CHINA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR ARSONIST OVER LAND DISPUTE

A man has been sentenced to death in east China's Shandong province for setting a fatal fire in a dispute over land rights in March 2014.
Wang Yuefu was among seven people charged with arson in the incident which left a 62-year-old man dead and three others injured in Pingdu city.
The fire on March 21st followed a group of villagers occupying a patch of farmland to prevent its seizure for a construction project.
They were dissatisfied with the compensation they had received.
Wang and four others were hired by the real estate developer to threaten the group.
They were later allegedly ordered by the village head, Du Qunshan, to set fire to a tent set up by the villagers guarding the farmland.
At Thursday's (March 19) sentencing, two other defendants including Du were given the life imprisonment while the other four received prison terms ranging from 6 to 15 years.