The Buzz | French ex-mayor found dead before Chinese weddings trial

A former mayor of Tours was found dead yesterday in a suspected suicide, right as he was to go on trial over suspected kickbacks involving Chinese group weddings in the picturesque French city in the Loire Valley.
Minutes into the trial, a lawyer for former mayor Jean Germain announced that a colleague had found a suicide note, and his body was found later in town, attendees said. The court abruptly adjourned the case until October.
The apparent suicide quickly reverberated through France’s political class, and appeared likely to cast a pall over a fairytale tradition among some Chinese couples who chose Tours as a romantic getaway spot for tying the knot.
A half-dozen people are on trial over alleged kickbacks linked to €750,000 (USD815,000) that the city spent from 2008 to 2011 to lure Asian visitors, officials said. The city splashed out tens of thousands of euros to set up a stand at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 and send a delegation of dozens of representatives, one defense lawyer said.