LONDON, January 21: Scuffles broke out outside British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official London office on Tuesday, as farmers tried to set loose a cow in Downing Street.Thousands of farmers had descended on London to demand extra Government support for their industry, which has been labouring under the worldwide ban on British beef imposed by the European Union (EU) over "mad cow disease" since spring 1996.At a highly-charged rally, leaders warned that mad cow disease - or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) - and cheap beef imports were putting the future of their livelihoods in jeopardy and accused Ministers of "crippling" the industry through political indifference.The strongest condemnation was for Agriculture Minister Jack Cunningham's refusal to apply for compensation worth 980 million pounds ($ 1.6 billion) for farmers to make up for a drop in income caused by the strength of the pound in Europe.After being prevented from releasing the cow, the rally leaders presented a petition signed by 6,00,000 people demanding greater subsidies for farmersMeanwhile, Japanese scientists said that they have impregnated 12 cows with embryos cloned using cells from parts of the body not related to reproduction and 10 were expected to calve in August."The embryos were cloned using two kinds of somatic cells," said researcher Takayoshi Kariya. Somatic cells are from parts of the body not related to reproductive or germ cells.Two of 12 cows had miscarriages but "if all goes well, we are expecting the birth of calves in August," said Kariya.
