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A New Orleans furniture salesman who spied for the Chinese government and helped it obtain secret military information was sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison. The sentence for the man, Tai Kuo, 58, was in line with what prosecutors had requested and was more than double what defense lawyers had sought. Mr. Kuo, a Taiwan native and United States citizen, masqueraded as a Taiwanese agent but worked for the Chinese government. He persuaded a Pentagon analyst to give him classified information about military affairs between the United States and Taiwan. The analyst, Gregg W. Bergersen, was sentenced in July to 57 months, and Yu Xin Kang, a girlfriend of Mr. Kuo's who at times helped in transmitting documents, received an 18-month term. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers news briefs related to socio-political developments in the world. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin said that foreign spies in Russia had been trying to get classified economic information. Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the National Front political party in France, has got support in his bid for the presidential election due in April 2007. The eggs of a Komodo dragon at Chester Zoo in northern England are due to hatch in January 2007.