Police in south-west China have detained three people for spreading false rumours online that a new strain of bird flu had spread to their province, state media reported.

The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed a 31-year-old man, the second death reported in south-west China.

At least seven people have died and more than 20 were injured in an earthquake in south-west China today.

A commercial van slammed into a truck in north-west China today, killing nine people and bringing the overall death toll to 56 in three big accidents on the country’s notoriously dangerous roads over the past two days.

Rescue workers were searching yesterday for more than 100 people trapped by a mudslide in south-west China.

Fifty-three rescuers have been freed after becoming trapped while trying to save five coal miners stuck underground when a tunnel collapsed at a south-west China mine.

Fifteen people were killed when a bus overturned and plunged into a ravine in south-west China today.

At least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured in an explosion in south-west China.

A COURT in south-west China has charged three Tibetan monks with “intentional homicide” for hiding a fellow monk and prevented him from getting treatment after he set himself on fire, state news agency Xinhua reported yesterday.

Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) subsidiary Aer Rianta International (ARI) has signed a retailing contract with Yunnan Airport Group in China.

A TIBETAN Buddhist monk burned himself to death in south-west China calling for the return of the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader condemned by Beijing as a separatist, a group campaigning for Tibetan self-rule said.

New landslides killed 24 people and left another 24 missing in China’s remote north-west today as downpours threatened more devastation and made rescue work difficult in a region where more than 1,100 people have died.

A LANDSLIDE caused by heavy rains trapped at least 107 people yesterday in south-west China, and there is little hope for their survival.

A landslide caused by heavy rains has trapped at least 107 people today in south-west China, and there is little hope for their survival, a local official said.

A massive landslide in south-west China has killed at least 23 people, and 24 are missing after flash floods in the east, state media reported today.

POLICE arrested nine people in south-west China suspected of trafficking mentally ill people to be murdered in mines across the country in a bid to blackmail mine owners into paying compensation, a local official said.

Police in Shanghai said today they had cracked a major child trafficking ring following the arrest of 47 suspects and rescue of 21 babies following a months'-long crackdown.

An explosion at a coal mine in south-west China killed nine workers and left one missing, less than a week after a mine blast killed at least 107.

An earthquake rocked south-west China, killing one person, injuring at least 324 others and collapsing 18,000 homes.

Chinese state media said a moderate earthquake rocked south-west China today, injuring at least 336 people and collapsing 10,000 homes.

MOURNERS crowded ruins in south-west China to mark one year since an earthquake shattered the region, while President Hu Jintao called reconstruction efforts a testament to national strength.

Defiant Buddhist monks banned from marking a key Tibetan new year prayer festival marched in protest in south-west China, human rights groups said today.

A TEACHER in south-west China has been sent to a labour camp for publicising photos of school buildings that collapsed in the devastating May 12 earthquake, a rights group has said.

A Chinese state news agency says four panda cubs have been born within 14 hours of each other at a breeding centre in south-west China, a mini baby boom for the rare animals.

THOUSANDS of rioters torched police and government office buildings in south-west China, in unrest triggered by allegations of a cover-up over a girl’s death.

AFTERSHOCKS continued to threaten the stability of a swollen “quake lake” in south-west China, amid urgent efforts to drain its rising waters to prevent a flood downstream.

Rescuers in earthquake-hit China continued to pull bodies from collapsed buildings today as a specialist British team was refused permission to join the operation.

China will launch its first moon rocket this week, a key step towards future space exploration.

Police in eastern China have broken up a baby trafficking ring, arresting 47 people and rescuing 40 infants, state media said today.

CHINESE doctors have separated four-month-old conjoined twin baby girls in an operation lasting nearly 12 hours, Xinhua news agency said yesterday.

Tens of thousands of earthquake victims in south-west China were living in tents or in the open today, fearful of returning to their damaged homes a day after a magnitude 6.4 quake killed three people and injured at least 300.

A 52-vehicle pile-up in south-west China killed five people, state media said today.

Some 2,000 people mobbed a hospital in south-west China and clashed with police after a young boy died at the facility because his family didn't have enough money for treatment.

A pair of twin giant pandas each gave birth to twin cubs early this week, bringing the number of pandas born in captivity this year in China to six.

Fourteen miners were killed when gas caught fire at an illegal coal pit in south-west China.

An explosion at a gas pipeline in south-west China killed nine people today and injured at least another 10, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

IRAQ was yesterday investigating if a 14-year-old girl who died of a fever had contracted the human strain of the bird flu virus, while Turkey and China also reported new deaths from the deadly disease.

A stampede on a stairwell at a primary school in south-west China, reportedly sparked by a child’s shouts of “ghost”, killed seven children and injured 37, reports said today.

Torrential floods in south-west China have claimed at least 76 lives, prompting beleaguered local officials to seek help today from the military in rescuing hundreds trapped by mudslides and caved-in roads, state media reported.

A GAS well blow-out in south-west China turned a 10 square mile area into a death zone, killing nearly 200 people as they slept or scrambled to escape a cloud of toxic fumes, officials and state media said yesterday.

A bus has plunged off a sharp bend in a mountain road in south-west China, killing 28 passengers.

Ten people have been killed after a boat overloaded with passengers sank in south-west China.