Wang Zhijun, a young man from Beijing, has used his passion for running to design a mask that protects residents of the city from smog using old pairs of trainers, he explained in an interview on Monday.

Necessity was indeed the mother of invention here, as Wang said that the idea came due to the fact that “the smog in Beijing has been worse recently. I have run since 2010 and I can feel all the smog I have breathed in. I need a mask to protect myself.”

He went on to describe the process of making the masks:

“I measure the size of shoes and make a blueprint of the mask before I started making it. The ancillary for the mask is easy to obtain.”

Wang started making the masks with limited edition trainers in 2012 and now sells them all over the world.

Netizens trace shapes of “disappearing” Beijing landmarks

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

Sina Weibo, Internet screengrabs

BATAM – At least 18 people are dead and dozens missing after a boat carrying nearly 100 suspected migrant workers capsized and sunk in Indonesian waters, police said Wednesday.

The speedboat was ferrying 93 passengers from Malaysia to Batam, an Indonesian island just south of Singapore, when it sank, local police chief Sam Budi Gusdian said.

“Eighteen people have been found dead,” he told reporters, adding 39 passengers had been pulled alive from the seas.

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Boat carrying nearly 100 people sinks off Batam

Source:

AFP

Reuters

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The fate of the 36 other missing passengers remains unclear. Search and rescue teams were combing the seas for any sign of survivors, Gusdian said.

Police suspect the boat was overcrowded and ferrying migrant workers when it encountered rough seas and capsized.

The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on boat transport, but fatal accidents are common.

More than 60 people died in December when huge waves capsized a ferry charting a course through Sulawesi province.

A man from East China’s Shandong province achieved global fame after his heroic Spider-Man-like rescue of a two-year-old toddler dangling from a window on Oct 27.

Liang Lei, a resident of Liaocheng city who likes physical sports, climbed to the third floor of a building with his bare hands to save the toddler who was stuck between the bars of a security window, reported CCTV News.

His parents had left him alone in the house.

“I got there and found the boy barely moving. His legs were shaking. I decided to climb up as I thought he was in danger,” said Liang.

Liang’s heroic deed even raised heated discussion among foreign internet users after the media organisations published the story on Facebook.

Many praised him as a ‘hero’, saying the toddler was lucky to be saved by someone like him.

But some blamed the toddler’s parents for their carelessness and irresponsibility.

Those reactions were also seen on Sina Weibo, China’s answer to Twitter, in the comments of many threads about Liang’s story.

Read also: Foreign workers help rescue baby stuck in railings