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China Reports Two Confirmed SARS Cases 7 minutes ago By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer BEIJING - China reported two confirmed SARS (news - web sites) cases on Friday and said one of two other people suspected of having the disease has died, apparently the first SARS fatality in the country since July. Hundreds of people have been quarantined. The confirmed cases both had worked in laboratories in Beijing for China's Centers for Disease Control and were probably infected there, Xinhua said. They were identified as a 31-year-old man from Beijing and a 26-year-old woman in central Anhui province, the...

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - The worldwide death toll from the SARS virus surpassed 700 on Sunday after Taiwan reported 12 new deaths and China reported seven. Still, Taiwan angrily refused rival China's offers of help and scolded Beijing for blocking the island's efforts to join the World Health Organization. "If the Chinese authorities are really concerned about Taiwanese ... they should no longer interfere with Taiwan's attempts to participate in the WHO or other international organizations," Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said, adding that China should keep its medicine to focus on its own SARS outbreak. Taiwan reported 15 new SARS...