June 25: Weibo the main source of 'fake' news; new app to help tourists find clean toilets

Nearly 60 per cent of “fabricated” news that was widely circulated last year originated from Weibo, China's answer to Twitter.

SCMP online

Published: 10:30am, 25 Jun 2015

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Politics and policy

All 31 provincial party secretaries of political and legal affairs, officials who oversee local courts, prosecution agencies and police forces, have dropped the simultaneous role of provincial police chiefs. The traditional arrangement of the past decade had been criticised for giving the officials too much power. (The Beijing News)

Seven of eight provincial human resources and social security bureaus to have issued this year's salary guidelines so far have trimmed the range of increases they recommended to local enterprises. (China News Agency)

Nearly 60 per cent of “fabricated” news that was widely circulated last year originated from Weibo, China's answer to Twitter. “Fake” news that circulated on mobile messaging app WeChat was more difficult to identify and correct, according to a study by state-run think tank Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. (CASS website)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Los Angeles Times that China is also a victim of hacking, with some of the activity traced back to the US. Photo: AFP

Diplomacy

Foreign Minister Wang Yi denied the halt of reclamation work in the South China Sea is a result of pressure from the US. He also said that China is a victim of hacking, with some of the activity traced back to the US. (Los Angeles Times)

The United States will keep pressing China to move to a market-determined exchange rate even after Beijing committed to intervene in currency markets only when market conditions are disorderly, said Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. (Reuters)

Economy and business

China lowered the rate of work-related injury insurance and childbirth insurance levied on enterprises as part of broad measures to alleviate burdens on companies. (Reuters)

The film arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group will invest in the next "Mission: Impossible" movie which features Hollywood star Tom Cruise. Photo: AP

Online retail giant Alibaba said its film arm would invest in the next “Mission: Impossible” film, and will be the official promoter of the film in China. (AFP)

Society

China Tourism Association is developing a mobile application that provides the locations of public toilets at tourist attractions and gives feedback on them. The app will help users better locate toilets and evaluate them as public toilets in China are notoriously filthy and smelly. (Xinhua)

New app developed by China Tourism Association will help tourists to better locate toilets at tourist attractions and evaluate them. Photo: AFP

At least 5,000 residents of a Shanghai suburb protested on Wednesday over a report that a petrochemical plant may be moved to their neighbourhood, although authorities dismissed the report as untrue. (AP)

Nine people were killed and five injured early on Thursday morning in a fire caused by an electric meter at a residential building in Zhengzhou, Henan province. (Hnr.cn)

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