# :: Bizarre News in Your City



## trueapprentice (Aug 12, 2005)

*A Murder for the Movies
Eight suspects go on trial in one of Hong Kong's most sensational killings*

By AUSTIN RAMZY

It was a scene straight out of a Hong Kong gangster flick. On a November morning in 2002, local property tycoon Harry (Cigar) Lam was enjoying breakfast in his usual spot at Luk Yu Tea House, a Hong Kong institution famed for its tasty dim sum and indifferent service. At about 9 a.m., a nearby diner paid for his meal, walked up to Lam's table and killed him with a gunshot to the head. 
At the murder trial of eight suspects in Shenzhen last week, details emerged that only added to the impression that real life was being scripted by an imaginative screenwriter. The alleged mastermind: Yeung Ka-on, a former TV actor turned property developer. But Yeung said he had only passed on an envelope from an organized-crime kingpin in Taiwan named Chen (Brother Abalone) Chun-chieh. Prosecutors say the envelope, which contained a photo and information about the victim, made its way to alleged mob boss Lau Yat-yin, accused of having its contentsnd $50,000elivered to two assassins from Hunan province. As the three-day trial wrapped up on Fridayhe verdict will be given at a later daten attorney for Yang Wen, the accused shooter, told reporters his client had admitted killing the tycoon and believed he should be executed for it. 

Dramatic murders are a staple of Hong Kong's courts and media. Last year, the city was mesmerized by the trial of Nancy Kissel, an American expat convicted of drugging her banker husband with a poisoned milkshake and bludgeoning him to death. But despite its gangster lore and its flair for B-movie-style killings, the city of 7 million has one of the world's lowest homicide rates. Murders plummeted from 102 in 1997 to just 34 last year, in part perhaps because the city's gangs have shifted some of their focus to southern China. "Occasionally you have a case that's quite grim," says Roderic Broadhurst, a criminologist at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, who studies Hong Kong homicides, but "the rate is still pretty low." Most of Hong Kong's murders, it seems, still only happen in the movies.


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## trueapprentice (Aug 12, 2005)

*Trial starts for murder plot*










Eight men are on trial in Shenzhen over the brutal murder of a Hong Kong millionaire businessman, shot in the head over breakfast four years ago at one of Hong Kong's most famous teahouses.
Details of the trial, which is expected to last three days, are likely to be sketchy, with proceedings closed to the media. 

But the trial opened in dramatic fashion at Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court Wednesday, with the eight suspects - including actor- turned-businessman Victor Yeung Ka- on - arriving amid tight security with hoods covering their heads.

Yeung, the alleged mastermind of the plot, stands accused of murder, along with six others. The eighth man is accused of providing shelter for the suspects.

The start of the trial, which has been held up for years due to administrative delays, opens a new chapter in the dramatic case of an alleged contract murder that continues to grip the city. 

About 9am on November 30, 2002, local business tycoon Harry Lam Hon- lit, 54, sat down for breakfast with three friends at the Luk Yu Teahouse in Central.

Not long afterwards, a gunman seated at a neighboring table finished his breakfast, paid his bill, then calmly walked up to Lam and shot him in the back of the head with a single bullet.

The brashness of the attack, combined with the wealth of the murdered man and the high-profile setting, caused an immediate uproar in the community.

Since then, the ongoing investigation, combined with administrative hurdles, have created 
several years delay in the run-up to Wednesday's hearing.

According to the prosecution and media reports, Yeung, a former martial arts movie star, contracted 47-year-old Hong Kong man Lau Yat-yin in mid- 2002 to murder Lam.

Lau, who has been linked with triad groups, is accused of having paid another Hong Kong man, Tse Bing, HK$2 million to hire a killer.

Tse then passed HK$400,000 of the money onto mainlanders Zhang Zhixin, 25, and the alleged hired gunman, Yang Wen, 27, at a disco in Shenzhen's Futian district in early November 2002 - weeks before the attack.

Yeung's nephew Ho Haw-foo and driver Tsui Ming-yeung are accused of helping Yeung pass along an envelope with a photograph of Lam and details of his daily routine to the alleged killers at a Kowloon train station.

On November 27, three days before the murder, Zhang and Yang crossed the border into Hong Kong to meet with Tse and to visit Luk Yu Teahouse, the prosecution asserts.

A summary of charges released by Shenzhen authorities in late 2004 claims Zhang and Yang failed to ambush Lam twice, on November 28 and 29, before hiding outside the teahouse on the morning of the murder.

