Toyota’s US operation said 27 January it is stopping sales of some of its top models and will probably have to recall another 1.1 million cars for safety reasons. The company has already recalled 2.3 million cars because of safety concerns over floor mats that could jam the accelerator, but these are part of a larger problem that has seen the company recall 6 million cars for problems linked to acceleration, according to Reuters. The company’s shares fell 2 percent on the Tokyo stock market Wednesday, following the latest news.
Verbier, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - 20 Minutes reports that a 44-year-old Geneva man and his son were freeriding in Verbier, at Bec des Rosses, following the Xtreme competition trail, when the father fell into a gully and slid 600 metres Sunday 17 January. The newspaper says the man’s life is not in danger but that he suffered multiple serious injuries. The report has not been confirmed by Valais police.
Myles Robinson and his father Michael
Update 2 Bern / Wengen, canton Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A body found by a private group searching for 23-year-old British tourist Myles Robinson has been confirmed as that of the missing man, Bern cantonal police announced late Tuesday 29 December. He was found at the foot of the “Mönchsblick” viewing point, between Wengen and Lauterbrunnen. He appears to have fallen from a cliff near an area called “Steinhalten” which is not easily reached.
Police say that the autopsy did not provide any information about the possible involvement of a third party, but investigations are continuing under the direction of a judge, to determine what happened in the period before Robinson died. The judge decides what further action, if any, will be taken.
Related stories, GenevaLunch
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Berlin Monday 9 November is recalling the fall of the wall that divided East from West, politically if not necessarily geographically. Thousands of tourists are in the city for celebrations and commemorative events on the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. Key figures at the time, including Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev and Polish union leader Lech Walesa, are taking part in ceremonies.
Links to other sites: Al Jazeera, Telegraph, UK and Deutsche Welle home page 9 November featuring special section on the Berlin Wall, in English
Background: Wikipedia on the Berlin Wall, Media coverage of the wall from 1961-1989 from Newseum
Update 16 September Yverdon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The mother of a young child who fell out of a window and died while she was out partying has been given a six month suspended sentence for negligent homicide. The state prosecutor had asked for a 10-month prison sentence plus two years suspended sentence in the trial of a 24-year-old woman who left her three-year-old daughter alone while she went out for most of the night with friends. The child died in December 2006 after falling out of a six-storey kitchen window. She had managed to pull a chair up to the window, which had been left open, and climb out, then fell to her death.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss television TSR (Fre) late Thursday carried an update which raises more questions concerning the much-publicized story of a Saudi tourist who was badly injured and then robbed in Geneva, appearing to give credence to initial police reports that the man had not been randomly attacked, but had fallen. The report notes that the man had spent several thousand francs in a rue du Rhone discotheque in the centre of Geneva during the evening, was witnessed by several people to be drunk and aggressive, and he had possibly been involved in a fight.
Update 2, 21:10 Saas-Fee and Bourg-St-Pierre, Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Four people have died in Valais in climbing accidents over the weekend of 11-12 July. A 47-year-old Italian climber fell more than 300 metres to his death from a cliff at about 3,300 metres altitude shortly after leaving the Mischabels hut near Saas-Fee early Sunday afternoon 12 July. He was part of a group of four Italian climbers.
Ticino, Switzerland (24 Heures, Fre)- A Swiss woman, 43, died Monday 30 March after a fall of several metres while decending a rocky wall in the mountains above Padaro. She was climbing without a safety rope. She was an experienced climber who had already done several excursions in the area. The woman was with her husband and two friends.
