89 Afghan girls sickened in third case of apparent gas poisoning at a school

September 30th, 2009 Blast aimed at Afghan powerbroker kills 4 in westKABUL — Police say four people have been killed in an explosion targeting Afghanistan's energy minister outside a school in the country's west. A Taliban official is claiming responsibility.

September 22nd, 2009 Girls school attacked in PakistanPESHAWAR, Pakistan — Suspected Islamist militants blew up a girls school close to the main city in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, police said. The school on the outskirts of the Peshawar was empty when the explosion took place, police officer Hamdullah Khan said.

September 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Eight of the 34 students injured in a stampede in a government school here last week are recovering in a hospital and will be discharged soon, an official said Monday. "Eight students are still in the hospital recovering from injuries while four were discharged Sunday.

August 24th, 2009 Lead poisoning investigation begins in ChinaBEIJING — Health and environmental officials have been sent to central China to investigate who is responsible for pollution from a manganese processing plant that caused more than 1,300 children to become sickened with lead poisoning, a local government official said Monday. The poisoning near the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant in Wenping township in Hunan province was the second such case involving a large number of children in the last month.

August 22nd, 2009 China says 2 environment officials investigatedWENPING, China — Two environmental officials were being investigated Saturday after more than 1,300 children were sickened with lead poisoning caused by pollution from a manganese processing plant in central China. The probe comes as officials seek to punish those responsible for the poisoning from the Wugang Manganese Smelting Plant in Wenping township in Hunan province.

August 20th, 2009 2nd lead poisoning case hits China, 1,300 sickBEIJING — China has detained two factory officials after 1,300 children were poisoned by pollution from a manganese processing plant, days after emissions from a lead smelter in another province sickened hundreds. Both cases have sparked unrest and come amid growing anger in China over public safety scandals in which children have been the main victims.

August 20th, 2009 China says 1,300 sick in new lead poisoning caseBEIJING — More than 1,300 children have been sickened by lead poisoning in central China, the second such case involving a large number of children this month, state media said Thursday. The official Xinhua News Agency said 1,354 children — or nearly 70 percent of the children tested — who lived near a manganese processing plant in Wenping township in Hunan province were found to have excessive lead in their blood.

August 20th, 2009 China says 1,300 sickened in lead poisoning caseBEIJING — More than 1,300 children have been sickened in a lead poisoning case in China's central Hunan province, the second such case involving a large number of children in the past month, state media said Thursday. The official Xinhua News Agency said 1,354 children who lived near a manganese processing plant in Wenping township were diagnosed as having excessive lead in their blood.

August 18th, 2009 Chinese mayor apologizes for lead poisoningCHANGQING, China — A mayor apologized to residents of two Chinese villages where more than 600 children were sickened by lead poisoning, saying a nearby smelter targeted by angry protests would not reopen until it meets health standards, state media said Tuesday. Authorities have promised to relocate hundreds of families within two years, the official Xinhua News Agency said, but residents were not reassured.

August 14th, 2009 Lead poisoning sickens 600 kids in ChinaBEIJING — More than 600 children have been sickened with lead poisoning in a northern Chinese province where authorities shut a smelter earlier this week thought to have caused the contamination, state media reported. More than 80 percent of the 731 children living in the two villages near the Dongling Lead and Zinc Smelting Co.

July 6th, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR - The Parent-Teacher Association of a secondary school in Malaysia is seeking the help of authorities to investigate claims that the school principal held karaoke sessions with female students at the girls' hostel. According to SM Tok Janggut Parent-Teacher Association chairman Datuk Mohd Jelani Jaafar, they had received numerous complaints on the matter, and some of them were from the teachers themselves.

May 14th, 2009 Fear of gas attacks keeps Afghan girls from schoolMUHMUD RAQI, Afghanistan — Only a few dozen of about 570 female students attended class in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday after an apparent attack with poison gas sickened more than 80 girls this week. It was the third apparent poisoning at a girls school in about two weeks.

May 11th, 2009 Fears of mass poisoning of Afghan schoolgirlsCHARIKAR, Afghanistan — Doctors were investigating whether dozens of students were poisoned at a high school in northern Afghanistan on Monday after 61 girls went to the hospital complaining of sudden illness, officials said. Dr. Khalil Farangi said the 61 students and one teacher from Hora Jalaly high school in Parwan province northwest of Kabul complained of symptoms like irritability, weeping and confusion.

May 9th, 2009 NJ student suspended over 'hot girl' contestMONTVILLE, N.J. — A New Jersey high school student has been suspended for organizing a contest in which boys voted on the school's best-looking girls in a bracket modeled on the NCAA basketball tournament.

April 24th, 2009 Chinese school admits age fraud in soccer tourneyBEIJING — A Chinese high school principal has admitted his girls' soccer team was filled with players from the junior national squad and apologized for the fraud, state media reported Friday. Daping Junior High's Zhang Jianling said that only three of the 15 team members sent to an international girls tournament in Turkey actually attended his school in the Yuzhong district of the western city of Chongqing.