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Andrea Chen

Anhui
Couple die in shop fire
A couple died after a grocery store in Hefei caught fire in the early hours of Monday morning, the news website Anhuinews.com reports. A security guard on patrol nearby saw heavy smoke rising from the shop. The couple was found dead in a bedroom on the second floor when firefighters arrived. The fire is thought to have started in a pile of towels and batteries. The owner of the store said the victims were his sister and brother-in-law. They moved to the city two weeks ago for work and left their six-year-old son behind. Police are investigating the cause of the fire.
Peeping Tom arrested
A 50-year-old man from Hefei has been detained by the police after he was found to have filmed his woman flatmates taking showers, the news website Anhuinews.com reports. The man shared a three-bedroom apartment with two women for about six months. The women found a hole in a door the size of a bottled water cap when they were taking a shower last week and caught the man filming with his smart phone outside. They called the police and the man was arrested.
 
Beijing
Guards planned to rob
A security guard who planned to go on a robbing spree with two of his workmates turned himself in and reported their plans to the police, the Beijing Times reports. The three security guards at a company in the Fengtai district decided to rob drivers of luxury cars at night because they were unhappy with their low wages. They bought model guns, ropes and tape from online stores. One of them got cold feet and went to the police. His workmates were arrested while they were waiting for him at a meeting place.
'Illegal' clubs by palace
The authorities are investigating two temples near the Forbidden City in the centre of the capital that are alleged to house private luxury clubs and restaurants, Xinhua reports. Historic buildings and parks are banned from housing or operating clubs and commercial entertainment venues. Xinhua reporters went to the temples near the former imperial palace and found that guest rooms allegedly cost 4,500 yuan (HK$5,700) a night. The report said the city government had promised to investigate the clubs last year, but little appeared to have been done.
 
Henan
Jumped to flee fire
Witnesses said customers fleeing from a fatal fire at a karaoke bar in Changyuan county early on Monday morning had to jump from third and fourth-floor windows as there was no emergency exit, the news website People.com.cn reports. Eleven people died in the blaze. Neighbours said windows at the business facing neighbouring homes were sealed with wooden boards after complaints had been made about the noise. The local government said the venue did have a fire safety licence. The owner of the karaoke bar has been detained.
Children tied to tree
A homeless shelter in Gushi county near Luan has created controversy online after photographs were posted of two children tied to a tree in a yard, the Southern Metropolis News reports. The report also described worn out blankets and beds being used at the shelter. A member of staff said the children were tied up because they had behavioural problems and there were concerns about them "running around". The centre houses 20 homeless people, including the two children. An official said the centre was new, its management inexperienced and that although the children were tied to a tree, they could still "move around".
 
Hubei
Body 'missing student'
A body found on a river bank in Jingzhou is believed to be that of a 22-year-old missing college student, The Beijing News reports. Witnesses who found the woman's body said it did not appear to have been in the water long and there was blood on her forehead. The spot where the body was found is five bus stops away from her university. Police are investigating.
Unhealthy bonuses
A psychiatric hospital in Wuhan was found to have paid its doctors more if their patients spent a longer time there, the Hubei Daily reports. A yearly inspection at the Chu Kang Mental Hospital discovered that doctors were given bonuses on top of their monthly salary according to the number of hours their patients were in hospital. The city's health bureau said it was worried doctors would make patients stay in hospital longer than necessary.
 
Hunan
Cash thrown in face
A 29-year-old woman from Hengyang has tried to divorce her millionaire husband after he beat her and regularly threw cash in her face to insult her, the Sanxiang City Express reports. A court heard she lied about her age and married the man, 15 years older than her, when she was 16. He admitted beating her after he found she had an affair. The court rejected her plea for a divorce.
Missing boy found dead
A 17-year-old boy who went missing on a train travelling from Beijing to Xinhua county near Loudi two weeks ago has been found dead in a psychiatric hospital, the news website Dahe.cn reports. His body was cremated by the time his parents traced him to the hospital last Friday. His father lost touch with the boy after he took a nap as the train stopped in Xinyang in Henan province . Surveillance video later showed that the boy was brought to a police station nearby. He was transferred to a psychiatric hospital after he appeared to be mentally unstable and "attacked" staff. Four days after he was sent to the hospital, a nurse found him dead in bed. His parents said the boy had no mental illness and they have asked the police to investigate his death.
 
Sichuan
Self-sufficient farmer
A 72-year-old blind man who has lived alone for 30 years has refused to move to a home for the elderly as he said he did not want to trouble the authorities, the news website Newssc.org reports. The man from Tongjiang county near Bazhong still farms and gets a small government subsidy, most of which goes to medication.
Child killer appeals
A woman from Dazhou who was convicted of killing two toddlers is seeking to have her suspended death sentence overturned, the Chengdu Business Herald reports. The lawyer of the woman said they would appeal because the woman has schizophrenia. A court heard she beat her neighbour's children into a coma and threw them off a cliff. The woman told the court she was annoyed by her neighbour's renovation project and decided to kill their children in revenge.
 
Yunnan
Cancer patient jailed
A man with advanced liver cancer has been jailed for 5½ years in Kunming after he robbed a friend of 13,000 yuan to pay his medical bills, news website Yunnan.cn reports. The man was an employee at an iron and steel company and was diagnosed with cancer in March.
'Ideal fiancé' fraudster
A man from Kunming has been jailed for a year for swindling a friend on the messaging service WeChat out of 21,000 yuan, the news website Yunnan.cn reports. The woman thought the man would make an ideal future husband for her daughter as he said he was a member of a SWAT team in the city. He told her he had failed a civil service entrance exam and needed the cash to bribe officials. Police found he had spent the cash on smartphones and watches.


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China society

Around the nation: 'Illegal' clubs near Forbidden City investigated

Historic buildings and parks are banned from housing or operating clubs and commercial entertainment venues. Photo: Reuters

News

China Insider

The authorities are investigating two temples near the Forbidden City in the centre of the capital that are alleged to house private luxury clubs and restaurants, Xinhua reports.
