Schoolboy chased and shot dead by ‘cow protection’ vigilantes in India

An 18-year-old schoolboy was shot and killed by so-called cow protection vigilantes in India after they chased him for miles over suspicion of being involved in cattle smuggling.

The incident took place in Faridabad in the northern Indian state of Haryana on 23 August, days after a migrant worker was beaten to death by another cow vigilante group in the state’s Charkhi Dadri district over suspicion of consuming beef.

Cows are considered sacred and worshipped by many Hindus, the religion that makes up a large majority of India’s population. Cow vigilante groups are accused of enforcing, often violently, Indian laws banning cattle slaughter and beef consumption.

Scores of cow “protectors” in recent years have been accused of using violence to carry out extra-judicial activities, often finding themselves at odds with law enforcement. Yet their activities have also received a degree of public support from those who believe they are defending the Hindu faith. Their activities have seen an increase since prime minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 as the head of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The vigilantes were allegedly searching for cattle smugglers when they chased Aryan Mishra’s car for about 18 miles (30km) before opening fire, reported NDTV.

Five members of the group have been arrested in connection with the incident. The accused, identified as Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna, Adesh, and Saurabh, claimed they had received information that smugglers were active in the area in large Renault Duster and Toyota Fortuner cars, hoping to pick up cattle.

Mishra and his friends, Harshit and Shanky, were in a Renault Duster car when they were stopped by the vigilantes. The occupants of the car are said to have had a prior dispute with another individual, mistook the vigilantes for their rivals and sped away.

The vigilantes, convinced that the occupants were cattle smugglers, chased the car and opened fire, hitting Mishra. When the car finally stopped, the attackers fired another shot into Mishra’s chest, resulting in his death, reported India Today.

According to the police, the suspects initially attempted to mislead the investigators, saying they threw the weapon into a canal. However, it was later recovered from Kaushik’s home, police said. The arrested men are currently in police custody, and further investigation is underway.

The killing of Mishra comes on the heels of another brutal incident in Haryana where Sabir Malik, a migrant worker from West Bengal, was beaten to death by a group of cow vigilantes on 27 August on suspicion of consuming beef. Authorities arrested seven individuals, including two minors, in connection with Malik’s death, as the state grappled with the rising tide of such crimes.

Hardline Hindu groups have been demanding a complete ban on cow slaughter across India, with several states enacting strict laws against it. Critics say that these laws have emboldened the vigilantes, leading to an increase in attacks on those accused of killing cows for meat or leather – predominantly people from the minority Muslim community and those on the lower rungs of India’s ancient caste system.

Last week, a 55-year-old woman died, reportedly of a panic attack, after police raided her home in Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh state to see if she was storing beef. In the end their searches showed she wasn’t.

Uttar Pradesh enforces strict laws against cow slaughter, with violations punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to Rs500,000 (£4,500). The state’s anti-cow slaughter law not only bans the animal’s killing, but also the sale and transport of beef.

In the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh, authorities bulldozed the homes of 11 people in June after allegedly finding beef in their refrigerators and cows in their backyards. Police later claimed that the homes were demolished for being illegally built on government land, without providing evidence.

In September last year, police arrested Mohit Yadav, better known by his alias Monu Manesar, after he was accused of inciting deadly religious violence in the north Indian state of Haryana in July.

The head of a unit set up by a hardline Hindu group to protect cows, he was detained for allegedly uploading “objectionable and inflammatory” posts in the run-up to religion violence in Nuh in which at least six people were killed and several injured. He was also accused in the murder of two Muslim men in the neighbouring state of Rajasthan.

In April last year, four members of the right-wing group All India Hindu Mahasabha were arrested in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly slaughtering cows to falsely implicate Muslim men. The arrests were made after police uncovered the group’s involvement in filing a false complaint against four Muslim men for alleged cow slaughter.

In March 2023, police in Bihar arrested three men in connection with the death of a Muslim man, Naseem Qureshi, who was attacked because he was suspected of carrying beef.

On 1 September, an elderly Muslim man was assaulted by his co-passengers on a moving train in Maharashtra’s Nashik district on suspicion of carrying beef. Police arrested three men allegedly involved in the incident after a video of the assault went viral on social media.

