Chinese snooker star Ding Junhui wins United Kingdom Championship

Chinese snooker star Ding Junhui (simp丁俊晖trad丁俊暉) won the Pukka Pies United Kingdom Championship in a tense and thrilling final which went into the early hours of Monday.

Ding, aged 22 and from Jiangsu Province in eastern China, beat Scotsman John Higgins 10-8 in the final.

For Ding it is the second time that he has been crowned UK champion – his first championship win was in 2005 as a precocious teenager. The championship comes with a prize fee of 100,000 pounds (about 162,300 US dollars), and Ding’s own body weight in the championship sponsor’s product. The sponsor is Pukka Pies, and Ding, who weighs 68 kilograms, now has 276 of their pies.

The victory also takes Ding up to sixth in the provisional world rankings. Despite the defeat Higgins remains the world number one, by a large margin.

Higgins is also current world champion, having won the title seven months ago at the Sheffield Crucible in the north of England. He may have suffered a little in the run-up to the final,having played a tough semi-final the day before, when he beat Englishman Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-8 in a very close game.

Ding had beaten Stephen Maguire in his semi-final on Friday and was able to spend the Saturday before the final relaxing and practicing.

In the final it was level pegging for much of the early part of the game. Ding went ahead six times, but each time Higgins would take a frame to bring the players back level. They reached 7-7, when the turning point came for Ding in the 15th frame. Higgins was at the table and looked set to win the frame, when he lost his concentration while taking a routine pot on the brown, missed, and Ding was able to come and clear up – taking the frame and 8-7 lead.

Higgins had chance to make amends in the 16th frame, but he missed a crucial red to a top-corner pocket when leading 49-0. Ding was able to come back and win the frame, leaving the score 9-7 in his favour.

Higgins took another frame with a 115 break, but Ding’s 75 break in the final frame was enough to take him to 10-8 and victory.

Ding told the Guardian newspaper: “It’s been a crazy week. I’ve beaten four of the five top players. It’s brilliant. I concentrate more. Sometimes I don’t play the best shot but I keep my mind clear and tell myself not to get angry.”

Ding had previously won the UK Championship, in 2005 when he beat snooker legend Steve Davis 10-6 at the Barbican Centre in York, in the north of England.

This victory at the Telford International Centre, in the English Midlands, is his fourth ranking title victory, joining the previous UK Championship win, the Northern Ireland Trophy in 2006 and his first ranking win the China Open in Shanghai in 2005.

The win is a welcome return to form for a young player who many have tipped to be world champion one day.

bron: news.xinhuanet.com [14-12-2009]

Mystery death of dad (45) in flat above Burnley Chinese takeaway

A FATHER-OF-TWO who came to live in Burnley, Lancashire , England, eight years ago from China died from natural causes, an inquest heard.

Mr Guoli Zheng (45), who had a wife and children in China, had been living in a flat above the New Hong Kong Takeaway, in Colne Road, when he was found dead by an employee in June.

Burnley Coroner’s Court heard staff at the takeaway saw him daily coming in and out of the shop but did not know what he did with his time.

Pathologist Dr Abdul Al-Dawoud, who performed a post-mortem on Mr Zheng’s body, said he could not find any obvious natural cause of death and said there were no suspicious circumstances. He said Mr Zheng died from an “unidentified natural cause”.

Coroner Mr Richard Taylor said he had no option but to record a verdict of natural causes.

bron: www.burnleyexpress.net [11-12-2009]

In England: Takeway workers ‘illegal’

Two men are set to be deported after being found working illegally at a Chinese takeaway in Norfolk.

The pair, a 38-year-old from China and a 49-year-old Malaysian, were found working at the Hong Kong Chinese Takeaway in Hemsby, near Yarmouth.

The Malaysian had overstayed his visa and the Chinese man was found to have entered the country illegally.

bron: www.teletext.co.uk

Mushroom used in Chinese cooking ’shrinks cancer tumours by 75 per cent’

A mushroom used in Chinese cooking is a potential weapon against cancer, shrinking tumours by up to 75 per cent, a new study has found.

The Maitake mushroom, which grows up to eight inches in diameter, could help combat bladder and prostate cancer which kill 15,000 British people every year.

Dr Sensuke Konno found combining a tiny concentrated extract of the mushroom with an anti-cancer proteins called interferon alpha, reduced the growth of bladder and prostate cancer cells in patients by up to three quarters.

Anti-cancer proteins, used in other treatments, are only needed in small doses, according to the research by a team at New York Medical Centre which was published in the British Journal of Urology.

They believe the two used together at low doses may activate an enzyme that controls cancer cell growth.

