Robbers Target Chinese Restaurant, cash taken, Fairfield Police Say

In America: Two men robbed a Chinese restaurant and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash Thursday night, Fairfield police said.

The men entered Frank and Yuens Chinese Restaurant at 1955 W. Texas St. around 9:30 p.m., police said. Employees and patrons were ordered to get on the ground. The robbers, one of whom was armed, took cash from the register, Sgt. Daniel Marshall said. The robbers then confronted an employee in the back kitchen area.

The armed robber fired a shot from a black, semi-automatic handgun in the employee’s direction, Marshall said. The employee was not injured.The robbers were last seen heading north away from the restaurant.

The armed robber was described as 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 180 pounds. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and black pants. He had a black mask around his mouth and was carrying a red backpack, police said.Witnesses did not give a description of the second robber.

bron: www.kcra.com [14-12-2009]

Asians say: racist adult staff are the problem at South Philly high, school in America

There is a long history of intolerance, assaults and racial slurs targeting Asian students at South Philadelphia High School, students, parents and community leaders told school district officials yesterday.

” ‘As soon as we open our mouths and speak, they treat us like we’re animals,’ ” Ellen Somekawa, executive director of Asian Americans United quoted a Vietnamese student.

” ‘Where are you from?’ ‘Hey, Chinese.’ ‘Yo Dragon Ball.’ ‘Are you Bruce Lee?’ ‘Speak English!’ ” Somekawa said the students are told.

Those aren’t the words of the students who harass Asians, she said.

“They are the words of the adult staff at South Philadelphia High. So stop blaming the children and start owning the responsibility.”

Somekawa was one of dozens who testified before the School Reform Commission yesterday.

About 150 students and adults had marched to district headquarters on Broad Street near Spring Garden to express outrage over assaults on 26 Asian students last Thursday.

Many of the students have boycotted classes all week.

The protesters carried signs, some reading: “Stop School Violence,” “It’s Not a Question of Who Beat Whom, but WHO LET IT HAPPEN” and “Grown-ups Let Us Down.”

Schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said the district has formed a “Task Force for Racial and Cultural Harmony.”

And she said the Department of Justice will help the school’s staff and students start a “Spirit Program” to resolve and prevent racial conflicts.

But Ackerman angered some in the audience when she said the attacks last Thursday had been sparked by an incident the day before when two Asian students beat up an African-American student after school near a drugstore.

Helen Gym, of Asian Americans United, said Ackerman’s statement “underscores” the racial nature of the attacks.

“If this were retaliation, then why didn’t the students look for the two students in the Wednesday fight,” she said after the meeting. “They just started attacking students just because they were Asian.”

Over and over again, Asian community leaders said the real problem is “not just a bunch of bad kids,” but the school’s leadership.

Xu Lin, community organizer for the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp., said community members were upset during a meeting with school officials last Friday “to see the principal playing with her cell phone when the students and their parents were giving statements about the violence that had occurred the day before. We were even more offended to see the safety manager . . . sleeping during the meeting in front of the whole community.”

A number of Asian students pointed out that they have African-American friends who have helped them with their English and have been nice to them.

“I am a peaceful person,” Wei Chen, president of the Chinese Student Association, said in an interview after the meeting. “I do not care about the color of someone’s skin. I care about how you treat people.”

At one point, a multiracial contingent of South Philadelphia High students asked the Asian students to come back to school.

Senior student Duong-Thang Ly thanked the students, then added: “We hope to return to school soon, but we want to the school to be safe for all of us.”

bron: www.philly.com [10-12-2010]

Fifteen People Injured in Fire at Chinese Restaurant in Hamilton Heights, America

Fifteen people, including nine police officers, were injured Tuesday when a grease fire ripped through a Chinese restaurant on Broadway, authorities said.

[The New Home Sing Restaurant at 3355 Broadway in Hamilton Heights after it was destroyed by a grease fire on Dec. 8, 2009. (Jon Schuppe/DNAinfo)]

The 11:14 a.m. fire started in the kitchen of New Home Sing Restaurant at 3555 Broadway, near W. 136th Street. The flames leapt to the ceiling and engulfed the one-story building, said Vicky Cheng, whose husband owns the restaurant.

A half-dozen workers fled the place unhurt, she said.

[Inside the New Home Sing Restaurant at 3355 Broadway in Hamilton Heights, which was destroyed by a grease fire on Dec. 8, 2009. (Jon Schuppe/DNAinfo)]

Police officers and firefighters arrived soon afterward, authorities said. Nine officers and five firefighters were taken to Harlem Hospital with minor injuries. Most likely suffered from smoke inhalation, New York Fire Department spokesman Frank Dwyer said.

One additional victim suffered minor injuries. Officials and witnesses were not immediately able to identify the victim.

The restaurant was gutted by the time the fire was under control at about 12:30 p.m. About 60 firefighters ended up responding to the scene, some searching two adjacent six-story apartment buildings for possible victims of smoke inhalation.

Two neighborhoring businesses, a barber shop and a laundromat, reeked of smoke but were not damaged, workers said.

Cheng said her family has owned the restaurant since 2001. They inherited it from her father-in-law who rebuilt the business after it was destroyed in a 1983 fire.

“Now we will have to renovate again,” Cheng said.

