First gender equality law Shenzhen began implementing* the first gender equality law in China. The law bans employers from setting preferences in recruitment for gender, marital status* or parental status. Employers who establish gender requirements in recruitment will be punished with fines of 3,000 yuan (US$477) to 30,000 yuan if they fail to correct the requirement within a certain period. Seven arrested after shooting Police in Central China’s Hubei Province said on January 1 that they had arrested seven suspects who are alleged to have killed one and injured 10 people with guns. A statement from the public security bureau of Wuhan, Hubei’s capital, said the suspects used homemade guns in the shooting in an abandoned house at about 9 p.m. on December 31. The incident was caused by a gambling* dispute, the bureau said. All of the injured were being treated in two hospitals. Doctors said most of them were out of danger. Government accepts blame The local government of Lankao County in Henan Province acknowledged on January 5 that it should bear responsibility for failing to supervise the adoption of abandoned children. The acknowledgement was announced after Friday’s fire that killed seven children at a foster* home established by a Lankao woman named Yuan Lihai. According to adoption laws, parents seeking to adopt a child should meet several criteria. Wu Changsheng, vice head of the county, said that from a legal perspective, Yuan was not qualified to adopt a child. Yellow-light rule suspended Traffic police nationwide have been asked to suspend punishment of drivers who run yellow lights. The new traffic rule has been in place for less than a week, the Ministry of Public Security said on January 6. Drivers will be verbally* educated rather than punished with points taken from their license or fines. The ministry will conduct deeper research that includes consideration of opinions from all sides of the yellow-light debate, then issue a detailed ruling.(SD-Agencies) | 