Last Chinees soldier who fought WWII in Europe passed away

The last remaining Chinese soldier who fought World War II in Europe for the libeartion of France passed away this month. He was 91 year of age.

Huang Tingxin, who in 1944 shortly after D-Day, was in a battalion of Allied troops that took part in the invasion of the occupied southern part of France.

Huang was in 1942 one of the 24 Chinese officers that was sent to Great-Britain to continue his military education and later served with the Allies. In 2006 he received the highest French decoration, the Legion of Honour, for his service during the war. He dedicated his decoration to his former brothers in arms.

During the Second World War, nationalistic China had close ties with Nazi-Germany, but China fought against Japanese aggression together with the Allies. While the Japanese sided with Germany and Italy. Only a very small number of Chinese fought on the European front.

bron: www.volkskrant.nl [18-11-2009]

92yr-old Chinese man flees grandkids’ home fearing cremation after death!

The fear of being cremated after his death recently prompted a 92-year-old Chinese man to flee his grandchildren’s home.

The man named He Shaokui fled his grandkids’ home in Guiyang, Guizhou province, a fortnight ago.

Civil affairs bureau officials in Bijie found him in a small town, where he once lived before his wife’s death.

Shaokui was sent back to his grandchildren last week, reports the China Daily.

He said he was scared his grandchildren might cremate him after his death, which is why he left for his hometown without saying a word to anybody.

Bron: http://trak.in (ANI) [24-09-2009]

China’s rising demand for autos

China is posed to pass the United States as the world’s biggest national auto market.

Car sales in China for the first 10 months of this year are up 45.2% to 8.19 million, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. And as you can see on the graphic above, by 2012 Chinese auto sales are expected to be about three times higher than they were back in 2004.

The trend seems to be hitting all automakers. Porsche, for example, is estimating that by 2011 it will sell more of its sports cars in China than it does on its home turf of Germany.

Bron: http://network.nationalpost.com

Cat banned from visiting Buddhist inmate

A Buddhist bank robber has been refused permission for his cat to visit him in jail – even though he says it’s the reincarnation of his mum.

Peter Keonig, 46, is serving five-years for armed robberies in Whirl, Germany, reports the Daily Telegraph. He went to court to demand the right for his cat Gisela to be allowed to visit him in jail “because she is my dead mum”. Buddhists believe that people come back as other animals after death.

He said: “I know it is mummy. She looks after me just the way she did. I need to see her like other prisoners see their wives and children.”

The court ruling said: “While we respect the religious freedom of individuals, the accused has not been able to furnish proof that his deceased mother has been reborn in a cat. Therefore, the request for visiting rights for the feline is rejected.”

The court did say he would be allowed to write to the cat.

bron: www.ananova.com

Chow dances with strangers

International superstar Chow Yun-fat’s next film will be a Spanish-American-German-Chinese collaboration, reports entertainment news website Screendaily.com.

[(simp周润发trad周潤發) Chow Yun-fat’s latest film will be a collaboration between four countries.]

The US$15 million (RM51 million) ‘Dancing with Strangers’ is about a Broadway dancer who returns to Germany and China to find his roots. To be produced by Barcelona-based Zip Films, shooting is scheduled to start in autumn next year.

bron: www.nst.com.my [12-10-2009]

Nazi gnomes court controversy

An artist has caused controversy in Germany (德国) by staging an exhibition of garden gnomes giving Nazi salutes.

Ottmar Horl has crafted 1,250 of the plastic dwarfs and will parade them in military formation in Straubing, Bavaria, the heartland of Hitler’s war-time support.

Horl, 49, says the display shows the “symptoms of a political disease”. He managed to get around strict anti-Nazi legislation in Germany by saying the gnomes are a satire on Hitler. However, locals have dubbed the models the devil’s dwarves.

