In this photograph provided by the Breitling, Yves Rossy, known as the Jetman, flies past Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado Mountain during a successfull flight over Rio de Janiero, Brazil, Wednesday, May 2, 2012.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Yves Rossy, popularly known as Jetman, 2 May circled Rio’s famed Corcovado flying with a jet on his back, before landing on Copacabana Beach in Brazil.
He was launched from a helicopter at 10:45 Wednesday and headed towards the Corcovado, then circled its famous giant Christ the Redeemer statue.
“Face to face with this symbol of peace filled me with emotion,” said the pilot, who flies at 200-300kph.
He circled the Ipanema and Copacabana beaches as well as the Pain de sucre before opening his parachute to land on Copacabana.
Video coming soon!
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A man, his wife and his mistress were arrested in Northeastern Brazil for allegedly killing at least two women and then eating them.
The three, who admit using flesh from their victims to make meat pastries, which they sold to neighbors, told police that they belonged to a sect and had heard a “voice” telling them to kill. The suspects claim the “Cartel” sect preached “the purification of the world and the reduction of its population”, according to the police.
Two female bodies, and a 5-year-old girl, suspected of being the kidnapped daughter an earlier victim, were found at the couple’s house in Garanhuns, 230 kilometers from Recife.
The male suspect, Jorge Beltrão Negromonte, had allegedly written a 50-page book, entitled “Revelations of a Schizophrenic”, detailing the trio’s cannibalism.
St Gallen's red centre is a magnet for tourists
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The tourist industry saw a slight decline in visitors in 2011, final year-end figures show, to 35.5 million overnight stays.
Overall the drop was 2 percent. Decreases were seen only with European tourists, down 7 percent, in terms of overnight stays. The Americas are treated together statistically and while visitors from the US were down by 14,000 overnight stays, Brazilian visitors’ stays rose by 16,000, thus contributing to a rise from the region.
Chinese visitors were up 47 percent, with 191,000 more overnight stays and Indians spend 68,000 more nights in Switzerland.
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira : there will probably never be another footballer quite like him. Named, like his brothers, after a Greek philosopher Socrates was Brazil’s captain, a medical doctor, political activist, heavy drinker, smoker, a self proclaimed anti-athlete and a fan of Ché Guevara. The Brazilian icon died of intestinal infection, 4 December, aged 57. The tall, bearded midfield was an integral part in the Brazilian team of the early 1980s, playing with a languid style that disguised his ability to suddenly turn a game.
On the field the Premier League continued in a familiar vein with Manchester City storming past Norwich 5-1 and Man United staying second with a 0-1 win at Aston Villa. For some interesting details on the financing of Man City visit The Swiss Ramble blog. The two Manchester teams are drawn to play each other in the FA Cup. Chelsea were fortunate not to have Luiz sent off early on but then went on to win 0-3 at Newcastle.
In the Swiss Super League Basel beat Lucerne to extend their lead at the top. Servette lost 0-1 t0 Zurich. Real Madrid won 0-3 against sporting Gijon while Barcelona beat Levante 5-0.
Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian
New species of monkey found in Brazil is a forest dweller, eating fruits and insects (photo ©2011 Julio Dalponte / WWF)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A new species of monkey has been found in Brazil, in a protected area of forest in Mata Grosso. The monkey is a member of the Callicebus family, a forest monkey. It lives primarily in the undergrowth of the forest, surviving mainly on fruits and insects.
WWF biologists, who discovered the monkey while on an expedition, initially had doubts that it was a new species, but detailed investigations have confirmed that it is.”This species is a different colour from species already known,” says Alice Eymard-Duvernay, head of the Latin American project for WWF Switzerland.
“It appears that two rivers and their tributaries act as a natural barrier, separating the forest monkeys in this region from others.”
Pre-television: swimmers training for 1912 Stockhom Olympics (Photo, ©2011 International Olympic Committee, by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The Beau Rivage in Lausanne will be bustling with sports and TV executives Monday and Tuesday 6-7 June, as intense bidding gets underway to win US broadcast rights for upcoming Olympic Games. Day’s end Tuesday, after a cocktail party where the bidders will socialize while waiting for news, should see the winner named—or just possibly, everyone adjourned to come back another day with another bid.
