TRAFFIC

Boost in bike rental sites

Bicycle rental stations will be placed at 40 locations along the subway routes running though Haidian district this year, the district's transportation committee has announced.

Zhao Lihua, deputy director of the committee, said special card readers will be installed to help customers rent and return more than 2,000 bikes. Commuters will also be able to return bikes to any site.

COMMUNITY

Kindergartens closed for safety

Authorities have closed 123 illegal kindergartens in Fengtai district after finding serious safety risks, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

As of last December, about 18,000 children were attending the city's 234 unlicensed preschools, many of which have health and fire hazards.

According to the district education committee, another 104 previously illegal kindergartens have met safety standards under the rectification procedure and will soon be able to accept 8,000 more children.

COMMUNITY

Detention centers open to public

Law-abiding members of the public can now get to see inside more capital detention centers.

A new regulation from the public security bureau states people can apply to visit its centers by downloading a form on its website and sending it to p-js@bjgaj.gov.cn. While there, visitors can also get a lesson in law.

By the end of last year, all 43 detention centers in Beijing had been opened to public, with 4,298 people visited the centers.

ACCIDENTt

Storm traps 12 under steel shelter

Twelve people had to be rescued by firefighters when their makeshift shelter was knocked down during a storm in the early hours of Thursday.

Emergency crews were called to the scene in Pinggu district after the steel plates were blown over, trapping 50 workers inside. Most managed to release themselves by the time help arrived.

One man was pinned in the wreckage for at least 20 minutes, with firefighters using cutting equipment to save him.

Seven injured workers were taken for treatment at a nearby hospital.

CRIME

Weibo trickster snared by police

Police in Beijing said on Thursday they had detained a man who allegedly spread "malicious posts" to a large number of users on Sina Weibo, China's popular micro-blogging service.

The 26-year-old, who was identified only as Luo, took advantage of the Sina website's security loopholes and sent private posts to more than 69,000 Weibo users on June 29, said a spokesman with the capital's public security bureau.

As soon as the users clicked on the posts they automatically became followers of Luo's Weibo account and forwarded the posts on their account, said the spokesman.

China Daily

(China Daily 07/08/2011 page7)