A great way to try new salons, spas and hairdressers, the Body Pass card 2012 gives you a 50 percent discount on your first visit to a large number of wellness and beauty professionals. You can test treatments at more than 100 partners institutes throughout the Lake Geneva area, including one location in Saint-Julien. Cost: CHF80 on the website (English and French) or at Fnac in Geneva and Lausanne. It’s valid from 1 November to 31 December 2012 and the price stays the same regardless of the date of purchase. Gift passes are an option. Note: good only for the first visit to each participating business, although if you have a new pass the following year you can visit again for 50 percent off.
Snow, snow and more snow throughout the Alps!
"Snow is getting deep here and no end in sight", from a GenevaLunch friend in Zermatt, 18:00 Friday (good luck!)
Updated 21:50 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Weather is top of the weekend news, with snow falling and falling in the mountains, at long last, even down to the plain. Zermatt, Verbier and all other major resorts now have snow, an abundance of it, in the villages at the bottom of the slopes, and more is on the way.
A white Christmas is guaranteed at this point, whether or not you’re on the pistes!
If you don’t yet have winter tires on your car, don’t delay: the snow will be mixed with rain and ice in many areas, with wild high winds Friday and Saturday in some areas.
Chains: you rarely need them in Switzerland because main mountain roads are cleared promptly, but be sure to have a set in the car for the winter.
Weather forecast and snow
Golf course in the centre of Crans-Montana, at 1,700m altitude, with snow falling at 09:20 Friday morning (source: CM webcam)
Note for Geneva residents: the city frequently had more than 50cm of snow a year until the mid-1980s, but the amount of snow has dropped since then (flip side is that the amount of sunshine has risen). That doesn’t mean Geneva will be snow-free this winter, but the weekend forecast is for temperatures of 3-9C with rain and strong winds by Saturday, gusting at 90-115kph on the plain.
Jura, but especially northern Jura areas can expect continuing gusts above 110kph.
Driving conditions in the Valais mountain resorts are treacherous late Friday, with snow plows struggling to keep up with the heavy snowfall, so if you’re heading up for a first skiing session, take care. Warm foehn winds blew in lower Alpine areas Friday morning, but by afternoon colder winds with gusts of up to 150kph hit some parts of the Alps, while others had steady but quiet snow falling.
Canton Graubuenden, with its famed resorts of Davos, Klosters, St Moritz and more, has “abundant” snow falling, with lower temperatures than other resort areas, -7C to highs of -1C.
Alpine resorts
Note that they are virtually all closed Friday because of high winds and heavy snowfalls; check the resorts for open runs before heading there for a day on the slopes.
Diablerets and Villars: free skiing (limited number of lifts) for everyone before Sunday 17 December! Snow falling, Glacier 3000 reports snow depths of 50-85cm.
Verbier reports a very high level of avalanches, plenty of snow in the town by late morning and snow continuing to fall. Note that the Friday reports on the web site were a bit behind, noting for example a snow depth of 110cm at Les Ruinettes (2,200 metres) and none in the village (report from 08:00).
Crans-Montana, steady snow falling this week, snow depth has reached 117-150cm in the past two days!
Jura ski resorts
by Shirley Curran
(late Thursday) Last weekend, there was enough snow for our season to begin at the Col de la Faucille, though conditions were rather wet and gloomy. It has snowed and rained intermittently since then and the resorts are now boasting 25cm of snow with more falling steadily and a significant cold snap expected. The official opening date of 17 December 17 seems to be on target. The webcams give you an honest view of the situation.
An attractive offer is being made by the Lake Geneva Tourist Office for anyone visiting the area. Here is an extract!
“For one overnight stay or longer in a partner hotel, you can familiarize yourself free of charge with snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, while exploring the vast spaces of the Jura mountain range. Relax as you discover our 405 km of cross-country trails and our 105 km of snowshoeing trails for all difficulty grades. Well maintained and safe trails await you and will allow you to discover new experiences.”
Neighbouring France resorts
Snow has continued to fall this week and there is no shortage of the white stuff at Meribel, Val d’Isere, Courcheval and other main resorts.
