Briefly

Former Shanghai lawmaker indicted

Dong Yunhu, a former senior legislator in Shanghai, has been indicted on bribery charges, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said on Wednesday. Following the completion of investigations by the National Commission of Supervision, the people's procuratorate in Hefei, Anhui province, filed Dong's case to the city's intermediate people's court, the top procuratorate said. Dong was a former secretary of the leading Party members' group of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and former chairman of the committee. Prosecutors accused Dong of taking advantage of his various posts and abusing his power to seek illicit gains for others, while illegally accepting a huge amount of money and valuables in return.

Relief for Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi

China has earmarked 110 million yuan ($15.5 million) from the central natural-disaster relief fund to support flood control and disaster relief efforts in the provinces of Jiangxi and Guangdong and the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. The emergency funds were jointly allocated by the ministries of finance and emergency management, the Ministry of Finance said on its website on Wednesday. Forty million yuan will be allocated to Jiangxi, 50 million yuan to Guangdong, and 20 million yuan to Guangxi. The funds will mainly be used for searches, rescues and relocations of people affected by disasters, secondary disaster detection, and the repair of damaged houses, the ministry said. Four people were killed after continuous heavy rainfall hit many parts of Guangdong recently, local authorities have said.

42 officials punished for deadly Shanxi fire

Forty-two public servants have been punished for a fire that killed 26 people and injured 38 others at a coal mine company building in North China's Shanxi province last year. In response to the negligence and dereliction of duty in the accident, the provincial discipline inspection and supervision organs took stern measures against 42 public servants from departments and governments at various levels, according to an investigation report released on Tuesday. Additionally, Shanxi police took coercive measures against 18 individuals from the company. The fire broke out in a bathroom on the second floor of a building occupied by the private Yongju coal mine company in Lyuliang's Lishi district on Nov 16. An investigation found the fire was caused by a short circuit in the main power supply line of a motor above a laundry basket in the dressing area of the bathroom. The short circuit ignited combustibles in the basket and led to the fire.

Xinhua