Inner Mongolia

Carbon monoxide poisoning kills 7

Seven people died and four others were injured due to carbon monoxide poisoning in a mine in Erdos, local authorities said on Monday. A power failure occurred at about 7:45 pm on Sunday and caused an extraction fan to stop working in the coal mine, according to the regional work safety department.

Jiangxi

Man detained after fatal accident

A forestry official in Xinjian county, Nanchang, was put under criminal detention on Monday for his involvement in a traffic accident that left four people dead, the county authority said on its micro blog. The official, surnamed Xu, who is deputy director of the forestry administration of Nanchang, was driving with a fake license plate when the accident occurred, the Mirror reported on Monday.

Anhui

Former technician jailed for fraud

A retired man in Dingyuan county has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for fraud. Yan Bingqin, 67, was a geological exploration technician before he retired. Yan is accused of cheating a mining investment company in Beijing out of 5 million yuan ($817,000).

Jiangsu

Man treats girl ashis 'real daughter'

A man who knew that he had no biological connection to his ex-wife's daughter has decided to treat her as his real child, even though the guardianship of the daughter has been awarded to his ex-wife, Yangtze Evening News reported on Monday. The man, a resident in Xuzhou, married in 2005, and his wife gave birth to the girl in 2007. The couple had quarrels and divorced in 2009. Even though a DNA test showed that the girl was not his biological daughter, the man said he will continue to treat her as his daughter.

Primary school enrolls 11 sets of twins

A primary school in Nanjing has admitted 11 sets of twins, which has made it difficult for teachers to identify them, Yangcheng Evening News reported on Monday. The twins were among 180 new students at the school. Du Yulong, director of the school's dean office, made special name lists for teachers so they can better recognize their pupils.

Smokers get freeash bags in city

To curb the dropping of cigarette butts on streets, urban patrol officers in Changzhou have come up with a new idea - giving out portable ash bags, Modern Express Daily reported on Monday. On Friday, the first 5,000 cigarette ash bags were distributed for free on Nandajie, the city's busiest commercial street, where sanitation workers said more than 3,000 cigarette butts are dropped daily within a 600-meter stretch of road.

Tianjin

Student bikes 770 km to his university

A freshman spent five days on his bicycle covering some 770 km to his university for the new semester. Lin Ao, a newly enrolled student from Fuyang, Anhui province, decided to travel to his university in Tianjin by bicycle. He started his trip on Aug 20. Lin spent only 200 yuan ($33) during the trip and arrived at his campus on Saturday.

Beijing

Illicit online drug sales targeted

China's Internet and drug authorities recently gathered operators of major portals, search engines and shopping sites to order them to eliminate illicit drug advertisements from their sites, the State Internet Information Office said on Monday. At the meeting, the executives of some 20 websites were told to examine their sites and delete illicit drug advertisements. Websites carrying such commercials will be disqualified from publishing any advertisements, according to the authorities.

Drought eases after two typhoons

Water shortages in southern regions have eased in the wake of Typhoons Utor and Trami, China's drought relief authority said on Monday. Over the past 10 days, heavy rain has eased drought conditions. Average daily precipitation reached 135 mm in Hunan province and 92 mm in Zhejiang province, according to the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters. As of Monday, the drought affected 1.7 million hectares of farmland, down 73 percent from the peak drought season. About 2.5 million people are now short of drinking water, down by 74 percent.

Guangxi

Trami downpoursclaim 2 victims

Downpours from Typhoon Trami have left two people dead and nearly 200,000 affected in the autonomous region, local authorities said on Monday. As of 5 pm on Sunday, the rainfall that started on Thursday had affected 197,600 people in nine cities and 23 counties, the regional civil affairs authority said. Two people were killed and more than 4,400 people were relocated, sources said. The downpours ended by Sunday night as Typhoon Trami moved out of Guangxi.

Sichuan

Woman celebrates 116th birthday

Fu Suqing, the oldest person in the province, celebrated her 116th birthday with family and neighbors on Sunday, West China Metropolis Daily reported. To celebrate, Fu's family prepared a three-day feast at her house in Shuangliu county. On the first day, Fu's family handed out 500 bowls of long noodles, a tradition that symbolizes long life. Though Fu cannot see or hear well, she can still talk and eat with chopsticks without help.

Tibet

Foot-and-mouth disease confirmed

The Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday that cases of foot-and-mouth disease have been confirmed in cattle in the autonomous region. A village in Biru county, in Nagqu prefecture reported on Aug 10 that seven head of cattle showed signs of the disease. On Aug 19, another village in the prefecture reported that 99 head of cattle showed symptoms of the disease, according to the ministry. The national foot-and-mouth disease reference laboratory confirmed the two cases as type A foot-and-mouth disease on Monday.

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily USA 08/27/2013 page3)