China court rejects appeal by US geologist

BEIJING - A Beijing appeals court on Friday upheld an eight-year prison sentence given to an American geologist for obtaining oil industry data, dimming hopes for his release in a case that has been an irritant in U.S.-China relations. [...] Detained while on a business trip to China, Xue (pronounced shweh) was convicted of obtaining detailed information on the oil industry while working for the U.S.-based energy information consultancy now known as IHS Inc. Among his haul was a database listing locations and other geological information for more than 32,000 oil and gas wells belonging to China National Petroleum Corp...