Pope Francis arrives in Indonesia to begin historic Asia tour

Pope Francis arrived in Muslim-majority Indonesia on Tuesday, kicking off a 12-day marathon visit focused on interfaith dialogue.

Francis landed in Jakarta after a 13-hour flight from Rome and disembarked in his wheelchair. He received a warm welcome by officials, including the religious affairs minister, a traditional bouquet from two children, and a guard of honour.

The leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics will spend three nights in Jakarta. He will formally begin his tour on Wednesday with a full day of activities planned in the capital.

Indonesia is the first stop on the longest and farthest tour to date of Pope Francis, a remarkable feat given that the 87-year-old suffers from a multitude of health conditions that have made him use a wheelchair and have a doctor and two nurses fly with him.

He is also visiting Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, flying a total of 32,814km across time zones and testing his increasingly fragile health.

President Joko Widodo welcomed Pope Francis saying Indonesia and the Vatican “have the same commitment to fostering peace and brotherhood, as well as ensuring the welfare of humanity”.

After landing in Jakarta, Francis noted that it was his longest flight ever. “I thank you for coming on this journey, thank you for the company. I think it is the longest one I have done,” he said.

Although the Catholics make up only three per cent of Indonesia’s population, they form the third-largest Christian community in Asia, after the Philippines, and China.

The pope’s visit, observers said, was part of his effort to focus attention on the importance of Muslim-Christian dialogue amid geopolitical tensions around the world.

Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country by population.

Nearly 60,000 Catholics are expected to attend a Mass led by the pope on Thursday at a stadium in Jakarta.

City authorities have urged residents to work from home that day given roadblocks and crowds.

Showcasing religious coexistence, the pontiff will meet representatives of all six officially recognised faiths at Istiqlal mosque, the largest in southeast Asia. It is connected by a “friendship tunnel” to the cathedral across the street, where Christians have lately been taking selfies with a lifesize cutout of the pope.

He will also sign a joint declaration with Muslim religious leader Nasaruddin Umar, the grand imam at the mosque.

Indonesia has hailed the pope’s visit as a symbol of the country’s religious diversity. The government has put tight security arrangements in place and deployed nearly 4,000 law enforcement personnel for the visit.

Francis is the third pope to visit Indonesia after Pope Paul VI in 1970 and St John Paul II in 1989.

The papal attention underlines Indonesia’s significance to the Vatican, both for fostering interfaith dialogue and for its role in Catholic vocations. Indonesia hosts the world’s largest seminary and produces hundreds of priests and religious workers annually.

Francis’s Asia trip was originally planned for 2020 but postponed after the Covid pandemic hit.

He will depart for Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea after his final day of engagement in Indonesia on Friday.

Birth rate in Japan hits alarming new low

The number of births in Japan for the first half of the year dropped to the lowest since 1969, preliminary government data showed, underscoring the daunting task the country faced in tackling depopulation.

Japan marked 350,074 births between January to June, which is a 5.7 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year, the health ministry’s preliminary report said.

This continued the trend of declining births over the past few years, with the total number of births in 2023 also being the lowest since records began in 1899.

According to the Population Survey Report on 30 August, the number of births in Japan decreased by 5.7 per cent, or 20,978, compared to the same period last year. In 2023, the number of births decreased by 3.6 per cent, or 13,890, compared to the same period the previous year.

This drop marked the third year in a row that the number of births in Japan fell below 400,000 between January and June.

Last year, the government announced during a cabinet meeting that it would implement “extraordinary measures to combat the declining birthrate”. Prime minister Fumio Kishida called Japan’s declining birth rate alarming. He said Japan was “standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society”.

“Focusing attention on policies regarding children and child-rearing is an issue that cannot wait and cannot be postponed,” he told lawmakers.

Birthrates are slowing in several countries but the issue is especially severe in Japan where rising life expectancy over recent decades has led to a growing elderly population and a shrinking workforce to support them.

According to World Bank data, Japan now has the second-highest proportion of people aged 65 and over in the world – around 28 per cent – surpassed only by the small state of Monaco. According to rough estimates, by 2050, Japan could see a reduction of one-fifth of its current population.

The government is trying various measures to address this issue, including expanding childcare facilities, offering housing subsidies, and even launching a government-run dating app to encourage marriage and childbearing.