The same basic rule applies to recycling your old batteries, whether you live in Switzerland or France: take them back to the place where you bought them. Department stores, supermarkets, electronic retailers, to name only a few, have specific bins for them, usually located close to the entrance. Most recycling facilities have battery containers as well.
The flyer by Inobat, “Correct disposal of batteries“, written in 16 languages, has a wealth of information about battery recycling for those living in Switzerland.
If you’re on the French side of the border, your local town hall is a good source of information.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -Alvaro de Miranda of Brazil riding AD Ashleigh Drossel Dan took maximum points in Geneva Sunday 11 December in the series final of the Rolex FEI World Cup Jumping, Western European League event.
The crowd had their money’s worth watching the 38-year-old rider and his 13-year-old gelding, in the second-round race against the clock, “a thriller in which the lead changed again and again”, according to the FEI.
Rolf-Goran Bengtsson from Sweden, the 2011 European Champion, was runner-up and Patrice Delaveau from France riding Orient Express was third. Sunday’s results have strengthened Bengtsson’s position at the top of the series, but Miranda, in 18th place, is now reportedly looking for a spot at the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping 2011/2012 final in The Netherlands next April.
First snowfall below Crans-Montana, at 1,100 meters altitude, noon Tuesday 6 December
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Ski stations have been worrying about opening with little more than artificial snow, and with warmer than usual temperatures even that was looking dubious.
But Mother Nature came through Tuesday and snow fell continally in some Alpine resort areas all day, building a decent base for ski slopes and charming even the non-skiers.
Crans-Montana opens its Cristal Festival today, a European and Middle Eastern conference for the advertising industry that brings in some 2,000 professionals for five days. Organizers said Monday as the first snowflakes drifted tentatively down that in the 13 years the conference has been held, early in December, they have always had snow.
Over the border in France, Val d’Isère had to cancel World Cup ski races due to too little snow, and then starting Monday the white stuff began to down steadily.
And then throughout much of the Alps it fell and it fell.
Welcome to winter!
Moving downhill, ahead of the snow, canton Valais
Ed. note: the Swiss federal government’s entire public web site is down at noon Wednesday, so we are unable to provide links
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland’s Federal Council (cabinet) Wednesday morning approved a package of reforms for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) covering the world body’s governance and quotas. The package was approved by the IMF in December 2010 but is being implemented piecemeal as countries vote. The reforms were designed to give a stronger voice to developing economies and to redress imbalances that reflect an older world economic picture.
Switzerland’s contribution quota initially rose to 1.59 percent from 1.45 percent, but post-reform it will be CHF1.21, and Switzerland drops from the 19th largest contributor to 19th, after Korea and Australia. Its contribution from the Swiss National Bank will, however, increase significantly, from CHF3.6 billion to CHF7.3b, with the reforms doubling the ordinary contributions of countries.
The increase in contributions is the first major one since 1998, says Bern in a statement issued Wednesday, and is designed to more correctly align contributions with economies and financial flows.
Switzerland’s share of IMF votes also falls, from 1.40 percent to 1.57 in March after an initial set of reforms was implemented, and now down to 1.17. The US remains by far the largest contributor, with the largest vote, followed by Japan, Grmany, France and the UK.
A tip for those with ittle time to shop for food: thiriet.com (if you live in France), lets you select quality frozen food from a large online catalogue with great pictures. Pick out your items and your shopping will be waiting for you a couple of hours later at your local store. Thonon les Bains is the closest one in the Lake Geneva area.
Home delivery is also possible throughout neighbouring France, but only once a month. You need to first enter your postal code to access Thiriet delivery services and create your account.
Nuclear waste disposal in France and Swiss plant shutdowns prompt new concerns
Train with waste traveling from France to Germany today could spark new protests
GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND TO SCRAP NUCLEAR ENERGY, ©2011 Chappatte, distributed by Globe Cartoon. More cartoons on Chappatte’s web site. Geneva-based Patrick Chappatte works for the International Herald Tribune, for Geneva newspaper Le Temps, and for NZZ am Sonntag. All cartoons reproduced with permission.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Decommissioning Switzerland’s nuclear power plants will cost 10 percent more as a result of inflation, an increase of about CHF2 billion, than the last estimates in 2006 showed, the Federal Energy Office said Thursday 24 November.
