Tiangong-2 to be launched

    China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, revealed that China will launch the Tiangong-2 space lab in 2016 and will finish building a space station around 2022.

    Yang made the remarks at the Planetary Congress of the Association of Space Explorers (ASE), which opened in Beijing on September 10.

    China will also launch a manned spacecraft, the Shenzhou-11, and the Tianzhou-1 cargo spaceship to dock with Tiangong-2, Yang said.

    4 kids attacked by teacher

    Four primary schoolchildren were severely injured after being assaulted by their art teacher in Shaanxi Province on September 9.

    The teacher, Lei Mingxing, 35, fled the scene after beating the 6- to 7-year-olds.

    Two of the children were in hospital for brain contusions*, while the other two were being treated for scalp lacerations*, according to a news bulletin on the Zhenping government’s website. The children — three boys and one girl — said they did not know what caused Lei to hurt them.

    Boss drinks cup of oil

    The chief of Taiwanese firm Chang Guann drank a cup of his company’s cooking oil to prove it was safe, during a public apology over the widening gutter oil scandal.

    Yeh Wen-hsiang on September 11 kneeled on the floor and bowed deeply in apology, and said his company was also a victim.

    Chang Guann is accused of blending industrial lard oil* with edible cooking oil and “gutter oil,” a banned substance made from recycled kitchen waste, to make 782 tons of its Chuan Tung brand oil.

    ‘Jewelry thief’ arrested

    A suspected Chinese jewelry thief accused of stealing millions of dollars worth of diamonds around the world was arrested in Switzerland during another robbery, Interpol* said on September 12.

    Meng Jianguo, 46, is linked to over a dozen heists since 2012, including the theft of a diamond ring worth US$1.5 million from Bahrain last year, and was subject to an Interpol Red Notice, the international police organization said.(SD-Agencies)