Floodwaters surging through Himalayan foothills in western China have swept bridges, houses and hillsides into surging brown rivers, leaving at least 19 people dead and dozens missing as heavy rains buffet many parts of the country.

Two girls have died in China after eating poisoned yoghurt placed outside their kindergarten by a man acting for the head of a rival school, reports say.

Police in China have arrested 802 people on suspicion of child trafficking and rescued 181 youngsters in a massive operation spanning 15 provinces.

Chinese police have arrested 608 suspects and rescued 178 children in a raid of two separate child trafficking networks, authorities said today.

A Chinese man was shocked when one of his hens laid a bowling-pin shaped egg.

A KNIFE-WIELDING man went on a slashing rampage in a kindergarten in eastern China, leaving three children and one teacher dead in the country’s latest school attack, area residents said.

A knife-wielding man went on a murderous rampage in a kindergarten in eastern China, leaving three children and one teacher dead, it was reported today.

A drunk killed 11 people when he went on an hour-long rampage driving a tractor in China, smashing into shops and vehicles.

Six Chinese suspects went on trial today accused of making and selling the industrial chemical at the centre of a tainted milk scandal blamed for killing six children and making nearly 300,000 others sick.

A Chinese court declared bankrupt the company at the centre of a scandal over tainted milk that was blamed for killing six children and making nearly 300,000 more ill.

China's State Council has tightened quality control regulations for the dairy industry - while authorities in Macau and Hong Kong report that several children have developed kidney stones from Chinese tainted milk.

Confectionery giant Cadbury became the latest victim of China’s poisoned milk scandal, reporting findings of melamine in its Chinese-made chocolates.

British chocolate maker Cadbury yesterday said it is recalling 11 types of Chinese-made chocolates found to contain melamine, as police in northern China raided a network accused of adding the banned chemical to milk.

A Chinese milk company knew their product was contaminated with a dangerous chemical six weeks ago, but did nothing to remove it from shop shelves according to a major shareholder.

Conjoined twins born with congenital heart disease will soon undergo separation surgery at a hospital in China.

A deputy mayor is among 30 people who have been punished for their roles in the collapse of a mine in northern China which killed 33 people, state media said today.

An explosion ripped through a coal mine in northern China today, killing six workers and leaving another 25 trapped, the government said.

The death toll from a massive coal mine explosion in northeast China rose to 134 late today with 15 miners still missing, state media reported, as the country’s leadership called for tighter work safety measures.

Coal dust caught fire in a mine in northeast China, sparking an explosion that killed at least 68 people and left 79 missing, the government said today, as the country’s leadership called for tighter work safety measures.

A former clerk at a credit co-operative shot five people dead and then killed himself after robbing the co-operative in northern China, the government said today.

Scientists in Germany say an experimental drug for the common cold might also serve against SARS, while thousands of Chinese turn to the occult to ward off the disease as it enters China’s vulnerable countryside.

THE World Health Organisation took its SARS probe into rural China, where the health system is a shambles, as reports emerged yesterday of more attacks on quarantine sites in the country by people scared of the disease.

At least 18 people have been killed by a series of explosions in northern China.