CHINA: OLYMPICS CONSTRUCTION BOSS APPEALS DEATH SENTENCE

a former vice mayor of Beijing, China, in charge of Olympic construction, appealed against a suspended death sentence for talking millions of yuan in bribes, a Hong Kong-based rights group said. Liu Zhihua, 59, was sentenced by a court in northern Hebei province for taking nearly 7 million yuan ($1.02 million) in bribes. Liu was in charge of building Olympic venues as well as a $40 billion upgrade of the city's infrastructure for the Games before being sacked in 2006 on corruption charges. Liu's lawyer submitted appeal documents to authorities, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said in a statement.