China acts over poor food safety
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6725595.stm
Published: 2007/06/06 09:06:31 GMT
© BBC MMVII

China is cracking down on poor food safety amid a string of scares over toothpaste, pet foods, and other goods.

The government published a five-year plan late on Tuesday to increase inspections and tests on exported food.

Singapore has become the latest country to take action against Chinese toothpaste imports found to contain a chemical contained in anti-freeze.

The chemical, diethylene glycol, has been blamed for the deaths of at least 50 people in Panama last year.

"Monitoring and administering food and pharmaceutical safety must be at the very heart of grassroots and base work," according to a document published on a government website on Tuesday.

"Food safety is not only a problem related to law enforcement, but also related to the people's health and safety, the country's image, and also bilateral and multilateral political relationships," said Li Changjiang, the head of China's main food safety agency.

In the future "illegal activities behind production and sale of fake and shoddy foods and pharmaceuticals will be effectively contained," the five-year plan says.

Mr Li, and his deputy Wei Chuanzhong, called for better safety testing, and for those who ignore safety regulations to be punished.

'Slaves' rescued from China firm
By Michael Bristow
BBC News, Beijing

Thirty-one dirty and disorientated workers have been rescued from a brickwork factory in China, where they were being held as virtual slaves.

Eight workers were so traumatised by their experiences that they were only able to remember their names.

The labourers had to work unpaid for 20 hours at a time, and were only given bread and water in return.

The brickworks, in the poor inland province of Shanxi, is owned by the son of the local Communist Party secretary.

Local police told the BBC that the owner, Wang Binbin, had been arrested, and that his father, Wang Dongji, was under investigation.

Several other people have also been arrested, although the foreman is still on the run.

Harsh regime
According to a report in the Beijing News, citing the Shanxi Evening News, the rescued workers had been duped into working at the factory.

Once there, they faced a harsh regime. One man was even reported to have been beaten to death with a hammer, because he did not work fast enough.

When police raided the brickworks they discovered foul-smelling workers who had been wearing the same clothes for a year.

They had no facilities to wash, and they had not had their hair cut or brushed their teeth.

"The grime on their bodies was so thick it could be scraped off with a knife," the Beijing News said.

They had burns over their bodies after being made to carry bricks that had not cooled down properly.

Police are now arranging for the workers to get the wages they should have been paid, and then they will send them home, although the eight disorientated workers cannot remember where that is.

Local people said the brickworks, near Linfen, would have been closed down a long time ago had it not been for the protection of the party secretary.

China has tens of millions of migrant workers.

They leave their rural homes in search of work, but often have to endure harsh conditions, bad treatment and low pay.

There is little they can do about their lot, particularly when, as in this case, factory owners are protected by powerful local officials.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6733045.stm
Published: 2007/06/08 06:29:12 GMT
© BBC MMVII

US teen sex sentence overturned
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/6743303.stm
Published: 2007/06/12 01:19:35 GMT
© BBC MMVII

A man jailed for having consensual oral sex with a teenage girl in the US has had his 10-year prison sentence overturned by a court in Georgia.

Genarlow Wilson, 21, was jailed in 2005 for aggravated child molestation after he was videotaped engaging in the act with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17.

Several influential people, including former President Jimmy Carter, have publicly supported Mr Wilson's appeal.

But the court's decision does not grant Mr Wilson's immediate release.

The ruling amended Mr Wilson's sentence to a misdemeanour and said he would not be required to register as a sex offender.

But he will remain in jail, pending an appeal against the latest ruling

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