Corrupt official to be executed
THE man responsible for overseeing food and drugs for China's 1.3bn people was sentenced to death yesterday for corruption. Zheng Xiaoyu was convicted of taking hundreds of thousands of euro in bribes to approve unsafe medicines that caused the deaths of dozens of patients.
The judge in Beijing announced the verdict in a hearing on TV.
Stark warning from Putin
PRESIDENT Putin warned yesterday that Europe would be turned into a "powder keg" if the US was allowed to install a missile defence shield on the Continent.
He backed up his harsh words with the test launch of a new intercontinental ballistic missile that Russia said was designed specifically to evade such defence systems.
Shop thief tries to steal a date
AFTER holding up a shop, a US thief hung around to try to get a date from the cashier.
Two men robbed the shop in Milwaukee, but rather than fleeing with the cash, one of them decided to try his luck by asking for the cashier's phone number.
Japanese man oldest at the top
A 71-YEAR-OLD Japanese mountain climber is the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
"I didn't think I'd make it," Katsusuke Yanagisawa said in Kathmandu, after returning safely from the world's highest mountain.
Damning report on diamonds
RETAILERS aren't doing enough to prevent customers buying conflict diamonds, a new report says.
Amnesty UK and Global Witness said 79pc of the retailers who responded to their survey had no procedures in place to help combat the trade.
