ANGEL MURDERED

A pregnant woman lured a 17-year-old girl to her home and helped her husband sexually assault and kill the girl on July 24 in Heilongjiang province, sparking empathy and outrage online. Teenager Hu Yixuan offered help after the woman surnamed Tan pretended to collapse in the street in Jiamusi city, according to police. (www.chinanews.com.cn)

RUINED TRENDS

Trends away from hustle and bustle have lost their attraction after being overhyped. Opening a cafe in a city, quitting to tour Tibet, running an inn or cycling along the No 318 Sichuan-Tibe Highway used to be among the top bucket list. But their downfall is now a rising topic on Sina Weibo with more than 100,000 posts.

WANGLINGATE

Disgraced mystic Wang Lin has shown he is still a master of trickery by portraying himself as the former on-the-run US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden during an interview with the New York Times where he denied all allegations. "It's as if the whole country has turned against me, turning black into white and white into black," he said. (www.163.com)

CHINESE ABROAD

A picture showing Chinese tourists dipping their feet into the fountain outside one of the most famous landmarks in Paris, The Louvre, ,spurred debates online about the deteriorating image of Chinese tourists overseas. However, a staff member of the museum said the practice is also common among other nationals. (www.xinhuanet.com)

TAOBAO & WEIBO

China's two IT industry giants announced a partnership which enables Sina Weibo and Taobao, China's biggest e-commerce site under Alibaba, to share accounts on Thursday. Users can log onto Sina Weibo with Taobao accounts or vice versa. The move was seen as a challenge to the rising Tencent app WeChat. (www.iceo.com.cn)

CHEAP PHONE

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi launched its new budget phone Red Rice on Thursday as it dives into the country's low-end handset market. The phone will retail at 799 yuan (about $129) with no contract. (www.people.com.cn)

NEW SOCCER COACH

China's Football Association said a meeting is slated for August 5 to appoint a new caretaker coach for the national squad. A new round of discussions started, with many fans favoring the incumbent Fu Bo who just led the team to a convincing East Asian Cup campaign. (www.qq.com)