Dr Konno said hailed it as a ‘very significant’ breakthrough. He said combining the two ‘not only enhances the efficacy of the treatment but also improves the quality of life of the patients by reducing the dose of conventional therapies significantly.’

[Breakthrough: The Maitake mushroom could help combat bladder and prostate cancer, which kill 15,000 British people every year]

Bron: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Chinese takeaway given permission to sell alcohol in Sussex, England

CHINESE takeaway in Lewes has been given permission to sell booze – despite opposition from neighbours. Yummy Yummy on Western Road has successfully applied for a premises licence but Lewes District Council has placed a number of restrictions on what alcoholic drinks it can sell and when it can sell them.

Three neighbouring households wrote to the district council to register their objections to the plan and a further three complaints were received after the official 28-day representation period.

Justin Curtis, a Western Road resident, wrote to the district council to object to the plan.

He said: “I’m very concerned that the licence will attract youths trying to buy alcohol, gathering outside my house and causing a disturbance, coupled with the fact this is a busy, dangerous road.”

On November 10, the council’s licensing committee rubberstamped the application with a number of conditions and restrictions.

It was agreed that only pre-packed wines, beers and ciders can be stocked and sold at the premises, and drinks can only be sold if it “forms part of a substantial meal order that is either home delivered or collected from the premises”.

And no orders will be allowed after 10.45pm.

bron: www.sussexexpress.co.uk [20-11-2009]

New MG6 to be built at Longbridge site in Birmingham

The first new MG for 14 years has gone on show in China – and by the end of next year the new car will be built on a production line at Longbridge.

Based on the Chinese-made Roewe 550 – which itself is based on a shortened version of the old Rover 75 – it will be called the MG6 when production starts in Birmingham.

The new model will be produced in saloon and hatchback form and will complement the two-seater MGTF being built at Longbridge.

Early production models have been revealed at the Guangzhou Auto Show which opened yesterday.

The launch in China, the world’s largest automotive market, begins the international roll out of sales of the MG6 which includes the UK. Sales in China will begin in January and plans for the UK and other markets will be released during 2010.

A spokesman for MG Motor UK Ltd said: “This new model marks the start of one of the most exciting periods in the 85 year history of the iconic MG brand, as it prepares to expand globally, starting with the world’s largest automotive market in China.”

Guy Jones, sales and marketing director for MG Motor UK, said: “This is a milestone day for the iconic MG brand and for the UK automotive industry.

“MG has begun the international launch of an all-new model that has been designed and engineered here in the UK, for the global automotive market.

“Currently we only build and sell the mid-engined TF sports car here in the UK, but we can now look forward to expanding the range of MG products.”

It was also announced at the Guangzhou show that production of the MG6 for the China market will begin at the brand new state of the art factory in Lingang, China in December 2009. It is planned to commence production of the MG6 at the Birmingham plant in the UK before the end of 2010.

bron: www.birminghampost.net

Renowned Chinese translator Yang Xianyi dies

Renowned Chinese literature translator Yang Xianyi (杨宪益) has died, China’s official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday. He was 94.

 Together with his British wife, Gladys Taylor, Yang translated classics such as the 18th century “A Dream of Red Mansions” as well as more modern works by 20th century writers such Lu Xun.

Born in the northern port of Tianjin in 1915, Yang was sent by his wealthy family to study classics at Oxford University in 1936, where he met Taylor.

Returning to China in 1940, the two married and embarked on a decades-long career in translation against the backdrop of war, communist revolution and waves of political campaigns.

Their later work, including foreign classics translated into Chinese, was mostly published through Beijing’s Foreign Languages Press, becoming standard texts for generations of China scholars.

Although he had secretly aided the communist underground during the 1940s, Yang was later accused of being a British spy and jailed for four years during the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, a decade-long rampage of violence and radical communism led by Mao Zedong’s youthful Red Guards.

Yang was then expelled from the Communist Party after criticizing the government’s bloody June 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

He published his autobiography, White Tiger, in 2000, one year after Taylor’s death, and moved in with one of his two daughters in Beijing.

Yang died on Monday in Beijing after a long illness, Xinhua said. He had reportedly been hospitalized for several weeks with throat cancer and a lung infection.

American Sidney Rittenberg Sr. said he met the Yangs in Beijing during the mid-1950s at a time when they were surrounded by an aura of political suspicion.

Rittenberg, himself imprisoned for a decade during the Cultural Revolution, said he learned only after his release in 1977 of Yang’s work and his refusal to flee to Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists ahead of the communist advance in 1949.

