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How The West Was Won The rapid and unexpected decline of the Sunni insurgency in Iraq was officially recognized this week, when Maj. Gen. John Kelly, commanding the Marine Expeditionary Force, turned operational control of Anbar Province over to the Iraqi army and police. Anbar, a vast expanse of desert the size of North Carolina, had been the stronghold of the Sunni insurgency. For years, foreign fighters loyal to al-Qaida had sneaked across Iraq's northwestern border with Syria, into Anbar and down a "rat line" of safe houses in Haditha, Ramadi and Hit. From Fallujah, the arch terrorist Zarqawi...

More than 6,200 babies have fallen ill after drinking formula milk made from contaminated powder, Chinese Health Minister Chen Zhu has announced. The figure is five times higher than previously announced. Mr Chen said a third baby had now died - with the latest fatality occurring in the Zhejiang province of eastern China. Twenty-two brands of powder were found to contain the toxic industrial chemical melamine, apparently added to make it appear higher in protein. Mr Chen said a total of 6,244 infants were now sick, and that the number of those diagnosed with "acute kidney failure" had risen to...

China mothers flock to Hong Kong for safe baby milk 17 Sep 2008 00:57:28 GMT Source: Reuters HONG KONG, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Thousands of mothers from China have flocked to Hong Kong to buy milk powder manufactured overseas, as a tainted milk powder scandal spreads, newspapers said on Wednesday. Pharmacies and supermarkets along the rail line linking Hong Kong to the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen experienced "panic buying of overseas milk powder brands", the South China Morning Post reported. The paper quoted Lau Oi-kwok, chairman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Pharmacy, as saying mainland mothers were...

Baby dies as new milk powder scare spreads across China Thu Sep 11, 12:56 AM ET A health scare in China involving babies developing kidney stones after drinking possibly fake milk formula has spread across the country, state media said on Thursday. One baby had died from kidney stones in northwest Gansu province, Xinhua quoted health officials as saying, but it was not clear if there was any link to milk powder in that case. The health scare has revived memories of a grim scandal involving fake milk powder that killed at least 13 babies in eastern China in 2004....

Got milk-like concentrate? Sen. Clinton wants Customs to get tougher Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) wants the U.S. Customs Service to get tougher on companies that import powdered milk-like "milk protein concentrate" that compete with New York dairy farmer's products. To get around high tariffs on nonfat dry milk, foreign companies blend powdered milk with casein and other dairy proteins and call it milk protein concentrate. These concentrates are subject to smaller tariffs so companies avoid paying higher taxes on what is essentially the same product, Clinton said in a letter sent Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner. "This deliberate deception should...