When Lam arrived,Yang allegedly followed him into the restaurant to have breakfast before shooting him and fleeing for the mainland.

Two weeks later, on December 15, mainland authorities arrested Zhang at his rented hideout in Changsha, Hunan province. A few days later, Wu Weiwu, a migrant laborer in Shenzhen, was arrested for sheltering Yang and Zhang and allowing them to flee to Hunan and Yunnan provinces.

Over the next few weeks, Tse was arrested in Yunnan and Yang was caught in Hunan.

Nearly a year after that, on November 28, 2003, mainland authorities arrested Lau.

It was not until November 2005 that Yeung, who had been watched by police because of his ties with Lau, was arrested by authorities at a Shenzhen karaoke bar.

Yeung, who mainland newspapers have described as a high roller at the Casino Lisboa in Macau, rose to fame as an actor in the 1981 martial arts television series Huo Yuanjia, which formed the basis for Jet Li's recent movie Fearless.

He parlayed his popularity into an advertising stint, promoting electric rice cookers and other household products. He later became a movie director before starting an investment business that dealt in property, restaurants and mainland investment.

Lam, a former race horse owner, was a director of Hong Kong-based Digger Holdings and an investor in Mission Hills Golf Club in Shenzhen, one of the region's largest golf resorts. At the time of Lam's death, a multimillion dollar court battle loomed over unsold memberships.

So far, no motive for the contract killing of Lam has been established by either the mainland or local press.

Meanwhile, a Hong Kong lawmaker again criticized the trial as a "serious breach of one country, two systems," noting that the essential elements make it a Hong Kong case.

Democratic lawmaker James To Kun-sun said he was concerned the trial would set a dangerous precedent and vowed to raise the issue in the next security panel meeting in the Legislative Council.

Unlike a trial in Hong Kong where justice has to be seen to be done, and where murders are decided by a jury, details of this trial are likely to be sketchy. 

Proceedings are also closed to relatives of the three mainland suspects.

Jonathan Cheng 
Thursday, October 26, 2006


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## Oaronuviss (Dec 11, 2002)

Last night a Coyote was seen crossing the Ambassador bridge from Detroit to Windsor.
That's pretty weird.


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## Audiomuse (Dec 20, 2005)

About a month ago:

A man came into a WalMart in Macon and licked a lady's feet and ordered her to do a ritual with him in the shoe dept. The old lady was very scared.


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## Audiomuse (Dec 20, 2005)

^^ It was in the nationwide odd news section!


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## mdiederi (Jun 15, 2006)

You probably heard this one because it was in the news, but a couple weeks ago Steve Wynn had just arranged to sell a Picasso painting for $139 million dollars and a few days before shipping it he was showing it to some friends and he accidentally punched a hole in it. The sale was cancelled.
http://www.tbs.com/stories/story/0,,90328,00.html


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## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

I suppose the Whale swimming up The Thames was pretty bizarre, stray seals and dolphins / porpoises aren't all that uncommon, but whales certainly are.


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## Saigoneseguy (Mar 6, 2005)

So you guys haven't heard of Vietnam local news, on Sat a whole city went riot when a gig there was cancelled due to electricity cut, the crowd from all ages got angry and assaulted the artist, then torched some shops nearby.

On Friday a local bank in Ha Tay mistook the Vietnam unit to Aus dollar, resulting in the balance of one customer jumped from 4mil VND ($250) to 48.5 bil VND (3 million dollar).
http://www19.dantri.com.vn/Sukien/2006/11/150847.vip

Last week, 200 girl students in a highschool in Ha Tinh have collectively fallen unconcious due to hysteria.

"20 yo kills his lover, cut the body into 6 parts, drive 300 miles and dumped it into the sea"

"Running for the river bus, one woman fell off into the Saigon river"

And lastly, neighborhood evacuated, fearing 7 storeys house will be collapsed:










I'm not joking, those are real news in Vietnam.


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## techniques1200s (Mar 11, 2005)

Damn!! only 34 murders in Hong Kong last year? Amazing...

Anyways, some stories i can think of off the top of my head...

A man's apartment is broken into and EVERYTHING is stolen. Even the frozen peas in his refrigerator.

Crazed squirrels at a park were attacking visitors.

A woman's body was found today, stuffed in a 3 by 2 foot recycling container.

A naked man was arrested yesterday, but not before he removed an awl from his rectum.

The 49ers won a game.


