BEIJING — Landslides killed at least 80 people and left an estimated 2,000 missing Sunday in northwest China’s Gansu province, the latest disaster caused by widespread flooding in the country.

The landslides happened early in the morning in the province’s Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
State broadcaster CCTV said the latest death toll was more than 80, and 2,000 people were missing. Power was down in some of the affected areas in the southern part of the province, so it was not known how many of the missing were in danger or just out of contact.
The worst-hit part of Gannan was Zhouqu county, with Xinhua reporting that half the county was under water. Many houses had collapsed and streets were covered in one yard (meter) of mud and water.
It quoted the head of the county, Diemujiangteng, as saying the landslides happened after heavy rains lashed the country late Saturday and a river overflowed.
"Now the sludge (thick mud) has became the biggest problem to rescue operations. It’s too thick to walk or drive through," he was quoted as saying.
Xinhua said at least 50,000 people were believed to be affected, and that power had been cut to the county.
It said officials were using helicopters to survey the damage.
The Lanzhou Military Area Command in the capital of the province dispatched 2,400 soldiers to help with rescue efforts.
Around China, the country’s worst flooding in a decade has killed more than 1,100 people, with more than 600 still missing this year. The floods have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage across 28 provinces and regions.
Overall this year, about 875,000 homes have been destroyed, 9.61 million people evacuated, and 22 million acres (8.76 million hectares) of crops ruined, according to the government’s flood control office. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/07/AR2010080702986_pf.html

2. Sixteen die in Chinese gold mine fire 

BEIJING: Death hits scores of workers in Chinese coal mines with notorious regularity almost every month. The difference this time is that death embraced 16 workers in a gold mine at a time when China was racing to enhance production of the yellow metal.

On Saturday, rescuers were desperately trying to save the last seven miners trapped in an eastern China gold mine where an underground blaze initially trapped more than 300. So far 16 of them have been confirmed dead while the rest escaped.

The death was caused by toxic smoke in the underground chambers that overwhelmed the workers. Some of the deaths took place after the affected workers were brought to the hospital from Luoshan gold mine in Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province. Dozens of the injured workers have been hospitalized.

A total of 329 workers were trapped when a fire broke out inside the Luoshan mine at about 5pm, local officials said. The fire was put out by 8:30am Saturday and most of the miners have been brought out.

An initial investigation showed the fire was caused by an underground cable. The police has taken the mine owner to custody for questioning. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6271453.cms?prtpage=1

3. Man held after nursery stabbings in eastern China
A knife-wielding man went on the rampage in a kindergarten in eastern China, leaving three children and one teacher dead in the country’s latest school attack, locals said on August 4.
The official Xinhua News Agency said police had detained a 26-year-old man who had confessed. Officials refused to release details of the attack, saying they feared that reports could inspire copycat killers.
The assault is among the worst of a spate of rampages that have taken place this year in schools and public spaces across China, and have left dozens of people dead and scores wounded.http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/man-held-after-nursery-stabbings-in-eastern-china-2043561.html

4. Chairman Mao’s grandson proclaims nepotism was key to promotion
Now Mao Xinyu, 40, has confirmed that nepotism played its part in his appointment, admitting to a popular Chinese website that his family background was "definitely a factor" in the decision to add a second star to his epaulettes.
Despite inflicting famine and the political upheaval of the Cultural Revolution 1966-1976 on China, at a cost of millions of lives, Mao Tse-tung remains an iconic figure in China, his eerily serene features smiling out of banknotes and the famed portrait in Tiananmen Square.
It is this enduring respect for his grandfather that was reflected in the promotion, said Mao, who is a military historian at the Academy of Military Sciences and a fervent defender of his grandfather’s legacy.
"I feel it among my friends and colleagues in the army, everyone has this sense. All the people take their love and respect for Mao Zedong and transfer it onto my person. Definitely this is a factor," Mao told NetEase.com.
Mao Tse-Tung, who founded China Communist Republic in 1949, sired nine children from four marriages, including his second son, Mao Xinyu’s father Mao Anqing.
Although the sons of other senior Communist revolutionaries have played a key role in China politics – so-called ‘princelings’ – none of Mao’s children did so.
However Mao Xinyu says he hopes to buck that trend. Asked if he wished to pursue politics, he responded "of course" without giving further details.
"My mother chose for me in becoming a soldier an excellent path and angle and it’s from the military that I will rise," Mao added. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7928112/Chairman-Maos-grandson-proclaims-nepotism-was-key-to-promotion.html