The app even caught billionaire Elon Musk’s interest who wrote on X: “I’m glad the government of Japan recognises the importance of this matter. If radical action isn’t taken, Japan (and many other countries) will disappear!”

“Marriage is a decision based on one’s own values, but the Tokyo Metropolitan Government is working to build momentum for marriage so that those who think they ‘intend to get married eventually’ can take that first step,” the dating app’s website said.

“We hope that every single one of you who wishes to get married will think about what being in a ‘couple’ means to you,” it said.

It also outlined other government measures to support couples, including providing information on work-life balance, childcare, housing assistance, men’s involvement in housework and child-rearing, and career counselling.

Earlier this year in June, a spokesperson said the government would take “unprecedented steps” to cope with the declining birthrate, such as expanding childcare and promoting wage hikes for younger workers.

“The declining birthrate is in a critical situation,” chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters. “The next six years or so until 2030, when the number of young people will rapidly decline, will be the last chance to reverse the trend.”

The numbers for Tokyo’s unmarried 50-year-old people were highest in Japan at 32 per cent for men and 24 per cent for women.

Japan’s fertility rate has also reached another record low, with only 727,277 births recorded last year, bringing the fertility rate down from 1.26 to 1.20. This is well below the 2.1 rate needed for a stable population.

The decline in births in Japan has been ongoing since the 1970s and has accelerated in recent years, leading to more deaths than births and causing the population to shrink. In 2023, Japan recorded 1.57 million deaths, more than double the number of births.

Despite the efforts of the government, experts predicted that the population decline will continue for decades due to its current structure in the country. Even with an immediate increase in the fertility rate, the population will keep falling till the demographic imbalance between the young and the old stabilised.

Japan’s challenges are compounded by a decline in marriages and a rise in divorces, further impacting the birth rate. The government says that it remains committed to encouraging family formation and supporting couples through various initiatives.

Experts suggested that several factors have contributed to Japan’s declining birth rates, including rising living costs, increased participation of women in education and the workforce, and greater access to contraception, leading women to choose to have fewer children.

Renowned Japanese economist Shujiro Urata wrote in the East Asia Forum that factors contributing to depopulation in Japan included high economic costs of raising children, especially for low-income families, and changing societal norms, which have led to fewer marriages and children.

The number of marriages per 1,000 people fell from 10 in 1970 to 4.1 in 2022.

He stated that the impacts of this trend were significant, a declining working-age population threatened GDP growth and would lead to labour shortages, particularly in essential services and rural areas.

“Japan’s GDP is bound to decline with the decline in the working-age population unless there is a large increase in productivity. This decline can be slowed by extending the retirement age to increase the number of older workers and by increasing female participation in the workforce,” he wrote.

In January this year, the Population Strategy Panel submitted the “Population Vision 2100” proposal to Mr Kishida. The plan aimed to keep Japan’s population above 80 million by increasing the fertility rate. It recommended creating a new committee under the prime minister to oversee population strategies, focusing on two main areas: stabilising the population by improving conditions for raising children and strengthening the economy by enhancing productivity and accepting high-skilled foreign workers.

An analysis in the Michigan Journal of Economics stated that even though efforts like the “Womenomics” – a policy based on the idea that Japan can boost its economy by getting more women into the workforce – have increased female workforce participation, it has failed to address deep-seated gender disparities and workplace culture issues.

Consequently, Japan’s socio-economic challenges and cultural factors, including rigid gender roles and high career pressures, complicated efforts to reverse the birth rate decline, leaving the nation in a precarious position as it sought sustainable solutions, the Journal stated.

Meanwhile, there are other sociocultural impacts of the declining birth rate. An ageing population means the closure of many schools across the country. Last year AFP reported that several empty school buildings were being repurposed in Japan.

The Ashigakubo primary school in Yokoze, which closed in 2009 due to declining student numbers, now hosts community events and generates revenue, making 200,000 yen (£1040) in 2022. Some schools have been converted into an aquarium or a vinyl shop.

However, not all buildings are cost-effective to renovate; Namegata, where the population fell 20 per cent between 2009 and 2023, has seen some schools transformed into agricultural parks, while others have been demolished due to high renovation costs.