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## Vanman (May 19, 2004)

There were owls attacking women in a park in a suburb of vancouver.When I read the article for the first time I laughed so hard. The way it was described was so funny. One of the victims account went like this: " I locked eyes with it and I could tell it did not like me. It then swooped down and lifted up my hair. I screamed and had to fight it off with a stick."


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## TalB (Jun 8, 2005)

On 9/11/01, two commercial planes hit the WTC killing nearly 3,000 people.


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## trueapprentice (Aug 12, 2005)

*Top-shelf truffle*
November 14, 2006


HONG KONG: An anonymous bidder has bought what could be the most expensive white truffle ever, paying $209,065 for a 1.5kg whopper. It was the second year in a row that a Hong Kong buyer had snapped up the top item at the annual truffle auction in Italy.
AFP


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## trueapprentice (Aug 12, 2005)

*Hong Kong snares world's most expensive truffle again *

*HONG KONG (AFP) - An anonymous bidder in Hong Kong has snapped up what is expected to be the most expensive white truffle ever, paying 125,000 euros (160,787 dollars) at auction for a 1.5 kilogramme whopper, sponsors said.*

It was the second year in a row that a buyer from the southern Chinese city had snapped up the top item at the annual Worldwide Alba White Truffle Auction held in northern Italy.

Last year a consortium of investors paid 95,000 euros for a 1.2 kilogramme fungus. The Guinness Book of Records later confirmed it as the most valuable truffle bought at auction.

The winner this year outbid buyers from Paris, London and Grizane, in Italy, where the auction, now in its eighth year, is held.

As happened last year, the truffle will be cooked by chefs at Hong Kong's Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which sponsors the city's annual bid, and served to diners at a charity dinner.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061112/lf_afp/afplifestylefood_061112204203


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## trueapprentice (Aug 12, 2005)

*Italian truffle fetches top price *










White truffles are prized by gourmets 
A truffle weighing 1.2kg (2.6lb) has sold for 95,000 euros ($112,000; £64,000) at an international charity auction in Italy. 
An anonymous buyer - reportedly from Hong Kong - purchased the white truffle via satellite link-up. 

A white truffle is a very rare type of mushroom that grows underground. 

A 850g (1.9lb) white truffle bought for £28,000 ($50,000; 42,000 euros) last year was then said to be the world's most expensive. 

That purchase ended in disaster, however. 

It was bought by a syndicate from Zafferano in Knightsbridge, West London, with the proceeds going to the Children in Crisis charity. 

When the head chef returned from holiday, he found that after too many days on display and in the restaurant's safe, the delicacy had been ruined. 

BBC-News


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## Ex-Ithacan (Nov 30, 2002)

Some 15 or more years ago, a mentally disturbed woman, who was pregnant, cut the baby out of her stomach on the sidewalk in downtown Ithaca. I'm quite certain the baby did not survive, but she did. 

A couple of years after that police responded to an apartment building for a disturbance call. The same woman attacked one of the officers and killed one of them when she stabbed him in the neck. She was shot to death by the other officer. The CBS show 60 Minutes then did a segment on how the IPD has changed their response to such calls (including barricade situations) as a direct result of that incident.

EDIT:
I didn't realize it was the anniversary of the officer's death. Here's a couple of articles about it:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061118/NEWS01/611180340

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061118/NEWS01/611180302


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## trueapprentice (Aug 12, 2005)

*HK young singer, Ella Koon, was sexually harrassed back in this yr's mid-autumn festival's metro radio event by a 24 yr old male fan on stage, today he is sentenced.*


*WATCH THE SEXUAL HARRASSMENT INCIDENT HERE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHtQO8UvqVc*


Extract:

【明報專訊】歌手官恩娜上月6日中秋節晚上，在新城電台舉辦的活動中遭台上男歌迷箍頸強吻，男歌迷早前承認一項非禮罪，昨在屯門裁判法院被判囚2個月。雖然被告早前自稱心理及精神均有問題，但廣 告

裁判官昨指出，被告的精神及心理報告均顯示被告心理精神狀沒有問題，道歉亦只是「門面工夫」。官斥被告有計劃，行為非常可恥、令人反感，必須以監獄大門的「鏗鏘」聲音阻嚇被告再犯同類罪行。


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## trueapprentice (Aug 12, 2005)

Cases of toxic Eggs on sale in HK food markets:










