Flooding in China kills 16, forces thousands from homes

Rainstorms and flooding in southern China have killed at least 16 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless, according to state-run media. Authorities had sent text messages to more than 1 million people to take precautions in southern China, the Xinhua news agency said Saturday. More than 400,000 residents total were forced from their homes in Fujian, Guangxi Zhuang, Hunan and Jiangxi.

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Chinese Government Attacks Google Over Internet Porn

Beijing’s Internet censors are on the rampage again. But this time the victims are not the country’s nearly 200 million surfers but one of the most-recognized names on the Web: Google. The search giant’s China operation, already struggling to compete with its domestic rivals, is the subject of a blistering and unprecedented wave of criticism by China’s official media, who have singled it out as having far more links to pornographic websites than its competitors.

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China quarantines U.S. school group over flu concerns

A group of students and teachers from a Maryland private school have been quarantined in China because of swine flu concerns, a school spokeswoman said Thursday. The Chinese government has confined 21 students and three teachers to their hotel rooms in Kaili, China, because a passenger on their plane to China was suspected of having swine flu, or H1N1, said Vicky Temple, director of communications for the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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China marks earthquake anniversary

China on Tuesday marked the first anniversary of a devastating earthquake that left nearly 90,000 dead or missing one year ago in mountainous Sichuan province. In the city of Dujiangyan, a moment of silence was held amid the ruins of collapsed buildings and debris. Mourners placed flowers at a memorial to quake rescue efforts, sang the national anthem and a stone carving of a clock that stopped at 2:28, when the temblor hit, with the date underneath

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Lights go out across planet for Earth Hour

Lights were going out across the world on Saturday as millions of homes and businesses in major cities went dark for one hour in a symbolic gesture to highlight concerns over climate change. In Australia, floodlights of the Sydney Opera House were extinguished as the city’s iconic harbor kicked off events for Earth Hour, a day-long energy-saving marathon stretching through 88 countries and 24 time zones.

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Winning bidder won’t pay for Chinese relics

The winning bidder of a pair of Chinese bronzes auctioned off in Paris, France, emerged Monday as a collection adviser from China’s National Treasures Fund, and he has refused to pay, Xinhua news agency reported. Cai Mingchao placed the $39.63 million (31.49 million euro) phone bid on Wednesday for the two sculptured bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit dating from China’s Qing Dynasty. The relics were part of the late Yves Saint Laurent’s private collection of arts and antiquities.

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