The director of Shaanxi province's work safety bureau was sacked yesterday over "seriously violating party discipline" after internet users identified, from news photos, that he owned a dozen luxury watches and four pairs of luxury glasses. Yang Dacai triggered a public outcry last month after news photos were circulated on the internet showing him smiling at the scene of a collision that killed 36 passengers. Fiona Tam

Naw Kham, the principal suspect in the murder of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last year, pleaded guilty at his trial with five others in the city of Kunming , Yunnan province. Naw Kham denied plotting the attack on Thursday. However, the five other defendants on trial all testified in court that Naw Kham was the gang's ringleader and masterminded the attack. Xinhua