Former Zhou Yongkang associate sacked as MP

BEIJING • A former senior associate of China's jailed one-time security chief Zhou Yongkang has been dismissed as a member of Parliament after a graft probe, state media has said, paving the way for his prosecution.

Zhou Benshun, who is not related to Zhou Yongkang, had been the top official in the northern province of Hebei, China's most important steel producer.

REUTERS

Japanese climber aborts bid to scale Everest

KATHMANDU • A Japanese climber who was attempting the first summit of Mount Everest since a deadly quake-triggered avalanche destroyed part of base camp in April said yesterday that he had turned back.

Mr Nobokazu Kuriki, 33, who lost nine fingers to frostbite during a 2012 attempt to climb Everest, was the only person pursuing the summit this year after an avalanche set off by a massive quake killed 18 people at base camp.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Four held in Vietnamese gold investment scheme

HO CHI MINH CITY • Vietnamese police have raided a company in Ho Chi Minh City for allegedly running an online gold investment scheme that has cheated its clients out of at least 600 billion dong (S$36 million), local online newspaper Thanh Nien News reported on Saturday.

Four people were arrested, including Dang Huu Trung, 35, chief executive of IMMS Holdings, an investment and marketing company.

XINHUA