Some 3 million broiler chickens from 30 farms in Indiana have eaten feed containing melamine–the industrial chemical that gained notoriety in March as a toxic pet-food contaminant–and entered the human food system, government officials announced today. The Food and Drug Administration has decided not to issue recalls of the contaminated chicken, noting that the chemical is not thought to be harmful to people and is highly diluted. The news comes several days after the FDA said it had quarantined 6,000 affected hogs as a precaution, even though it isn't clear yet that the meat had been contaminated. The California Department of Food and Agriculture reports that it has contacted 22 people who purchased pork suspected of contamination, most of whom have eaten the meat without any ill effect.
Robert Knobel first heard about factoring from his grandparents, who owned a fabric business in New York City. They used factoring to convert accounts receivable into cash, bridging the gap between invoice and payment dates.
AP - Ten Republicans who often evoke Ronald Reagan hope the Gipper's magic rubs off as they face each other at the late president's library in the first GOP debate of the 2008 race.
AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she raised the issue of foreign fighters entering Iraq from Syria in talks with Syria's foreign minister Thursday but "didn't lecture him" in the first high-level meeting in years between the two countries.
AP - President Bush's top aides restarted negotiations with Democrats Thursday in a quest to find bipartisan consensus on how to bankroll the protracted war in Iraq.
A U.S. military commander said today that an al Qaeda in Iraq militant believed to be involved in last year's kidnapping of journalist Jill Carroll has been killed. He is Muharib Abdul Latif al-Jubouri and was identified as the senior minister of information for al Qaeda in Iraq, said Maj. Gen. William Caldwell.