雞蛋也有毒

【東方日報專訊】內地蛋類食品含可致癌染料蘇丹紅事件愈演愈心寒，內地首次發現雞蛋也有毒！福州市質監局發現湖北神丹健康食品有限公司兩個品牌雞蛋含蘇丹紅四號，含量較早前紅心鹹蛋更高，福廣 告

州及廣州有超級市場即時收起有關產品。「神丹」再次否認產品有問題，亦未能確定雞蛋有否外銷到港，有本港蛋商指湖北雞蛋主要供應予茶餐廳，食物安全中心表示正跟進事件。

湖北「神丹」出品

國家質檢總局局長李長江前日曾呼籲港人注意「神丹」蛋類產品，言猶在耳，雞蛋也出事，但「神丹」發言人昨仍堅稱產品沒有問題，表示上周五曾將各種蛋品送檢，全部未有驗出蘇丹紅，該公司正與福州市質監局聯繫，希望取得書面證據，並指有權在十五日內確定涉事食品是否真的由該公司生產，不排除提出覆核結果程序，但發言人就指現不清楚有關雞蛋，有否外銷至本港。

毒蛋是否已經襲港仍然成謎，但內地專家卻指出由於蘇丹紅四號本身呈金黃色，因此含有蘇丹紅的雞蛋蛋黃未必一定鮮紅，市民根本難憑肉眼去判斷購入的雞蛋是否可靠。港人聞「蛋」色變，但本港食物安全中心只稱蛋類進口毋須申報，因此需向內地有關部門了解。

記者昨去到西環副食品批發市場，發覺有大量批發自湖北的雞蛋，但就未列明牌子，另外本港不同街市均有湖北蛋出售，不禁令人擔心市面上出售雞蛋的安全。

蛋商不知來源

記者再走訪灣仔及北角等地區的街市及超市，發現雞蛋主要來自美國、德國(相關新聞 - 網站)及內地，當中以北京及湖北的佔多數，而大部分有售湖北蛋的蛋商均不知悉誰是生產商。有蛋商指，湖北蛋蛋黃大、蛋白少，因此不少茶餐廳及酒樓會選用湖北蛋製作炒飯、蒸水蛋及三文治，有茶餐廳負責人稱，約十年前開始使用湖北蛋，但餐廳從不知雞蛋真正產地，他說：「蛋商只會說是『大陸』定美國蛋，蛋箱沒有說明。」而太興燒味集團董事總經理陳永安稱，今日會向採購部了解選用的雞蛋是否來自湖北及「神丹」。


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## trueapprentice (Aug 12, 2005)

Tainted eggs not sold in Hong Kong, says official

Chester Yung 

Tuesday, November 21, 2006










Eggs sold in Hong Kong are safe because none of the eggs involved in the contamination scare in the mainland has been imported into the territory, the Centre for Food Safety has assured the public. 
Thomas Chung Wai-hung, the center's assistant director, said Monday 26 local samples have been collected for tests and the results are expected to be known in a few days.

"We've followed up the case with the mainland authorities and we understand that the eggs found to be tainted with the carcinogenic Sudan dye, which came from a food company in Hubei province, have not been exported to Hong Kong," Chung said.

The assurance came as the duck egg scare spread from Hubei to the southern province of Fujian, where authorities discovered 6,000 chicken eggs contaminated with the cancer-causing chemical. 

Chung said the tainted eggs were from the Shendan Healthy Food Co in Hubei. "Hong Kong has been importing dyes from Hubei, but not from this company [Shendan Healthy Food]," he said.

Chung stressed there is no cause for alarm. "Based on the reported levels of the cancerous chemical detected, normal consumption of eggs would not pose any significant health risk," he said.

He added that, under the center's food surveillance program, about 740 samples were collected between January last year and September this year for various tests, but no illegal coloring substance had been detected.

However, he refused to say whether the tests covered Sudan dye contamination. 

City Un 
iversity of Hong Kong associate professor of biology and chemistry Cheung Hon-yeung warned that the dye in question would not only contaminate egg yolk but also the meat of chickens or ducks.

"Judging from the appearance, it's hard to tell whether eggs are contaminated with Sudan dye or not," Cheung said, adding that more tests should be carried out on eggs sold in Hong Kong to protect public health.

But a spokesman for the center said it would not conduct tests on chicken or duck meat from Hubei for the time being.

Traders in Hong Kong said eggs from Hubei are more appealing than those from Beijing, Guangzhou and the United States because of their "yellowish yolk." Eggs from Hubei are mainly supplied to local restaurants for making egg tart and bread. Some wholesalers said their business has dropped by almost half since the scare began last week. 

