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Soi Dog Foundation Works With Vietnam to Tackles Cat and Dog Meat Trade
A round table discussion aimed at combating the cat and dog meat trade was convened by Soi Dog Foundation International and Social and Behavior Change Science Agency Intelligent-media with the National Assembly of Vietnam last week. The event brought together nearly 50 parliamentarians, government officials, and specialists from across Vietnamese society to tackle this serious and urgent issue.
An estimated five million dogs and one million cats are brutally killed for meat per year in Vietnam. The World Health Organization warns that the trade, slaughter and consumption of these animals pose public health risks, including from trichinellosis, cholera and particularly the deadly rabies virus which still kills approximately 70 people each year in Vietnam. Despite the increasing number of citizens fighting to end this practice, some groups still consider dog and cat meat a delicacy which motivates traders to continue operating.
Today’s discussions encouraged a more comprehensive understanding of the dog and cat meat trade in Vietnam, the efforts of various authorities and ministries around pet management and associated legal frameworks.
Mr Nguyen Tuan Anh, Vice Chairman of Board of The Deputy Affairs (under Standing Committee of The National Assembly), said: “Dog and cat meat trade and consumption are increasingly burning issues. Animal welfare has been of the National Assembly’s supervisory sector. Viet Nam has a comprehensive legal framework on the issue, but enforcement is the major loophole.
This must be enhanced at all levels in the short term. In addition, targeted communication campaigns should be amplified so that involved actors realise that strengthening welfare standards not only improves the lives of animals but can also educate the public about the zoonotic disease risks that they might face. More than that, the reputation of the nation in an increasingly “greener” planet. I support innovative and impactful initiatives to reduce and stop the trade and consumption of dog and cat meat in Viet Nam.”
One prominent conversation revolved around the strategy and roadmap for developing Hanoi as a dog and cat meat-free city.
Mr. Ta Van Tuong, Vice Director of Hanoi Department of Agriculture, said: “Being the cultural heart of Viet Nam, it’s critical for Hanoi – the country’s capital – to maintain its prestige as a cultural-based, civilized and dynamic city. Phasing out dog and cat meat is key to attracting more tourists who are increasingly caring for environmental tourism services and animal welfare conditions.
The risk of rabies is obvious if dog control and vaccination is not properly enforced. In the short term, Hanoi should adopt anti-rabies measures, establish safety zones for vaccinated dogs and strictly control the trade and consumption of dog and cat meat. Additionally, local authorities should work hard to increase education, public awareness, control of unleashed dogs and enhance animal welfare regulations and settle violations. It contributes to creating the image of the modern and civilized city.”
Thailand-based animal welfare organisation Soi Dog Foundation International, who are fighting for an end to the dog and cat meat trade across Asia, led a discussion around evidence-based research on the link between animal-directed violence and its adverse impacts on human beings.
The survey investigated how workers in the trade are motivated and what consequences they might have suffered as a result of their involvement, including emotional distress, anxiety, depression and other symptoms akin to post-traumatic stress disorder. Physical injuries and infectious diseases should also be given due consideration.
Mr. Rahul Sehgal, Director of International Advocacy at Soi Dog Foundation International, said: “The ultimate goal is a ban, initially at the provincial level like with Hanoi Capital, on the trade and slaughter of dogs and cats and their consumption. The partnership with the National Assembly has marked a critical milestone in raising the profile of the issue to the top of government so that laws and regulations to control the dog and cat meat trade will be further improved and enforced.
We are also committed to supporting the authorities, civil society associations and other relevant stakeholders to adopt a thoughtful and multi-faceted approach which will include education, legislation, promoting alternatives, cultural change and collaboration leading to a zero-tolerance attitude against dog and cat meat consumption.”
As dog and cat meat consumption is deeply rooted, public education and awareness raising should be at the forefront of tackling the issue. In the long run, an evidenced-based, comprehensive and targeted social and behavioral change initiative should be employed to initiate and sustain a change of practice.
Ms. Duyen Bui, Social and Behavior Change Director of Intelligentmedia, said: “Apart from legislation improvement and increased enforcement, behavioral science should be utilised to alter the habit, especially of high-frequency dog and cat meat consumers. It necessitates in-depth understanding and proper segmenting of the user groups, the creation of barriers and restrictions, and education on alternatives.
Interventions not only involve the target audiences but also their closed network and the whole community so that public scrutiny and the social norm against consumption will be kicked off and maintained. Ultimately, it will put the practice to an end.”
Lessons can also be learned from countries where a ban on dog and cat meat already exists, such as Thailand and the Philippines.
The event closed with a strong consensus from parliamentarians and leaders from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism that ending the consumption and trade of dog and cat meat is necessary for the sake of animal welfare compliance, public health and safety and the country’s image.
Every day, Soi Dog Foundation is called upon to rescue animals from abuse, abandonment, sickness or injury. Whether it’s a street dog or cat in need of life-saving medical treatment or our ongoing fight against the dog meat trade, none of it is possible without your support.
We rescue, sterilize and treat street animals in need, while also actively fighting to end the Asian dog meat trade, having successfully ended the large-scale trade in Thailand.
With no government funding, Soi Dog Foundation operates solely on donations from compassionate animal lovers around the world. We pride ourselves on the efficient use of funds so that the maximum number of animals can be helped.

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

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’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.

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

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

(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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