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ANHUI
Family poisoned
A family of six from Linquan county, including a three-year-old girl, have been diagnosed with thallium poisoning, The Beijing Times reports. The family started feeling sick and losing hair after having dinner together late last month. They reported the matter to the police, saying they had suffered similar symptoms in August but thought it was just a bad case of food poisoning. The matter is currently under investigation. Compounds containing thallium, a metallic element sometimes used in rat poison, are colourless, odourless and tasteless, but highly toxic.
Killer on the run
Police in Bozhou city have launched a manhunt for a 30-year-old man suspected of killing the principal of a local kindergarten, Anhuinews.com reports. The man has been at large since July after he robbed the kindergarten at night and stabbed the principal to death.
 
BEIJING
Building blast
Four people died after an explosion in a residential building in Changping district on Saturday, The Beijing Times reports. The blast occurred at a second-floor apartment at 3.33pm and the resulting blaze quickly spread to several apartments above the flat. Firefighters put out the fire within the hour. More than 20 households were evacuated from the building, and electricity and water supplies to their flats were also cut. The cause of the explosion is being investigated.
6,200 busted online
Beijing police detained more than 6,200 people between June and November in a crackdown against online crime, the Beijing Youth Daily reports. Beijing’s Public Security Bureau launched the campaign about six months ago, in an effort to combat crime on the internet, maintain cybersecurity and clean up undesirable online content. Those arrested included 607 people involved in terror-related offences, but the report gave no further details on those offences.
 
GUANGXI
Bra thief exposed
A man in Yulin city who stole more than 2,000 bras and sets of underpants over the past year has been caught, Gxnews.com.cn reports. The man, who had broken into several of his neighbours’ apartments in the building where he lived, stole only women’s lingerie. He was uncovered when the false ceiling above which he hid his loot gave way from the weight of the underclothes.
Bribes for projects
A former director of the water resources bureau in Xingbin district, Laibin city, has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for accepting 600,000 yuan (HK$757,000) of bribes from a local developer, Gxnews.com.cn reports. In return for the bribes, the corrupt official offered the developer several reservoir projects between 2009 and 2013.
 
HEILONGJIANG
Official commits suicide
The deputy chief of Nangang district committed suicide by hanging himself early on Thursday morning, People.com.cn reports. Xing Chunlin, 54, died of mental problems, the authorities said, declining to offer further details. Xing joins a growing list of Chinese officials who have taken their own lives in recent months, a trend that some researchers suspect may be linked to the ongoing anti-corruption campaign launched last year.
Festival on ice
The 31st Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will begin on January 5 and run for a month, Hljnews.cn reports. The annual festival features ice sculptures, an ice lantern display and a swimming race in the frozen Songhua River.
 
HENAN
Rescue-centre rejection
The head of a government rescue centre in Xinyang  city has been suspended for investigations after a 17-year-old boy whom he turned away was later found dead, Henan Business Daily reports. The teenager, He Zhengguo, was admitted to the rescue centre earlier this month but was turned away and sent to a psychiatric hospital instead just hours later. He was found dead in the hospital a few days later.
Embezzler jailed
A former director of the real estate management bureau in Erqi district, Zhengzhou, has been sentenced to 25 years’ jail for embezzling more than 37 million yuan of public funds and taking 200,000 yuan in bribes between 2002 and 2010, Dahe.cn reports. Zhai Zhenfeng’s crimes had delayed the building of a large number of apartments meant to house low-income residents, the court said. Zhai’s family owns 29 apartments in Henan and Shanghai, mainland media reported.
 
JIANGXI
Rail link on the way
Construction started on Saturday for a high-speed railway track linking three key urban cities across Jiangxi province, Jxnews.com.cn reports. The 420km railway line – linking Nanchang, Jichang and Ganzhou, is expected to be completed by 2019. The 53.2 billion yuan project will cut the travel time between Nanchang and Ganzhou from four hours to just two.
Sickening spirit
A restaurant owner in Xinyu city has been ordered by a court to compensate a customer 25,600 yuan for selling him four bottles of fake liquor, Jxnews.com.cn reports. The customer had bought four bottles of the Wuliangye wine, at 1,080 yuan each, while entertaining friends at the restaurant. Those who drank the liquor thought it tasted strange and three developed rashes and had difficulty breathing. The three were taken to hospital.
 
SHANDONG
‘Sell son’, save daughter
A woman in her 30s took to a street in Taidong city on Saturday to “sell her son” in order to afford treatment for the boy’s twin sister who is ill, Iqilu.com reports. The woman said she was hoping to draw public attention to her family’s plight after they spent all their savings on treatment for their three-year-old daughter, who was diagnosed with an acute form of leukaemia in August.
Oil thief slips up
A 33-year-old man has been arrested in Jinan for stealing diesel oil from trucks by cutting the vehicles’ oil pipelines, Sdnews.com.cn reports. After stealing the diesel oil from the trucks, the man then sold it to others at 3 yuan per litre – only about half of the market price of the oil.
 
SHANGHAI
Project planetarium
Construction will start next year on Shanghai’s new planetarium – the largest of its kind in the world – in Lingang New City and is expected to be completed in 2018, Chinanews.com reports. The 58,600 sq m planetarium – the size of eight football fields – will feature domes and curved lines to resemble the orbits of the moon and the earth. The report did not say how much the building would cost.
Retired official detained
A retired senior official in Shanghai has been taken away for serious violations of party disciplines and laws, Eastday.com reports. Jiang Xiefu, 71, was party head of Baoshan district before he retired. He once served as deputy director of the city’s agricultural commission and Fengxian district party secretary, and was elected as a lawmaker in 2003. The authorities gave no further details on his case.
 


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Around the nation: Restaurant owner fined after fake wine leaves diners ill and in poor spirits

Policemen inspect seized bottles of fake wine. A Jiangxi restaurant owner was made to compensate a diner after he sold the man counterfeit liquor. Photo: Reuters

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China Insider

Also, woman tries to sell son to save sick daughter, and bra thief's perverse deed exposed


New | Around the nation: Restaurant owner fined after fake wine leaves diners ill and in poor spirits

Also, woman tries to sell son to save sick daughter, and bra thief's perverse deed exposed