| From eye shadow to glazed pottery, products pose danger to US kids
WASHINGTON In the wake of scandals involving tainted food and toothpaste from China comes word of a new concern from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission as well as the Food and Drug Administration toys, makeup, glazed pottery and other products that contain significant amounts of lead. While lead poisoning among children was once mainly caused by old paint, U.S. manufacturers long ago banned the ingredient. Today, a new rash of high lead levels in the bloodstreams of American kids is being caused by foreign products mainly from China. So serious is the resurgence of lead poisoning among U.S. children that the Iowa Department of Public Health is working on writing a new law to require mandatory testing of those entering school for the first time. (Story continues below) Lead poisoning, once a concern mainly in dilapidated urban areas, can cause learning disabilities, kidney failure, anemia and irreversible brain damage in children.
Business Highlights
NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street rose smartly in a quiet session Friday as investors adjusted positions ahead of a long holiday weekend and tried to determine whether a lackluster week presaged a departure from the market's months-long run-up or merely a temporary pause. Stocks rose Friday coming off a pullback Thursday and as investors drew some optimism from the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc.'s deal to acquire Sweden's OMX AB. Investors showed little reaction to the National Association of Realtors' report that sales of existing homes fell 2.6 percent in April to 5.99 million units, the slowest sales rate in almost four years. The gains followed four mostly negative sessions for Wall Street's major indexes. Given Wall Street's robust performance in recent months, a pullback in which investors consolidate gains wasn't unexpected.
Escape from death at the hands of kidnappers
SOMETHING told Kudum Hussein Ali he was alone. He could not be sure because he was blindfolded. He only knew that the dusty house was still and that the gunmen who had been guarding him must either have gone out or fallen into a deep and silent sleep. It was time to make a move. Kidnappings happen every day in Baghdad. A car blocks the road. Gunmen emerge and order their target into the boot. The kidnapping epidemic is a reflection of the inability of the tens of thousands of US and Iraqi troops to secure Baghdad's streets, much less stop bombings and other terrorist attacks. The Ministry of Interior, which oversees Iraqi police forces, says at least 188 kidnappings have been reported in Baghdad up to July this year. US and Iraqi law enforcement experts say the real figure is probably much higher because many Iraqis do not report kidnappings out of distrust of the security forces and fear that the abductors will kill their captives if they seek help.
French first lady snubs Bush invitation
It was not the first time France's new first lady sent protocol flying to the wind: at her husband's first Group of Eight meeting in June she ducked out of the first ladies' program midway, saying she had to prepare a birthday party for her daughter. Last month, the elegant 49-year-old former PR executive grabbed the headlines again when she stepped in as an unlikely last-minute envoy to EU talks on the release of the six foreign medics jailed in Tripoli. The mission's success took some sting out of the controversy, with Cecilia hailed as a heroine in the medics' home country Bulgaria, but it also left critics complaining about a blurring of roles at the head of state. Cecilia Sarkozy had warned before her husband's election she did not see herself slipping easily into the traditional role of hostess of the Elysee, and appears determined not to be tied down by etiquette.
How the system breaks down
Countries where America's toys are made also are places where paint often still contains dangerously high levels of lead. Scott Clark, a University of Cincinnati environmental health professor, and his research team tested a variety of brands of paints from China, Malaysia and India, and found that more than 75 percent of the samples had lead levels exceeding U.S. regulations. Lead is added to paint to make it lustrous and durable. In countries where products are made for consumption in the U.S. and the developing world, lead easily can bleed over from one batch of products to the next, said Christian Warren, historian at the New York Academy of Medicine and author of a book on the history of lead poisoning. It might be as simple as a worker not cleaning out a production vessel thoroughly enough between batches.
Father John Walsh Show
Father John's show will inspire you, entertain you, and otherwise make the perfect way to start winding up your weekend.During the CJAD Father John Walsh Show, Melissa Wheeler keeps you updated from the CJAD All Day Traffic Centre, while the CJAD Weekend Weather Centre keeps you posted on what to expect for Monday Morning "wakeup weather". To My Child, read by Father John every year at the CJAD Radiothon of Hope for the Missing Children's Network. A Letter From Heaven - read by Father John Walsh Email Father John at: fatherjohn@johnbrebeuf.ca .
Many Indian corporates may postpone their overseas debt plans ...
Many Indian corporates may postpone their overseas debt plans, following fresh restrictions placed on external commercial borrowings (ECBs).
According to bankers, a number of corporates were looking at raising over $3.5 billion from overseas markets in the next couple of months. Tighter controls are also likely to affect GDP growth, economists feel.
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The Saltire flies high, despite Brown's flag-waving plans
SCOTLAND will be exempt from Gordon Brown's plans to fly the Union flag from every public building, it was confirmed yesterday. As part of a drive to increase the sense of Britishness and unity, the Prime Minister announced earlier this month that he wanted the Union flag flown all year round on government buildings and eventually on police stations and hospitals across the UK. .
Interview with chairman and CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim China
Shanghai. June 13. INTERFAX-CHINA - Boehringer Ingelheim is a privately-held drug multinational company, ranking fifteenth in the world among other pharmaceutical companies. Last year, worldwide sales reached 10.6 billion euros. Boehringer Ingelheim set up its first China branch in 1994, and now has over 600 employees. Last Friday, Interfax spoke with Dr. Paul Bonnabel, Chairman & CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim China regarding recent company developments and its future plans in the development of China's pharmaceutical industry. Interfax: What are the growth rates of Boehringer Ingelheim China? Is it higher or lower than the global sales rate? Bonnabel: Generally speaking, if we look at this year, we are growing very fast and at a higher rate than our global sales.
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