Shandong

Accident kills 3, injures 7

Three people were killed and seven others injured in a traffic accident on Saturday morning in Shandong province, sources with the government of the provincial capital Jinan said. The accident happened around 7:30 am when a large freight vehicle collided with a motorized farm tricycle on Jinan's No 105 National Road. The injured are receiving treatment in a hospital. Further investigation is underway.

Tibet

Education subsidy to be raised

The education subsidy standard in the Tibet autonomous region will increase again this year, the region's financial authorities announced on Saturday. In the coming fall semester, students at boarding schools from kindergarten through senior high will receive 2,900 yuan ($479) each to cover annual expenses for food, accommodation and educational supplies, an official with Tibet's bureau of finance said. The subsidy has increased on more than 10 occasions. In 2012, the standard was raised to 2,500 yuan, and its coverage was expanded to include children of highway maintenance workers. In 2013, the standard increased to 2,700 yuan.

Beijing

8 police detained for beatings

Eight police have been detained for beating new recruits after the beatings were videotaped and posted online, sparking public indignation over the cruelty displayed in the incident. A spokesman with the Ministry of Public Security said on Friday that another 16 people also received punishments after the beatings, which took place in a firefighting police division in the city of Wuhai in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The video clip, uploaded on Dec 9 last year, showed five uniformed young men standing in a line in a windowless room being slapped, punched and kicked by eight fellow police. The Ministry of Public Security on Friday required police to end the practice and protect the force's good image.

India

Prime minister set to step down

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a news conference in New Delhi on Saturday that he would step down after his country's national elections in May. The 81-year-old Oxford-educated Singh has been prime minister for India's governing Congress party since May 2004. Political observers were unsurprised by his move to rule himself out of the race for the top job in this year's general elections, considering his party's big defeat in regional elections last December. The country's media had branded the loss as an indicator of political trends ahead of the upcoming national vote.

Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 01/05/2014 page2)