BEIJING (AFP) – A Siberian tiger mauled a keeper to death in eastern China after being left to roam the cage as it was being cleaned,Giorgio Armani, state media said Sunday.

The tiger bit Zhan's neck, inflicting fatal injuries, the report said.

In the 1980s,Tiffany, China set up tiger farms to try to preserve the big cats, intending to release some into the wild.

China says it has nearly 6,000 tigers in captivity, but just 50 to 60 are left in the wild, including about 20 wild Siberian tigers.

Zhan Guanshun was attacked by the tiger while cleaning the cage at a wildlife rescue centre in Anhui province on Saturday, the Anhui News reported.

But those farms have come under the international spotlight, with some conservation groups saying they use the great cats for their parts.

,Ed hardy Shoes

Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli says “It won’t be long” before a decision on the extradition request. He declined to be more specific.

Polanski would be allowed to appeal extradition.

GENEVA – Swiss officials say they will decide soon whether to extradite Roman Polanski to the U.S. to face prosecution in a 1977 sex case.

The 76-year-old director fled the U.S. on Feb. 1, 1978,The North Face, the day he was to be formally sentenced for having sex with a 13-year-old girl. He was arrested Sept. 26 as he came to receive a lifetime achievement award at a Zurich film festival. He has been under house arrest at his chalet in the resort of Gstaad since December, when he was released on $4.5 million ((EURO)3.59 million) bail.

Catherine Zeta-Jones won best actress in a musical for her Broadway debut in the musical "A Little Night Music." "I really do feel like Cinderella," Zeta-Jones said on stage.

The Tony Awards,Louis Vuitton, which do not consider off-Broadway productions, are voted on by about 700 producers, actors and writers. They were established in 1947 and are named for actress, stage director and philanthropist Antoinette Perry,BBC, whose nickname was Toni.

"My mother always says, man gives the award, God gives the reward. I guess I got both tonight," Washington, 55, said in his acceptance speech in his first Tony Award after winning praise in a host of films.

"Memphis," which addresses U.S. race relations in the 1950s, won a total of four awards. Winning lyricist Joe DiPietro said backstage of the show's seven years in development, "even when it seems like it's not going to happen, you have to always believe or it's dead."

But Hollywood star Denzel Washington beat Molina to win best actor in a play for his role in a revival of the August Wilson play "Fences."

NEW YORK (Reuters) – "Memphis," a romp that discovers the roots of rock'n'roll and "Red," a play about artist Mark Rothko, took American theater's top honors at the Tony Awards held on Sunday.

"Red," a production that stars British actor Alfred Molina as an intense, frustrated Rothko, won best play and won a total of six awards, the highest of the night.

"Being welcomed in this community has been an absolute dream come true," she said.

Choreographer for "Fela!" Bill T. Jones took the award for best choreography. After tying for the most Tony nominations, "Fela!" had a disappointing night winning three awards from a possible 11 nominations.

(Additional reporting by Kati Wiessner and Dean Goodman, Editing by Sandra Maler and Paul Simao)

Viola Davis won best actress for "Fences" for her role opposite Washington playing a long married couple. "Fences" also won for best play revival after it originally won best new play in 1987.

'MOMENT OF MY LIFETIME'

Other award winners included Katie Finneran for best performance for a featured actress in a musical for "Promises, Promises" in which she stars opposite Hayes. Levi Kreis won for best performance by a featured actor in a musical for "Million Dollar Quartet."

"Memphis" an original musical loosely based on Memphis disc jockey Dewey Phillips that features a rock, soul and gospel score, won best musical at the star-studded ceremony held at Radio City Music Hall that featured many Hollywood stars winning the stage's most prestigious honors.

"Will & Grace" actor Sean Hayes hosted the awards and shared the stage with punk rock band Green Day who performed songs from their album turned musical "American Idiot" in front of well-known figures who attended, including Cate Blanchett, Will Smith, Antonio Banderas and Jay-Z.

Outside, hundreds of fans lined the streets in the rain to catch glimpses of Hollywood names for the 64th Tony Awards.

"La Cage aux Folles," won the award for best musical revival while British actor Douglas Hodge who starred opposite Kelsey Grammer in the production that was transferred from London won the best performance by a leading actor in a musical.

"Red" also won best scenic design and best director of a play. "This to me, is the moment of my lifetime," said "Red" playwright John Logan in accepting the award for best play, that also was a London transfer. English actor Eddie Redmayne won the best featured actor opposite Molina.

Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson won for best featured actress in a play for her performance in a revival of Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge."