Around the nation: Parents protest pupils' 'torture' jogs
Also, hit-and-run victim meets culprit in hospital, and police outrun getaway car - literally
Parents of fourth grade pupils at the Beijing No 2 Elementary School are worried about 1kg sandbags that the 10-year-olds have to strap to their ankles during morning exercise, reports. The school said the bags helped improve the students' physiques but many parents think they should be optional, not mandatory. One parent called them "torture devices".
More than 3,000 recruits of the Beijing Armed Police are conducting intensive field training on the outskirts of Shunyi, the China News Service reports. The training includes 20km hikes, camping, boxing and live-fire drills. The recruits include 37 women.
A man who served 10 years of a life sentence in prison has been acquitted of a murder conviction, the reports. Wang Yuansong was accused of murdering another man in a fight in August, 2004. The Guizhou Provincial High Court dismissed an appeal by Wang in May, 2005, and upheld the verdict in a retrial in 2010. In July this year, the high court demanded a retrial due to insufficient evidence. Wang was acquitted in October.
A 16-year-old girl from Guizhou has put her education on hold to work in a factory in Zhejiang to support her sick father, online reports. Chen Siling, whose father fell ill in July, works at a tool factory in the coastal province. "I can miss my education," Chen said. "But I can't be without my father."
A 22-year-old woman was groped by a man on a bus but the driver ignored her calls for help before she was dragged off and beaten, reports. She was on a bus in Nanyang when a man, about 50, sat next to her and started touching her leg. She stood up and asked the driver to call the police but he ignored her, the report said. She tried to call her father but the man grabbed her phone. Another man demanded the driver stop the bus, and he, along with first man pushed the woman off and started beating her. The police arrived with the woman's family and arrested the first man.
A university student from Zhengzhou who lost his arms in a childhood electrical accident so impressed the judges of a reality show in which contestants compete for jobs, that they bid his salary up to 200,000 yuan (HK$250,000) a year, reports. The man holds a brush in his mouth to write and can squeeze toothpaste from a tube with his feet. He can also type a 5,000-word document in a morning using his feet. He chose in the end to become a management trainee at an education company.
A man injured in a hit-and-run incident identified the culprit after they were both admitted by chance to the same hospital ward, the reports. The 24-year-old man and his girlfriend, 20, were hit by a motorcycle in Jiangyin on December 2 and sent to hospital. Soon after, another injured patient appeared in the ward and began describing his accident to the victim. The victim recognised parts of the story and alerted the police.
Jiangsu has taken first place in the China Chess League, the reports. This year, the games concluded in Jiangmen , Guangdong, where the Jiangsu team led with 36 points, according to the report.
A man threatened to kill himself with a razor during a two-hour stand-off with police, the reports. The man, in his 30s, walked into a grocery store on Monday and raised a razor to his neck, making a deep cut. Police negotiators arrived, but the man threatened to kill himself if anyone came too close. After two hours the man was subdued.
A 20-year-old Jilin man was caught stealing from the restaurant where he worked to pay for his girlfriend's school tuition, reports. The man, named Wu, worked as a waiter when he met the love of his life. In October, she quit her job as a waitress to attend a training school but could not afford the tuition. Wu was caught on a surveillance camera stealing a total of 3,000 yuan before he was arrested.
Police in Chengdu arrested two criminals after chasing their getaway car on foot, the reports. Three men in a car snatched a purse from another car before driving off at high speed. Six plainclothes officers ran after them before the men crashed into six cars. Squad cars arrived and surrounded the bandits. Two were arrested but the driver escaped.
People who tried to get in touch with a government bureau in Jiangyang municipality in Luzhou on Tuesday found the official contact site was missing two important items - a direct phone number and email address, the reports. A reporter called the bureau's general phone line and was told that only a supervisor knew the contact details. The bureau has updated the website.
A 14-year-old pupil died of alcohol poisoning in Kunming after drinking with classmates, the reports. The girl joined 11 other pupils at a nearby hill after school to play cards and drink rice liquor. Three male pupils bought a 3 litre container and an extra bottle of alcohol, sneaking it in to the school in their bags. The girl passed out and was taken by ambulance to hospital where she later died.