Despite the challenges of Japanese society, including an ageing population and declining public services, The New York Times recently reported that the gradual nature of these changes has fostered a sense of resignation rather than urgency for reform among the Japanese.

There’s a prevailing attitude of “Shouganai” – “it can’t be helped” – the Times reported, which reflected a general sense of calm and acceptance of the status quo.

Will Vladimir Putin be arrested in Mongolia?

Russian president Vladimir Putin received a red carpet welcome in Mongolia, appearing unfazed during his first trip to a member country of the International Criminal Court which has issued an arrest warrant for him for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

A signatory to the Rome Statute governing the Hague court, Mongolia was called on by ICC, other countries, and human rights groups to oblige the warrant and arrest Mr Putin as he landed in the country.

Mr Putin was not arrested upon arrival, making Mongolia the first nation to openly defy the ICC warrant against the Russian leader. The Kremlin leader was, however, greeted by the Mongolian military guard at the airport and he spent the night in capital Ulaanbaatar.

Angered by the defiance of the international arrest warrant, Ukraine vowed to ensure Mongolia felt the consequences.

The Kremlin announced last week that Mr Putin would visit Mongolia to mark the 85th anniversary of the victory of Russian and Mongolian forces against Imperial Japan at Khalkhin Gol river in 1939.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Mr Putin in March 2023 after accusing him of committing war crimes by taking hundreds of Ukrainian children from orphanages during the war.

It accused Mr Putin and Russia’s children’s rights commissioner Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova of “unlawful deportation” of children “from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation”.

Before the trip, the Kremlin said it had “no worries” about Mr Putin’s impending visit. “We have an excellent rapport with our partners from Mongolia,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. “Of course, all aspects of the president’s visit have been carefully prepared.”

Mongolia, landlocked between Russia and China, is dependent on Moscow for imports of oil and natural gas. It assumed an important role as its strategic placement between the two allies allowed it to facilitate between them amid the threat of sanctions against Chinese firms for directly dealing with Russia.

The ICC and Ukraine had already pressed Mongolia to arrest Mr Putin at the weekend, and Human Rights Watch put its weight behind these calls on Monday.

“Mongolia would be defying its international obligations as an ICC member if it allows Russian president Vladimir Putin to visit without arresting him,” said Maria Elena Vignoli, senior international justice counsel at Human Rights Watch.

“Welcoming Putin, an ICC fugitive, would not only be an affront to the many victims of Russian forces’ crimes, but would also undermine the crucial principle that no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law,” she said.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said it hoped Mongolia was “aware of the fact that Vladimir Putin is a war criminal” and urged it to arrest the Russian leader and hand him over to prosecutors at The Hague.

On Tuesday, it denounced Mongolia’s failure to detain Mr Putin as “a heavy blow to the ICC and the system of criminal law.

“Mongolia has allowed an accused criminal to evade justice, thereby sharing responsibility for the war crimes,” ministry spokesperson Heorhiy Tykhyi wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Ukraine, he said, would work with its allies to ensure Mongolia felt the consequences.

The ICC does not have any enforcement mechanism and its agreement with member countries exempts them from the obligation of carrying out an arrest under certain circumstances.

For Mongolia, the practical consequences of a fallout with Moscow would likely be worse than the consequences of upsetting The Hague.

Mongolia receives 95 per cent of its petroleum products from Russia, accounting for 35 per cent of all imports.

The country’s economy, heavily focused on the export of raw materials such as coal, copper and gold, depends largely on Russian fuel for transport to China.

The talks are set to focus on a controversial new gas pipeline connecting Russia and China. Russia has been aiming to establish a new gas pipeline, Power of Siberia 2, to redirect Russian gas supplies that passed energy to Europe through Mongolia to reach China instead. However, expectations that it would be built have been thrown into doubt after Mongolia’s parliament did not include the pipeline in its next five year economic budget.

In the past five years, Russian exports to Mongolia have increased at a rate of 8.85 per cent a year, from $1.6bn in 2017 to $2.44bn in 2022, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. The exports include planes, helicopters and spacecraft.

When Russia banned fuel exports from 1 March 2024 it made exceptions for friendly nations such as India, China, and Mongolia.