Garden gnomes remain a firm favourites in Germany despite falling out of fashion in Holland and Britain. Experts estimate the gnome population is at 25 million. But there is a growing trend towards gnomes who make obscene gestures, commit suicide or engage in sexual activity, and courts have ordered figures to be removed if they offend neighbours.

bron: www.ananova.com

Germans top table of world’s worst lovers

German men have been voted the world’s worst lovers, narrowly ahead of the English.

A poll of 15,000 women found that Germans were the worst in bed because they were considered “too smelly”.

English lovers came second because they were too lazy, while men from Sweden were branded “too quick” and came third. Spanish men topped the table as the best lovers, followed by Brazilians and Italians.

The poll, carried out by www.OnePoll.com, asked women from 20 countries to rate nations on their ability in bed and give reasons for their answers. Other findings included that Dutch men were “too rough”, Americans were “too dominating” while Greek men were said to be a bit too soppy.

Other countries who didn’t fare well in the poll were Scotland (too loud), Turkey (too sweaty) and Wales (too selfish).

Russian men crept in at tenth place amid accusations they were too hairy for the average woman.

A spokesperson for www.OnePoll.com added: “These results are an eye-opener for thousands of men around the world and female travellers might judge potential new lovers by looking at these results.”

bron: www.ananova.com

Unsatisfied customer robbes prostitute

Unsatisfied customer robbes prostitute.

A German customer had much higher expectations of his visit to a prostitute in Aken (Germany). He was extremely unsatisfied. He did pay thirty euro but also complained about the delivered service, but eventually got mad and struck the prostitute. Then he grabbed his money and started running. The police have started a manhunt but the unsatisfied man is yet to be found.

bron: www.hln.be (hlnsydney)

How can a woman love the man who killed her daughter?

A mother has married the man who was convicted of torturing her daughter to death

Andreas B. (41), a policeman, was found guilty of beating little Leonie († 4) to death two years ago.

But the youngster’s mum Miriam B. (32) married the killer on Monday while he was on remand in prison in the German state of Lower Saxony.

It was a relatively normal scene – the couple were reportedly caressing and holding each other during the ceremony.

After the horror of her daughter’s death, it is unimaginable how the mother could decide to marry the man convicted of killing her – but now the couple can saunter off to the trial hand in hand.

How can a woman love a man who killed her daughter?

Andreas B. was charged with inflicting serious injury resulting in death. On November 26 2007, Leonie suffered haemorrhaging in the brain and bruises were found covering her body.

Police reports stated: “The force of the blow to the child’s head ripped her jaw muscle. Five days later the child was badly shaken, which caused the fatal injuries.”

The first trial sent the would-be stepfather to prison for seven-and-a-half-years, with the judge describing the crime as “absolutely callous”.

But Miriam B. stayed by his side.

Together, the couple are seeking to a lighter sentence with a new trial.

The accused denied the charges during the appeal.

And his new wife did not speak, sitting in the back of the courtroom just like a mere onlooker.

In the meantime, the public prosecutor’s office has charged her with unsworn false testimony and a failure to render assistance.

bron: www.bild.de [23-9-2009]

Puma and Adidas end feud

German (德国) sportswear giants Puma and Adidas are to end a 60 year feud, started by their founding brothers, with a friendly football match.

Adi and Rudolf Dassler started making sports shoes together in their mother’s wash-room in the 1920s, reports the BBC.

They fell out during World War II, probably over political differences, and founded firms on either side of a river in in the Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach.

On Monday 21 September, employees of both companies will shake hands and then play a football match.

When the brothers set up their separate companies in 1948 the cobblestoned town was also split, with residents loyal to one or other of the only major employers.

In a joint release, the two companies said they were making up to support the Peace One Day organisation, which has its annual non-violence day on Monday.

They say that the events will be the first joint activities held by the two companies since the brothers left their shared firm in 1948.

Neither group is now controlled by the descendants of its founding families, although Rudolf’s grandson Frank Dassler raised some eyebrows in the town by working for both Puma and Adidas.

bron: www.ananova.com