BEIJING: Residents of a Chinese city plagued by pollution are mobilizing against a proposed chemical plant that they say could harm their health, with some urging marches against the plan, which they say puts growth before the environment.

Three Chinese dairy companies have publicly apologized for their involvement in a toxic milk scandal that has killed at least four children, according to news reports.
Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, Mengniu Dairy and Bright Dairy Group were found to have produced milk contaminated with melamine, a compound that can be used to cheat in tests to detect watered-down dairy products.

SYDNEY: Asian consumers seeking a safer alternative to China's tainted milk products are turning to Australian dairy farmers, but their demands may be difficult to meet because Australia's grass-fed cattle can only produce so much milk.

BEIJING: Chinese leaders approved on Sunday a policy that will in theory allow peasants to buy and sell their land rights, a move that sets in motion the nation's biggest economic reform in many years, according to a report by Xinhua, the state news agency.

All 10 provincial governors of the island of Sumatra have agreed to a deal to protect endangered forests, a move that could help control planet-warming emissions, Indonesian authorities said at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona.

The State Council of China has issued new regulations to tighten quality control of the dairy industry in the wake of the tainted milk crisis, state media said Friday.

Effective immediately, the regulations tighten control of how cows are bred, how raw milk is purchased, and over the production and sale of dairy products, said Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency.

NEW DELHI: India's raucous democracy, endemic poverty and soaring economic ambition make curbs on greenhouse gas emissions a hard sell, even as global pressure mounts on the government to do more on climate change.

ROME: A UN agency called on Tuesday for an urgent review of agriculture and biofuel subsidies and trade barriers, saying their removal would increase opportunities for developing countries to take advantage of rising biofuel demand.

STOCKHOLM: Two Japanese citizens and a Japanese-born American were awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics for discoveries in the world of subatomic physics, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday.

Infection with the AIDS virus in China is spreading beyond the country's original high-risk groups