China will step up efforts to crack down on telecom and online fraud crimes this year, Prosecutor-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate Ying Yong said on Monday. In 2025, charges were filed against about 69,000 individuals over telecom and online fraud crimes, Ying said while delivering a report at the second plenary meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature.
"We have been advancing the governance of the online ecosystem. A total of 182,000 individuals were prosecuted for crimes committed online. Charges were filed against about 69,000 individuals over telecom and online fraud crimes. The Supreme People's Procuratorate has guided the prosecution and strict punishment of 285 people over crimes of fraud and intentionally inflicting serious injury targeting Chinese citizens under the shelter of armed criminal gangs operating in northern Myanmar including the Bai, Ming, Wei and Liu families. We will strengthen judicial protection of citizens' personal information and resolutely safeguard order in cyberspace," said Ying.
The 14th NPC is holding its annual session from March 5 through March 12.
China to further crack down on telecom fraud crimes: top prosecutor
The death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon has risen to 634, including 91 children and 47 women, while 1,586 people have been wounded, Lebanese Health Minister Rakan Nasreddine said at a televised press briefing on Wednesday.
According to Nasreddine, the ongoing hostilities have also severely affected the health sector. He reported 22 attacks on medical facilities and services, including incidents targeting Red Cross ambulances.
The minister added that 15 health workers have been killed and 45 others wounded since the escalation began.
Meanwhile, the conflict has displaced 816,000 Lebanese, according to figures announced by Minister of Social Affairs Haneen Sayed at the same press briefing.
Sayed said that 816,000 people have registered on the ministry's relief platform as displaced. Of them, about 126,000 people are currently sheltering in 589 designated centers across the country.
Sayed added that the government is working on the ground to guide displaced families to available centers and arrange transportation to ensure they reach safe locations.
At least 17 people were injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting multiple areas in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon's Health Ministry reported Wednesday.
In retaliation, Hezbollah started the "Al-Asf Al-Ma'koul" operations, launching rockets intensively toward northern Israel, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.
The group said it launched rocket salvos at multiple Israeli military sites, including the Northern Command headquarters at the Dado base, the Ein Zeitim base, and targets near Safed, Kiryat Shmona, Nahariyya, Haifa, and Lake Tiberias.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it began a "large-scale attack wave of strikes" on Beirut's southern suburb on Wednesday night in response to Hezbollah's rocket launches.
On March 2, Hezbollah announced the launch of rockets from Lebanon toward Israel for the first time since a ceasefire was declared on Nov 27, 2024.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army launched what it described as an "offensive military campaign" against Hezbollah, carrying out intense airstrikes on multiple Lebanese areas and border ground incursions.
Death toll from Israeli attacks in Lebanon rises to 634
