Gold mine blast

Rescuers have retrieved the bodies of 10 miners trapped underground following a gold mine blast in East China’s Shandong Province.

A total of 22 miners were trapped underground due to the mine blast January 10 in Qixia, under the city of Yantai. Eleven miners were rescued on Sunday after being trapped for two weeks, and one remains missing, according to a press briefing on Monday. “We will not stop searching for the missing miner,” said Chen Fei, mayor of Yantai, adding that the rescue work is extremely difficult as the underground water is very deep.

COVID-19 defenses

China has ramped up pandemic prevention and control efforts in its rural areas to cope with the heightened transmission risk that comes with the mass migration during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday season.

People must produce a negative result on a COVID-19 test taken within seven days before returning to rural areas for family reunions, said an official document by the National Health Commission. Documentation or a health QR code that contains such a test result must be presented to the local village committee upon arrival, it added.

Sanctions on individuals

China has decided to sanction 28 persons who have seriously violated China’s sovereignty and who have been mainly responsible for a series of crazy U.S. moves on China-related issues, a foreign ministry spokesperson announced on Thursday.

They include Michael R. Pompeo, Peter K. Navarro, Robert C. O’Brien, David R. Stilwell, Matthew Pottinger, Alex M. Azar II, Keith J. Krach, and Kelly D. K. Craft of the Trump administration as well as John R. Bolton and Stephen K. Bannon.

Identity theft

Lawmakers are considering specific penalties for those who steal the identities of others to enroll in a school or college.

The draft amendment to the nation’s Education Law was presented on January 20 to the lawmakers for the first reading at the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Such impostors will have their admission qualifications revoked and be barred from relevant national examinations for one to three years, according to the draft. Impostors who have been awarded academic diplomas will have their diplomas revoked and those who have been employed by public institutions will be dismissed.(SD-Agencies)