Vietnam’s capital urges residents to stop eating dog meat
Hanoi: Authorities in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi are urging residents to stop eating dog meat because it hurts the city’s image and improper raising and slaughtering of the animals could also spread rabies. For many Vietnamese, dog meat is a delicacy that is thought to increase stamina. Hanoi Vice Mayor Nguyen Van Suu said in a message published Tuesday on the city’s website that slaughtering and consuming dog and cat meat are disturbing to foreigners and “negatively impact the image of a civilized and modern capital”. Suu instructed local governments to raise awareness of the risk of rabies when raising dog and cat meat. The move is part of a national program to stamp out rabies by 2021. Nguyen Thi Minh, who has been running a dog meat restaurant in Hanoi for more than 20 years, said there are no risks of rabies because her restaurant selects healthy dogs and the meat is properly cooked. “People eat dog meat and there’s no problem,” she said. “I serve customers from South Korea, the United States and other countries.” Officials say there are 493,000 dogs and cats in Hanoi, of which more than 10 percent are raised for commercial purposes. (AP)
Discovery of dog exonerates Oregon man in criminal case
Salem (Oregon): An Oregon man sentenced to 50 years in prison has walked free after a district attorney asked for dismissal of the sex-abuse case against him. The action Monday by Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel in the case of Josh Horner came after the Oregon Innocence Project found holes in his 2017 conviction that undermined the credibility of the complainant, including that Horner had shot a dog in front of her. The dog was found, alive and never having been shot, by the Oregon Innocence Project. Hummel said county Judge Michael Adler granted his request to dismiss the case, adding the the complainant refused to meet with his investigator to explain her trial testimony. Horner, in a statement, thanked his family and friends, the Oregon Innocence Project and Hummel. (AP)
US identifies two sets of Korean War remains: Mattis
Washington: Defence Secretary James Mattis has revealed that the US has identified two sets of Korean War remains among those that had been returned by Pyongyang over a month ago. Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon on Tuesday that experts chose to focus on these two sets of remains as they thought “they had a better chance”, considering reasons including where the remains had been found and the background Washington had. “So there’s been, already, some closure for a couple of families that have waited many, many years for this,” Xinhua quoted the Pentagon chief as saying. Mattis did not publicly identify the remains. He also said that consultations are going on about the repatriation of more Korean War remains. Earlier this year, fifty-five boxes of human remains from the 1950-53 Korean War were handed over by North Korea in late July.