The stakes are high for all concerned: US rights provide about one-third of all IOC (International Olympic Committee) revenues for the Games and about half of the TV revenues, according to USA Today. The US Olympic Committee, whose senior executives are in Lausanne for the bidding, receives 12.75 percent of the rights, according to Insidethegames.
The Beeb will be watching closely for the impact on world Olympics coverage
And the BBC in London is watching closely because this week’s bids could have a major impact on their ability to continue covering the Olympics, reports the Telegraph in the UK.
The IOC is hearing bids from three networks, ESPN, Fox and NBC, who are vying for the potentially valuable TV broadcast rights to two and possibly four Olympic Games after the 2012 London Games.
“Nothing else in US sports costs so much and has so many variables. Airing the Olympics means selling millions of viewers on largely unknown athletes in sports few Americans watch,” USA Today sums up.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Air France and Airbus were called in by a French judge 19 and 20 May to provide evidence about the airplane that went down off the coast of Brazil in June 2009, reports French news service Free.
Details have not been released, but earlier in the week the BEA, the French agency charged with investigating the crash, came down hard on newspaper Figaro for publishing incorrect and unverified information. The agency said at a press briefing 16 May that all the data has now been downloaded from the black boxes found at the end of April, and “this data will now be subjected to detailed in-depth analysis. This work will take several weeks.”
The debate continues over whether to bring to the surface bodies from the June 2009 Air France crash into the ocean off the coast of Brazil, reports CNN, which reports that a French government statement says the first recovered body, still attached to a seat, was brought up. DNA samples from the body will be sent to a laboratory for analysis according to the US news service, but French media have not reported this.
Some families want their dead left at the bottom of the sea while others are asking for them to be recovered. Some but not all of the 288 bodies of those on the flight were discovered when a part of the plane was found in April 2011. The cause of the crash remains a mystery.
The process is technically complicated because the bodies have been at sea for nearly two years and can only be removed very slowly and cautiously from their burial place 3,900 metres deep.
Airlines, tourist reservations in Europe also seeing strong growth
Swiss chalet spying: Brazilians, Indians, Chinese and Americans came in larger numbers in March
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Overnight stays in Swiss hotels, the standard measure of the tourism industry’s health, rose to 3.3 million, a 2.3 percent increase in March 2011 compared to March 2010. The latest figures were released by the Swiss statistical office Monday 9 May.
Foreign tourist stays increased slightly, by 1.1 percent, while Swiss tourist traffic was up 3.9 percent.
The strongest growth came from Asia, with Europe the only region not registering growth. India led the way for Asia, with 5,000 more overnight stays, followed by China with an increase of 4,900.
Brazil had the strongest overall increase, up 5,900 overnight stays, with the US having 4,300 more.
The largest drop was the UK: British tourists spent 30,000 fewer nights in Swiss hotels in March than they did a year earlier: the 16 percent fall was the largest of any one country.
Tourism in general is picking up
Brazilian police say 17 people died electrocuted when a power line fell on a tightly packed crowd dancing behind a large sound truck during a pre-carnival parade.
The accident occurred in the town of Bandeiro do Sul in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
Earlier this month a young woman fell to her death while rehearsing on a musical float in Rio de Janeiro.
The Rio de Janeiro carnival begins on 6 March.
Links to: Associated Press, AFP
2010 equal to 2005 and 1998, confirms global warming trend
Extreme weather events listed but no direct link made
Australian desert (photo: ©2010 Peter Brodbeck, flickr)
(video, El Niño, La Niña) Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Those who thought 2010 was hotter than usual were right: it was one of the warmest years on record, sharing the top hot slot with 2005 and 1998, the WMO (World Meteorological Organization) said in Geneva 20 January.
But if you were sitting in Scandinavia or the eastern US in December 2010 you’ll be right in thinking you’ve just experienced exceptional cold, with parts of Norway and Sweden having temperatures -10C below normal.
