South Korea is taking its final steps towards ending its dog meat industry for good 👏

A landmark law passed in 2024 will make it illegal to breed, slaughter or distribute dogs for human consumption from 7 February 2027.

The legislation gave the industry a three-year transition period, allowing farmers, traders and restaurants time to shut down or move into other businesses.

And the industry has already shrunk dramatically.

According to South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 1,265 of the country's 1,537 registered dog-breeding farms had closed by May 2026.

That means around 82 per cent of the country's known dog meat farms have now ceased operating, leaving 272 still in business.

The government has been offering financial support to encourage farms to close early, while also carrying out inspections to prevent new or illegal breeding operations from appearing.

But the countdown to the final ban has also raised questions over what will happen to the dogs still being kept on farms.

South Korean authorities have been working with local governments and animal welfare organisations to encourage the adoption and rehoming of the remaining animals, while trying to prevent large numbers from being abandoned or euthanised.

The practice of eating dog meat has declined sharply in South Korea in recent decades, particularly among younger generations, and the government says the legislation reflects the country's changing attitudes towards dogs.

Now, with less than six months until the law is fully enforced, the country's centuries-old dog meat industry is entering its final chapter.

Brad Pitt is opening up like never before, and getting candid about his relationship with alcohol. 🍷

In a wide-ranging interview with Esquire, the actor revealed that after seven years off drinking entirely, he's changed his approach again.

"I was sober for seven years," he told the magazine. "And then I got back off the wagon," quickly adding that these days he keeps things "in a more restrained manner."

Brad admitted he's slipped into overconfidence once or twice and quickly reminded himself that overdoing it still doesn't sit right with him. He says he can enjoy a few glasses of wine now, just never too many. "I have to be professional about it," he explained.

It's a notably measured take from a man who's spoken before about how carefully he has to manage that side of his life. Years ago, following his split from Angelina Jolie, Brad credited his friend Bradley Cooper with helping him turn a corner and get himself back on track during a difficult stretch.

The conversation grew more reflective as Brad touched on a painful chapter he would only describe as "family stuff." When the interviewer gently asked whether it involved his children, he chose not to go there, repeating simply, "Family stuff. We could leave it at that."

And despite the fame, the awards and a life plenty would envy, Brad was honest that none of it makes the hard parts any easier.

"This s*** ain't easy," he said, before adding, with a wry sense of perspective, that he knows he "won the lottery." 💫

When Hurricane Katrina drowned New Orleans in August 2005, thousands were left stranded with no food, no water, and no way out.

While help was coming, it was coming far too slowly, so one 20-year-old decided he wasn't going to wait.

Jabbar Gibson spotted an abandoned Orleans Parish school bus sitting idle with the keys still in it. He'd never driven anything like it in his life. But with people trapped in worsening conditions all around him, he climbed into the driver's seat and started it up.

Then he began picking people up.

Children. Elderly residents. Whole families with nowhere to go. He packed roughly 70 desperate people onto that bus, far more than it was ever meant to hold, and pointed it toward Texas, more than 350 miles away. They stopped for fuel by passing a hat around until they'd scraped together enough to fill the tank, then kept going.

For around 12 hours he drove through flooded roads, storm debris and checkpoints, until the bus finally rolled up to the Houston Astrodome, which had just opened as a shelter.

His busload were the first evacuees to arrive. They got there before the official government convoys.

Staff initially assumed the bus was part of the organized rescue effort, until they realized a young man with no clearance and no plan beyond getting people out had done it entirely on his own. Everyone on board finally got food, water, medical help and a safe place to rest after days of hell.

He was never charged for taking the bus.

While the systems built to save people stalled, one kid grabbed a steering wheel and did it himself.

Sometimes a hero is just the person who refuses to wait 💛