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Flooding has killed 83 people in 15 provinces so far this year A. J. Cann Jaguars Jersey , with 13 people still missing and economic losses topping 14 billion yuan ($2.20 billion), the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) announced Wednesday.


Since January 144 lakes in 14 provinces have swelled above their warning line, more than in any of the last five years. Nearly 10 million people have been affected by flooding, with over 17,000 homes and 610,000 hectares of arable land destroyed, said the MWR.


Water conservancy facilities across the country worth 3.71 billion yuan were damaged by floods and the total economic losses due to floods this year were 13 percent higher than the average losses over the last 16 years.


Since the traditional flood season began in May, the national precipitation average has been 18 percent higher than in the same period in recent years. Average precipitation in the Taihu Lake basin, which includes parts of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai municipality, was 75 percent above average.


However, despite the high levels of precipitation and flooding, the numbers of people affected or killed and the number of buildings destroyed has all been significantly lower than in previous years.


The authorities have warned since late March that heavy floods were very likely on the Yangtze River this year.


According to comments made to China Central Television in April by Yang Kun, an official with the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, the water level along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River was 3.52 meters higher than the historical average and 2.31 meters higher than in 1998, when heavy flooding killed 1,320.


He added that such deaths are unlikely to be seen today due to China's improved flood control infrastructure.

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CARACAS， June 5 (Xinhua) -- Venezuelans marched en masse against the Organization of American States (OAS) over the weekend， after OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro attempted to sanction Venezuela for allegedly violating human rights laws.


Labor groups， women's groups， indigenous groups and youth activists from the northwest state of Anzoategui to northeast Portuguesa gathered at the city's Plaza Bolivar and demonstrated their support for the ruling socialist party.


The protests coincided with showing a support of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) from the 25 member countries， which wrapped up its seventh summit in Havana， Cuba on Saturday.


The summit issued a special declaration expressing solidarity with the Venezuelan government.


The protesters described the ACS declaration is a ""victory"" for ""new regionalism"" movement.


The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela has come under increasing pressure from its political rivals since President Nicolas Maduro came to power in 2013 with a slight win over the Democratic Unity Roundtable， a candidate of the right-wing coalition.


The ACS urged Venezuela's opposing political camps to hold dialogue in order to ease the growing tension.


""Governments of the Caribbean and Latin America have told Almagro that Venezuela must be respected， that Venezuela's problems are resolved by Venezuelans，"" Jorge Arreaza， minister of Higher Education， Science and Technology， said during a demonstration in Caracas.


""What the summit of the ACS achieved is a credible demonstration that Latin America today is different，"" Selene Estrach of the Venezuelan Ecologist Movement told Xinhua.


The level of integration achieved ""cannot be broken easily."" Such statements in defense of the sovereignty of other states by blocs such as the ACS have been made possible by the growing unity and integration of regional countries in the past decade and a half， noted Estrach.