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Factory explosion in China’s Inner Mongolia region kills 2 and hospitalizes 66

BEIJING (AP) — An explosion at a factory in China’s Inner Mongolia region killed two people and left 66 others hospitalized on Sunday.

China’s official news agency Xinhua said the blast, which sent heavy plumes of smoke into the sky, occurred at a plant of Baogang United Steel in the city of Baotou at around 3 p.m local time and caused tremors in the surrounding areas. The report also said three of those hospitalized suffered serious injuries, and five people remained missing.

Rescue crews rushed to the scene and authorities are still investigating the cause of the blast, the agency said.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

By WTOP Staff
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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