Seven people were executed immediately after a public...

Seven people were executed immediately after a public sentencing rally in the southern Chinese city of Sanya. Nine other criminals were sentenced to between four and 13 years in jail during the rally in Sanya, on the tropical island of Hainan, the Hainan Daily said. Among those executed was Ruan Xuesheng, 27, who was convicted of beating a fellow prisoner to death in November 2001. In a separate case, a man who poisoned 104 pupils and teachers at a college in November 2002 in Changde, Hunan province, was also executed, the Procuratorial Daily said. Nobody died in the incident. China does not publish statistics on executions, but it is widely thought to execute more people each year than the rest of the world combined.