A GAS explosion at a coal mine operating without a proper licence has killed 29 miners in central China, state media said yesterday, in the latest in a series of deadly accidents to hit the industry.

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 CHINESE man who hacked to death seven young children and two adults in the latest in a series of deadly assaults on schools lashed out after an argument over a nursery school lease, neighbours and state media said.

China’s capital woke up to orange-tinted skies today as the strongest sandstorm so far this year hit the country’s north, delaying some flights at Beijing’s airport and prompting a dust warning for Seoul.

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.

Three dairy plant managers and one milk powder dealer in central China were arrested today for allegedly selling milk products tainted with the industrial chemical melamine, shortly after the government launched a 10-day crackdown.

CHINA launched an emergency crackdown on contaminated milk products yesterday after they were found on sale again despite a massive scandal that poisoned hundreds of thousands of children in 2008.

China launched an emergency crackdown on contaminated milk products today after they were found on sale again despite a massive scandal that poisoned hundreds of thousands of children in 2008.

Unusually early snow storms in north-central China have claimed 40 lives, caused thousands of buildings to collapse and destroyed almost 500,000 acres of winter crops, the Civil Affairs Ministry said.

Sixty pandas relocated last year from a famous Chinese nature reserve after their breeding centre was severely damaged by a massive earthquake will return home after repairs in 2012.

More than 1,300 children have been taken ill in China's second mass lead poisoning case in a month.

A city in northern China killed more than 20,000 dogs over 10 days to deal with an outbreak of rabies.

China declared an official emergency today in eight provinces hit by a drought that has left nearly four million people without drinking water.

CHINA’s government estimates it will cost $147 billion (€99.3bn) to rebuild from the massive earthquake that struck the central part of the country in May, according to state media.

Pandas living in an earthquake-hit area of south west China have been evacuated to temporary shelters because of the continuing threat of landslides and other hazards, a local forestry bureau report said today.

Rebuilding in two of China’s provinces hit by last month’s massive earthquake should be complete by 2010, Premier Wen Jiabao said today.

Fears were raised today over the safety of scores of China's giant pandas in the wake of last month's huge earthquake.

Chinese authorities prepared to begin draining a swelling earthquake-formed lake today after evacuating nearly 200,000 people and warning more than a million others to be ready to leave quickly.

Chinese authorities began evacuating earthquake relief workers from a flood-risk zone today, in a drill that put 1.3 million people on alert to quickly leave if an earthquake-spawned lake breached a dam.

Three reservoirs hit by the Chinese earthquake are in danger of collapsing, the government said today.

China put nearly half a million soldiers to work clearing roads today as the country struggled to cope with winter storms that have brought it to a virtual standstill.

Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains have killed at least 94 people and left 25 others missing in seven Chinese provinces, state media reported today.

After panda porn failed to spark love, Thai zoo authorities today turned to artificial insemination in the hope of impregnating their lone female giant panda.

A mini-baby boom last year has pushed up the number of pandas bred in captivity in China to 217, state media said today.

A cache of illegal dynamite has exploded in a village in northern China, killing at least 11 people, injuring 20 and demolishing buildings, the government announced today.

RESCUE crews were searching yesterday for coal miners missing nearly 800 feet underground after a gas explosion in China’s northeast killed 203 people in the deadliest mining disaster reported since communist rule began in 1949.

Rescue crews were searching for Chinese coal miners missing today after a gas explosion killed 203 people in the deadliest mining disaster reported since communist rule began in 1949.

Eleven people who tried to defraud Chinese lottery winners by having their tickets declared forgeries were today sentenced to prison terms of up to 19 years, news reports said, following a scandal in which one disappointed winner threatened suicide.

THE chances of saving 141 trapped coal miners were “extremely slight,” an official said yesterday as rescuers pumped out noxious fumes from the mine after a gas explosion in central China.

The chances of saving 141 trapped Chinese coal miners were “extremely slight”, an official said today, as rescuers pumped out poisonous fumes after a gas explosion. Twenty-five miners were confirmed dead.

THE population of endangered giant pandas in the wild in China has jumped by more than 40% to 1,590 since efforts to protect them began in the early 1990s, the Chinese government said yesterday.

Bird flu has killed three house cats in Thailand, a development the World Health Organisation described as “very dangerous” because of pets’ close contact with people.

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.

Twelve more people have died of the SARS virus and more than 300 new cases have been diagnosed, China announced today.

Flooding and mudslides caused by torrential rains have killed at least 179 people in western China and wrecked bridges and power stations, officials said today.

Thousands of Chinese villagers are to be moved because of chemical contamination of their soil and water.

South western China’s Sichuan province has ordered all small-scale coal mining operations shut down following weekend accidents that killed 51 people.