Some traders said they were considering selling eggs imported from other countries, in which case prices would double compared with Hubei eggs, which cost about 50 HK cents to 80 HK cents each.

The scare arose after mainland reports said farmers in Hubei province had used the dye in duck feed to turn egg yolks reddish, which would command a higher price. 

Amid the duck egg scare last Thursday, the Guangzhou Industrial and Commercial Administration Bureau ordered a ban on the sale of fresh and salted duck eggs in markets, as well as the serving of duck eggs in restaurants.

Hubei authorities have since raided seven farms, destroying 5,000 ducks and 300 kilograms of duck eggs.


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## trueapprentice (Aug 12, 2005)

$62m question for court in winding up dance fees case 

Albert Wong 

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Asia's most renowned dancing banker, Mimi Monica Wong, may have won back her HK$62 million in prepaid dancing fees, but the legal battle is not over with a HK$4.8 million question yet to be answered: how much more would the HSBC private banking chief have earned through interest while the two- year litigation took place?
The High Court reconvened Monday to deliberate the question, and the judge has now reserved judgment on how to set the interest rate.

In September's judgment, the court set the interest rate at the prime lending rate, plus 1 percent, as is common practice with commercial cases. 

But lawyers for the Latin-American teachers, Mirko Saccani and Gaynor Fairweather, are now arguing the court should reset the interest rate to that which the dancers received before the legal process concluded in Wong's favor.

According to their calculation, the dance teachers should only have to pay an interest rate of around 4 percent, which amounts to HK$4.6 million. But the court's order, as it stands, requires them to pay around HK$9.4 million.

Senior counsel for Wong, Simon Westbrook, said his client would not want to return to court to testify as to her investment skills, but made it clear it was not difficult for a woman of her standing to be given interest rates much more favorable than the normal person had she had the money in the bank.

The lawyers for both parties are using Wong's professional position to support their case. The dancers argue she would not have had to borrow money, and even if she did, it would have been at favorable rates. 

The banker, on the other hand, claims she should be granted the same interest rate as that ordered for the usual commercial cases, and that had she been able to use the money for investment during the time it was withheld from her, she would have earned much more.

Senior counsel for the dancers, Russell Coleman, argued there was no evidence Wong needed to borrow money with interest during the time the money was withheld from her.

"This particular plaintiff would very unlikely have had to pay prime plus 1 percent to borrow money," Coleman said. He said the judge should bear in mind such litigation is supposed to rescind the contract and restore the parties into the state before the contract was entered.

Before the court hearings began, Saccani and Fairweather had to pay the HK$62 million into the court on September 2004, ensuring Wong would get her money back if she won. 

For two years, the dancers were paid by the court the interest at a rate which hovered around 4 percent, amounting to HK$4.6 million, the sum Coleman now submits is the appropriate amount that should be paid to Wong.

Even if Wong had to borrow money, and pay interest rates, for investment in the property market for example, it was likely she would have paid the prime rate minus 2 or 3 percent rather than plus 1 [percent], given the competitive market, Coleman said. 

Conversely, Westbrook argued if Wong had had the money with which to invest during those two years, she may well have earned more than the HK$9.5 million.

Deputy High Court judge Gerard Muttrie said because so much money was at stake, he would reserve judgment and make an order in due course after deliberation. 

The legal dispute between the three dancing enthusiasts drew extensive media coverage in June when it was revealed Wong had paid HK$120 million for unlimited dance lessons and priority bookings for 10 years.

But in August 2004, after two humiliating public dance sessions in Li Hua restaurant during which Saccani, her dance partner, reduced her to tears with verbal abuse, Wong felt she could not continue with the relationship. She subsequently sued to have her prepaid money returned.

Wong claimed Saccani lost his temper in Li Hua when he saw another couple, made up of his wife's former champion winning dance partner and his own former student, receive greater applause. Witnesses claimed they heard him say: "If you do that again, I am going to smash [those water containers] over your f***king head," and: "If you don't get it f***king right, I'll throw you out the f***king window." 

Muttrie ruled September 6 Saccani's treatment of his most valuable client "violated the mutual trust, confidence and respect" implied in a teacher- student relationship and thereby breached the contract.


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## Fede (May 14, 2006)

Its bizzarre enough.



> First Daughter Barbara Robbed in Argentina
> November 21, 2006 3:14 PM
> 
> From Our Sources:
> ...


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