Eastern Canada and Greenland had unusually warm weather in December, however.
Higher temperatures did not affect the world evenly, but 2010 was exceptionally warm in much of Africa, southern and western Asia, Greenland and Arctic Canada, “with many parts of these regions having their hottest years on record” since the start of what the WMO calls instrumental climate records.
Greenland's snow and ice suffered from unusually warm weather in Decembe 2010
“The 2010 data confirm the Earth’s significant long-term warming trend,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said in a statement. “The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998.”
The WMO is a United Nations organization that provides a place where member states’ national weather and meteorological services work together.
Arctic sea-cover at all-time low in December
Devastating floods in the Rio de Janeiro region in Brazil continue to take a high toll, with the number of deaths now well above 400 and expected to rise as rescuers find more bodies. Some 14,000 people are homeless and the country’s new president, Dilma Rousseff has promised US$400 million in aid to clean up and rebuild.
In other extreme weather news, Brisbane and the Queenlands area in Australia fear more rain is on the way, with a cyclone building up offshore while the massive damage from high waters of the past two weeks is assessed. Reuters reports that 12,000 homes have been destroyed and 118,000 buildings are without electricity. The World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland 10 January confirmed that the heavy rains are part of the La Nina weather pattern.
In the Boston area and much of the rest of the northeastern US, heavy snows are threatening again, but schools and airports have re-opened after being closed for two days while the area dug itself out.
Links to other sites: Boston.com, Los Angeles Times, Reuters
Video, Boston.com
(video) Three days of heavy rains, with a normal month’s rainfall in 24 hours in the mountainous Serrana region north of Rio, has brought devastation to southern Brazil, with the official death toll now at 361. Most of those who died were in the mountains of Rio de Janeiro province where rivers gave way and washed away homes while people slept, but 13 died near Sao Paulo. Serrana is home to the populous cities of Petrópolis, Teresópolis and Nova Friburgo. The Guardian reports that thousands of people are missing.
Links to other sites: Reuters , Rio Times, Yahoo/AFP
ITNNews video
Dilma Rousseff has two daunting roles to play as Brazil’s new leader as of Saturday 1 January: she is the first woman president of one of the world’s most dynamic young economies and she is the act that follows hugely popular President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who leaves office with an 80 percent popularity rating. Rousseff was Lula’s choice to succeed him, but she steps into the job with some solid credentials, starting with a strong mandate from voters in October elections.The former energy minister said in her first presidential address to Brazil’s congress that the country’s oil reserves are a key to managing its wealth. Petrobras, which will control the country’s first giant pre-salt find oil fields, the Tupi deposits, announced last week that the area, discovered in 2006, is commercially viable.
Links to other sites: Euronews, Dow Jones/Wall St Journal
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Climate Action Network (Can) Europe shows Switzerland in 13th place in the 2011 Climate Change Performance Index, with a two-place drop for its change in CO2 emissions. CAN presented the new index at the climate conference in Cancun Mexico Monday 6 December. It measures “climate protection performance” of 57 countries that are responsible for more than 90 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions. The index gives a weight of 80 percent to “objective indicators of emissions trend and emissions level. Twenty percent results from national and international climate policy assessments by 190 experts from the respective countries.”
WWF, a partner of Can, says Switzerland’s showing would be worse except that the new rankings do not take into account 2009, a year when emissions in many countries fell significantly due to the economic crisis. The drop in Switzerland was only 2 percent.
Switzerland’s relatively good showing is accounted for more by the low CO2 emissions of hydroelectricity production than by its climate policies, argues WWF. The country is a heavy consumer of imported goods, and the countries that produce them are penalized, rather than Switzerland, for emission rates.
Brazil tops the list, Norway up, Australia bottoms out
Update 30 Novembr Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Lausanne-based IOC (International Olympic Committee) is reportedly asking the BBC to share with it proof that Issa Hayatou accepted bribes in the 1980s and 1990s. Hayatou is president of the Cameroon Football Association and a member of his country’s Olympic national committee. The bribe was mentioned on the BBC Panorama show that aired Monday evening 29 November.
