China DIGEST

BeijingJailed for knickers theftA court in the Tongzhou district has sentenced a man to five months detention and fined him 1,000 yuan (HK$1,260) for stealing women's underwear, the Beijing Morning Post reports.迷你倉將軍澳 The man stole 14 pairs of underpants, 14 bras and four other pieces of underwear from January to July last year. He told police he had no girlfriend and could not help stealing when he saw women's underwear.Life term for stabbingA 45-year-old man has been jailed for life for killing a man who beat up his son on a bus, the Beijing Times reports. The son had an argument with the passenger who sat behind him and was attacked by the man and his friends. He called his father for revenge, who waited at a bus stop and stabbed the man to death. The son was jailed for 11 years.FujianFlights, buses cutThe introduction of a high-speed train between Xiamen and Shenzhen, which started running a week ago, has forced airlines and long-haul bus companies to reduce their services, the Haixi Morning Post reports. China Southern Airlines has cut the number of its flights between the two cities while bus companies, having lost 80 per cent of passengers, have reduced their services from 18 a day to just three. The train has cut the journey time between the cities to less than four hours.Cigarette started fireA man in Xiamen has been put in detention for 10 days for starting a fire by throwing a lit cigarette butt into a recycling bin, the Haixia Daobao reports. The man and three friends were eating and drinking at a gym last month and he threw the cigarette into the bin thinking it was out. The fire damaged the first floor of the gym and also led three shops nearby to suffer financial losses.Guangdong'Bogus cop' arrestedA man who allegedly posed as a police officer and robbed three prostitutes in the city has been arrested, the Shenzhen Evening Post reports. The women reported him after he claimed to be a plainclothes police officer and confiscated their mobile phones and money. The prostitutes have been put in detention for 10 days by the police.Bird flu virus foundA market in Guangzhou was closed for three days from Saturday after traces of the H7N9 bird flu virus were found in poultry cages, the Guangzhou Daily reports. The market in Xingfa sells 300 live birds a day and 17 employees at the site were placed under medical observation for a week. All the poultry at risk of infection were slaughtered.HubeiPostgrad interest fallsThe number of candidates in the province who sat for the postgraduate entrance examination dropped for the first time last year, People.com.cn reports. About 111,000 candidates applied to take the test, a 1.2 per cent fall from the previous year. Experts said the drop was because of graduates' difficulties in finding a job and higher tuition costs charged for postgraduates. A university that offers several finance and management courses had a slight increase in the number of postgraduate applications.Big reward to find dogA woman in Wuhan has offered a reward of 10,000 yuan to find her missing dog, the Chutian Jinbao reports. The woman said she had paid 1,800 yuan for the animal four years ago. It was abducted when her mother-in-law was taking it out for a walk last month. The owner said the dog was like a member of the family and the si倉e of the reward offered was not excessive.JiangsuDrink-drive brawlA drink-driver was beaten up after trying to pay off a motorist whose car he struck, the Yangtze Evening Post reports. The man's car scratched another in Nanjing on Wednesday and he offered to settle the matter by giving the motorist 1,000 yuan. The other driver demanded 5,000 yuan after smelling alcohol on his breath. An argument started and the drink-driver was bruised on his hand and face. Police punished the drink-driver and ordered the other motorist to pay his medical bills.Sued over flying dog headA man in Nanjing is suing everyone living from the first to fifth floor in a residential block after a dog's head was thrown out of a window and damaged his car parked outside, the Modern Express reports. The man went in the block and knocked from door to door, but nobody admitted throwing it. A lawyer in Beijing said the man did have the legal right to pursue his claim.ShaanxiSevered finger dashA man has thanked a police officer for helping him in his unsuccessful attempt to find a hospital that would sew part of his finger back on, the Huashang Daily reports. The tip of the man's finger was severed while he was working on a van's engine, but no hospital in Tongchuan could carry out the surgery. He hired a car to Xian , but got lost and called the police for help. A traffic policeman escorted the man to a hospital, but he was told by doctors he had arrived too late to sew the finger back on successfully.Security guards strikeDozens of banks in Yulin had to suspend their services for nearly two hours on Friday morning after more than 100 armoured van security guards went on a strike, the Huashang Daily reports. The guards refused to work unless their company increased their welfare payments. They went back to work after negotiations were held.ShanghaiAnnual bonuses riseMore than 70 per cent of companies in the city will give year-end bonus ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and they will increase by about 12.7 per cent on average, the Oriental Morning Post reports. A survey by China International Intellectech said 30 per cent of companies would raise spending on year-end bonuses with hi-tech, foreign trade, high-end manufacturing and car companies planning the biggest increases.Pensioner dies in fireAn 83-year-old woman died and her son was injured in a fire at their home in the Baoshan district on Saturday afternoon, Eastday.com reports. The pair lived in a single room on the ground floor. The fire was put out quickly, but the bedridden woman died and her son was burned on the head and face. The fire department is investigating the cause of the blaze.SichuanKilled in climbing accidentA 29-year-old woman has died after falling off a cliff on Siguniang Mountain, the West China City Daily reports. The woman, who worked for the tax department in Guangzhou, was ice climbing with an outdoor pursuits club. She was killed as she was coming down the mountain.Police accused of assaultThe police in Chengdu are investigating allegations that officers assaulted a woman, Newssc.org reports. A video clip has circulated online appearing to show a police officer sitting on a woman and also fighting with another woman. The second woman is heard on the video shouting "the police are assaulting people".24小時迷你倉