Canada confirms mad cow case
By Wire services
Published April 17, 2006
TORONTO - Canada confirmed a case of mad cow disease on Sunday at a farm in British Columbia - the country's fifth case since May 2003, when the United States closed its border to Canadian beef.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Thursday it had a suspected case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Meat products contaminated with the disease have been linked to more than 150 human deaths, mostly in Britain, from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a rare and fatal nerve disease.
In a written statement, the inspection agency said the case would have no bearing on the safety of Canadian beef, because no part of the 6-year-old animal from a Fraser Valley farm had entered the human food or animal feed systems.
Pope reflects on troubled regions in Easter addressVATICAN CITY - In his first Easter message as pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged nations to use diplomacy to defuse nuclear crises - a reference to worries over Iran - and prayed that Palestinians would one day have a state alongside Israel.
On Christianity's most joyous day, which happened to fall on Benedict's 79th birthday, the pontiff also prayed for Iraq's relentless violence to cease.
From the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, the pope reflected on the globe's troubled regions shortly after he celebrated Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, which was packed with 100,000 pilgrims and tourists.
On Easter, Christians celebrate a core belief of their faith: that Jesus rose from the dead following his crucifixion. Orthodox Christians in Russia and elsewhere will celebrate Easter on April 23.
Prodemocracy strikes create shortages in NepalKATMANDU, Nepal - The Nepalese capital ran low on fresh food and fuel Sunday because of a general strike that shut down the city, and thousands of angry prodemocracy demonstrators clashed with police firing rubber bullets.
The opposition urged Nepalis to stop paying taxes to the government of King Gyanendra, who responded by further banning protests on the capital's outskirts.
Sunday's rallies across the Himalayan kingdom attracted tens of thousands of people and were the biggest since opponents of Gyanendra's royal dictatorship began their campaign of protests and a nationwide strike that has cut off Nepal's cities for 11 days.
Iran pledges $50-million to Palestinian governmentTEHRAN, Iran - Iran said Sunday that it would give the Palestinian Authority $50-million in aid, moving in for the first time with money after the United States and Europe cut off funding to the Hamas-led government.