■ China
Jail chief `coddles' tycoon
The head of a jail is being investigated for taking bribes in exchange for giving preferential treatment to a Shanghai real-estate tycoon imprisoned in a stock market scandal, the Beijing News reported yesterday. Huang Jian (黃堅), head of the Shanghai Detention Center, was detained at the end of last month after being accused of accepting 490,000 yuan (US$63,000) and jewelry to allow Zhou Zhengyi (周正毅) access to a cellphone and better meals. Zhou was released last year after serving a prison term in a stock market scandal but was taken into custody again in October for unspecified "problems," Xinhua news agency reported last month.
■ China
Bus accident kills seven
Seven people were killed, including six kindergarten-aged children, when their bus plunged into a river in central China, state press said yesterday. The accident occurred late on Friday afternoon in Babao township in Hunan Province, Xinhua news agency reported. The mini-bus was transporting the children home from school when it plunged into the local river. The driver of the vehicle was also killed.
■ China
Drug head under probe
The former head of China's drug administration is being investigated on suspicion of taking bribes to allow a firm to get around drug approval standards, Xinhua news agency said yesterday, citing the China Business Post. Zheng Xiaoyu (鄭筱萸), removed from the post as head of the State Food and Drug Administration in June 2005, is suspected in a string of bribery cases, Xinhua said. Two former department directors -- Hao Heping (郝和平) and Cao Wenzhuang (曹文莊) -- were also under investigation, it said.
■ Bangladesh
Bus crash kills 40
A speeding bus packed with passengers veered off the road, crashed into a ditch and burst into flames in the east of the country, leaving more than 40 passengers dead and many others injured, a police official said. The accident on Saturday occurred in Comilla, about 90km east of Dhaka, as the bus tried to overtake another vehicle. Seven passengers managed to jump out of the bus before it burst into flames, he added. Rescuers pulled about 41 charred bodies from the burnt-out wreck.
■ Sri Lanka
Four bodies found
Police yesterday recovered four bodies, at least two of which appeared to have been executed, in a town in the north, an officer said. Police officers found two of the bodies with gunshot wounds to their heads, in a house still under construction in the garrison town of Vavuniya, the area's chief police officer, E.M. Dharmadasa said. Two more bodies were found with ropes around their necks on the bank of a lake in the same town, Dharmadasa said, adding that police had yet to establish their identities. They appeared to have been strangled, he said.
■ Japan
Snow storm blocks flights
Strong winds and heavy snow engulfed much of the country yesterday, prompting the cancelation of more than 100 flights to and from an international airport and delaying the high-speed bullet train service, officials said. The Meteorological Agency warned of strong winds in the north and west and heavy snow in the main northern island of Hokkaido and areas along the Sea of Japan stretching from the northeast to southwest. At Chubu Centrair International Airport, 109 domestic flights and 29 international flights to and from the airport have been canceled since yesterday morning.
RSS