Japan pressured to lift age limit on beef imports (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) The US Government is pressuring Japan to lift its age limit on beef imports. Japan has agreed to accept beef from animals under the age of 20 months in the wake of the outbreak of mad cow disease in the US in 2003. [News Source]

U.S. Welcomes Decisions by Colombia, Peru To End Ban on U.S. Beef (U.S. Department of State) In a joint statement, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab welcome recent decisions by Colombia and Peru to lift bans on imports of U.S. beef and beef products that had been imposed following the December 2003 discovery of a cow infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease. [News Source]

Israeli-Ethiopians clash with police (AP via Yahoo! News) Hundreds of Israelis of Ethiopian descent clashed with police and briefly blocked a main road leading into Jerusalem on Monday in a protest of the Health Ministry's wholesale discarding of donated Ethiopian blood. [News Source]

Creekstone Farms Premium Beef Counters USDA BSE Claims (CattleNetwork.com) KANSAS CITY (Dow Jones)--Creekstone Farms Premium Beef on Monday confirmed in an email that it had filed its reply to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's opposition to the firm's desire to test all of the cattle it slaughters at its Arkansas City , Kan. , plant for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease. [News Source]

Fresh ammo to kill rogue prions (New Scientist) A compound with an "unprecedented" ability to destroy the malformed prions is a ray of hope in the battle against diseases such as vCJD [News Source]

BSE likely came from feed (Iowa Farmer) OTTAWA (AP) -- An Alberta, Canada, dairy cow that was diagnosed last month with BSE (mad-cow disease) probably contracted the disease from contaminated feed, federal regulators said. [News Source]

Maine’s farm animal electronic ID program proceeds (Camden Herald) AUGUSTA — A program to identify places where farm animals are raised is in its early stages in Maine. [News Source]

Austria Confirms Slovenian Cow Had Mad Cow Disease (CattleNetwork.com) VIENNA (AP)--Authorities on Sunday announced that a cow originating in Slovenia and slaughtered in Austria had mad-cow disease, an Austrian news agency reported. [News Source]

Manure treatment cuts dwon on E. Coli threat (Washington State University Daily Evergreen) Strict guidelines at the WSU Compost Facility make organic agriculture a healthy option. [News Source]