“Our
thoughts are with families and businesses impacted by the devastating flash
flooding in Cornwall.

“I
would like to pay tribute to our emergency services for their work and for
everyone providing support to those affected at the multi-agency centre in
Truro.

“Labour
is calling on the Government to match its words with actions: to ensure that
the Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service are provided with all necessary
resources and that businesses and residents receive the support they need in
the aftermath.

“In
the longer term, the Government must ensure that its strategy on climate change
mitigation and flood defence is fit for purpose and that climate change is not
brushed aside as an afterthought during the Brexit negotiations, leaving
communities to pick up the pieces.”

Tom Watson MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Digital,
Culture, Media and Sport, commenting on the BBC annual report, said:

“The BBC is one of the world’s greatest broadcasters and we
shouldn’t be surprised that its top stars – who millions of people tune in to
watch and listen to every week – are well paid.

"Labour recognises the BBC’s dilemma: the need to give
licence payers value for money while operating in a competitive commercial
environment against other broadcasters who do not have to disclose what they
pay.

“It’s wrong that only a third of the BBC’s highest paid stars are
women, and we welcome Lord Hall’s commitment to close the gender pay gap by
2020. It would be good to see a similar commitment, and similar levels of
transparency, from other media organisations – especially those who are
criticising the BBC today.”

A competitor plays Honor of Kings during the 2017 King Pro League Spring Season in Shanghai in April. [Photo/China Daily]

Over half of the 2,013 respondents in a survey conducted recently by China Youth Daily believed that overindulging in mobile games may result from a person’s weak will power for a meaningful life.

According to the survey, 73.9 percent of respondents acknowledged that they love mobile games, while 78.4 percent of them revealed that they know many people who are addicted.

The survey consisted of 54.9 percent males and 45.1 percent females with 75.7 percent of them holding at least a bachelor’s degree; 19.1 percent are high school or technical secondary school graduates, while 5.2 percent have graduated or yet to be graduated from middle school.

“I never used to like mobile games as I thought they were worthless and harmful to the eyes,” said Du Yiting, a university freshman from Tianjin.

“But when my classmates always talked about the games with phrases and terms that I was not aware of, I was worried that I may become excluded if I did not start playing the games,” she recalled.

To maintain her friendship with her classmates, Du started playing mobile games, which later became an addiction that she struggled to get rid of.

During her summer vacation, she started playing games before even getting out of bed and then joined up with her classmates from noon till nighttime.

According to the survey, 85.3 percent of respondents claimed that they can control the time spent playing mobile games, while, 14.2 percent reckoned they are addicted to the games.

Zhao Limin from Beijing found her son had become deeply engrossed in the games, ignoring meal times and bedtimes. Many things can trigger his mood swings such as shouting, clapping and stamping. When she dissuaded her boy from spending too much time on the games he would lose his temper.

Zhao’s son epitomizes a common scenario in the life of game addicts.

“A friend of mine has spent 10,000 yuan (US$1,480) on tools and software upgrades for mobile games.” Du said.

Xiang Ligang, an analyst of the telecommunication industry, said that the easy access, convenient portability and role-play excitement have resulted in the addiction to mobile games.

According to Xiang, the government should set ceilings on the charges of mobile games and parents should help develop diverse hobbies for their children during the vacation other than leaving them alone to play mobile games.

More than 65 percent of respondents supported the idea of creating a rating system for mobile games to prevent young people becoming overindulgent in them.

From Aug. 14, vehicles not registered in Beijing will be prohibited from driving on 23 routes and the Second Ring Road, a highway encircling the center of the capital.

Drivers violating the restriction will be fined 100 yuan (US$14.80).

Since Nov. 27, 2015, non-local vehicles have been banned from 14 routes and the Second Ring Road from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

To further alleviate traffic congestion, the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau has made the restriction even stricter by increasing the number of restricted routes and extending the period from 16 hours to 24 hours.

Seven people involved in a high-profile telecom fraud case that led to the death of a university candidate were sentenced to prison at a court in Shandong Province on Wednesday.

The principal criminal, Chen Wenhui, was sentenced to life in prison on charges of fraud and illegally obtaining personal information at the Linyi Intermediate People’s Court. The other six criminals were sentenced to prison between three to 15 years.

The seven people cheated people out of money by posing as officers of educational, financial and real estate institutions in telephone calls made between November 2015 and August 2016.

One of the victims, Xu Yuyu, an 18-year-old student from Linyi, was called on Aug 19. She had applied for financial aid from a local educational authority two days before she received the phone call.

During the call, Zheng Xiancong, one of the criminals, told Xu that he was an educational authority officer and would provide her with about 2,600 yuan (US$385) in student aid. Zheng asked her to contact the local financial authority to find out how to receive the aid.

Xu was given a number to call that connected her to Chen. Chen said he asked Xu to transfer 9,900 yuan in tuition fees into a bank account, adding that the student aid would appear in her student account.

After discovering the money was stolen, Xu and her father reported the theft to local police on the same evening. On her way back home, she died of cardiac arrest. Forensic experts said Xu’s death was linked to the great anxiety caused by the telecom fraud.

Chen Wenhui said he obtained more than 10,000 pieces of personal information, including that of Xu, through QQ, an instant messaging tool.