In what is perhaps the end to the story of riots on the outskirts of Guangzhou early last month, the People’s Court court in Zengcheng yesterday sentenced five people each to more than three years in prison for creating a disturbance, and a sixth to two years in prison for interfering with public duties. According to the court, damages between the six defendants amounted to more than RMB 265,000. Last week, Guangzhou Party secretary Zhang Guangning responded directly to the riots with a new four-point plan to better integrate rural residents of Guangzhou into the city, for which he is now seeking public feedback.

The Panyu district Procuratorate announced yesterday that it has decided to formally charge a 41-year-old man with voluntary manslaughter after he complied with with his 70-year-old mother’s request to assist in her suicide by purchasing and feeding her pesticide. Family and friends supported the man, saying he was just a filial son carrying out his mother’s wishes after a stroke 20 years ago left her immobile.

Also in Panyu, a 7-year-old girl was taken into custody last week after escaping from the balcony where her father and stepmother kept her locked day and night for what appears to have been several months. After her escape, she was found—jaundiced, emaciated and weighing just 14.6 kilograms—stealing food from a shop near her home in the Guangzhou Country Garden estate. Photos here and here.

Police confirmed earlier this month that DNA tests show that the body of 25-year-old Guangzhou native Wei Yin, who disappeared in April this year after backpacking alone to Tibet, has been found.

The New Express newspaper today ran a five-page feature highlighting various communities in which foreigners live in Guangzhou. The city’s Brooklyn, apparently, is divided between Clifford Estates and Riverside Garden.

Getting tough on vices—not to be shown up by Guangzhou’s first-ever indoor smoking fine last month, a court in Dongguan last week sentenced a 28-year-old man to five months in prison for drunk driving—the city’s first sentence for that particular offense—as well as creating a traffic accident and injuring another party.

Speaking of drunk driving, The Nanfang almost missed the news last month of 68-year-old Spanish citizen “Eli” who, having narrowly avoided prison time after being charged with a DUI in February this year, recently decided to do some community service by directing traffic for a few months down at the corner of Hongwan and Xinzhou roads.

Also in drunk driving news, a 34-year-old Pakistani national died tragically in Shenzhen last Friday morning after rear-ending a street cleaning vehicle, following which his BMW burst into flame with him trapped inside. This followed the man’s earlier arrest in May this year, also for driving while impaired in Shenzhen. At the time of his death, the man was awaiting sentencing after having been released on bail.

Over in Huizhou, an explosion caused an oil refinery to catch on fire yesterday, panicking local residents concerned about the safety of the nearby Daya Bay nuclear facilities. Photos of the fire can be seen here.