Mr Putin last year avoided visiting ICC member country South Africa for the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.

President Cyril Ramphosa lobbied Moscow for months to keep Mr Putin from visiting in order to avoid a diplomatic crisis. He ultimately announced the two countries had reached a “mutual agreement” that the Russian leader would not attend a meeting that he’s normally a fixture at.

South Africa avoided a repeat of a similar controversy when it hosted Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2015, who had arrest warrants against him, sparking condemnation for failing to fulfil its obligations to the ICC.

Mr Putin instead took part in the Johannesburg summit by video link, launching into a tirade against the West.

Proposal to rename Indian university sparks colonial legacy debate

A proposal to rename a 156-year-old university has sparked a heated debate in India about its colonial history.

The Ravenshaw University in Cuttack in the eastern state of Odisha was founded by British bureaucrat Thomas Edward Ravenshaw in 1868, just two years after the devastating Great Odisha Famine, also known as the Na Anka famine, killed an estimated one million people.

Given this history, the federal education minister proposed renaming the university.

“It is my personal opinion that the name of the institution should be changed,” Dharmendra Pradhan said. “The devastating Na Anka famine took place in Odisha during the tenure of Ravenshaw. The intellectuals of Odisha should think about it. There is a need for a debate over the issue.”

Ravenshaw was the colonial commissioner of Odisha division when the famine struck.

“What were the administrators doing at the time?” Mr Pradhan asked. “Is it a matter of pride for us to glorify the names of people who were responsible for causing misery to the Odia people?”

His proposal was met with resistance by the university alumni as well as opposition parties. It was an attempt to erase history, they argued.

“By establishing the institution, Ravenshaw actually upheld Odia glory at a time when Odia language was struggling for its identity,” former Odisha chief secretary Sahadeb Sahoo, an alumnus of the institute, said.

“It was because of his efforts in spreading higher education, people at that time honoured the British officer by naming the institution after him. Also, Ravenshaw was not responsible for causing miseries to the Odia people.”

Lenin Mohanty, a spokesperson for regional Biju Janata Dal party, accused the education minister of lacking an understanding of Odisha’s history and Ravenshaw’s contribution to promoting education.

“It is a very unfortunate statement given by Pradhan under the cover of Odisha pride,” Mr Mohanty was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. “He should have read a little history before doing so.”

Sofia Firdous, a legislator from the opposition Congress party, said, “Ravenshaw is an emotion” for the people of Odisha. Instead of focusing on renaming the institution, she said, efforts should be directed towards enhancing its status as a world-class university.

Mr Pradhan’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party defended his suggestion, with Odisha’s deputy chief minister KV Singhdeo and higher education minister Suryabanshi Suraj stating that it was his personal opinion and should not be politicised.

The ruling party has made several attempts to remove or rename what it sees as vestiges of British colonial rule. Most notably, prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s new parliament building last May in a symbolic shedding of the country’s colonial past.

The inauguration included the performance of Hindu religious rituals, drawing criticism from those who felt this undermined the country’s secular constitution.

Mr Modi’s government later enacted the most sweeping changes to the country’s criminal justice system in 150 years by replacing the Indian Penal Code, which was first drafted during the British cononial rule in the 19th century.

Thought critics call it political opportunism, the ruling BJP’s rejection of India’s subjugated past comes amid a global reckoning when it comes to public symbols of colonialism.

In June 2020, hundreds of protesters demanded Oxford University’s Oriel College remove its statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes.

Mexico city in October 2021 announced it was replacing a statue of Christopher Columbus from its most iconic boulevard with one depicting an Indigenous woman, a piece called “The Young Woman of Amajac”. It was a part of an effort to “decolonise” Reforma Avenue, said the city’s governor Claudia Sheinbaum.

In 2017, students at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) called for white philosophers to be largely removed from the curriculum to better represent the university’s focus on Asia and Africa.

The alarming reason an Australian state is levying big littering fines

An Australian state has introduced stricter penalties for littering and feeding crocodiles in a bid to reduce aggressive encounters and maintain safety.

Under the new rules, leaving food scraps at public places in Queensland, like jetties or campsites, that might unintentionally attract crocodiles could result in fines up to A$6,400 (£3,285), the government announced.

