As hope dimmed by the hour of finding more survivors following Monday's earthquake in China, rescue crews were given a boost Friday after finding 33

Strong aftershock has caused further landslides near Wenchuan, a mountainous area of China, which was also the epicentre of a devastating earthquake.
Damage from the magnitude 5.5 aftershock on Friday - one of dozens of strong tremors since the earthquake on Monday - stands as a setback to the massive relief and recovery operation.
the region, as well as burying vehicles.

BEIJING: Rescue work in the earthquake-hit areas of southwest China's Sichuan province was seriously affected by a major after-shock measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale around 1.25pm on Friday. But Chinese authorities showed no signs of slacking in the battle to save more lives as President Hu Jintao took charge of directly overseeing relief operations.
Chinese authorities said on Friday that 22,000 people have been confirmed dead so far. They had expressed fears on Thursday that 50,000 people might have died. But the toll of confirmed death continued to rise slowly four days after the earthquake on Monday afternoon as very few bodies could be pulled out of the debris at

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) - Various departments of China's central government continued their work in disaster relief on Friday after a 7.8-magnitude quake jolted Wenchuan County in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The Ministry of Finance on Friday set aside another 1.17 billion yuan (167 million U.S. dollars) for disaster relief. The move brought the total money earmarked from the central budget so far for quake relief to 3.41 billion yuan.
ion and China Education News should establish columns for psychological experts to help quake-affected students.

May 15: A rescuer checks on Li Yi, 10, who was trapped under the ruins of a collapsed building at Miaoba primary school in Beichuan county, China.

The death toll from the country's worst earthquake in three decades is estimated at more than 50000, the rescue headquarters of the State Council said on