KUNMING: At least 21 Chinese grounded boats have been rescued on the Mekong River, a cross-border river flowing out of China from southwest Chinas Yunnan province, the marine affairs bureau in Yunnan said on Tuesday. Chad Ochocinco Super Bowl Jersey . The bureaus subsidiary in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, which borders Laos and Myanmar, has stopped issuing pass permits to vessels and repeatedly sent warnings to foreign vessels, telling them of the danger. The river is at its lowest level in 50 years. The boats grounded in the river sections in Laos and Myanmar have been pulled to relatively safer waters on the river or to docks in Thailand.?But the vessels are not completely out of danger, said Liu Rongming, deputy chief of the Xishuangbanna bureau. Related readings: Yunnan, Guangxi reel from severe drought Drought causes economic loss of $952m in Yunnan Premier visits drought-hit southwest China Drought continues to ravage SW China He said Chinese rescuers have sent relief goods and money to the crews. The rivers flow is only half the normal level, as a rare, large-scale drought - the worst in 50 years - hits southwest China, according to the bureau. The river, called Lancang River, flowed at 240-260 cubic meters per second Monday, compared with 400-500 cubic meters per second in normal years. The drought started in July last year has brought drinking water shortages to 4.9 million residents and 3.34 million livestock, according to the provincial headquarters of drought relief. The provincial headquarters said 187 forest fires have been reportedly extinguished in the province since November last year, which is 56 percent more than the number in the same period of the previous year. A fire burning for two days in a forest near Kunming, the provincial capital, was basically brought under control on Tuesday, according to the Forest Fire Control Headquarters in Xishan district, Kunming. The headquarters said 15 hectares of forest was destroyed, mainly pine and eucalypt trees. More than 800 fire fighters were dispatched to fight the fire. The provincial drought relief headquarters said Yunnan has newly recruited 16,171 forest wardens to bring the total number to 70,000, in order to closely monitor forest fires. The meteorological station in Yunnans neighboring region, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, said the rare drought had also affected Guangxi and Guizhou provinces. Some of these provinces regions have not seen rain since August last year. Such an extreme drought has not been seen for 50 years, said Tan Zhinian, chief weatherman at the station. He said scientists with the station has noticed an El Nino affecting southwest China, which is likely related to the extreme weather. The station has also noticed that the average temperature in Guangxi has risen 0.13 degree Celsius every ten years. The temperature rise has been faster in winter, when it climbed 0.21 degree Celsius every ten years, he said. Tom Brady Youth Jersey . The Sixers salvaged the back end of a brief two-game homestand on Sunday when Andre Iguodala scored 24 points, dished out seven assists and locked down Denver star Carmelo Anthony on the defensive end to lead Philadelphia past the Nuggets, 110-99. Mario Manningham Super Bowl Jersey . An inauguration ceremony was held for him at the elite institutions Beijing campus. Zhou became the universitys 10th president since 1949, succeeding Xu Zhihong, 66, who will now retire. Authentic Jason Pierre-Paul Jersey . The Detroit Red Wings star was named a finalist Monday along with Bostons Zdeno Chara and Nashvilles Shea Weber. Chicagos Duncan Keith won the award last year and Chara claimed it in 2009 after Lidstrom collected six trophies in a seven-season stretch. Brandon Jacobs Super Bowl Jersey . Madrids all-time leading scorer spoke Monday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in front of fans and flanked by new Madrid coach Jose Mourinho and club president Florentino Perez. Victor Cruz Authentic Jersey . The prisoners, a fraction of the 11,000 Palestinians held by Israel, will be released in the occupied West Bank, where Abbass government holds sway, before next weeks Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, officials said of the decision, which was approved by Israels Cabinet.ATLANTA -- Defenceman Martin Skoula wasnt thinking hat trick. In fact, he had never scored two goals in a game before Saturday night. Skoula scored his goals -- one in each of the first two periods -- and the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Atlanta Thrashers in a 3-2 victory. Atlanta scored both goals in the third period, the last by Maxim Afinogenov with 18 seconds left. "It had never happened for me before. I got lucky. It went in twice," Skoula said. It was only the third victory in eight games for the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins (15-8), who have been plagued by injuries after opening the season by winning 12 of 15. The Thrashers (10-7-2) fell to 4-5-1 at home. Evgeni Malkin scored Pittsburghs other goal. Skoula, who had scored only one goal this season before Saturday, gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead at 7:38 of the first period. He beat goalie Johan Hedberg with a long shot from mid-ice on the power play. Skoula made it 2-0 at 7:34 of the second, again on another long blast, easily beating the sprawling Hedberg. Was he thinking hat trick? "Not really. I dont think it matters who scores. Im not in there to score hat tricks," he said. "Im happy for him. Its big having a defenceman score two goals," Pittsburgh goalie Mark-Andre Fleury said. "I felt good. I was pretty relaxed. I tried to set the tempo," said Fleury, who had a shutoout until Chris Thorburn scored a short-handed goal 9:40 into the third period. Jerod Mayo Authentic Jersey. "We havent had a shutout (this season). It would have been huge for us. But its OK. We won. Thats all that matters," he said. "He (Fleury) was solid. We needed that. He made some big saves," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "For the first 40 minutes, that was probably our best game." Pittsburghs Maxime Talbot was awarded a penalty shot with 2:26 left in the second period, but missed the net. "Fleury made some big saves and we hit a few posts," Hedberg said. "This is a game of margins. Some nights you have them and some you dont." Pittsburgh outshot Atlanta 34-33. "We could have been down 4-0 in the second period but Moose (Hedberg) kept us in it. We had a lot of chances but Fleury stood up and made some big saves," Thorburn said. The Penguins, 8-4 on the road, had lost four straight away from home after a 7-0 start on enemy ice. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburghs captain and leading scorer with 10 goals and 12 assists, assisted on Skoulas first goal. NOTES: Pittsburgh D Brooks Orpik returned after missing four games due to a lower body injury. ... The Penguins were 4-0 against the Thrashers last season and are 27-8-2 overall, including 13-4-2 in Atlanta. ... Afinogenov has six goals and three assists in his last five games. ' ' '