BEIJING (AP) — A former mayor of a Chinese city hit by the coronavirus outbreak more than six years ago was sentenced Saturday to 14 years in prison after being convicted of bribery.
While Zhou Xianwang has drawn criticism for his handling of the early stages of the outbreak in Wuhan, a city in central China, the court statement did not mention that, but focused on him receiving bribes. The court also fined him 5 million yuan ($747,000).
The Shangqiu Intermediate People's Court said Zhou used his various positions to assist others on matters such as business operations and administrative approvals between 2003 and 2025. He accepted money and valuables totaling more than 60.5 million yuan ($9 million), it said, adding the amount was exceptionally large.
The court decided that his sentence could be reduced because he confessed to his crimes and cooperated with authorities and most of the proceeds were recovered, it said.
Government anti-corruption drives have become a signature policy of Chinese leader Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. Thousands of officials have been purged, including high-profile political rivals.
Addressing allegations of Wuhan's failure to disclose information early in the COVID-19 outbreak, Zhou then said that local governments are restricted from releasing information about infectious diseases without authorization.
In December 2019, patients began showing up in Wuhan hospitals complaining of flu-like symptoms, including high fever, cough and breathing difficulties. Soon after, a Chinese lab assembled a near-complete sequence of the virus, showing it to be similar to the coronavirus that caused the 2002-03 SARS outbreak. The lab alerted health authorities, but the information was kept under wraps.
In mid-January, Chinese health officials said in an internal meeting that “clustered cases suggest human-to-human transmission is possible” and ordered emergency preparations for a pandemic. In public, though, they downplayed the virus’s ability to infect.
As infections spread, Wuhan was placed under a 76-day lockdown beginning Jan. 23, 2020.
Zhou Xianwang, left, the mayor of Wuhan, exchanges documents with Bai Zhongbin, right, deputy commander-in-chief of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Joint Logistic Support Force, during a handover ceremony at the Huoshenshan temporary field hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei Province, Feb. 2, 2020. (Chinatopix via AP)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian strikes killed at least 15 people in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian officials said Saturday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal to buy Russian diesel that Kyiv warned would help bankroll Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Three children were among those killed when Russian aerial bombs hit residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said Saturday. At least 16 people were wounded in the attack.
Missiles also struck Kyiv in a daytime attack Saturday. Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said four people were wounded.
Russia and Ukraine are locked in a long-range aerial war while their armies remain largely deadlocked on the front line, more than 4 1/2 years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Ukraine is struggling to counter escalating Russian bombardments that have killed more than 60 people over the past four days.
Trump said Friday he had struck a deal to obtain diesel from Russia, a stunning reversal of years of U.S. pressure on Moscow over its war with Ukraine and an attempt to address high fuel prices ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
“Today, Russia expressed its thanks for the lifting of sanctions on diesel exports by dropping five glide bombs on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote Saturday on X.
He said the attacks show Moscow understands “any easing of pressure to mean they can keep fighting, to mean they can keep dropping bombs on cities," adding that “different signals are needed.”
Zelenskyy said Ukraine was preparing meetings and coordinating steps to counter the extra revenue Russia will receive from the diesel deal. In a post on X, he said he had discussed the developments with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, and said that Ukraine would receive ammunition in the coming days for the F-16s it uses to intercept Shahed drones.
“It is important to continue working together to protect people and limit Russia’s ability to wage this terrible war,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump had been set to discuss a suspected case of plague in Russia with President Vladimir Putin in a phone call.
Instead, the American leader announced Friday that Russia will immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, followed by an additional 500,000 tons in November and 1 million tons “immediately thereafter.” Russia will deliver an additional 3 million tons “within a short period of time” after that, he wrote.
In Kyiv, people gathered at a memorial to fallen soldiers on Independence Square greeted the deal with a mix of anger and resignation.
“Trump has once again shown his true face,” said Oleksandr Petrenko, 26. “He didn’t care about the situation, the shelling or the destruction of our homes. All he’s interested in is oil or the fuel prices and how much Americans have to pay.”
“Knowing Trump, he tries to manipulate the markets. He’s got an election coming up soon,” Petrenko said. “So he needs to emphasize to his voters that gasoline will be cheap. But it won’t be effective.”
For Oksana Yakunina, a financial adviser from Kropyvnytskyi, the announcement “didn’t really come as a surprise.”
“Trump has been working with Putin for a long time,” she told The Associated Press.
Trump’s announcement was in stark contrast to a sweeping Russia sanctions law he signed last month that aimed at clamping down on the oil and gas revenues that fuel Russia’s war against Ukraine.
In a lengthy post online reacting to the deal on Friday, Zelenskyy said Russia would repay it “with further terror and perfidy.” He framed it as an investment in the war that could prolong it.
“It plays into Russia’s hands — allowing it to kill more, wage war for longer, have even less respect for America, and inflict even greater losses and damage on the world,” he said.
According to a statement released by the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, Zelenskyy called it “a weak decision, unfortunately, a weak decision by strong partners.”
Trump announced the deal as his envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Ukrainian officials in Miami to discuss a proposal to end the war.
“I believe our team is simply being used as a smoke screen. And that is certainly not fair. It is certainly not how partners should treat each other,” Zelenskyy said.
Associated Press writer Bela Szandelzsky in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
A woman reacts after pulling her relatives from the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
A man talks on the phone while sitting on the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
A relative speaks to a woman on a stretcher after pulling her and her husband from the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Rescue workers carry a body after pulling from the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