The bribes scandal that Fifa (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) officials said in mid-November they hoped would not affect the selection process 1-2 December of World Cup host cities now threatens to overshadow voting, at least in world media. Swiss-German media over the weekend revealed details of what appears to be three more Fifa officials who also accepted bribes for their votes in the World Cup selection process.
Six officials were sanctioned 17 November for accepting bribes. Swiss sports officials have said they are reviewing the situation to see if laws were broken, given that Fifa is a Swiss-based non-profit organization.
Ricardo Teixeira, Brazil, Nicolas Leoz, Paraguay and Issa Hayatou, Cameroon were Monday 29 November named by Tagez-Anzeiger as the three officials mentioned by SonntagsZeitung on Sunday.
US production of maize-based ethanol is at a record high, according to the Financial Times, with almost 40 percent of the maize grown made into ethanol. Producers are increasingly exporting ethanol because domestic demand is not keeping pace. Government data released last week shows that 251 million gallons of ethanol were exported in the first nine months of 2010, more than double the previous year’s total, making the USA easily the world’s largest exporter of ethanol, ahead of Brazil’s sugar cane-based ethanol. The total could be up to 50 percent higher because ethanol is mixed with gasoline in order to qualify for a tax credit.
Congress originally authorized the tax credit of 45¢ per gallon of blend of gasoline and 10 percent ethanol to stimulate ethanol production to reduce US dependence on imported foreign fuel. In Europe some now question the logic of what has become an export subsidy, again according to the Financial Times.
(Update) Key elections for leaders in Brazil, Africa, Myanmar, US
South America
Presidential elections have been held in Brazil, Ivory Coast and Tanzania. The run-off vote in Brazil Sunday, 31 October was won by Dilma Rousseff, the first woman to be president in Brazil and out-going President Lula da Silva’s choice to succeed him. She garnered 57 percent of the vote against 44 percent for her opponent, veteran politician José Serra.
Africa
In Côte d’Ivoire, much-delayed elections took place peacefully Sunday 31 October, reports AllAfrica, in the first poll since a civil war in 2002 split the troubled country and battered its economy. A total of 14 candidates are vying for the job as president. If Sunday vote does not produce a clear winner a run-off election will be held 28 November.
In Tanzania, incumbent president Jakaya Kikwete looks set to be re-elected to a second five-year term. Results will be released 1 November in the afternoon.
Asia
Myanmar holds its first election in two decades 7 November, continuing to insist there is no need for outside observers, either media or from other governments and international bodies. Monday 1 November state-owned media carried a statement declaring that if voters stayed away from the polls in protest, the junta that has ruled since 1962 would remain in power, Reuters reports.
North America
US voters go to the polls Tuesday 2 November to elect all members of the House of Representatives, one-third of the Senators, and 37 governorships. The mid-term elections, so-called because they fall mid-way between two presidential elections, are seen as a referendum on President Barack Obama’s first two years in office.
Elections at the state level are particularly important this year because in most US states the state assembly determines the shape of congressional districts, and seats will be reapportioned following this year’s census of the US population.
Links to other sites: All-Africa, CNN, Bloomberg, New York Times, Washington Post
The iconic open-armed Christ statue, the Redeemer, is back in plain sight in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The statue, that overlooks Brasil’s most famous city, underwent $4-million worth of renovations that covered it during four months.
In honor of Brazil’s football team, the Redeemer will be bathed in green and yellow light, the classic colors of the flag, and of the team’s uniform.
Other sources: Independent Catholic News, TV Globo (Por)
Brazil’s northeastern states of Pernambuco and Alagoas have been hard hit by floods that have killed 33 people, with hundreds missing. An estimated 40,000 homes were washed away, leaving 100,000 people homeless, regional officials say. In Alagoas, more than 1,000 people are missing. The Brazilian cabinet is holding an emergency meeting to review the situation.
