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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Japan bars Tyson beef shipments

From Wire Reports

Tokyo – Japan suspended beef shipments from an American meatpacker Saturday over its failure to remove cattle parts banned under a bilateral agreement, as officials here raised concerns about U.S. safeguards against mad cow disease.

Japanese quarantine inspectors found bovine spinal columns in one of 732 boxes shipped from Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., which arrived in Japan in late September, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said. The box contained 35 pounds of chilled short loin with spinal bones, which were not released commercially.

The suspension only affects Tyson’s factory in Lexington, Neb., one of 46 meatpacking plants approved to export beef to Japan. It was the second suspension for the Lexington factory, Nakata said. Japan slapped a four-month ban on beef shipments from the same plant in February 2007 after finding two boxes of beef lacking verifications to show they came from cattle that met Japan’s safety standards.

The Japanese ministry has asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate how the box containing the banned parts ended up in Japan.

Irish Greens will stay in government

Dublin, Ireland – Members of Ireland’s environmentalist Green Party voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to stay in Prime Minister Brian Cowen’s coalition government as it battles a runaway deficit, surging unemployment and crippled banks.

Defeat for the Green leaders’ pro-government motion at a special party conference would have torpedoed Cowen’s 2-year-old coalition and forced Ireland into an early parliamentary election.

But grass-roots Green members voted 523-99 to support a package of revised government policies and goals. That surpassed the two-thirds “yes” that the party required for the 43-page document.

Green Party leader John Gormley, who also is Ireland’s environment minister, said the government faced painful choices in coming weeks to cut spending, raise taxes and commit tens of billions to bailing out the nation’s major banks. “We have no illusions. Some very hard decisions have to be made,” Gormley said.

Hundreds protest in central Baghdad

Baghdad – Hundreds took to the streets Saturday throughout Iraq to demand open elections and improved public services, revealing a growing discontent among Iraqis that is overshadowing concerns about the ability of Iraqi forces to take over from withdrawing American troops.

Low oil prices have left the government struggling to restore infrastructure after years of neglect, corruption and insurgent attacks, as well as to rebuild their security forces before a planned American withdrawal in 2011.

About 200 demonstrators took to the streets in central Baghdad, chanting: “No water, no electricity in the country of oil and the two rivers,” a reference to Iraq’s ancient name.

The lack of clean water and electricity have proved to be a leading issue in January’s national elections for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has campaigned on the issue of improved security. In recent days, though, al-Maliki has said rebuilding infrastructure rather than building up Iraqi forces will take priority during the next budget year.