U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas dies: reports (Kyodo via Yahoo! Asia News) _ U.S. Senator Craig Thomas, a three-term conservative Republican from Wyoming who in recent years worked to compel Japan to reopen its market to U.S. beef amid the mad cow care, has died, according to media reports. [News Source]

Humane Society of US again scaring people away from good diets? (AG Weekly) The Humane Society of the U.S. has, for years, been trying to frighten people away from consuming meat, milk and eggs -- but its recent testimony before a congressional committee reached a new low when the HSUS president, Wayne Pacelle, made the unsupported claim that pigs could be harboring the infamous and deadly British ‘mad cow” disease. [News Source]

Simple Mistake by U.S. May Delay Beef Imports (donga.com) The U.S. government has started an investigation to find out whether beef for domestic consumption was exported to Korea. Since U.S. beef imports resumed in Korea after the mad cow scare, Washington is moving to prevent a worst-case scenario: another ban. [News Source]

US beef producers blame Dep of Agriculture for South Korea ban. Angry US beef producers are blaming their Department of Agriculture for the latest shutdown in trade with South Korea. [News Source]

South Korea suspends quarantine inspection on U.S. beef. South Korea has temporarily suspended quarantine inspections of imported U.S. beef after some meat for U.S. domestic consumption was wrongly shipped to the Asian country, an agriculture official said on Tuesday. [News Source]

U.S. Senator Craig Thomas dies (Japan Today) WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Craig Thomas, a three-term conservative Republican from Wyoming who in recent years worked to compel Japan to reopen its market to U.S. beef amid the mad cow care, has died, according to media reports. He was 74. [News Source]