The Bureau of Food and Drugs said the bureau will be inspecting China-made beauty products after doing tests on China-made food products sold locally. According to BFAD Director Leticia Gutierrez, manufacturers follow a list of permissible additives for cosmetics decided upon by ASEAN countries. Gutierrez said, so far, the BFAD has not discovered any major case of tainted beauty products. Earlier, lawmakers have asked the House of Representatives and the BFAD to check whether cosmetic companies are using harmful ingredients. The lawmakers cited US studies which show that nearly 900 of the chemicals used in Chinese cosmetics are toxic and have been linked to skin cancer, skin allergies, asthma, reproductive disorders, and damage to a fetus.

The police say a key witness in last year’s explosion at the House of Representatives allegedly escaped this morning. According to the Criminal Investigation Detection Group, alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf Group, Ikram Indama, the star witness in the bombing at the Batasan Pambansa, was gone at 6 in the morning. The police say Indama allegedly has proof that will implicate former Basilan Congressman Gerry Salapuddin in the incident. The blast in November last year killed at least four people, including Congressman Wahab Akbar, and wounded several others. In July, the Department of Justice placed Indama under its witness protection program in July, and it is set to expire this Friday.

The Chinese media say China has ordered more than 5,000 inspectors to be posted at its dairy factories. This comes as the tainted milk scandal continues to affect countries as far away as South America. According to the People's Daily, China’s food safety watchdog dispatched the 24-hour inspectors to dairy factories across China to make sure products comply with food safety standards. Reports say this is the latest measure aimed at containing the scandal, which erupted when Chinese milk was found to be tainted with melamine. Industrial chemical melamine, used to make plastic and fertilizers, when added to watered-down milk makes it appear richer in proteins than it really is. So far, tainted milk has sickened 53,000 children and killed four babies in China.

Researchers in the US say overeating makes the brain go hay-wire, prompting damage that may cause diabetes, heart disease, and other ills. The researchers said eating too much appears to activate a usually dormant immune system pathway in the brain, and this sends out immune cells to attack and destroy invaders that are not there. The researchers said their finding could help explain why obesity causes so many different diseases. Reports say obesity is a growing global problem, with more than a billion people estimated to be overweight last year.

Two scientists could be candidates for the Nobel Prize in medicine when this year’s winners are presented. The two scientists, Australian-born U.S. citizen Elizabeth Blackburn and American Carol Greider have already won acclaim for their research into the growth of cancer cells. So far, only seven women have won the medicine prize since the first Nobel Prizes were handed out in 1901. The last female winner was U.S. researcher Linda Buck in 2004. The award committee is giving no hints about who is in the running before presenting the winners. The Nobel Prizes are divided into the categories of medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, and peace.

Reports say cinemas around the UK have taken record advance bookings for the film High School Musical 3. Walt Disney Pictures said tickets to the value of more than 5 hundred thousand euro have been booked in advance. This is three weeks ahead of the film’s release. According to the UK’s largest cinema chain, High School Musical 3 has sold more than 2 hundred 45 thousand euro in advance tickets, beating the record set by the movie Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. Starring Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, the High School Musical franchise began as a TV movie that went on to become a worldwide hit. Report say High School Musical 4 is already in process.

A new law in U.S. state Rhode Island is requiring all public middle and high schools to teach about dating violence in health classes. This comes as an initiative was done by the parents of a dating victim, who met her death due to physical abuse from her boyfriend. The victim's parents note that schools must be obligated to teach students about the warning signs of an abusive relationship. Reports add that Texas also mandates unspecified awareness education on dating violence for students and parents. While other U.S. states do encourage the education on abuse and violence in relationships.

According to reports, the Abra River is no longer fit for domestic use. This is based on a water quality study by the Saint Louis University College of Engineering's Applied Research and Development Studies. The study shows that the Abra River is very polluted, as water samples have traces of cyanides and heavy metals. The Abra River is one of the five largest rivers in the country, stretching from Mountain Province and passing through Abra and Ilocos Sur. Reports add that the Abra River can still regenerate if proper waste disposal management is implemented.

Foreign reports note that Dubai is planning to exceed its own world's tallest building. This comes as the world's tallest tower Burj Dubai is nearing completion. Dubai has announced that its more ambitious building will stand at more than ten American football fields. Reports add foundation work for the world's new tallest building has begun, and it would take more than ten years to complete. The Burj Dubai is said to be 2,257 feet tall, while the new tower will have a height of more than one kilometer or 3,281 feet.

Reports note European countries are also making their move to ease the effects of the U.S. financial meltdown. Germany even came up with a rescue plan worth $69 billion. The bailout package is for the second-biggest commercial property lender in Germany. Meanwhile in Iceland, government officials and banking heads have been discussing a rescue plan for Iceland's overstretched commercial banks. Other European countries that have held talks about the U.S. financial crisis include France, Britain, Italy, Luxembourg and Belgium.