Hourly News updated 14:00 2011/10/13

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The Chinese government is working with Thailand, Myanmar and Laos to try to ensure the safe return of Chinese sailors who are currently stranded¹ on the Mekong River.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry² says the three countries are going to help assist Chinese patrol boats to reach the stranded ships to aid their safe travel back to China.

Numerous Chinese cargo³ boats, along with their crew members, are trapped along the Mekong River, after the major southeast Asian waterway was shut down to commercial boat traffic following last week's attack on Chinese crews that left 12 dead.

 

 

Mine owner detained after 13 miners trapped in NE China

The owner of a coal mine that flooded in northeast China's Heilongjiang province and trapped 13 miners has been detained.

The owner of the Jindi Coal Mine previously⁴ denied that there was anyone trapped underground after the mine became flooded late Tuesday afternoon.

He later confessed during a four-hour police interrogation that 24 people were underground at the time of the flooding, and that 11 of them managed to escape.

Rescue work is underway.

 

 

Controversial U.S. currency bill does "more harm than good": USCBC

The U.S.-China Business Council is now wading⁵ in on the controversial US Senate bill connected to China's currency, suggesting it would do more harm than good.

The USCBC has been a strong advocate for seeing the Renminbi become more in-line with the market.

However, it says the Senate bill could derail that.

The bill -- which still needs House and Presidential approval -- could lead to tariffs⁶ on countries the US feels artificially undervalue their currency.

 

 

Indonesia's strong quake injures at least 23, damages buildings

At least 23 people were injured after a shallow undersea earthquake struck Bali island in Indonesia.

The local disaster management agency says the 6.8-magnitude quake also damaged buildings. No tsunami⁷ was reported.

A foreign tourist was among the injured.

 

 

Gaddafi's fourth son captured in Sirte: NTC defense⁸ official

Fighters with Libya's transitional government say they've captured one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons in the city of Sirte.

Mutassim Gaddafi is the elder Gaddafi's 4th son.

He was a national security advisor⁹ under his father's rule, and is believed to have been coordinating¹⁰ the pro-Gaddafi stand in Sirte.

Meanwhile, an NTC official has suggested that they will announce they have complete control of Sirte in the next 24-hours.

 

 

8 dead in California hair salon¹¹ shooting

A gunman has opened fire in a busy hair salon in southern California, killing¹² eight people and critically wounding another.

The gunman got into a car and drove away after the shooting. He was stopped by police about a half-mile away and surrendered without incident.

Police are working to determine the motive¹³ for the killings¹⁴.

 

 

Heavy fog strands¹⁵ 170 ships on central China's Yangtze River

Heavy fog has stranded more than 170 ships in the Three Gorges¹⁶ section of the Yangtze River in central China's Hubei province.

The fog began to hit the area yesterday morning, reducing visibility to less than 500 meters.

The local navigation bureau has predicted that more fog will hit the region over the next few days.

 

 

China lends helping¹⁷ hand to cash-strapped small firms

China's State Council, the Cabinet, has given its formal approval to an earlier pledge by Premier¹⁸ Wen Jiabao to help out cash-strapped small businesses in the country.

The promise of more central government support comes following revelations that dozens of small business owners in the city of Wenzhou -- which is virtually all driven by small and medium-sized enterprises -- have either fled or killed themselves because of the massive debt they owe.

The business owners in Wenzhou began approaching private financiers amid the heavy tightening¹⁹ on bank loans this year.

 

 

Lenovo replaces Dell to become world's second largest PC maker²⁰

Computer and electronic device maker Lenovo, listed in both Hong Kong and New York, says it has replaced Dell to become the world's second largest PC company.

Lenovo cited figures released by International Data Corporation saying it has achieved record market share of around 13.7 percent and record quarterly shipment volume of some 12.6 million units, following five quarters as the fastest-growing PC maker among the world's top vendors²¹.

The Chinese multinational²² is a global Fortune 500 company with annual sales worth 21 billion U.S. dollars.

 

 

Guangzhou school under fire for testing pupils' IQ

A probe has been launched into why a school in southern China's Guangzhou city sent a group of struggling students to hospital for an IQ test.

Suifeng Primary School has come in for harsh criticism since it had doctors check the intelligence of 13 youngsters who performed poorly in exams.

Many believe the move was aimed at boosting the school's average academic record.

However, school officials insisted that they simply want to learn more about the children so they can better teach them in accordance with their aptitudes²³.

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