Chinese tourists victims of crime in Paris

Mass muggings and attacks on Chinese tourists in Paris have spawned alarm. Source: AAP

MASS muggings and attacks on Chinese tourists in Paris have spawned alarm and warnings of a decline in the number of free-spending visitors from the Asian giant who swarm to France.

More than one million Chinese visitors come every year to France, a country which for them epitomises luxury, romance and quality products.

But that may very well change, said one expert, citing a slew of recent attacks which he says takes the sheen off the "City of Lights" for Chinese visitors.

"This has become a scourge. Since the past year, we have been seeing attacks almost every day," said Jean-Francois Zhou, the head of Ansel Travel, which specialises in tours to and from China.

On March 20, a group of 23 Chinese visitors were robbed in a restaurant shortly after they landed in Paris's Charles De Gaulle airport.

Their passports, plane tickets and cash were stolen and the group leader sustained an injury to the face.

"The situation is serious. If these attacks continue, we may have to pay the price," Zhou told AFP.

He said about 10 Chinese visitors were robbed on one day in October, mainly in the famed Louvre museum, right in the heart of the city.

And in February, "a minibus caught in a traffic jam was attacked, its windows were smashed and hand bags stolen", he said, adding there was a more recent attack on Chinese nationals at a four-star hotel in Paris.

Li Peng, who is in charge of consular affairs at the Chinese embassy in Paris, said: "There has been an increase in the number of complaints filed over the past year.

"In a week we could have five to six demands for travel documents" to replace stolen passports, Li said.

French Tourism Minister Sylvia Pinel has pledged that "everything will be done to find the perpetrators" of the latest mass mugging, and underscored "the determination of the French government to ensure the security of tourists in France".

Zhou, the travel agency boss, said the Chinese were targeted as they were big spenders, adding: "Some of them carry up to 20,000 euros ($25,000) for shopping."

The latest incident has fuelled concern and some anti-French feeling on China's talkative social media scene, but several Chinese travel agencies declined to comment to AFP on the possible consequences.

One municipal travel committee in China's Jiangsu province urged travellers to take precautions.

"Chinese tourists who travel abroad are recommended to take less cash, never show off money or valuables, never talk to strangers in public places or scenic spots, always keep an eye on personal belongings," it said on its weibo account, a Chinese website similar to Twitter.

They should "take proper care of valuable items including passports" and "avoid going outside alone at night or in any remote places", it added.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Hurt Locker' actor Jeremy Renner a dad

ACTOR Jeremy Renner is a dad.

The Hurt Locker star and girlfriend Sonni Pacheco confirmed on Friday that they are the parents of Ava Berlin Renner.

A statement released by Renner's spokeswoman Susan Patricola says the new parents "are beyond thrilled".

Renner played a military explosives expert in the 2008 Oscar-winning film.

Renner has also starred in The Bourne Legacy and The Avengers.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Zumba teacher guilty plea to prostitution

A US Zumba instructor who has pleaded guilty to using her studio as a front for prostitution. Source: AAP

A DANCE instructor accused of using her Zumba fitness studio as a front for prostitution has pleaded guilty to 20 counts in a scandal that captivated a quiet US seaside town.

The agreement that followed a second day of plea negotiations on Friday spares Alexis Wright from the prospect of a high-profile trial featuring sex videos, exhibitionism and pornography.

Prosecutors will recommend a jail sentence of 10 months when she's sentenced on May 31.

Wright quietly answered "guilty" 20 times when the judge read the counts, which include engaging in prostitution, promotion of prostitution, conspiracy, tax evasion and theft by deception.

"We're very satisfied with it. It's an appropriate outcome, given the gravity of her actions," Assistant Attorney General Darcy Mitchell said after the brief court hearing.

The 30-year-old Wright was accused of conspiring with insurance agent Mark Strong Sr to run a prostitution business in which she kept detailed records indicating she made $US150,000 ($A144,314) over an 18-month period.

She was also accused of using a hidden camera to record sex acts without her clients' knowledge.

She was originally charged with 106 counts. All the counts in the agreement were misdemeanours, including three counts relating to welfare and tax fraud that were reduced from felonies.

Strong, 57, of Thomaston, was convicted this month of 13 counts related to promotion of prostitution and sentenced to 20 days in jail. He was originally charged with 59 counts.

The scandal became a sensation following reports that Wright had at least 150 clients, leading to a guessing game of who might be named publicly in the coastal town of Kennebunk, a community better known for its beaches and sea captains' homes than for crime.

Those who have been charged so far include a former mayor, a high school hockey coach, a minister, a lawyer and a firefighter.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Charges over China school stabbing frenzy

A MAN who allegedly hacked and injured 23 school children in central China will be tried on charges of intentional homicide and jeopardising public safety.

The municipal prosecutor's office for the city of Xinyang in Henan province said in a statement that it has charged Min Yongjun, who allegedly broke into an elderly woman's house one morning in December last year and stabbed her with a kitchen knife before he went to a nearby elementary school in Chenpeng village in Guangshan county and injured the 23 children as they arrived for class.

