TAINTED GOODS: While the agency said there have been no reports of toothpaste poisoning in the US, it did find traces of an antifreeze ingredient in imports from China
The US government warned consumers to avoid using toothpaste made in China because it may contain a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze.

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By Kevin Chen and Angelica Oung
Despite stern warnings from the US Food and Drug Administration against using toothpaste imported from China, Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade yesterday said it had no plans to test all imported toothpaste for traces of diethylene glycol (DEG).

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The Lebanese air force yesterday joined tanks and artillery in pounding Islamic militant hideouts on the second day of an intensifying offensive to uproot al-Qaeda-inspired gunmen barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp.

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By Shelley Shan
Eight people from Taiwan -- with an average age of less than 30 -- are set to embark on a four-month expedition next Sunday from Beijing to Paris on modified bicycles to promote environmental awareness and the idea of a "Car-free Asia."

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Chinese Vice Premier Huang Ju (黃菊), a key ally of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) who climbed the ranks of Shanghai politics to join the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) inner sanctum of power, died early yesterday, the official Xinhua news agency said. He was 68.

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A US warship shelled suspected al-Qaeda targets in northeastern Somalia after Islamist fighters clashed with troops from the country's semi-autonomous region of Puntland, witnesses and officials said yesterday.

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