Hong Kong

HK to continue pressing Manila on hostage issue

Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung said on Tuesday that the Hong Kong government will always consider the option of imposing economic sanctions, if necessary, on the Philippines for a hostage crisis three years ago. Leung said the government is aware of four existing demands that the victims' families and the injured issued after the hostage situation and that he and the government would spare no efforts to continue pressing Manila to satisfy these demands.

Beijing

Border authorities to cooperate cross-Straits

Chinese border control authorities on the mainland and in Taiwan will establish a cross-Straits mechanism to crack down on crime, Beijing News reported on Tuesday. The Border Control Department and its companion authority solved six serious criminal cases in 2013, including the seizure of 656 kg of drugs.

42 million air trips expected in travel rush

As Lunar New Year draws closer, authorities expect 42 million air trips to be made during the annual 40-day Spring Festival travel rush period this year, starting on Jan 28, a senior official said. "During this period, airlines can provide at least 1.1 million seats every day to meet soaring demand for the spring rush," Xia Xinghua, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration, said on Tuesday.

2 charged with illegally selling ivory artworks

Prosecutors in Xicheng district said on Tuesday that they have charged two people with illegally selling ivory. The suspects, named Liu and Ye, are accused of processing nearly 14 kilograms of ivory, valued at 600,000 yuan ($99,300), and selling it to the public. Since June 2010, the two had rented a room to process and sell artworks made of wood and ivory without a business license, said prosecutors.

Shanghai

Oriental Pearl tower gleams after scrubbing

The face of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, one of Shanghai's iconic landmarks, was shining again after a seven-month exterior renovation was completed recently, Xinhua reported on Tuesday. Shanghai Mechanized Construction Group, which was in charge of the renovating project, polished more than 1,000 concrete blocks of the 469-meter tower and cleaned its exterior - more than 23,000 sq m. The tower opened in 1994.

Man, 31, accused of killing his parents

A 31-year-old man in the Fengxian district is suspected of killing his parents and setting fire to the family home on Sunday night, according to xinmin.cn. The man's parents were found dead at home on Sunday. The suspect, named Wang, was found bleeding on the balcony. A neighbor said Wang is unemployed and had large credit card debts.

Chemical truck rollover kills 2 and delays traffic

Two people died when a truck carrying toxic chemicals rolled into a grassy area and spilled its contents on Tuesday morning, eastday.com reported. The vehicle had been on the expressway in an eastern suburb. A 40-minute road closure delayed traffic as emergency crews responded. The cause of the rollover is under investigation.

Zhejiang

Seized tiger carcass was protected species

Experts from the State Forestry Administration have confirmed that a tiger carcass seized by police in Wenzhou was an endangered Northeast China tiger, which falls under strict State protections, www.people.com.cn reported. There are fewer than 20 wild Northeast China tigers left in the country. How this one was killed and transported to Wenzhou is still being investigated, police said. The tigers are also known as Siberian tigers.

Veteran basketball player to say goodbye

Former NBA player Wang Zhizhi, now playing for the Chinese Army team in Ningbo, will retire at the end of the Chinese Basketball Association season, his coach announced on Monday. Wang, 37, was the first Asian basketball player to play in the NBA, where he played for the Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers and Miami Heat from 2001 to 2005.

Henan

Man locks bank doors after dispute with staff

A senior citizen in Zhengzhou locked the door of a bank, blocking customers, after a dispute with bank staff, Dahe News reported. The man used a steel chain to lock the door of the bank after a quarrel with the staff. The bank reopened 10 minutes later when police arrived to mediate.

Liaoning

Justice officials punished for fake study tour

A major official and three deputies of the Shenyang justice bureau were disciplined by the Party after the bureau was found to have used public funds for 26 officials to go sightseeing in the name of a study tour, chinanews.com.cn reported. The incident was made public to help educate other would-be violators of Party discipline and to prevent further misuse of public money, the city's Party commission of discipline inspection said.

Yunnan

Death toll hits 4 after car careens off slope

The death toll has reached four after a car drove off a steep slope on Monday in Yiliang county, China News Service reported on Tuesday. The car rolled down a 100-meter-high slope at about midnight on Monday, killing two people and injuring seven others at the scene. Two of the seriously injured died later while the other five who were injured are in stable conditions at a hospital. Police are investigating what caused the crash.

Escaped bull shot dead after running amok

A white bull that ran into the streets of Kunming on Tuesday morning was shot dead by police, Yunnan Net reported on Tuesday. The bull knocked over four motorized bikes but nobody was injured. The bull was being transported from Jinghong to Kunming at around 2 am on Tuesday when it jumped out of the truck. As the bull ran around Kunming early Tuesday morning, police officers attempted to encircle and catch it but failed. They then shot and killed it.

Sichuan

Driver, oil executive arrested after accident

A tanker truck driver, Wang Zheng, and an executive from the oil tank company have been arrested in connection with a fatal traffic accident, Chengdu Commercial News reported. The accident occurred on Dec 8 when the truck collided with 18 other vehicles on a local expressway. Seven people were killed and 23 injured.

Jiangsu

Film set stunt prompts attempted suicide report

Police rushed to stop a woman from committing suicide on Sunday after members of the public reported seeing her preparing to jump from a bridge over the Yangtze River in Nanjing. But when the police arrived, they found that the woman was famous Hong Kong actress Cheng Pei-Pei, who was shooting a film along with her movie crew. They were asked to leave the bridge to avoid disrupting traffic, China News Service reported.

Driver sentenced for passenger's death

A bus driver surnamed Li has been sentenced to 18 months in jail with a two-year reprieve after an old man died after falling from his bus in Nanjing on Oct 17, Yangtze Evening News reported. Li had suddenly accelerated as an 80-year-old man was getting off the bus. Li immediately stopped the bus, sought police assistance and helped transfer the victim to a hospital. The old man died a week later in the hospital.

Shaanxi

Seven ancient bridges discovered in Xi'an

The Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology said on Tuesday that seven ancient bridges were unearthed in the past two years at a site in Weiqiao, Xi'an, famous for its centuries-old relics, xinhuanet.com reported. According to the institute, the bridges date back to between the late Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). One of the bridges, made of wood and featuring beam columns, was at least 15.4 meters wide and 880 meters long. It is the largest such bridge discovered anywhere.

Qinghai

Police officer accused of demanding sexual service

The bureau of public security in Haixi prefecture has set up a special task force to investigate a local police officer, who is accused of asking a suspect he caught to give him money and provide sexual services, Nanjing Daily reported. He Jun, a police officer from Tianjun county, was reported to authorities by Zhou Ze, a local lawyer. Zhou also provided evidence on his weibo, with a picture showing He singing in a room in a karaoke bar with a woman.

Xinhua - China Daily

Rare birds Lanterns representing a pair of giant yellow ducks are on display in a park in Xi'an, Shaanxi to celebrate the coming Spring Festival. The park created a series of lanterns, featuring yellow ducks in different styles and attire, to attract tourists. Photo by Wei Yongxian / for China Daily

(China Daily USA 01/15/2014 page3)