Breastfeeding is best More than 30 mothers breast-feed their babies for one and a half minutes to promote World Breastfeeding Week in a shopping mall in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Saturday. World Breastfeeding Week begins on Aug 1 every year. Photo by Li Ziyun / for China Daily

Ningxia

Four poisoned to death at landfill

The bodies of four workers were pulled from a well on Saturday after the men were allegedly poisoned to death by toxic gas while working at a landfill in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Zhang Lei, director of the Dawukou Landfill in the city of Shizuishan, conducted a routine check about noon on Saturday at an observation well. He reportedly discovered that something was wrong with a gas valve and entered the well with another worker to repair it, according to a statement from the city government issued on Sunday.

When the two did not return, two other workers went into the well around 4:30 pm. Local fighters later entered the well and found the bodies of the four men.

Anhui

Explosion claims three, injures four

Three people died and four others were injured in an explosion in Fengyang county, East China's Anhui province, on Saturday, local authorities said.

One person was killed after the blast occurred at 4 pm in a farmer's house, in Lingquan village of Fengyang county, on Saturday. More than 20 buildings were damaged by the blast. Two others died on the way to hospital, local media reported on Sunday.

A rescue team was sent to the village on Saturday and four slightly wounded were sent to No 123 hospital in Bengbu city, Anhui province. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

Guangdong

Official suspended for role in scandal

A discipline official in Zhongshan city of South China's Guangdong province has been suspended from his post for his role in a public servant exam fraud, the city's commission for discipline inspection said on Sunday.

Liang Guoying, a discipline official with Zhongshan Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, is accused of helping his son change the score he received on a writing test for a public servant exam so his son would get the post, according to a statement from the city's commission for discipline inspection.

The statement said Liang's post was suspended and relevant officials will be punished for the fraud. The employment of Liang's son was canceled.

Ship container leaks toxic gas

A chemical container on an 80,000-ton cargo ship parked at Yantian Port in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, leaked toxic gas at around 8:38 am on Sunday, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.

Ten fire engines and 75 firemen were sent to the port and dropped 800 kg of dry ice to lower the temperature of the container from 70 C to 30 C. The container was then transported to a dangerous goods disposal area east of the port. The accident did not cause any casualties or damage to the environment, the report said.

The report said the cargo ship's registered country is Panama, and the goods belong to a trade company in Kunshan of Jiangsu province.

Beijing

Country clarifies land ownership

Ownership of about 78 percent of China's collectively-owned rural land had been clarified by the end of June in a government campaign to protect farmers' land rights, the country's land watchdog said on Sunday.

Local authorities should step up their efforts to certify ownership of all collectively-owned land in the countryside by the end of 2012 as planned, the Ministry of Land and Resources said in a statement on its website.

Vice-Minister Hu Cunzhi warned that authorities should not approve the expropriation or transfer of collectively-owned rural land that remains unidentified as of the end of this year.

Shanghai

Man arrested for killing agent

A 38-year-old man in Shanghai's Qingpu district has been arrested for allegedly killing his housing agent, Shanghai Evening Post reported on Sunday.

The man killed his agent because he regretted selling his house years ago when the price was only about one-sixth of current price, according to the report.

In 2004, the man, whose name was not revealed, sold his house for 450,000 yuan ($71,000) to a man who operated a precision instrument enterprise through an agent. Years later, the price of the house quintupled or sextupled, which made the man extremely upset, the report said.

In a rage, he killed the agent on May 11, the report said, citing procuratorate sources.

Nurse busted for running on debt

A nurse who run away after she failed to pay back a 365 million yuan ($57 million) loan was arrested in Shanghai in July, local media Modern Express reported on Sunday.

The nurse, surnamed Wang, previously worked at Taixing People's Hospital in Jiangsu province and became involved with an automobile decoration business and real estate investment.

She borrowed money at an extremely high interest rate to invest in real estate, but failed to pay back the loan in full, police said.

Hunan

Women sentenced for disrupting order

The mother of a forced prostitution victim in Central China's Hunan province was sentenced to 18 months of re-education through labor on Thursday for disrupting public order, police said on Sunday.

Two criminals were sentenced to death, four received life imprisonment and another received 15 years in jail, according to the ruling made by Hunan High People's Court on June 5.

Tang Hui, the girl's mother, protested the sentences, saying all of the convicts should be executed. Her protests severely disrupted public order and court proceedings, the Yongzhou public security bureau said in a statement on Sunday.

Xinhua-China Daily

(China Daily 08/06/2012 page2)