May 12: Party increases punishments for corrupt officials; Wanda buys Monet painting for US$20 million
Politics & policies
China's top anti-graft chief, Wang Qishan, has tightened the Communist Party’s disciplinary procedures to increase the punishments for corrupt officials. (People.cn)
Diplomacy
US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet senior Chinese leaders in Beijing this weekend at a time of heightened concerns in Asia and Washington over China's pursuit of maritime claims and shared worries about North Korea. (Reuters)
China declined to confirm or deny a report that it was in talks to set up a military base in Djibouti, saying only that it wanted to make a greater contribution to regional peace and stability. (Reuters)
Chinese and Russian naval forces began joint military exercises in the southern Russian port city of Novorossiysk on Monday. A top Chinese military official, Fan Changlong, said China would deepen military cooperation with Russia. (Xinhua)
Economy
China’s top economic planner raised the retail price of petrol by 255 yuan per tonne and that of diesel by 245 yuan, effective today. The adjustment means retail prices will rise by 0.19 yuan per litre for gas and 0.21 yuan per litre for diesel. (Xinhua)
Preliminary investigation shows human error caused a plane belonging to budget airline Joy Air to skid off the runway in southern China’s Fuzhou, slightly injuring seven passengers. (The Beijing News)
Beijing has been pushing India to accelerate work on a multi-billion dollar rail link from New Delhi to Chennai ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China this week, as the Asian giants put economic ties before regional rivalries. (Reuters)
Money & Wealth
Chinese real-estate powerhouse Dalian Wanda Group acquired a Claude Monet painting Bassin aux Nymphéas, les Rosiers for US$20.4 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York this month. (thepaper.cn)
Society
A theme park replicating the ruined Old Summer Palace opens for visitors in Zhejiang province's Hengdian, a movie production hub dubbed ‘China's Hollywood’. The park is over 413 hectares is size and cost 30 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion) to build, and consists of 45 independent theme areas. (qq.com)
Lawyers and media urge authorities in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang to disclose CCTV video of a local police officer's fatal shooting of a long-time petitioner at a local railway station amid public questions over police malpractice. (Southern Metropolis Daily)
Tuesday marks the 7th anniversary of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in southwestern China, which killed nearly 70,000 people in 2008. (Xinhua)
The number of drug abusers in China is estimated to have hit 14 million in 2014, with use of chemical drugs like meth rising sharply as opposed to traditional drugs like opium and heroin. (Xinhua)
Tech
Apple CEO Tim Cook joins China's Twitter-like microblogging site Weibo, garners almost 400,000 users within a day. (Weibo)
E-commerce giant JD.com apologised for an International Nurses Day advertisement featuring nurses in sexy lingerie, which sparked online outrage. (thepaper.cn)
