GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Eleven people were killed outside the ministry of defense in Cairo Wednesday 2 May, and up to 160 were reportedly wounded. Plainclothes gunmen attacked a group of protesters who were camped outside the ministry. The group, which numbers in the hundreds, has been protesting army rule for a number of days.
Reuters reports that “The violence casts a deep shadow over the presidential election due on May 23 and 24, with a run-off in June, and highlights the fragility of Egypt’s transition to democracy, which has been punctuated by violence and political bickering.”
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Egypt.com, Reuters
Aljazeera news video
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – An uneasy peace lies over Cairo and other parts of Egypt after the Egyptian army Thursday offered a public apology for the deaths that occurred earlier this week when protesters took to the streets. A truce between the two groups appears to be holding. Army leaders made it clear shortly after offering the apology that they do not intend to relinquish power in the short term.
Strong reactions at home and abroad have put pressure on the army after 38 people died. Aljazeera reports that 3,000 have been wounded in the fighting.
Army leaders promised that they will let elections go ahead as scheduled Monday.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, Guardian, New York Times
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The US will not intervene militarily and Europe is pushing for a UN condemnation of the Syrian government’s crackdown on its citizens, now in its third day, which included the deaths of a reported 100 people in the city of Hama Sunday 31 July alone. Chinese news agency Xinhua quotes Syrian state media as saying the army has not entered Hama while negotiations continue, and that state media show gunmen killing Syrian security forces.
A late-night session of the UN Security Council in New York Monday 1 August failed to bring about an agreement on condemning the violence, but some diplomats say progress is being made, although China and Russia still fear that a condemnation could lead to military intervention.
Tour de Romandie finishes with glorious weather as partner
Weather forecast: brief rain, spot of frost, then warmer and sunny again
Sunny finish for Tour de Romandie winner (photo ©2011 Samuel Jacquet, flickr.com/photos/sam-s-place/with/5681965676/ )
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The rain is finally falling Tuesday morning 3 May, giving a reprieve after the spectacularly dry April in the Lake Geneva region, but weather forecasters warn it will be shortlived: expect showers to end late Tuesday, with only occasional rain along mountain ridges in the next two days. Some areas will be hit by ground frost Thursday, then temperatures will climb to highs of 24-25C with sunshine for the weekend.
Australian cyclist wins Tour, with Brit taking the day in Geneva
The Tour de Romandie finished in Geneva Sunday in a burst of fine weather, with Australian Cadel Evans taking the title for the second time, while British cyclist Ben Swift won Sunday’s leg of the race.
Lausanne’s popular 10 and 20-km runs celebrated their 30th anniversary Saturday. The evening run pulled in an estimated crowd of 18,000 participants. One of the corporate groups that took part did, not surprisingly, unusually well: the Lausanne-based governing body of athletics on the continent, European Athletics, sent a team of seven, who “finished high in the rankings”.
Army continues to fight Visp fire
Visp, Valais forest fire 1 May (click on imge to view larger)
The forest fire in Visp in canton Valais, at the edge of a vast Alpine forest area that stretches to Zermatt and beyond, was still smoldering Sunday 1 May, despite continual flyovers by helicopters dumping buckets of water on embers.
The army Monday morning sent in a Super Puma to step up the fight against the fire, after unrolling 2,700 metres of hosepipe to help local firefighters and dumping 400 tons of water on the area by the end of the week. The army also kept traffic and the curious moving Sunday, on the busy stretch of road, but by Tuesday the army presence was down from 120 soldiers to 70 in the area.
The forest rises steeply behind the body shop on the cantonal highway where the fire started, and much of the area cannot be easily accessed on foot.
The fire was caught early enough to prevent total destruction to the forest, but the full damage is likely to be apparent only later in the year, as some of the trees and plant life die off due to damage.
Authorities are concerned that the fire will be sparked anew by the extremely dry conditions.