Bron: http://www.dnainfo.com

Gunmen rob Chinese restaurant in Portsmouth

Two black men with guns robbed a Chinese restaurant in Portsmouth.

They got cash from Hay Hing Chinese Restaurant on Deep Creek Blvd. on the evening of November 28.

Police say one suspect acted as a lookout as the other robbed the employees.

Authorities released surveillance camera images of the suspects, both of whom wore black clothing.

If you know anything about this robbery that can help police, call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

bron: www.wvec.com [1-12-2009]

Deliveryman robbed of $400 in Elyria, America

A deliveryman was robbed of $400 at gunpoint Thursday evening while delivering food to the Midview Crossing apartments in the 1800 block of Middle Ave.

China Wok took a food order around 6:15 p.m. for an apartment in M building, but when the 38-year-old deliveryman arrived, he was confronted by three men wearing black coats and stocking caps, police said.

Deliveryman Ai Qiu Lin told police one of the males pointed a black handgun at him and demanded his money. Lin gave the robbers $400 and ran from the area.

The deliveryman told security at the front gate what had happened. The guard at the complex told police he spotted a 17-year-old girl, often mistaken for a male because of her short hair, wearing a black coat and black stocking cap just after the incident near M building.

The security guard told police the girl and an unknown male jumped the fence and ran away when they spotted him.

bron: chronicle.northcoastnow.com [14-11-2009]

Chinese restaurant robbed by gun-toting American man

The police of Goose Creek, in America, are looking for a man who held up a restaurant with a rifle Saturday night.

A black man with a shirt over his face entered the Ocean Island Chinese Restaurant at 5 S. Alliance Drive near College Park Road about 10 p.m. Saturday, pointed a rifle, fired two shots into the ceiling, took money from the register and ran out, Police Sgt. Thomas Hill said.

The suspect appears to be about 18 to 20 years old, Hill said. Police believe it was the same man who robbed the restaurant with another man about two weeks ago.

Anyone with information can call 863-5200 and ask for the tip line.

bron: www.postandcourier.com [9-11-2009]

China’s Yi injures knee in NBA Nets’ loss

In America: Chinese forward Yi Jianlian of the New Jersey Nets injured his right knee in a 79-68 National Basketball Association loss to Charlotte.

[Yi Jianlian of the New Jersey Nets gets injured during the match against the Charlotte Bobcats]

Yi was hurt when he collided with Charlotte’s Gerald Wallace in the third quarter. Yi dropped to the floor and stayed there for several minutes before he had to be helped to the team’s dressing room.

“I fell on my knee and kind of twisted it a little bit,” Yi said.

Yi, who had four points and six rebounds before the injury, will undergo a scan on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury, although Nets coach Lawrence Frank said Yi’s knee was only sprained.

Wallace scored 24 points and recorded a personal best 20 rebounds for Charlotte, which dropped the injury-depleted Nets to 0-4.

bron: AFP

Restaurant robbed in Peters, America

Police are investigating a robbery at a restaurant in Peters, America, that happened Saturday evening.

According to our news partners at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, three people are wanted in connection with the robbery of the Hunan Inn at 10:09 p.m.

It is not known what was taken in the robbery or if anyone was injured.

bron: kdka.com

Leading Chinese rocket scientist dies at 98

Qian Xuesen (simp钱学森trad錢學森), a rocket scientist known as the father of China’s space technology, died Saturday in Beijing, the official Xinhua News Agency said. He was 98.

Qian was born in Hangzhou (杭州) and studied in the United States at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later at the California Institute of Technology, where he helped start the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

According to Iris Chang’s book about Qian, Thread Of The Silkworm, he applied for U.S. citizenship in the 1950s but became a target of anti-communist investigations and was deported, returning to China in 1955, six years after Mao Zedong led the Communist Party to power.

With China’s strategic missile program taking shape, Qian worked for the Ministry of Defense, setting up its first missile and rocket research institute which later helped start China’s space program.

In 1956, he wrote an influential essay which led to the establishment of the Commission of Aeronautical Industry to supervise scientific research into guided missiles and aeronautics. It was chaired by the famous Chinese marshal Nie Rongzhen.

Qian’s research helped lead to the successful explosion of China’s first atomic bomb in October 1964, as well as to its first man-made satellite in 1970 and its first manned spacecraft in 2003, Xinhua said.

In August, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Qian and praised him for dedicating his life to China’s defense technologies.

“I’m trying to live to be 100 years old,” Qian told him.

bron: AP, sports.espn.go.com

In America: Chinese restaurant robbed at gunpoint

In Milford, America, the police are investigating a restaurant robbery that happened in Milford Wednesday night.

New Star Chinese Restaurant at 548 Naugatuck Ave. was robbed at gunpoint. The suspect took an undisclosed amount of cash and fled the store on foot, heading towards Lenox Avenue.

A West Have Police K9 tracked the suspect to Lenox Avenue until the suspect’s scent was lost. Police believe the suspect may have left the area in an unknown vehicle.

The suspect is described as a white male, 5′7″ and a thin build. He was wearing a ski mask, black pants, black hooded sweatshirt and winter gloves. The employee of New Star believed he had a Latin accent.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact Milford Police at (203) 877-1465.

bron: www.wtnh.com [29-10-2009]