Hogs that ate melamine not fit for humans, FDA rules. Up to 6,000 hogs that ate pet food tainted with industrial chemicals cannot be safely sold to humans, federal authorities said yesterday, and should be euthanized at the farms where they have been held from the market. [News Source]

Japan asks for U.S. probe into discovery of beef in pork shipments (Kyodo via Yahoo! Asia News) _ The agricultural ministry said Friday it has asked the U.S. government to undertake an investigation as American beef, without a sanitary certificate attached, was found in pork imports from a U.S. company amid the mad cow disease scare. [News Source]

U.S. Beef Clears Key Hurdle in SKorea (AP via Yahoo! Finance) South Korea's government said Friday a shipment of U.S. beef that arrived this week was safe, clearing a key hurdle after an import absence of more than three years due to mad cow fears. [News Source]

The nerve of David Dodge (Toronto Star) With the resignation Wednesday of the world's most admired central banker, David Dodge was praised for his steady hand at the tiller in guiding Canada through the tumultuous times of his tenure: the implosion of the dot-com and tech bubbles, the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. recession, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the near-bankruptcy of the North American airline and tourism industries, the mad cow ... [News Source]

Call us a cabaret, please– fun meter is running (Orlando Sentinel) It's cabaret time again at Mad Cow Theatre, where the fifth annual Orlando Cabaret Festival is under way through May 13. The Lascivious Biddies, who went over so well last year that they had to add an extra show, are back in town from New York, and they'll be joined by out-of-towners and locals alike -- singing, dancing, doing comedy and even improvising their shows on the spot. Here's a glimpse ... [News Source]

Clean-up call over pollution in Bahrain. An expert blamed waste for causing a reduction in immunity and a prevalence of disease, as well as fevers, respiratory infections, skin rashes, eye and nose irritations, fatigue and drowsiness. [News Source]

Tokyo, Hong Kong sign agreement to resume Japanese beef exports (The Japan Times) Japan has formally agreed with Hong Kong to resume beef shipments for the first time in over five years after they were banned because of mad cow disease, the Japanese government said Wednesday. Read more ... [News Source]

David Goldstein: U.S. Should Ban Chinese Protein Imports (HuffingtonPost) Back in 2003, when Mad Cow Disease was discovered in a single, 4-year-old Holstein cow on a diary farm in Mabton, WA , China was quick to react, banning all imports of U.S. beef , a move that cost U.S. ranchers $119 million a year in lost sales. To this day, China has yet to fully lift its ban. And yet faced with a massive, and apparently intentional contamination of imported Chinese ... [News Source]

Japan to Resume Hong Kong Beef Exports (AP via Yahoo! Finance) Japan will resume beef exports to Hong Kong this week for the first time in more than five years after the Chinese territory banned the meat due to a mad cow scare in Japan, an official said Wednesday. [News Source]

Deer-scent ban aims to prevent wasting disease. Nova Scotia hunters will have to leave their deer pee at home. In an effort to stop the contagious, lethal Chronic Wasting Disease from hitting Nova Scotia deer and elk, the Department of Natural Resources is banning the use of deer scents that contain bodily fluid. [News Source]