Xinhua TV- China News (August 19, 2009) Editors: Li Qin, Nie Danyangzhi, Zhang Ying'ao, Shao Xiangqun, Zhao Fangyuan, Mu Xuyao, Liu Ruoshi, Chief editors: Zhang Hao, Ming Dajun, Yang Guoqiang, Ye Xingzeng

    Stories:

1. Lead poisoned children reaches 851	2. Ships collide, 9 Chinese seamen missing
3. 8,000 ships stranded	4. SW factory collapse kills 7
5. More arrests after toppled apartment	6. Rainstorm injures festival workers
7. Mainland relief to Taiwan	8. Chinese helicoper ready for Taiwan
9. Taiwan thanks mainland for relief	10. Chinese donations in London
11. Direct flights to Taiwan from Jinan	12. China mourns former ROK president
13. Teenage Internet addict beaten to death	14. Lower drug costs
15. Record trade deal with China, Australia	16. China's foreign trade
17. Foreign investors positive of Chinese economy	18. New COFCO soybean processing plant
19. China BlueStar, Adisseo sign deal	20. Opening attendance at beer festival

    Headlines: A smelting plant at the center of lead poisoning scandal has been shut down. The second set of donations from the Mainland has arrived to help typhoon victims in Taiwan... And a record business deal is signed between China and Australia- we'll tell you what it involves. Hello and welcome to China News. I'm Nie Danyangzhi in Beijing.

    1, Lead poisoned children reaches 851

    Intro:

    More children living near a smelting plant in northwest China's Shaanxi Province tested positive for lead poisoning. According to officials in Baoji city- 851 are now sick. As China News shows you, the plant was shut down Monday.

    PKG: As of Tuesday, 1016 children have been tested for lead poisoning in three villages: Madaokou, Sunjianantou and Gaozutou. Of those 851 are confirmed to have excessive levels of lead in their blood. Excessive amounts of lead in the body can harm the nervous and reproductive systems and cause high blood pressure and anemia. In severe cases, it can lead to convulsions, coma and even death. Villagers say pollution is apparent around the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Company to the naked eye.

    They are demanding free medical tests for everyone- not just children under the age of 14. At a press conference Saturday, the Baoji Municipal Environmental Protection Monitoring Station said Lead content in the air along main routes near the plant is 6.3 times that of monitoring sites 350 meters from roads.

    It reported lab tests on ground and surface water, soil and the smelter's waste discharge had all met national standards. The results sparked doubt and controversy among villagers and millions of Internet users monitoring the situation.

    TAG: The county government has promised to relocate all the remaining 425 families close to the plant within two years. It began building new homes last Thursday.

    2, Ships collide, 9 Chinese seamen missing

    CAM:

    Rescuers are trying to find nine people missing Wednesday after a ship collision in the Malacca Straits near Malaysia. They were among 25 crew members on a Taiwanese oil tanker, which crashed with another bulk carrier- reportedly from Britain- in the Straits late Tuesday. The Chinese embassy in Malaysia says both ships caught fire and a large oil spill has been reported. No word yet on what caused the crash.

    3. 8,000 ships stranded

      Pics:

    Upward of 8,000 cargo ships and boats have been stranded on a river course connecting Zhejiang Province to Shanghai. The bottleneck on the Changxing-Huzhou-Shanghai river course, the worst in a decade, extends 40 km. Typhoon Morakot early this month roaring across eastern China regions dumped torrential rains, causing flooding on local rivers and lakes. Spillways have been opened early Tuesday, to lower water levels for the ships to sail.

    4. SW factory collapse kills 7

     CAM:

    Seven workers were killed and another seven injured when a cement warehouse that they were building collapsed in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality Monday. Their bodies were found Tuesday under debris at the Jinjiang Cement Company.The county government says scaffolding was wrongly built which led to the collapse.

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