The killing of a 13-year-old boy in northern China last week, for which three boys are in police custody, has triggered a heated discussion in the media on juvenile crime and the plight of children left at home by migrant workers. Police arrested three boys and took them into custody after they allegedly bullied and killed the junior high school student in the small city of Handan, in Hebei province, on 10 March, and then buried him in a shallow pit, state media reported. So far, no charges have been…
Tag: Children
Teenagers with more siblings have worse mental health, study suggests
From Cain and Abel and the Brothers Karamazov to Cinderella, the warmth and support provided by siblings has hardly been taken for granted. Now, researchers have found that children who moan about their brothers and sisters may have good reason to complain: the more siblings teenagers have, the more it hits their happiness, they claim. A study of secondary schoolchildren in the US and China found that those from larger families had slightly poorer mental health than those from smaller families. The greatest impact was seen in families with multiple…
Where you can turn for quality TV news | Brief letters
Can I suggest that the former Newsnight presenter Peter Snow, who feels starved of the journalism that matters (Letters, 1 December), watches Channel 4 News? At 55 minutes, it has ample time for in-depth analysis, and the journalism is of the highest standard.Philip HoldsworthRhos-on-Sea, Conwy It must be a sign of my age that, as soon as Zoe Williams mentioned her previous husband’s choice of the name Thurston for their baby, I thought of Thurston Dart, the classical musician, not a pop star. (Worried about naming your baby? Don’t be, 5 December).Marie PatersonNuneaton,…
WHO requests details about respiratory illness clusters in parts of China
The World Health Organization has asked China for details about a rise in respiratory illnesses that has been reported in northern parts of the country, particularly among children. Epidemiologists have warned that as China heads into its first winter since the lifting of zero-Covid restrictions, natural levels of immunity to respiratory viruses may be lower than normal, leading to an increase in infections. Several countries, including the US and the UK, experienced large waves of respiratory viral infections in the first winter after Covid restrictions were lifted as people had…
Six people arrested in China’s Hubei province over ‘baby-trafficking ring’
Six people have been arrested in central China’s Hubei province over alleged involvement in a baby-trafficking ring linked to a hospital in one of the province’s biggest cities. The allegations about Xiangyang Jianqiao hospital first came to light on 6 November via a Weibo user by the name of Shangguan Zhengyi, who describes himself as an “anti-trafficking volunteer”. Shangguan posted a series of claims about the hospital’s director, Ye Youzhi, whom he accused of colluding “with online intermediaries” to sell birth certificates for 96,000 yuan (£10,750). After selling a birth…