Around the nation: Kids claim car with cracker-launched projectile
Aslo: Wife tries to divorce husband because she can't stand his cooking; Burglar caught napping after break-in
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 10 March, 2015, 9:09pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 10 March, 2015, 9:09pm
The car pictured after it was struck by the man-hole cover. Photo: SCMP Pictures
SICHUAN
A cracker too many
Children throwing firecrackers into a dry well in Dazhou created an explosion strong enough to blow the heavy metal cover several metres across a road and through the windscreen of a passing car, the West China City Daily reports. Several passengers were slightly injured, including a passenger whose hand and neck were grazed by pieces of shattered windscreen. She received first aid at a local hospital. Police are investigating the incident.
Polluters to pay
The environment bureau of Chengdu has fined five enterprises for pollution, the West China City Daily reports. The heaviest fine, 60,000 yuan, went to a company that produces copper plates and spray-painted exhaust pipes. A water company was fined 26,000 yuan for discharging excessive phosphorus in its wastewater.
ANHUI
Worker kills bosses
A worker killed two of his bosses and seriously injured two others in Hefei when he poured petrol over a meeting table and set off an explosion, the Anhui Business News reports. The man, who worked in the Chaohu Economic Development District, was unsatisfied with a work-injury settlement and decided to take revenge.
Taking science to the fields
The Fuyang government has dispatched 20,000 agricultural specialists to advise farmers on planting crops for spring, the Anhui Daily reports. As it is a crucial time to sow wheat, rapeseed and vegetables, the city aims to train 150,000 family farms and 45,000 commercial ones to manage crops more scientifically.
BEIJING
Bank worker helped scam
A man in Xicheng district coerced a bank worker into helping him to run a boiler-room operation that brought in more than 100 million yuan (HK$126 million) from investors in fake demolition and property projects, the Beijing Times reports. The man paid his partner from the bank a 10 per cent commission. They promised 400 investors returns of 20 per cent. They were convicted and await sentencing.
Mobile phone use up 14pc
There are more than 26 million mobile phone users in the capital, a 14 per cent increase from a year ago, the Beijing Morning Post reports, citing a survey by the city's statistics bureau. The report said revenues from software and internet services had grown dramatically, making hundreds of million yuan in profits. This was in stark contrast to the publishing, radio, television and film industries, where revenues had dropped to the bottom of the so-called cultural industries.
GUANGDONG
Biogas plant comes on line
China's largest biogas project came on line at Shenzhen's Xiaping solid waste landfill site on Monday, Sznews.com reports. The project, operated by Hong Kong-listed China Water Industry Group, is designed to produce 45 million cubic metres of gas and reduce 800,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. The company claims the installation will reduce foul odours from the landfill, the source of constant complaints by residents in Luohu district, near the city centre.
Wife wanted to sack cook
A Guangzhou woman threatened to divorce her husband of 12 years because she hated his cooking, the Guangzhou Daily reports. Over the years, the wife gradually asked her husband to do more of the housework, including cleaning, shopping and preparing meals. But over the years his cooking skills did not improve. The two quarrelled and the wife asked for divorce. A local court mediated and convinced the couple to reconcile.
HAINAN
Roping in customers
Hawkers at the Dongmen market in Haikou used thick straw rope to tie crabs and increase their weight so they could charge customers more, the website Hainan.net reports. A customer complained that he had paid 88 yuan for a crab, with the weight of the rope accounting for about 11 yuan. When he asked for the crab to be weighed without the rope, he was told an even higher price. He complained to the market managers.
School election 'rigged'
Dongshan middle school in Haikou has been accused of faking the election results of four mid-level officials, the Nanguo Metropolis Daily reports. It is said the school invited candidates from the public, but instead the four officials were chosen by the school board.
HENAN
Cat-burglar nap
A man who broke into a home in Anyang has been arrested after the owner returned and found him fast asleep, the Dahe Daily reports. The shocked owner quietly alerted the police, who had to wake the man up. The thief, in his early 20s, has previous convictions for theft, including two years in prison for stealing construction materials. He said he had spent a long time at an internet cafe and broke into the home just to take a nap.
Late-night travesty
Night-time fly-tipping by garbage trucks has ruined an environmental corridor in the west of the provincial capital, the Zhengzhou Evening News reports. The 150-metre long space that was once lined with shady trees is now full of bags of rubbish. Local residents said the trucks came to the street in the middle of the night. The local authorities are investigating the case and will clean up the site.
SHAANXI
Boy spins a good yarn
A security guard in Xian reported to police that he had been approached by an 11-year-old boy who claimed he had been abducted and was asking for help, the Huashang Daily reports. The boy said that he was from Hebei and had been sold in the city when he was little. But a police investigation revealed a different story. The boy was a local who hated school and had recently ran away from home. His parents later took him home.
Precious stone lions stolen
Villagers in Weiqi near Xian have reported that two ancient stone lions guarding the village gate have been stolen, the Xian Evening News reports. Elderly villagers were particularly upset as they had played near the lions when they were children. Experts said the lions were valuable antiques and were more than a thousand years old. The villagers said that the security camera overlooking the lions had been turned off before the theft.
ZHEJIANG
Official in fatal crash
The audit bureau chief of Sanmen county near Taizhou has surrendered to police after his car struck an electrical bicycle, killing a woman and injuring her daughter, when he was drunk, the Jinri Zaobao reports. It is said the car did not shine its headlights and failed to slow down at traffic lights when the car hit the women. The official called an ambulance before fleeing the scene. He gave himself in eight hours later.
Ageing boom hits city
The elderly association of Ningbo estimates more than a fifth of the city's population is aged 60 or more, which has caused a severe shortage of retirement homes, the Qianjiang Evening News reports. There were 1.25 million elderly living in the city, where the ageing rate is 10 times higher the national average.
