CHINA. PARLIAMENT OPENS AMID EXECUTIONS

Ten people were executed in central China, just as the annual session of parliament opened, Chinese press reported.
A court in the city of Changsha in Hunan province approved yesterday the executions of the criminals who had committed "heinous criminal acts", according to Rednet.com, a provincial news website.
The criminals ranging from 21- to 38-years-old were variously described in the report as murderers, robbers and drug dealers.
In one case a dispute over food at an Internet bar in Changsha prompted He Guoping, 21, to hack to death three of the employees with a kitchen knife.
The executions, by firing squad, came as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao opened the National People's Congress with a sweeping policy speech that included a vow to combat corruption and crime. Executions in China are often carried out during events judged by China's ruling Communist Party as politically significant.