens of million this year. The country is “stuck in an unforeseeable economic turmoil” caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

Thai households also struggling

state of emergency thailand

In its April report, EIC said about 60 per cent of Thai households don’t even have enough financial assets to cover three months of expenses.

For stray cats and dogs, the travel restrictions has greatly limited the help they need to survive. A number of them rely on caring members of the public. Who feed them food and water, while others feed from scraps left out by restaurants and small food vendors.

But as the Thai government tries to control the outbreak, many restaurants and food stalls have been forced to close.

However, what this has meant for the millions of animals living on the streets is a sudden lack of their regular food and water supply from local communities. This can quickly lead to animals starving,” Nazareth said.

he COVID-19 pandemic has a profound impact on abandoned pets in Thailand. Besides those on the streets, cats and dogs in animal shelters have also been affected.

Lockdown Stopped Donors and Adoption

dog and cat adoption thailand

Soi Dog Foundation is one of the facilities facing cancellations from regular donors. Although a drop in donations is expected during the health crisis, its operations director McElroy said the situation has proved “very difficult.” Especially for non-profit organisations that do not receive government funding.

“We can only hope that the downturn doesn’t last too long. We are continually looking at innovative ways to raise funds but they are also difficult during this period,” he told CNA. Adding the pandemic has also produced “a severe knock-on effect” on the shelter’s population.

Last year, more than 400 animals at Soi Dog were adopted overseas and 500 others found new homes in Thailand. This year, however, the facility is facing severe overcrowding.

Travel restrictions imposed to control the global pandemic have stopped adopted cats and dogs from travelling to their new homes abroad. At the same time, the local adoption program has slowed down due to economic uncertainty.

“We are full and are having to find money to create more space within existing grounds. Above all to cope with the inevitable continuing intake of new cats and dogs.

The problem is the people, not the animals

cats and dogs thailand

Thailand has a large population of stray animals. Last year, there were nearly two million of them on the streets nationwide. An increase from some 800,000 in 2018 – according to Theerawut Suwathanathao from the Animal Welfare and Veterinary Service Division at the Livestock Department.

“The main cause of this problem is the owners’ lack of responsibility. People abandon their pets when they can’t take care of them or don’t love them anymore. The problem is the people, not the animals,” Theerawut said.

Since the COVID-19 crisis emerged in Thailand, Theerawut said provincial livestock officials have not reported an increase in abandoned pets. But according to McElroy from Soi Dog Foundation, there have been some cases of abandonment. He said the pet abandonment could have resulted from financial problems.

Sponsor or Adopt a Dog or Cat from the Soi Dog Foundation Click Here

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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.

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