The family of a man duped into carrying a rucksack which contained explosives is taking the unusual step of suing the police for branding the 26-year-old a suicide bomber after a blast in Yunnan in May which left him and three others dead. The family of Zhao Dengyong is seeking two million yuan (HK$2.45 million) in compensation and an official apology from the public security bureau following the blast at a Qiaojia county office being used to arrange land resettlement, the family's lawyer Lan He said. Last month, however, the police arrested two men who they said had paid the labourer 100 yuan to carry the backpack into the office - a backpack that he did not know was filled with explosives. It was detonated by mobile phone. Mimi Lau
A coal mine explosion in Jiangxi province in the east has killed at least 14 people, just days after a blast in the country's southwest left 44 dead. Xinhua said dozens of miners were working when the blast ripped through the Gaokeng Coal Mine in Pingxiang city at midday on Sunday. Twenty-three escaped or were rescued and 14 were confirmed dead. It said one miner remained missing and 11 workers were taken to hospital. AP
Taiwan planned to spend US$1.2 billion on building six minehunters as part of efforts to negate the mainland's ability to blockade the island in a future conflict, a legislator said yesterday, citing the draft 2013 budget. The minehunters will be built between 2013 and 2025, according to Lin Yu-fang, a legislator of the ruling Kuomintang party who sits on parliament's defence committee. AFP
