CHINESE PROSECUTOR SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR TAKING BRIBES

a former prosecutor in northern China was sentenced to death for taking bribes and embezzling funds totalling $2.66m. The trial in the prosperous port of Tianjin is the latest in a series of high-profile corruption cases as the communist government tries to crack down on systemic graft it says threatens its grip on power. Li Baojin was convicted of taking bribes worth $760 000 from seven businesses between 1996 and 2006, when he was the chief prosecutor and deputy police chief in Tianjin, a Cangzhou Intermediate People's Court official said. The official, who refused to give his name, said Li's sentence was suspended for two years.