The companies that own the power stations and the waste storage facility are responsible for covering the cost of decommissioning as well as waste storage. They make annual contributions to two funds, with the contributions set for five year periods.
For 2012-2016, their costs will be increased by CHF127.67 million a year for waste management and CHF60.7m for decommissioning.
The increase is part of energy costs that must be approved by the government before companies can pass them on to consumers.
The cost study carried out by swissnuclear, mandated by the federal commission responsible for decommissioning and cost management, will now be evaluated by the Swiss Federal Nuclear Inspectorate, which will bring in independent outside experts.
Switzerland’s decommissioning will take until 2034
The Swiss government called a halt to nuclear power plant construction in May 2011, two months after the president announced a temporary moratorium. The measure amounts to the end of the country’s nuclear power programme.
The May decision covers four power stations with reactors and two research facilities with reactors, as well as waste disposal centres. The government is allowing the plants to operate until their licenses run out, which means the plants will all shut down by 2034.
PARIS, FRANCE – Danielle Mitterrand, 87, the widow of former French President François Mitterrand, has died in France, after being hospitalized Friday evening 20 November. She was best known in France as a humanitarian who at age 17 joined the French resistance. She married her husband at age 20 and had three sons with him, one of whom died at birth.
She created the foundation France Libertés in 1986, a human rights organization that among other projects focused on ensuring people have access to water.
Le Monde notes that she was always more comfortable in the role of humanitarian than showpiece first lady, at her happiest working with what she saw as oppressed groups of Tibetans, Cubans and Kurds. She was awarded the Prix Nord-Sud in 1996.
Outisde France, she was in the limelight briefly in 1994 when her husband’s illegitimate daughter with a long-time mistress became public knowledge.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The politicians, and there were many of them, at the groundbreaking ceremony for Ceva, the new French-Swiss regional rail system, made much of the historic importance of the moment. The ceremony Tuesday morning 15 November comes 100 years after Switzerland and Geneva signed an agreement to undertake the financing of a rail project that would link the city to the French rail system. At that point discussions had already been underway for some 60 years.
The Tuesday ceremony marks the end of years of effort to overcome political hurdles and opposition in order to treat the border area as one region, for transport purposes.
Source: Ceva (click on image to view larger)
The kickoff for the CHF1.57 billion Ceva project signals the start of a number of related rail projects for the Lake Geneva region, noted Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard in a speech.
She noted that the federal government recognizes the rapid growth of the region and the desire for an expanded public transport system that will better link cantons Vaud and Geneva.
A side benefit of the project will be the construction of 1,000 new housing units near the line, in La Praille, Eaux-Vives and Chêne-Bourg.
Construction will start at the end of January 2012. Ceva will link Gare Cornavin in Geneva to Annemasse via a 16km long rail line, 14km of which is in Switzerland, with five stations: Lancy–Pont-Rouge, Carouge–Bachet, Champel–Hôpital, Genève–Eaux-Vives and Chêne-Bourg. Most of the line will be underground, with two tunnels and several covered sections. Two bridges, one over the Arve and the other over teh Seymaz, are part of the project.
The end result of the six-year construction project will be to link the French SNCF rail system with the Swiss CFF, creating a true RER, or regional transport system.
The Swiss federal government is financing 55.47 percent of the project, canton Geneva 44.53 percent.
Negotiations are still underway with the French for their part of the line and some parts of the project still face legal battles, but the approval by Geneva voters in 2009 of a part of the money to be spent by the canton enabled the project to move ahead.
Key figures:
- Some 240,000 people live or work within 500 metres of a Ceva station
- Cornavin to Eaux-Vives will take 13 minutes
- 6 trains an hour will link Cornavin to Annemasse.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The number of asylum seekers in Switzerland rose 4.9 percent in October, representing 100 more individuals (total, 31 October: 2,142) than in September, new figures from the Federal Migration Office shows. The office says that at the end of September the figures for the second quarter of the year were stable, with a 1.2 percent increase.
Zurich, Bern and Vaud have the largest number of active asylum applications under consideration.
Eritreans and Tunisians remain the two largest groups seeking asylum, with Nigerians third.
