Beijing

Airport blast culprit to appeal sentence

A man convicted of setting off explosives at Beijing Capital International Airport in July will appeal his six-year sentence. Ji Zhong-xing, who uses a wheelchair, set off a homemade explosive device on July 20, severely injuring himself and causing minor injuries to a police officer. According to the appeal letter, Ji said the detonation was caused by negligence and was not intentional.

Former village head in 9m yuan graft trial

A former head of a village in Beijing has gone on trial on charges of corruption and fraud amounting to nearly 9 million yuan ($1.47 million). Gao Baohe, 45, the former head of Xiniuyu village in Pinggu district, is accused of fraud in connection with several fake tourism projects from 2009 to 2012. He is also accused of taking bribes during his term as village head, Mirror Evening News reported. At Thursday's hearing at Beijing No 2 Intermediate People's Court, Gao denied all the charges.

Temperatures set to fall in northern China

Temperatures in most parts of northern China will drop by 6 to 8 degrees over the next three days and there will be rain and snow on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China Central Meteorological Station said on Thursday. A cold front blew into the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Wednesday and is gradually moving east. Rain and snow will hit the plateau, with heavy rain forecast for southern China.

Five officials arrested after fatal hotel fire

Five officials have been arrested for alleged abuse of power and dereliction of duty linked to a fatal hotel fire in Hubei province, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on Thursday. On April 14, a fire broke out at about 6 am in an Internet cafe at the Yijing City Garden Hotel in Xiangyang, resulting in 14 deaths and 47 injuries, according to a statement by the procuratorate. The five officials are Yan Hongwen and Wang Bo, both supervisors with local fire stations; Ling Yun and Fan Hongyue, both culture officials; and Lei Xuepu, an urban management official. Further investigation is continuing .

Jiangsu

No progress made in director investigation

The family planning authority in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, reported no progress after a five-month investigation of a film director Zhang Yimou who allegedly flouted the family planning policy, Modern Express reported on Thursday. In May, Zhang was reported to have at least seven children and faced fines of 160 million yuan ($26 million) for violating the family planning policy.

Shanghai

Food safety cases start against 24

Ten food safety cases, involving 24 defendants and more than 1.88 million yuan ($308,000), are being prosecuted in Shanghai, eastday.com reported. The cases include producing moon cakes with expired fillings, cooking fish in recycled cooking oil, adding toxic ingredients when cooking crawfish and using illegal additives in bean sprouts.

Heilongjiang

2 die, 25 injured in building explosion

At least two people were killed and another 25 injured by an explosion early on Thursday morning in a residential building in Jixi, authorities said. One person died at the scene and another on the way to a hospital. A natural gas leak probably played a role in the explosion, according to an initial investigation by rescuers. The cause of the explosion is being investigated.

Sichuan

Man steals police bus after watching movie

Sichuan prosecutors approved the arrest of a man on Monday who stole a police bus and drove it on a highway in an attempt to elude authorities after watching a similar scene in a movie, Yibin Daily reported. The man stole the police bus on Sept 4 after he watched The Fast and the Furious and decided to imitate a scene in which one of the main characters drives a stolen car at a high speed, the report said. The man was captured after the bus hit a road divider and turned over.

Tibet

Stranded tour group rescued after snowfall

A foreign tour group that was stranded and missing in the Tibet autonomous region after an unexpected snowfall on Sunday was rescued on Thursday. The group left Qudang township last Friday for the western part of Mount Qomolangma and was stranded on a camping ground 30 km from the township. All of the group members have been found and no one was injured.

Xinhua - China Daily

(China Daily USA 10/18/2013 page2)