Shenzhou XX crew to carry out spacewalk

The Shenzhou XX mission crew members aboard the Tiangong space station are scheduled to carry out their third spacewalk in the coming days, the China Manned Space Agency said on Thursday. The three orbital travelers — mission commander Senior Colonel Chen Dong and crew members Colonel Chen Zhongrui and Colonel Wang Jie — have been aboard the station for more than three months since their arrival on April 25. They have conducted a host of assignments, including examinations and maintenance work on instruments, installations of intravehicular devices, monitoring of inner environment, and unpacking and testing new spacewalk suits, the agency said in a media statement.

Body of Beijing official lost in flood recovered

The body of Yin Chunyan, Party secretary of Sunhugou village in Beijing's Huairou district, has been found following an intensive search, Beijing Radio and Television Station reported on Thursday. Rescuers discovered her remains on Wednesday afternoon near Baihewan in Baihebei village. Local authorities have set up a committee to handle the funeral arrangements, according to the report. Yin and her husband, Cai Yongzhang, were swept away by floodwaters on July 26 while helping villagers evacuate. Cai's body was recovered on Aug 4, about 300 to 400 meters downstream from where they were last seen.

Death sentence for poisoning upheld

The Hunan High People's Court rejected on Thursday a graduate student's appeal and upheld his death sentence after he poisoned his roommates' food, causing the death of one. The court said that after reviewing Zhou Liren's appeal of the first-instance verdict, it found the facts established at trial to be clear, the evidence conclusive and sufficient and the sentence appropriate. On April 7, the Xiangtan Intermediate People's Court sentenced Zhou to death for intentional homicide and deprived him of his political rights for life. The Xiangtan court determined that Zhou, motivated by personal vengeance, put a highly toxic substance into a can of oatmeal shared by two of his roommates. The Hunan High People's Court has submitted Zhou's death sentence to the Supreme People's Court for approval, as required by law.

China Daily - Xinhua