TWO MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN CHINA FOR MURDER OF MISTRESS

a former Chinese government official was sentenced to death for ordering his driver to kill his mistress, a court official and state media said.
Xinhua News Agency said the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court handed down the sentence to Xu Zhiyuan, a former vice chairman of a government advisory body in south Beijing's Fangshan district, for murder and bribe taking. A court official who would identify himself only by his surname Niu confirmed the sentence but would not give any details. Xinhua said Xu, 55, had an affair with a woman from the district government office since 1999, but started arguing with her. In January last year he ordered his driver Liu Xiaoming to kill her and burn the body. It said Liu was also sentenced to death. In addition, Xu was convicted of using his position to take 600,000 yuan (US$83,000) in bribes.