'Arrogant' Paris on tourist charm offensive
PARIS (AFP) - Paris launched a charm offensive Monday
aimed at foreign visitors after a survey showed that
while the French capital was the most visited city in
the world it was also one of the rudest.
Mayor Bertrand Delanoe launched the campaign at the
Eiffle Tower, hoping to win the hearts and minds of
tourists and not just their hard-earned cash.
Leaflets were handed out proclaiming a "charter for
the Parisian and for the visitor" in French and
English, whereby the French were asked to be more
friendly and visitors were asked to "respect the
city."
Parisians should "take the time to give information to
visitors" and "make use of foreign language skills to
reply to them in their language," it said.
Tourists were meanwhile asked to "experience the
Parisian lifestyle," "take advantage of (their) stay
to try French products" and "respect the city and use
public transport."
The campaign was launched after a Global Market
Institute study ranked the French capital as the
world's most visited city, ahead of London and Rome.
When it came to hospitality, however, Paris only made
52nd place on a list of 60 cities.
Despite that ranking, 97 percent of tourists intend to
return to the city, according to a survey carried out
by the Paris Tourism Office of 2,837 users of its
www.parisinfo.com website.
Tourism Office chief Paul Roll said the charm campaign
aimed to "demolish the stereotype of the arrogant
Parisian and to show capital residents how important
an activity tourism is for them."
According to the agency, 20 percent of people working
in Paris are directly or indirectly dependant on the
tourism industry.
In 2006, 16.3 million visitors, including 9.7
foreigners, stayed in Paris hotels. By 2020 the number
of foreign tourists to the city is expected to climb
to 20 million annually, according to Tourism Office
figures.
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U.S. Recalls More Chinese-Made Toys
By JOE McDONALD,AP
Posted: 2007-07-06 07:07:52
BEIJING (July 6) - U.S. regulators on Thursday ordered a recall of three more Chinese-made products for children on safety grounds, adding to a flurry of warnings about goods from China.
The latest recalls, announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, cover jewelry that the agency said could cause led poisoning and a magnetic building set and plastic castles with small parts that it said could choke children.
The orders add to an avalanche of U.S. government actions in recent weeks to recall or restrict imports of Chinese tires, toothpaste, seafood, toys and other goods.
China has responded by stepping up enforcement of health and safety rules in the export industries that drive its economic growth. Beijing also has heatedly defended its record as a supplier of reliable goods and complained about possible protectionism linked to the safety warnings.
The latest recalls involve:
20,000 Essentials for Kids Jewelry sold by Future Industries, of Cliffwood Beach, N.J. The product safety agency said the metal jewelry sets contain high levels of lead that can be toxic if ingested by young children.
800 Mag Stix Magnetic Building Sets sold by Kipp Brothers, of Carmel, Ind. Small magnets inside the plastic sticks can fall out and could be dangerous if swallowed, the safety agency said. It said it an 8-year-old girl who swallowed magnets required surgery to remove them and repair intestinal perforations.
68,000 Shape Sorting Toy Castles sold by Infantino LLC, of San Diego. A plastic rod in the castles can come loose, posing a choking hazard to young children, the safety agency said.
Thousands of Chinese companies manufacture toys, furniture, clothing and other goods under contract from foreign companies.
In a gesture apparently aimed at reassuring both foreign and Chinese consumers, the government announced in June that it was closing 180 food processing facilities that were caught using formaldehyde, illegal dyes, and industrial wax in candy, pickles, crackers and seafood.
But officials also have accused foreign media of playing up the safety incidents, and a state newspaper warned Thursday against trying to use them to damage China's image and disrupt trade.
"Using the safety issues against all Chinese exports is neither reassuring nor productive," said the China Daily, an English-language newspaper aimed at foreign readers. "It should not be an excuse for foreign protectionists to sell their trade-distorting arguments."
State media said Wednesday that China is writing new regulations on dental care products after toxic diethylene glycol, commonly used in antifreeze, was found in Chinese toothpaste exported to markets in the Americas and Asia.
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EU consumer chief wants "fire-safe" cigarettes By Darren Ennis
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's consumer chief aims to prevent thousands of fire-related deaths and injuries each year by making all cigarettes sold in EU countries self-extinguishing, European Commission officials said.
The "fire-safe" cigarettes stop burning automatically after a few seconds if not puffed, due to small gaps in the cigarette paper which cuts the circulation of oxygen.
Officials at the EU executive said EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva would bring forward proposals later this year to make the self-extinguishing cigarettes mandatory throughout the 27-nation bloc.
"Data from just 14 member states show that over 2,000 deaths a year are caused by cigarette-related fires, with thousands more people injured and tens of millions of euros worth of damage caused," a Commission official told Reuters.
"There have already been discussions with the various stakeholders such as the fire-safety authorities, the tobacco industry and consumer groups. There is general support across the board."
Commission officials are developing an EU-wide standard for the cigarettes, similar to one in the United States and Canada.
"Canada introduced legislation in 2005 and a number of U.S. states have followed suit including New York, New Jersey and California, while Australia intends to also bring in laws for fire-safe cigarettes," another Commission official said.
"So, it would be more sensible and easier for industry if we draw up a common standard to be used across the globe."
The officials said research showed the cost of the new regulations in North America did not affect the overall cost of cigarettes.
"The cost is around 0.01 to 0.02 euro cent per packet," a Commission official said.
The Commission officials said the tobacco industry told them it would back the plan, if it was given time to adapt to the new legislation.
Previously tobacco firms said chemical additives required for fire-safe cigarettes would cause more damage to smokers and complained that smokers would not like the new taste.
"We support the push, but it must be in line with the standard adopted in New York," said Richard James, spokesman for Philip Morris -- maker of top-selling Marlboro and other brands.
"Also it must be made clear that this measure alone with not totally prevent fires from burning cigarettes, smokers must also be more responsible when smoking."
ANEC, an EU-wide consumers' lobby group for standardisation, backed the move.
"From a safety point of view and saving people, we welcome this news, but on the other hand we do not want to encourage smoking and we are also cautious regarding the final contents of these cigarettes which will be agreed as some could be highly inflammable," an ANEC spokeswoman said.
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Argh! Take A Chill Pill
New words enter the E nglish language every day, and dictionary publishers are constantly struggling to keep up. The editors of the Oxford English Dictionary Online update the Internet version of their
20-volume lexicon every three months. This week “chill pill,” “argh,” “bikini wax” and “problemo” are among the almost 2,700 new words that were added to the OED. Some of the other new and revised
entries include:
- Brooklynite
- sleeper cell -
- prissy - prime directive - that’s not my problem
- high-maintenance - primal scream - comeback kid
- low-maintenance - glitch
- scratch and sniff – Islamofascism
A complete list of the new words and their definitions are available at www.oed.com.
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