Switzerland sent 351 applicants to Italy in October, under the terms of the Dublin Regulation, which is designed to prevent asylum-seekers from applying to several European Union states or to move continually from one to another.
Evian, France, likely to feel the weight of new gov't austerity measures
PARIS, FRANCE – Tighten those belts, the French government told its taxpayers Monday 7 November, with austerité the new buzz word as it presented its new budget, designed to get the government deficit down to zero by 2016.
The task involves finding €100 billion in the next five years, through a combination of higher taxes including value-added tax (TVA) on goods and services as well as income tax, and sharp spending cuts.
The tougher financial measures were announced along with lower growth prospects, down from a forecast of 1.75 percent to 1 percent for 2012, said French Finance Minister François Fillon.
Le Monde says in its assessment of the new measures that 86 percent of the weight of them will hit households directly in 2013, with the combined income tax and higher TVA accounting for €6.8 billon of the €7.9b to be raised that year.
The Rhone (top of photo) was swollen by rains at the end of the week and during the weekend, but water levels fell Sunday
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Genoa, Italy is cleaning up after Liguria’s Friday floods, which followed those of a week earlier centred around nearby Spezia. Four people are reported dead and scores injured after flash floods 4 November.
France’s Var region was hard hit by floods over the weekend, with a retired couple missing and presumed dead after their car was washed away in flooding. Le Monde reports that 1,300 people were evacuated, with more than 300 ml of rain falling in three days, an amount normally seen in three months.
Switzerland’s southern regions, notably Ticino, and some Alpine areas in other cantons were on high alert at the start of the weekend with water levels high, but by late Sunday Meteo Swiss had lifted the danger alerts, with water levels falling for the Rhone and Lakes Lugano and Majore.
Swiss natural disaster alerts are listed on a federal web page, www.dangers-naturels.ch
Chinese tourists overtake Italians, catching up with French, British
Chinese tourists on Mt Saentis 29 October, next to Switzerland's first mountain peak weather station, commissioned in 1882: on a clear day six countries are visible from this point
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss franc continues to have a strong impact on European and US visitors to Switzerland, with the number of overnight stays by foreigners in September down 6.8 percent compared to the same month a year earlier.
Foreigners accounted for a little more than half of the industry’s 3.3 million overnight stays in September.
The overall figure for the year to date is down 2 percent, but in September overnight stays fell 3.4 percent.
The decline in European stays continued, with Bern attributing this largely to the over-valued Swiss franc against sterling and the euro. Visits by foreigners were down 6 percent, but European visitors’ stays fell by 11 percent.
German tourist numbers were down 13 percent, British 13 percent, Dutch 12 and Italian 11 percent. US visitors are down 9.4 percent, although the number of overnight stays by Canadians rose
Chinese tourists to Switzerland: rapid increase as Alps tug Asians
Mt Saentis 30 October: a popular destination for German tourists, is attracting Chiense visitors
Asian numbers and in particular overnight stays by Chinese tourists continue to rise, with a 12 percent overall increase that includes a 43 percent increase by Chinese visitors, some 20,000 overnight stays. For the year to date, Chinese tourists show a 58.6 percent increase.
Germany remains by far Switzerland’s largest tourist client country, with some 470,000 overnights to date in September. The US was second with 172,000, Britain third with 152,000, France fourth with 100,000 – and then the surprise of China, with 67,000 overtaking Italy, with 65,000.
Wanted: British skiers, snowboarders, holiday fans and winter hikers
The British figures are likely to cause particular concern, with the crucial ski season coming up. Swiss statistics show 1.43 million overnights from January to the end of September, and the fourth quarter tends to be low, but the industry is holding its breath looking at winter ski season reservations.
British statistics register “visits” by its citizens abroad rather than overnight stays, and in 2010 the number of visits was down to 896,000 from a 2008 figure of 1.16 million. The first quarter of the year, with the ski season, saw 294,000 British visitors in 2011, compared to 350,000 a year earlier.
British tourists travelled again in the second quarter of 2011, but with the weakening pound, travel increased to North America, remained stable in the European Union and dropped to countries outside the EU, which includes Switzerland. Travel outside the EU during April to the end of June was at a level last seen in 2009 and before that, iln 2005.
Nyon train station, scene of attempted robbery
NYON, SWITZERLAND – Police nabbed three thieves from Lyons, France, ages 17, 27 and 28, who were caught in the act of trying to break into a safe at the Nyon train station at 03:00 Thursday morning 27 October, Vaud police announced Monday. A shot was fired accidentally in the fight between authorities and the would-be robbers, but no one was injured.
A train station employer was putting away papers when she heard a noise and spotted the trio trying to break into the area where she worked. She slipped out a back door and alerted police.
Municipal police arrived quickly and spotted one of the three, masked and carrying a lockpick, trying to leave. The police and suspect tangled and an accomplice came to the aid of the first man. At that point one of the two police offcers pulled out a gun and issued a warning. The first suspect then hit the officer in the head with a metal bar and one of the men tried to grab the police officer’s weapon, accidentally firing it in the process.
The other officer came to his colleague’s rescue, after having arrested the third suspect, and the remaining two were brought under control as police reinforcements arrived.
All three are known to the police in France, where they stole the car they were driving. Vaud police say Swiss authorities are working with their French counterparts to determine the extent of the illegal activities of the men.
The police officer who was hit in the head was hospitalized for treatment and released during the morning.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Greece is the latest country to consider a bilateral tax agreement with Switzerland, a move that will not please everyone in the European Community. Bern announced Thursday afternoon that “State Secretary Michael Ambühl and Ilias Plaskovitis, the general secretary in the Greek Ministry of Finance, conducted talks on a possible tax agreement between Switzerland and Greece. Both parties discussed the possibility of a tax agreement like the ones Switzerland signed a few weeks ago with Germany and the United Kingdom.”
Bern notes that “the aim is to regularize the assets held by Greek taxpayers in Swiss bank accounts in the past as well as to introduce a tax at source on future investment income. Switzerland would forward the tax revenue to the Greek authorities on an anonymous basis. In addition, mutual market access for financial services should be improved.”
The two governments will now need to decide if they are opening negotiations. But Greece, with its just-announced EU bailout, could be under pressure from the EU, which is not entirely happy with Switzerland’s agreements with individual EU countries, according to PwC’s bimonthly “EU Tax Newsletter” in September. “It is widely believed in Brussels that the European Commission’s President Barroso and the EU’s Tax Commissioner Semeta have missed out on an opportunity to make the case for European integration / the “Community” method and publicly oppose the bilateral agreements by Germany and the UK, as they objectively undermine the EU’s position vis-à-vis Switzerland regarding tax fraud and tax avoidance and harmful tax competition (EU-wide Code of Conduct on Business Taxation), and talks with the US regarding Fatca [foreign ], wrote Bob van der Made, PwC Netherlands.
Swiss exports, imports (Source: Swiss Statistical Office, 20.10.11)
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss exports and imports continued to expand in the first nine months of 2011, but with the rate of growth slowing down steadily and “losing strength” and reflecting the state of the world economy, the Swiss Statistical Office said Thursday morning in a press release.
Exports grew by 2.4 percent from January to September, CHF147 billion, with growth in the first two quarters but a decline in the third.
The growth was achieved despite falling prices, down 10.7 percent in real terms, although without including pharmaceuticals, prices fell by 7 percent.
Imports rose in the first nine months but by a weak 1 percent.
Switzerland showed a positive trade balance from January to September of CHF16.7b, a one-year 14.7 percent increase. A CHF17b surplus with Asia offset the CHF16.3b deficit with the European Union.
A bright spot: orders from Italy, France and Germany rose by 4 percent in September.
Francois Hollande (photo, Margaux L'Hermite on flickr)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - François Hollande is the candidate for president in France, following his strong win Sunday 16 October in the second round of the Socialist Party primaries. His 56.3 percent victory gave him a clear sign of party support, compared to party leader Martine Aubry’s 43.6 percent. She carried only four departments in the north of France, with Hollande having the lead in the rest of the country and building the number of voters he had in the first round of the primaries.
Aubry threw her support firmly behind Hollande after the vote, with estimates for the number of voters at 2.2 to 2.5 million.