The prosecutor's office says the woman and seven students were severely injured.

There has been a string of such stabbing attacks on schoolchildren in China in recent years, alarming parents and schools which increased safety measures.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cambodia court rules Pol Pot's deputy fit

A Cambodian court has ruled that Pol Pot's former deputy Nuon Chea will stand trial for war crimes. Source: AAP

CAMBODIA'S war crimes court ruled that Pol Pot's former deputy Nuon Chea was fit to continue standing trial after the death of a co-defendant renewed fears that the elderly accused may not live to see verdicts.

"The accused Nuon Chea is fit to stand trial," Judge Nil Nonn said at the UN-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes court on Friday after speaking with medical experts.

Despite the defendant's "advancing age and frailty", he said, he "remains capable of meaningful participation in his own defence".

Nuon Chea, 86, the most senior surviving leader of the genocidal communist regime which oversaw the "Killing Fields" era in the late 1970s, did not attend the hearing due to poor health, a clerk told the court.

He is on trial with former Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan, 81, over war crimes and genocide charges.

They include the forced movement of people - a policy of the brutal regime which emptied Cambodia's cities - and the execution of up to 3,000 former military officers found in mass graves in western Cambodia.

The pair deny charges.

The death on March 14 of regime co-founder Ieng Sary at the age of 87 intensified fears that the surviving pair may also die before verdicts can be reached in their trial, which began in June 2011.

Ieng Sary's widow Ieng Thirith, the regime's former social affairs minister, was freed in September after being deemed unfit for trial due to dementia.

Nuon Chea has suffered a number of illnesses, including high blood pressure, acute bronchitis and heart disease, prompting his defence team to argue that their client was too weak to stand trial.

The tribunal has been dogged by funding shortages since it was set up in 2006 and was hit by a strike by local staff earlier this month over unpaid wages.

Led by "Brother Number One" Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge from 1975-79 wiped out nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population through starvation, overwork or execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tokyo stocks, euro up in holiday-hit trade

JAPANESE shares ended higher at the end of quiet regional trade on Friday but the euro edged lower on lingering concerns over Cyprus despite the island's bank's reopening to relative calm.

Lenders in the Mediterranean nation began trading Thursday for the first time since a controversial bailout was agreed, with the first capital controls of their kind in the eurozone blocking a bank run that analysts feared could ripple across region.

Investors were also eyeing tensions on the Korean peninsula, as North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ordered preparations for strategic strikes on the US mainland and military bases after US stealth bombers flew training runs over South Korea.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended 0.50 per cent higher, adding 61.95 points to 12,397.91. The market finished the first three months of 2012 almost 20 per cent higher.

In other markets Seoul gained 0.57 per cent, or 11.37 points, to end at 2,004.89, while Taipei finished up 0.66 per cent, or 51.73 points, at 7,918.61.

In late afternoon trade Shanghai was 0.10 per cent higher.

Markets in Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington, Singapore, Jakarta, Manila and Mumbai were closed for the Easter holidays.

In forex trade, the euro edged up to $1.2804 from $1.2814 in New York late Thursday, while it bought 120.43 yen from 120.64 yen.

The single currency has been on a downward roll as traders fret about the situation in Cyprus, which this week agreed a rescue plan with its creditors that includes a levy on bank deposits over 100,000 euros.

There had been fears ahead of the reopening of the country's banks that savers would rush to take out as much money as they could - and lead to a knock-on effect in other troubled economies.

However, while the euro avoided a big sell-off analysts said the Cyprus crisis was still not over, while Italian politicians struggle to produce a governing coalition more than a month after elections despite the economy being in dire straits.

The dollar weakened to 94.06 yen, from 94.12 yen, ahead of a Bank of Japan meeting next week that is expected to see the launch of more aggressive easing by the central bank.

Traders will also have an eye on meetings of the European Central Bank and Bank of England.

Wall Street provided a healthy lead, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high thanks to growing confidence in the US economy, while the Dow, hit yet another all-time high itself.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Woman burned in gas explosion

A WOMAN has suffered burns in a gas cylinder explosion at Berowra Waters in Sydney's north.

The woman, believed to be aged in her 20s, was standing near a barbecue when the cylinder exploded at about 1pm (AEDT) on Friday.

Police said the woman was airlifted to hospital.

She reportedly suffered burns to her chest, face, arms and legs.

Earlier on Friday the NSW Department of Fair Trading urged consumers of gas and electrical products to make sure their appliances were in proper working condition.

"All gas barbecues and small camping gas appliances must be approved to be legally sold, so make sure your product has an approval mark," NSW Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said in a statement.

"Check hoses on barbecues, they can crack and perish," he said.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Neighbour Day celebrated on Sunday

A DECADE since an elderly woman's remains were found in her Melbourne home two years after she died, Australians are being urged to celebrate Neighbour Day in tribute to her.

