African swine fever

CHINA has confirmed new outbreaks of African swine fever in three provincial-level regions, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said Monday.

On a farm in Beijing with 9,835 pigs, 85 pigs were confirmed infected with the viral disease and 17 confirmed dead, the ministry said, citing a China Animal Disease Control Center report.

Outbreaks were also found in the provinces of Shaanxi and Heilongjiang, where at least 156 pigs have been confirmed dead, it said.

Local authorities have initiated an emergency response to block, cull and disinfect the affected pigs.

Passengers stranded

MORE than 5,000 passengers were stranded due to heavy snow in Urumqi, capital of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, authorities said yesterday.

According to the Diwopu International Airport, a total of 99 inbound and outbound flights had been canceled and 31 outbound flights delayed, leaving more than 5,000 passengers stranded at the airport as of 3:40 p.m.

Five flights had landed at alternative airports, and one returned.

Authorities have alerted passengers to rearrange their schedules.

Online gambling busted

POLICE in East China’s Anhui Province arrested eight people for organizing online gambling that involved over 500 gamblers and a cash flow of over 100 million yuan (US$14.6 million).

In July, police in the city of Chuzhou received a tip-off about a gang organizing an online casino via an instant messaging app. The informant confessed to having lost 130,000 yuan since March in chat groups.

Eight people suspected of organizing the chat groups had been arrested as of Nov. 28.