China stabbing leaves eight dead in second mass-casualty event in a week

A student fatally stabbed eight people in eastern China, the second mass-casualty event in a week.

Police said he had failed his university examinations and could not graduate, and was unhappy with his pay at an internship. China’s youth are struggling, grappling with persistently high unemployment and a slowing economy. The attack comes days after 35 people were killed when a car rammed into crowds outside a stadium in southern China.

Though reported violence in the country of 1.4 billion people remains low, Chinese authorities are increasingly worried over social instability tied to the country’s economic struggles, and censorship of attacks is typically swift and total, meaning the true number of such incidents is largely unknown.