Penalties for deliberately feeding or disturbing crocodiles have been significantly increased, with maximum fines now exceeding A$25,000 (£12,840) and on-the-spot fines reaching A$2,580 (£1,325).

Authorities said knowingly staying close to a crocodile on land could lead to fines of up to A$16,130 (£8,280).

State environment minister Leanne Linard said discarding scraps made it “really easy for the croc to find food”.

“They become habituated, they expect it, they hang around places like a boat ramp or a jetty or a pontoon,” she said.

“What the rangers tell me … is that if they’re then not fed, and there’s some sort of contact with a human, they can become more aggressive expecting to be fed.

“We don’t want to see that sort of behaviour. We don’t want to see crocs loitering around public places.”

“One thing that is always put to me across the community is that people really feel that taking a risk with these sorts of animals and crocs endangers others.

“People take a very dim view of that.”

Conservationists and wildlife experts have supported these changes, emphasising the need for public awareness and strict enforcement.

Amanda French, a member of a community conservation group that lobbied for the changes, told ABC News that she was “over the moon” to see the new penalties take effect.

“It’s not everything that we had suggested and what we feel was needed, but it’s a step in the right direction,” she said.

“We would like to see that continue to evolve to uplifting land and sea rangers … to be able to monitor those laws and enforce those laws.”

Teenager mauled to death by brother’s American Bully dogs in Thailand

An 18-year-old boy was mauled to death by his brother’s two American Bully dogs in Thailand, sparking an outcry about the breed’s safety and suitability as pets.

The incident took place on 30 August at their home in Muang district, where the lifeless body of Adisak Chansakunnee was discovered by police on the ground floor. A doctor estimated that the body was found about 12 hours after his death.

The dogs, Fino and Tesla, were owned by Adisak’s 23-year-old police officer brother, Apisit Chansakunnee. He had been raising them in Bangkok and brought them home just a week prior to the tragedy, when he shifted to take care of his mother.

Apisit had left the dogs in his brother’s care, who was familiar with them but may not have known how to interact with them safely, he told the Strait Times. The dogs’ mother, Tank Gas, was also present and found injured, with Apisit believing she had tried to defend Adisak.

Security footage revealed the events leading to Adisak’s death. He had reportedly entered the bedroom where the dogs were locked and subsequently attacked. Adisak attempted to flee downstairs but was fatally injured. At the time of the incident, Apisit was on night shift, his father was at work, while his mother was visiting a doctor, reported the Malay Mail.

Apisit suspects the dogs may have been stressed due to his absence and Adisak’s unfamiliarity with handling them safely. The family held a funeral for Adisak, and the mother is receiving treatment after she fainted and collapsed.

The incident has sparked widespread outrage and debate, with many calling for the dogs to be put down due to their history of aggression. However, Apisit is seeking a new home for the dogs, emphasising the need for an experienced owner who can provide proper care and handling.

The Watchdog Thailand Foundation’s attempt to find new homes for the dogs was met with intense backlash on social media, with many criticising the decision to rehome the dogs. The non-profit animal welfare organisation allegedly initially failed to mention the incident in their post, leading to accusations of irresponsibility, according to the Asia News Network.

Facebook users questioned why WDT didn’t disclose the dogs’ violent history, but the foundation allegedly said that interested adopters should contact the owner directly, ANN reported.

This incident is the second fatal case involving American Bully dogs in Thailand within the past couple of months, raising serious concerns about the breed’s safety. Earlier on 24 July, three American Bully dogs fatally attacked a 70-year-old man in front of his house in Phu Wiang district of Khon Kaen province.

American kennel clubs have different definitions of what an American XL bully is but it is not recognised as a specific breed by the UK’s The Kennel Club, dog expert witness Colin Tennant told the PA news agency.

The American Bully Kennel Club defines the American XL bully as a crossbreed of the American pit bull terrier, olde English bulldogge, English bulldog and the American bulldog, while the American Dog Breeders Association defines it as a crossbreed of the American Staffordshire terrier and the American pit bull terrier.

The UK government published its plan for a ban on XL bully dogs after a series of deadly attacks this year. The plans confirmed the breed has been added to the list prohibited under the Dangerous Dogs Act following a string of “concerning” incidents across the country.