Chinese president in Canada

Chinese President Hu Jintao has now arrived in Canada's capital of Ottawa for a short official visit to that country, ahead of this weekend's G20 meeting in the city of Toronto.
The President is meeting today with Canada's Governor General, who holds the ceremonial title of being the Queen of England's personal representative to Canada, which is still part of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Hu Jintao is also going to meet with the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper ahead of the G20 meeting.

15,000 resuce workers pour into river-burst city

Some 15,000 military rescue workers are now pouring into the city of Fuzhou to help evacuate some 75,000 people in the central Chinese province of Jiangxi.
This comes after the Fuhe River broke through its banks for the 2nd time in as many days because of the heavy rains pounding Jiangxi and other provinces in China's south.
56-year-old Wu Guoliang lives near the river.
"At around past 1 am last night, the water levels started to rise here, and it rose pretty quickly, almost 60 centimeters at once. The water is from the dyke that was breached."
Heavy rains and floods in south and central China have left 211 people dead, with some 120 others listed as missing.
The National Meteorological Centre is warning that rain is likely to keep pounding parts of the south until this weekend.

Chinese auditors find 330 mln yuan of subsidies wrongly given to 62,900 "rich" families in 2009

Chinese auditors have found 330 million yuan in government subsidies have been wrongly given to almost 63,000 households whose income exceeded the prescribed standards last year.
A report from the National Audit Office says 11,900 of these households were found to own private enterprises, cars or at least two real estate properties.
Wang Xiuming is director of the Audit Research Institute with the national Audit Office, and says violations of auditing regulations are widespread.
"For example, some departments embezzle funds for agricultural projects for thier own use; some departments use financial fund to subsidize their employees; some departments even use fake invoices to get reimbursements to subsidize their employees."
Auditing has also found that nine cities gave some 870,000 yuan in low-rent housing subsidies and 74 apartments to over 700 unqualified families last year.

US Afghan commander Stanley McChrystal fired by Obama

A few off-the-cuff remarks in a magazine have lead to a major leadership change in the US war in Afghanistan:
General Stanley McChrystal, the top US military commander in Afghanistan, has been sacked by US　President Barack Obama over comments he made in a Rolling Stone magazine interview.
McChrystal will be replaced General David Petraeus, who lead the 'surge' strategy in Iraq.
Obama says the move is a change in personnel, not policy.
"Difficult as it is to lose General McChrystal, I believe it is the right decision for our national security. The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general."
In the article McChrystal revealed he was disappointed by his first meeting with President Obama, and that he felt 'betrayed' US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenbarry.

Cap problems send gallons more oil gushing into Gulf

BP is now removing a cap containing some of the oil gushing from the well in the Gulf of Mexico, after an underwater robot bumped into the venting system.
Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the response efforts, says after the collision, gas rose through the vent carrying warm water down to prevent ice-like crystals from forming.
"They've indicated that the problem was a remotely operated vehicle that had been around the lower marine riser package had bumped into one of those vents that allows the excess oil to come out. It actually closed it thereby creating pressure in it and the backflow potentially up the water vent."
Meanwhile, Allen has also confirmed that two people have been killed while taking part in the clean-up effort in the Gulf. Their deaths are not believed to be connected directly with the effort to stem the oil leak.

China executes dealers ahead of Int'l anti-drug day

A total of eight people convicted of drug trafficking in southeastern Fujian province and southwestern Chongqing Municipality have been executed.
Six of the men were executed in Fujian. They were all found guilty of selling or manufacturing heroin, methamphetamine, and ketamine.
The other two were executed in Chongqing for cross-border smuggling and dealing of heroin and methamphetamine.

Prosecutors probe detainee death from "fever" in NE China

Prosecutors in Heilongjiang are investigating the death of a detainee, after internet users in the province began questioning the official police explanation given for his death.
Police say 57-year-old farmer Wang Lijia died from a cold and fever.
He was detained in late may on suspicion of cheating the local government out of 730 000 yuan, or just over one-hundred and seven thousand dollars US.
Wang's family first raised doubts over the official cause of his death, after they found several injuries on his body.