Heavy rain in eastern and southern China that began 12 June has caused landslides and flash floods, killing scores of people, with unofficial figures of around 100 deaths. Chinese news agency Xinhua reports that “About 9.27 million people in Fujian, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou and Sichuan were affected by the heavy rains as direct economic losses caused by the heavy rains have topped 10 billion yuan (about $1.46 billion).”
Brazil and North Korea brilliantly close a day of exciting football
Brazil fans celebrate their team's win - Photo 2010 FWCLOC
Brazil 2 North Korea 1
As forecast, Brazil won 2-1 against a North Korean team that, surprisingly, was an equal match to the cariocas. The vuvuzelas could be heard not only in South Africa but in Geneva where fans were roaming the streets celebrating their team’s victory.
In spite of a lackluster performance, Brazil showed why it is one of the best teams in the world: it takes any chance given and scores.
“In football, the best teams don’t necessarily win,” said the 53-year-old DPR Korea coach Kim Jong-hun before the game started.
By winning the game, the five-time world champion gets three points and places itself at top of Group G.
The North Koreans played very offensively during the first half. “Our game is not all about playing cautiously. We can also play good attacking football when we need to,” said Jong-hun. And so the players did and scored the goal of honour a few minutes before the end of the match.
Arguably, the North Korean goalkeeper, Ri Myong Guk, could be described as the most valuable player of the match.
New Zealand 1 Slovakia 1
The All White scorer celebrates its first point at a World Cup - 2010 FWCLOC
This is what football dreams are made of, tying a game in the last few seconds of the stoppage-time and scoring your first point ever in a World Cup.
What was a given victory for Slovakia faded to a 1-1 tie for the All Whites. The results mean that the first and second place in Group F is up for grabs (Italy and Paraguay also tied on 14 June).
New Zealand’s coach saw the end result as a fair result. “We were never picked to get a point at a World Cup albeit we’ve only been twice. We got a result over Serbia but people want to tell you that was a friendly,” he said after the game.
The UN Security Council voted 12-2 for new and tougher sanctions against Iran in an effort to force it to stop its nuclear programme. Turkey and Brazil voted against sanctions and Lebanon abstained. The new, fourth round of sanctions since 2006 brings tighter financial controls and an arms embargo that bans exports of such items as attack helicopters and tanks. Iran has reacted by saying nothing will change as a result. It continues to insist its nuclear activity is peaceful, while other countries fear it is trying to build nuclear weapons.
Links to other sites: BBC, CNN, Ria Novosti, Xinhua
The five countries with veto power within the UN Security Council have agreed to tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear plans, and what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is calling a “strong” draft resolution is being circulated among the 15 members. Iran agreed just a day earlier, Monday 17 May, to a deal with Turkey that Brazil helped broker, which has it sending most of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for enriched fuel for a research reactor, a deal similar to one suggested by other Western countries in 2009.
The US accused Iran Tuesday of trying to deflect criticism of its nuclear programme. The new, fourth sanctions package is a carrot-and-stick solution to dealing with Iran: it offers tough measures against shipping and banking, and would stop any shipments to Iran of conventional arms, but it also encourages Iran to cooperate with nuclear inspections.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, BBC, Financial Times, Reuters/New York Times
Michael Punke, US ambassador to the WTO, 2010
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - “We’re not negotiating with a gun to anyone’s head – that’s not the way the WTO works,” says Michael Punke, the new US ambassador to the World Trade Organization. “What we’re hoping is they will step up and take up their leadership role,” he says, referring to India, China and Brazil. “At the end of day: we have to ask, are the advanced developing economies ready to accept the responsibility and leadership” that goes with their new roles?
The ambassador lost no time Monday morning, during a media breakfast for the new man in Geneva, making it clear that he is keen to start negotiating and to see the Doha Round of trade talks get back on track.
Punke insists there is strong support in the US “to negotiate a Doha outcome that is balanced and ambitious.”
Balanced, in the sense of advanced developing economies taking stronger roles.
Ambitious, in the sense of the Doha Round succeeding without the “arbitrary deadlines or big bang events [that] haven’t worked” in the past, the kind of events where top-level ministers show up and work intensely and everyone hopes the outcome will be a great leap forward.
