A supplier of oriental dishes to Sainsbury’s and Brake Brothers was sold today following a deal with ready meal specialist Northern Foods.

TWO Chinese brothers clawed their way out of a collapsed coal mine after surviving underground for nearly six days, shocking grieving relatives, state media said yesterday.

MENG Zhaoguo, a rural worker from northeast

Asia reported 17 more Sars deaths today as Beijing officials were ordered to step up efforts to fight the virus and Hong Kong school pupils went back to class wearing surgical masks after a three-week shutdown.

Beijing’s new mayor has been fired after the Chinese capital announced a nearly tenfold increase in cases of the deadly Sars disease, boosting its total from 37 to 346.