China: Boy, Six, Has Eyes Gouged Out By Woman

A six-year-old boy is recovering in hospital after his eyes were gouged out in an horrific attack in China.

The child, who has been named as Guo Bin, went missing from his home in the country's Shanxi Province on Saturday evening. He had failed to return home for dinner after playing outside.

Five hours later he was discovered by his parents with both eyes missing.

The young boy’s mother, who has spoken to local media, said she found her son near their home.

His face was covered with blood but he was conscious and spoke to her, reportedly claiming that he had been attacked by a female who spoke with a strange accent.

An initial suggestion in the Chinese media claimed the youngster’s eyes were found nearby with the cornea missing.

Uncorroborated reports said that the attack may have been connected to China's illegal trafficking of human organs.

However, local police have now said they do not believe the attack was in any way related to organ trafficking and that while the eyes were found near the boy, the cornea had not been removed.

It remains possible that authorities are denying the link to trafficking in order to cover-up an embarrassing problem.

A reward of RMB100,000 (£10,000) has been offered to anyone with information about the attack.

The director of Shanxi Eye Hospital, where the boy is being treated, has said he is now making a recovery.

A local police chief, named only as Lui, said he could not speculate on a motive for the attack.

China Internet Hit By 'Largest-Ever' Attack

China has been hit by the "largest ever" attack on its internet structure, crashing servers across the country, according to a government agency.

Websites with a Chinese address - ending in .cn - went down for around two hours early on Sunday, the China Internet Network Information Centre (CNNIC) said in a statement.

The cyber attacks work by overloading servers with a huge number of requests to view internet pages - so much so that the system cannot cope and 

After the first attack, a second wave was described as "the biggest of its kind ever", CNNIC said.

"The resolution of some websites was affected, leading visits to become slow or interrupted."

The organisation did not say who might have been responsible.

Washington has repeatedly accused China of trying to hack the websites of US government agencies and businesses.

But Beijing has always denied the accusations, saying China itself is a victim of internet attacks.

China Tower Block Villa: Demolition Under Way

A villa built on top of a 26-floor apartment block in China without permission is being demolished.

Zhang Biqing, known as 'Professor Zhang', started building his elaborate residence about six years ago on the roof of a busy residential compound at West Beijing's Haidian District.

Residents had expressed their anger at the penthouse, complaining about the illegal construction for years, with no success of stopping Mr Zhang's grand project that has fake hills, real greens and even a swimming pool.

That was until a few days ago, when the building was spotted by internet users and the pictures of the site were posted and widely circulated among popular Chinese social networks, that caught the attentions of local and international media.

A warrant was issued on Wednesday with a 15-day demolition order.

Haidain's local city administrative management bureau, commonly referred by Chinese as 'urban thugs', was allegedly involved in the bribery from Mr Zhang to turn a blind eye to the site.

One officer Chen Yu told reporters on Tuesday that they were having difficulties getting hold of Mr Zhang in order to 'investigate the case'.

The demolition started around 8am, with workers coming from outside Beijing. Residents said the dismantling of part of the site was ongoing.

Mr Zhang, who became famous after inventing a system of Chinese acupuncture treatment, told local reporters the workers were the same group who built the villa and he would not be present during the process.

One family who lives at the opposite building told Sky News that the work was hugely intrusive.

They said it was loud and very bright and it meant they could not open their curtains at night.

"It was not only the construction work that carried on at night but also the camera at the top that seemed to be working and recording all the time - we don't have any privacy," said the woman, who did not want to be named.

"I heard the swimming pool has caused floods to downstairs flats a few times; those poor families."

China's online users have generated thousands of comments.

People on Sina Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, said it was because of social media that action was being taken.

One user said: "It's the power of the public voice and freedom of information. It has been six years, this Zhang person was not afraid of the city enforcements, officials, or even law, but he's afraid of public supports, afraid of Weibo!"

Some online users also expressed concerns that other illegal constructions there could spring up in the future.

"Will it be ok after the demolition? When it was first built, did it get any permission? It's a big building, it didn't get finished within a day or two.

"It's not small either, it's a really big site, how did he do it exactly? If we don't get to the bottom of the problem, this demolition is only superficial, it won't solve the problem."

China Mountain Villa On Tower Block 'Must Go'

Officials are hunting a man who infuriated neighbours by building an elaborate residence on an apartment block.

About six years ago Zhang Biqing, said to be an ex-army medic, started his grand project to cover the rooftop of the 26-storey Beijing building with fake rocks, real greenery and even a swimming pool.

But residents have expressed their anger at the penthouse, which has no permission or licence to be there.

Mr Zhang, who became famous after inventing a system of Chinese acupuncture treatment, managed to carry out the building work despite years of constant complaints.

The project has allegedly caused water leaks and structural damage to the flats downstairs.

One family who lives at the opposite building told Sky News that the work was hugely intrusive.

They said it was loud and very bright and it meant they could not open their curtains at night.

"It was not only the construction work that carried on at night but also the camera at the top that seemed to be working and recording all the time - we don't have any privacy," the woman, who did not want to be named, told Sky News.

"I heard the swimming pool has caused floods to downstairs flats a few times; those poor families."

Local shopkeepers and security guards suggested bribes had possibly exchanged hands, claiming there were close connections between Mr Zhang and the compound's management, who turned a blind eye to the project.

Chinese officials have given Mr Zhang 15 days to vacate the residence in the city's west district of Haidian - but they face a major issue.

"The only thing now for us is that we can't find the owner," said the Beijing City Enforcement Bureau's Chen Yu told reporters.

"We have issued a lot of summonses, but he never came to us to be investigated."

But local media managed to find Mr Zhang, who told them he had to keep the villa to accommodate "famous people coming to stay and sing".

China: Video Shows Car Hit By Landslide

Video of a car almost being washed away by floods and a landslide in northwest China has been released.

The footage shows the driver trying to get away from the deluge, but changing his mind when he realises what is happening.

All the car's occupants escaped unhurt.

Almost a million people have been affected by flooding in the region since the start of July.

And you thought your commute was bad: Check out rush hour on Beijing’s subway

The next time you complain about your commute just take a moment to think about these poor subway passengers in China who face a nightmare journey to work every morning.

The footage above of commuters battling their way onto a train was filmed at Xierqi subway station, on Beijing’s Line 13.

It shows people waiting in huge queues for the train to arrive and once it does, all hell breaks loose.

Passengers battle to get onto the train on Beijing’s subway system (Picture: YouTube)

Passengers rush to get through the doors with little regard for those that are trying to exit.

And the station workers in yellow shirts seem to struggle to maintain order.

At one point a man trying to get off is pushed back onto the train and has to fight to get back off.

What is even more worrying is this subway station is reportedly one of the better ones in the capital.

Chinese website Beijing Cream writes: ‘It has, like other stations in Beijing’s vast underground transportation network, built-in artificial bottlenecks intended to relieve congestion in the form of gates and narrow staircases.’

The website says the problem isn’t the way the stations are built but ‘sometimes there simply too many people’ trying to use them.