He believes Geneva has focused too much on these. He is adament that “there aren’t any shortcuts but sitting down, day in and day out” to get through the issues that remain. “The only way to improve that balance is to engage in negotiation.” The US, he says “wants to focus on key sectors in priority markets – the advanced developing economies.”
Greenland and Iceland made no data requests to Google - minds were on other matters in 2009
San Francisco, California, USA (GenevaLunch) – Brazil is the leader, with the US close behind, for requests to Google by governments for data on users or censorship, figures released by the company Tuesday 20 April show. Brazil made 3,663 user data requests while the US made 3,580 between 1 July and 31 December 2009. Figures for China cannot be included, since they are considered state secrets, Google notes. It pulled out of China in March 2010 because of censorship and hacking problems.
Switzerland made 42 user data requests and fewer than 10 content removal requests.
An 83-year-old priest has been arrested in Brazil, accused of pedophilia. The man was allegedly caught on video while having sexual relations with a former altar boy aged 19. Monsignor Luiz Marques Barbosa has been detained for reportedly molesting children as young as 12.
This is the latest in a series of cases of alleged misconduct by priests in Latin America, one of the most heavily Roman Catholic regions in the world.
Additional details: CTV
Officials now say 138 people have died in floods in Brazil’s state of Rio de Janeiro after the heaviest rainfall on record provoked massive mudslides. Continuing rain has hampered rescue efforts, few of which have been successful, and the death toll is expected to continue to rise. The city of Rio had more than nine inches of rain Monday, closing the airport, subway system and major highways, AP reported.
Links to other sites: New York Times/AP, Statesman/AP
Brazil's tax on ketchup to jump to 38%
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Brazil is taking up its option, approved by the Geneva-based World Trade Organization, to slap a 30 percent import tax on fruit from the US after what it calls eight years of negotiations and four years of trying to get the US to end its cotton subsidies. The US remains the world’s largest cotton producer, while Brazil is fifth. Brazil handed its list of taxes to the WTO Monday 8 March. Cars will also be taxed and ketchup will be taxed at 38 percent instead of 18 percent.
Links to other sites: AP/Yahoo news, Fruitnet, World Trade Organization
Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Rosa Rein, who would have turned 113 in March, has died in a nursing home in canton Ticino. She was Switzerland’s oldest person and, according to wikipedia, one of the 15 oldest “verified” people in the world. When she celebrated her birthday in 2009 she was still able to walk, although she had some vision and hearing loss.
Rosa Rein was born in 1897 in Dzietzkowitz, now part of Poland, the daughter of relatively comfortable farmers, according to RTI, Swiss Italian radio. She married for the first time in 1935, at age 38, after running a textile business, but the young Jewish woman and her German husband fled to Brazil at the time of the Nazi Kristallnacht pogrom.
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Sugar stocks may increase in the 2010-11 season if the sugar harvest in Brazil is not spoiled by rains in April, Jonathan Kingsman told the Dubai Sugar Conference 9 February. It is nevertheless unlikely to meet demand. The conference is organized by Lausanne-based Kingsman SA, an international sugar consultancy and brokerage.
World stocks have been depleted by two years of shortages. World sugar demand significantly outstripped supply in fiscal 2009, which ends in March 2010, pushing up the price of the white crystal and eating into world stocks. The price of white sugar rose 9 February for a second day in London trading on speculation that shortages will continue, reports Bloomberg. The price reached almost $724 for a metric ton (mt).
China and India are committed to communicating their emissions reduction targets to the UN by the deadline imposed by the Copenhagen Conference in December, following talks in New Delhi 24 January. The four countries seen as key to any climate deal, Brazil, South Africa, China and India, have indicated that they will submit mitigation goals. But India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh, confirmed in a letter to the president of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that the four continued to be bound only by the Kyoto Protocoll and not the Copenhagen meeting’s accord, which was not formally adopted by participants.
Links to other sites: Business Week, The Hindu, Times of India
