Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso on Saturday that Tokyo's reinstatement of a ban on U.S. beef over mad cow disease was an excessive reaction, Kyodo news agency said on Saturday.

AP - The American military said Thursday that U.S. and Iraqi forces had launched the largest air assault since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, attacking insurgents north of Baghdad.

AFP - Pro-hunting campaigners launched a fresh bid to overturn the controversial ban on hunting with dogs in England and Wales.

Hector Duarte Jr. - AHN Staff Reporter London, England (AHN) – The European Union will begin debating tougher measures to reduce the use of mercury throughout the continent. A resolution from Cypriot MEP Marios Matsakis calls for a ban on EU mercury exports by 2010, and proposes steps...

Hector Duarte Jr. - AHN Staff Reporter London, England (AHN) – The European Union will begin debating tougher measures to reduce the use of mercury throughout the continent. A resolution from Cypriot MEP Marios Matsakis calls for a ban on EU mercury exports by 2010, and proposes steps...

Christina Ficara - AHN Staff Reporter Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - On Wednesday, fishery regulators banned bottom trawling in nearly 150,000 square miles of federal waters off the West Coast. At the same time, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration rejected a proposal by...

UK beef farmers welcome the lifting of a 10-year ban on exports, saying it's the "most positive" news for a decade.

Scotland's rural development minister hails the EU's decision to lift the 10-year ban on live UK beef exports.

The EU is to lift the ban on exports of British beef, including those from Northern Ireland.

AFP - European Union experts agreed to lift a decade-old ban on British beef, in place since the mad cow crisis in 1996, the European Commission said.

European vets have lifted the ban on British beef exports - 10 years after it was introduced to prevent the spread of mad cow disease.

A fifth of UK smokers say they will quit following the ban on smoking in public places, a survey has found.

AFP - Malaysia has lifted a ban on US beef imports in place for more than two years, to make up for a shortage after it restricted access to Australian and New Zealand beef, a report said.

AFP - The governor of the US state of South Dakota signed a near blanket ban on abortion, including in rape cases, launching a major challenge to a landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that made the procedure legal.

USATODAY.com - The U.S. government can withhold funds from universities that protest the Pentagon's ban on gay men and lesbians by denying military recruiters access to campuses and students, the Supreme Court ruled Monday. It "does not affect the law schools' speech," Chief Justice John Roberts said.

AFP - The European Union could agree to lift a ban on British beef that has been in place since the mad cow crisis in 1996, EU sources said.

AFP - Australian Prime Minister John Howard and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh held talks on Australia's embargo on uranium sales to India during talks that would also touch on trade and defence cooperation, officials said.

AFP - \@Hong Kong\@ has stepped up checks at markets and poultry farms and has enforced a ban on bird imports from southern China after the death of a man from bird flu in nearby Guangdong province.

AFP - India will ask Australia to lift a ban on sales of uranium for its growing nuclear energy programme, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in remarks.