Police warn Harry Potter fans to stay off Hogwarts viaduct
London: British police are warning Harry Potter fans not to put themselves in danger by walking along an active railway line to a landmark from the fantasy films. British Transport police say there has been an increase in the number of people walking down train tracks to the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands.
The Hogwarts Express is shown steaming across the viaduct in several Harry Potter films. Sgt Kevin Lawrence said many tourists take the Jacobite steam train across the picturesque Victorian bridge, and some walk back along the line to take photographs. He said on Friday that “I would like to remind everyone that we are mere Muggles, and if you trespass on the railway and are struck by a train, the consequences could be extremely serious and probably fatal.” (AP)
‘Talk of China dog meat festival ban all bark, no bite’
Beijing: Animal rights groups say dog meat has been banned at a controversial festival in China, but local restaurants claim they haven’t heard anything about the purported prohibition.
The celebration in the southwestern town of Yulin has long drawn international criticism but this year authorities have prohibited sales of butchered canines, the Humane Society International (HSI) said. Officials also plan to fine vendors up to 100,000 yuan (USD 14,500) for selling dog meat during the summer solstice event, HSI China policy expert Peter Li said in a statement.
Thousands of dogs are traditionally killed during the festival in conditions activists describe as brutal, with dogs beaten and boiled alive in the belief that the more terrified they are, the tastier the meat.
But restaurant owners contacted by AFP on Friday said they had not been told about the temporary veto. “Our restaurant is open as usual. We haven’t heard of a dog meat ban,” an employee of the Longmen restaurant said.
An employee at Feilao restaurant said: “We don’t know about the ban. We are open every day.” Even a city government official claimed to be unaware of the prohibition.
But HSI said it had confirmed the ban with sellers at the city’s main dog meat market.
A Chinese animal rights activist, who asked not to be named, said she had also been told that sales of canine flesh would be outlawed during the event.
Dog meat sellers have said previously that outcry over the festival had actually attracted greater attention to the celebration and encouraged more people to eat canines. Dogs are eaten year round in Yulin, as in many parts of southern China. (AFP)