The special annual celebration of community was launched in 2003 just after 75-year-old Elsie Brown's body was found by police two years after she died.

Mail, store catalogues and newspapers had piled up at her front door but neighbours didn't connect that with anything being amiss.

Australians are being urged to get together with their neighbours on Sunday as the country celebrates Neighbour Day to promote safer and more tolerant communities.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard sent a message of support, saying Neighbour Day was an opportunity to remember the importance and value of of strong communities.

"We all have an obligation to keep an eye out for those around us, particularly those who are most vulnerable," she said in a statement.

Ms Gillard said small gestures such as having a chat with neighbours or organising a community get-together could go a long way to creating safer and more inclusive neighbourhoods.

"I encourage all Australians to take part in Neighbour Day."

One of the aims of the special day is to ensure protection of the elderly, the vulnerable and the disadvantaged in communities.

Neighbour Day founder Andrew Heslop, whose letter to the editor of The Age newspaper about Mrs Brown's case kicked of the idea, said on Friday the success of the day was a living tribute to her.

He said street parties, barbecues, lunches, festivals and other events run by councils, resident groups, tenancy associations, developers and churches would bring residents together.

"It could be as simple as boiling the kettle and having a cup of tea, a slice of cake or a Tim Tam," he said in a statement.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Newman backflips on Cape York reforms

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman has backflipped on a decision to end indigenous welfare reform trials in Cape York.

Earlier this week Mr Newman said the state couldn't justify the cost of the program, even though it had been successful, and wouldn't fund it after 2013.

He insisted he wasn't abandoning the scheme, which has received about $100 million from the federal and Queensland governments.

He wanted a wider, more cost-effective rollout.

The trials have run since 2008 in four indigenous communities - Coen, Aurukun, Mossman Gorge and Hope Vale.

Part of the trial sees welfare payments withheld from parents who don't make decisions in the best interests of their children.

The premier's office issued a brief statement on Thursday afternoon to say the Cabinet Budget Review Committee had met and decided that it would spend another $5.65 million to extend the trial.

"We will continue to work with all indigenous communities to improve social outcomes," Mr Newman said in the statement.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who was in Brisbane on Thursday, said he wanted to see the reforms expanded to communities across the country.

"I'm happy to work constructively with all levels of government to make sure this happens," he said.

An independent report on the reforms, released on Thursday, said positive changes in education and social behaviour had been seen in the trial communities.

But gains in housing and economic development had been limited.

School attendance jumped - from four per cent below the rate in similar communities in 2008, to six per cent above it in 2011.

But keeping students in high school remained a significant challenge, the report said.

Residents say they're working towards becoming better parents and managing their money better to meet the needs of their families.

"Compared to three years ago, children are happier, more active and eating healthier food," the report said.

"Life is on the way up generally."

Progress was being made to remove legal and financial barriers to indigenous home ownership.

The reforms had also led to the creation of 220 jobs but had had a limited impact on the number of residents dependent on welfare.

The report concluded there could be no quick fix to challenges that were decades in the making.

"However, the trial of welfare reform points to a level of progress that has rarely been evident in previous reform programs."

The trial was supposed to end last year but was extended to December 2013 after the federal government kicked in $11.8 million.

In total, about $100 million has been spent on the reforms by federal and state governments.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Thai man in jail over Aust TV rip-off

A THAI man was sentenced to more than three years in prison on Thursday for selling copies of a controversial Australian documentary about Thailand's royal family, his lawyer said.

The imprisonment of Eakachai Hongkangwan, 37, is the latest in a series of tough sentences handed down by the kingdom's courts for royal defamation, to the dismay of human rights campaigners.

"The court found him guilty of lese majeste and sentenced him to five years, but due to his useful testimony, the sentence was reduced to three years and four months," lawyer Anon Numpa said afterwards, adding his client would appeal.

Eakachai was also fined 64,000 baht ($A2,117) for selling CDs without a licence.

The documentary was broadcast by the state-funded Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) in 2010 in the midst of a military crackdown on anti-government Red Shirt demonstrations in Bangkok.

Thailand warned at the time that the broadcast could affect ties with Australia.

The royal family is an extremely sensitive subject in politically turbulent Thailand. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 85, is revered by many Thais but has been in hospital since September 2009.

Rights groups have criticised the kingdom's royal insult laws as an attack on freedom of expression.

Under the legislation, anyone convicted of insulting the Thai king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count.

In January the European Union said it was "deeply concerned" by an 11-year jail sentence handed to a former magazine editor in connection with two articles deemed offensive to the royals.

Thailand has been riven by political divisions since the Red Shirts' hero, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, was topped by royalist generals in a coup in 2006.

Two months of mass street protests by the Red Shirts against the previous government in early 2010 triggered the kingdom's worst civil violence in decades with 90 people killed, mostly in a bloody military crackdown.

15.02 | 0 komentar | Read More