World Vignettes

Precila Feral, president of the group said,8220;We have documented evidence that cruelty to animal is so pervasive and conspicuous that it must be officially sanctioned in the People8217;s Republic of China.8221;

The office of Science and Technology at the Chinese Embassy wrote to Feral saying that eating dogs and cats meat was a cultural practice.

It, however, promised to urge local Governments to launch campaigns to suppress cruelty to animals.

Honest customer

GERMANY: A German who bought Wiener sausage at a butcher8217;s was puzzled to find a bundle of bank notes instead of meat in the paper bag 8212; and the butcher was in a cold sweat after losing his day8217;s takings, police said on Friday.

As police were cranking up a theft inquiry, thecustomer returned to the shop in Saarbruecken, near the French border, to complain he had been given 3,800 marks 2,110 instead of his three Wieners. He was given a reward, and his Wieners were on the house.

Police said yesterday that the butcher was in the habit of putting his takings in a paper bag to take them to the bank, and had become muddled.

Oldest Jap dead

TOKYO: Japan8217;s oldest person, Suekiku Miyanaga, died on Saturday at a hospital in southern Japan, the director of her nursing home said. She was 114.

Miyanaga was born on April 7, 1884. Her life spanned Japan8217;s rise as an imperial power, its crushing World War II defeat and later recovery to become the world8217;s second-largest economy.

She died in Osumi, 950 km south-west of here in Kagoshima prefecture, according to Shigeo Sakasegawa, director of Osumi Takeyama-En nursing home.Miyanaga8217;s death leaves Asa Takii, 114, who is several weeks younger, as Japan8217;s oldest person, Kyodo said.

Japanese have the world8217;s longest lifeexpectancy 8212; 83 years for women and 77 years for men 8212; according to the Health and Welfare Ministry.