HUNDREDS of dogs being trucked to Chinese restaurants were spared a culinary fate after about 200 animal lovers mobilised to stop them ending up on dinner tables.

China’s Red Cross made an urgent nationwide appeal for blood donors today after a sudden shortage halted some surgical operations.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il was in China today on a visit to a school - his second appearance in the country this year.

A massive explosion ripped through a fireworks factory in China today killing at least 13 workers.

Rescuers in three countries across Asia struggled to reach survivors from massive flooding that afflicted millions of people, as the death toll climbed in a remote Chinese town where hundreds died and more than 1,100 were missing from landslides.

Heavy rain hindered efforts by workers to repair reservoirs and place sandbags along breached riverbanks today as the death toll from China’s worst flooding in a decade climbed above 1,000.

The death toll from a bridge collapse in central China has risen to 51 people as the country’s worst flooding in decades continues to wreak havoc today.

China declared a new food safety campaign today after contaminated milk products from an earlier scandal turned up repackaged in several places around the country, exposing weaknesses in the country’s promise to stop such problems from happening again.

The death toll from a viral illness that is infecting children around China has risen to 34, state media said today, as the number of reported infections jumped to nearly 25,000.

Building materials group CRH has bought a 26% shareholding in Shanghai-listed Jilin Yatai group's cement operations (Yatai Cement) for €200m.

Chinese workers are labouring “around the clock” on a temporary dam project to block pollutants from reaching a major Russian city, a Chinese official said today.

China is considering building a dam to reduce the impact of a river-borne toxic spill expected to arrive in a Russian city early next week, a government newspaper said today.

Authorities were today investigating the death of a Chinese deputy mayor who had told reporters there was no pollution from a chemical plant blast that poisoned a river.

The head of a Chinese chemical company blamed for a toxic spill that poisoned a major river and strained relations with Russia has been removed from his post, the company said today.

Another city in north east China has shut down a water plant on a poisoned river fearing contamination from approaching toxic chemicals, an official said today.

ANOTHER town on a poisoned Chinese river shut down its water system yesterday as a toxic slick caused by a chemical plant explosion arrived and the country’s health minister warned that the spill was still a major problem.

Russia’s emergency agency today said it was mounting a quick response to a toxic chemical spill flowing downriver from China that is expected to reach Russia’s far eastern regions early next month.

RUNNING water was restored in the Chinese city of Harbin yesterday after a chemical spill forced a five-day shutdown, but officials warned it was not immediately safe to drink.

Chinese leaders sent a team to investigate a chemical plant accident today that has poisoned a major river and said those officials responsible for the pollution will be punished.

China’s leaders today sent a team to investigate a chemical plant accident that poisoned a major river and said officials responsible will be punished.

The United Nations has offered to help China deal with a massive chemical spill on a river that flows into Russia, but the Chinese side has yet to respond with information about the disaster, an official said today.

A SLICK of river-borne toxins from a chemical plant explosion flowed into a major Chinese city yesterday as the authorities faced increasing criticism of their handling of the situation.

A long stretch of river carrying toxins from a chemical plant explosion today flowed into a Chinese city where authorities shut off water supply to millions of residents for fear that the pollution could cause cancer.

A CHINESE city of 3.8 million people closed schools and was trucking in drinking water yesterday after shutting down its water system following a chemical plant explosion that officials said polluted a river with toxic benzene.

A Chinese city of 3.8 million people closed schools and was trucking in drinking water today after shutting down its water system following a chemical plant explosion that officials said polluted a nearby river with toxic benzene.

A Chinese city of 3 million people has set off panic-buying of bottled water by announcing its water system will be shut down for four days to check for contamination from a chemical plant explosion.

A SERIES of explosions rocked a chemical plant in northeastern China yesterday forcing the evacuation of 10,000 people, state media said.

A series of explosions rocked a chemical plant in north-eastern China today.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe was in Beijing today in an apparent effort to secure aid and investment for his crumbling economy.

SMOULDERING incense left inside a bamboo temple as offerings to the gods was probably responsible for one of two deadly fires that killed at least 93 people in China over the weekend, authorities said yesterday.

A fire swept through a department store in north-eastern China today, killing 51 people and injuring dozens more.

A fire at a department store in north-east China killed at least 30 people today, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

THE SARS emergency has worsened in Taiwan, which had its biggest one-day jump in cases yesterday, while China threatened possible execution for people who cause death or injury by deliberately spreading the disease.

A strong earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale has hit north-east China.

At least 16 coal miners have died and 77 workers are missing in an explosion in a mine that reopened illegally after being closed for safety reasons.

Ninety-three coal miners were today trapped in a mine that reopened illegally after being closed for safety reasons.