BEIJING, April 19 (Reuters) - Typhoon Neoguri has weakened into a tropical storm after slamming into the southern Chinese island province of Hainan, with no casualties reported so far, state media said on Saturday. The storm forced the cancellation of 76 flights, caused a power black-out in Hainan's northeastern city of Wenchang, and is now moving into Guangdong province, Xinhua news agency said. "Guangdong flood control authorities said residents in low-lying areas and dangerous houses had all been evacuated to safety. About 20,000 boats in Guangdong have returned to port," the report said. Chinese scientists have blamed global warming for increasing weather extremes, including devastating typhoons, snow storms, floods and drought, which they say are likely to get worse. Typhoons, known in the West as hurricanes, are cyclonic storms which draw strength from the warm waters of the South China Sea and regularly target the Philippines, Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong over the summer, sometimes with catastrophic effect. The typhoon season usually starts in May. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard)
Labourers work at a construction site for a new golf course in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, April 18, 2008. China's cabinet said on Wednesday that the government needs to focus on preventing ...