Swiss aid group calls for Zimbabwe to be barred from Kimberly Process diamonds, cites State torture, child and forced labour
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Indian ministry of commerce is the latest to move against the Zimbabwe diamond trade, asking the country’s traders and jewelry exporters Thursday 9 December to “bide their time” until the Kimberly Process (KP), which certifies diamonds, clarifies Zimbabwe’s compliance, according to SouthWest Radio Africa. Monday the Swiss group Bread for All, a humanitarian alliance of the country’s Protestant churches, called for the Swiss market not to accept Zimbabwe diamonds, citing continued human rights abuse in the Marange diamond area. Switzerland imports $676 million in rough diamonds a year and exports close to $1 billion, in addition to its finished diamonds market.
India imports more diamonds than any other country in the world, based on 2009 KP statistics.
Zimbabwe was barred from KP trading in November 2009 because of alleged human rights abuses at its Chiadzwe mines in the east of the country. The KP’s 49-member group, of which Switzerland and India as well as Zimbabwe are members, ruled in July 2010 that Zimbabwe could resume limited exports, following a visit by a monitor in September. The Indian government’s call to its diamond business is reportedly based on ongoing negotiations between Zimbabwe, which threatens to ignore the KP certification process, and the KP, which wants Zimbabwe to limit exports to better monitor the trade there.
The Kimberly Process describes itself as “a joint governments, industry and civil society initiative to stem the flow of conflict diamonds–rough diamonds used by rebel movements to finance wars against legitimate governments. The trade in these illicit stones has fuelled decades of devastating conflicts in countries such as Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sierra Leone.”
Bread for All has appealed to the Swiss government to insist as a member of the KP not only that Zimbabwe be barred from certification by the Kimberly Process but also to push for a change to the KP rules, which currently define “blood diamonds” only as those handled by rebel groups to finance their wars against governments.
The Swiss organization says it has evidence from its Geneva-based partner, Zimbabwe Advocate, of daily instances of human rights abuse since 2008 by the Zimbabwe government’s army in mines in the east of the country, around Marange. The “human rights violations include forced labour, child labour, torture, beatings and rape. In addition, soldiers are forcing minors to work for them and they are organizing illegal trafficking in diamonds,” according to Bread for All.
Zimbabwe minister berates visiting Norwegians for questions over abuse
A little less water than usual in Lake Geneva near Lausanne
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The fire that began in Lausanne Thursday 23 September in the storage space of an archiving firm was finally under control late Tuesday, but it continues to smolder, say officials. More than 300 firefighters from around the region have been involved in the battle against the flames and smoke, with the army called in over the weekend to provide relief and more equipment.
Forty-five soldiers from the catastrophe division put in 48 hours, providing a 1.5 km waterhose from Lake Geneva up the hill to the Rue de Provence, to ensure an adequate water supply to douse the fire. The hose delivered 8,000 litres of water a minute for 27 hours straight.
Military jets above Swiss Alps, Valais, before World Economic Forum in January 2009.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - More than 100,000 Swiss have signed a petition asking for a popular referendum to put a limit on the number of fighter jets owned by the Swiss military, a large enough number to now force a vote, the Swiss Chancellory announced Friday 26 June.
Switzerland has a citizen militia army
Strasbourg, France (GenevaLunch) – The European Human Rights Court has condemned Switzerland for imposing a military service tax on a 31-year-old truck driver from Zurich whose type 1 diabetes makes him unable to fulfill his military service obligations despite his willingness to serve.
Thun, Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss Army may have bought 12,000 doses of anti-measles vaccine, with Switzerland continuing to have one of Europe’s highest rates of measles, but it did not prevent seven soldiers in the officers’ programme from being quarantined for the highly contagious disease. Some have come down with measles and the others are considered contagious.
Two British soldiers were killed late Saturday in Antrim some 15km north of Belfast, Northern Ireland and two others were injured, and two pizza deliverymen were also injured. in the first attack on the British military in Northern Ireland since 1997. There have been attacks on police and the public, however. A shadowy group called the Real IRA in a phone call said it was responsible. New York Times
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The lower house of Parliament Wednesday refused the budget proposed by Samuel Schmid, minister responsible for the Swiss military, balking in particular at the CHF404 million pricetag to upgrade the 33 FA-18 fighter jets.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Armasuisse, the federal department that purchases supplies for the army, has opted for a new knife for its 2009 recruits, made by Victorinox. The famed Swiss Read more…