“The reason he had been under suspicion before the Cultural Revolution was simply that he refused to abandon his integrity and his critical judgment to conform to anyone’s instructions on politics or ideology,” Rittenberg said.

“His contribution to the interaction of Chinese and Western literature is incomparable,” he said.

bron: AP

U.S., Britain favored by Chinese Students

The United States and Britain are the most favored destinations for Chinese overseas students. But choosing the right university or institution is not always easy for those who want to ensure the quality of their studies abroad.

Britain has traditionally attracted overseas student for the high quality of its schools and its unique cultural environment. Nearly 100,000 Chinese students are currently studying in the UK.

Tuition, however, can be high. Foreign students are often charged as much as 8,000 pounds per year, a much higher rate than the 3,000 pounds that domestic and European Union students are asked to pay. As a result, a number of for-profit commercial educational institutions have sprung up, making it more difficult for Chinese students to pick and choose the right school.

Li Hong, First Secretary of Education Section of Chinese Embassy in Britain, said, “British educational authorities have a formal standard to evaluate and verify educational institutions. But they cannot eliminate those commercial educational institutions whose principal aim is to make a profit. So I advise Chinese students to choose formal colleges and institutions recognized by both the Chinese and British governments.”

In the United States, by contrast, there are an estimated 80,000 graduate and undergraduate Chinese students. In addition to college students, there are some 20,000 visiting scholars, as well as thousands of high school students.

So far, the US has avoided educational scams involving overseas student, because of its rigorous school certification and enrollment system.

Chen Yue, First Secretary of Education Section of Chinese Embassy in US, said, “American universities and institutions certified to issue enrollment notices must pass strict qualification accreditation. In addition, the United States Embassy considers the accreditation of the institutions being applied to when issuing visas. “

Chen Yue recommends that Chinese students study up on the schools they wish to apply to. The Guide to American Education, for example, provides detailed information on over 4,000 public and private colleges in the United States.

bron: www.fnarena.com [15-11-2009]

New Guinness World Record – for the most bras taken off and put on in one minute!

In England: Rosie Jones managed it SEVEN times, beating fellow bra removal expert Becky Rule on six.  And our 30E beauty now looks set to make the 2010 edition of the famous book.

Thrilled Rosie said: “It was actually a lot more difficult than it looked – I want people to know that.  “My hand aches, my arm aches and my muscles have grown!  “But I’m so proud to have made the record books. I can’t wait to tell everybody!”

Blonde Becky added: “She was a good winner and I was hopeless.” Our gorgeous girls took part in the attempt to mark Guinness World Records Day today.

Last year, Page 3’s Ruth Reynolds set a world record by kissing 42 lads in just 30 SECONDS.

Book officials Kris Teufel and Ralph Hannah were on hand to oversee the event at The Sun’s Wapping HQ.

Ralph said: “It’s not every day we adjudicate a record attempt quite like this.

“But both girls did really well and congratulations to Rosie!”

Hundreds of people across the world will today take part in wacky record attempts.

In London, 59-year old Manjit Singh will pull a bus with just his hair.

Commuters at St Pancras Station will attempt to set a new record for the most people hugging for one minute.

While the longest conga on ice will be formed at Alexandra Palace. Guinness World Records editor Craig Glenday hailed Rosie’s success – and added: “We look forward to seeing dozens of new records being broken around the world!”

Bron: www.thesun.co.uk (for the actual competition: NSFW) [12-11-2009] (picture: showhype.com)

Sex tape broadcast in West Ham London Tube station

In London, England: West Ham station commuters hear couple’s sex over loudspeaker.

Commuters were stunned as a major London station’s loudspeaker broadcast the sounds of a couple having sex.

It happened at West Ham station yesterday evening as passengers waited for c2c overground and District line Tube trains.

Receptionist Laura O’Connor, 28, was heading home on the eastbound District line. “We stopped at West Ham at about 6.45pm,” she said. “As the doors opened, I heard strange noises over the loudspeaker. It was definitely a couple doing it there and then. He was grunting loudly and she sounded like she was having a great time. The driver must have heard it, too, as the doors stayed open longer than usual.”

Commuter Ian McFee, 35, who was waiting for his c2c train to Southend, said: “A lot of people gathered round the speakers on the platform. No one seemed offended, everyone was just smirking.”

Tube bosses today launched an investigation as they revealed the Tannoy system had been turned off — yet the sounds continued.

A Transport For London spokesman said it appeared the loudspeakers had been tampered with, adding: “The incident heard by passengers did not emanate from London Underground property.

“Engineers attended and investigated the fault at the station which appeared to be caused by external interference to the public address system. The police are also investigating this disruption.”

bron: www.metro.co.uk [6-11-2009]