Hollande, who represents Correze, in the centre of France, put the accent on youth and education in his acceptance speech, promising to reverse President Nicolas Sarkozy’s school funding cuts while noting that the road ahead to bump Sarkozy promises to be a difficult one. Leftist Liberation notes that if he wins the presidential election he will be only the second Socialist to do so under the Fifth Republic, with another François, Mitterand, as the first.
The low-key new candidate, called Monsieur Normal by French media, is the father of four; his former partner and mother of his children, Ségolène Royal, was the Socialist candidate in 2007.
Links to other sites: Canadian Business, Le Monde (Fre), Liberation (Fre), Guardian
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - The referee did his best to spoil the Rugby World Cup semi-final between Wales and France in the 18th minute,15 October. Welsh captain Sam Warburton was given a red card for a dangerous tackle when he upended a French player in an exuberant way but one which barely justified a yellow card, and certainly not a red. The Welsh fourteen held the French, scored the only try of the game and could have won had one of their kicks succeeded. Francois Pienaar, ex-captain of the World Cup winning Springboks was livid while commentating: accusing the ref of killing the game and allowing one of the weaker teams of the World Cup to get through to the final. Even the French TV commentators seemed rather apologetic about playing weakly but still going through, where the French team will meet either the New Zealand All Blacks or the Australian Wallabies.
Links to other sites: Rugby World Cup, Guardian, Telegraph
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Two people died Friday morning when a small plane crashed in northern canton Vaud, the 29-year-old pilot, resident in England, and his 40-year-old passenger, from Neuchatel. The plane was found late in the afternoon, after four helicopters spent several hours searching. It crashed in the forest near Fontaine-sur-Grandson and both people died at the scene of the accident.
The plane had left Colombier in Neuchatel at 10:35 and was heading for Amiens, France when air traffic controllers lost contact with the pilot, about 30 minutes into the flight.
Vaud Police are looking for anyone with information that will help investigators: telephone +41 21 644 4444.
PARIS, FRANCE – France’s Socialists face the choice of Martine Aubry and Francois Hollande for the 2012 presidential election, after a weekend vote. Arnaud Montebourg and Ségolène Royal failed to attract as many voters as Hollande, the former party chairman who received 39 percent of the vote, and the mayor of Lille and former French labour secretary Aubry, with 31 percent.
The first-ever open primary by the nearly 100-year-old party pulled in some 2 million voters worldwide. The two leading candidates face off 16 October and the winner that day will join the presidential race against President Nicolas Sarkozy and other candidates.
The Socialists at one point looked set to have Dominique Strauss-Kahn as their presidential candidate, before he was charged (with charges later dropped) with raping a hotel maid in New York in early 2011.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND – The Rugby World Cup came down to the final four after some hard fought matches, 9th and 10th October. Australia edged past the current champions, South Africa 11-9 in a closely fought and bruising encounter. New Zealand had to struggle in the first half but then upped the tempo to beat Argentina 33-10. The Saturday games saw a revived French team sweep past a disappointing England 19-12 while Wales put on a fine show to beat Ireland 22-10. The semi-finals will feature the All-Blacks against the Wallabies and Wales face the much improved French side.
Links to other sites: Rugby World Cup, Telegraph
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND – The preliminary stage of the Rugby World Cup ended on 2 October and it is already certain that the semi-finals and the final, to be held 23 October at 10:00 Swiss time, will be contests between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. England secured top place in Pool B and sent Scotland home early with a narrow and stodgy 16-12 win over their northern neighbours. France looked out of form as they were beaten 14-19 by Tonga but still qualified as second behind New Zealand in Pool A. England will now face France for the third sussessive World Cup: the English won the last two. Argentina came second in the group and will face the mighty All Blacks next. South Africa won all their games to win Pool D and will now meet Australia. Wales came second in the Pool after losing by a single point to South Africa but were in awesome form as they swept past Fiji 60-0. They next play Ireland, which beat Australia on the way to the top of Pool C.
Links to other sites: Rugby World Cup, Telegraph,
LYONS, FRANCE – The Thursday evening arrest of Michel Neyret, second-in-command of Lyons’s judicial police, with his wife, was followed swiftly by the arrest Friday morning of three senior police officers, two in Lyons, one in Grenoble. The group is being detained on suspicion of corruption and running a huge drug trafficking ring.
The scandal has added spice, according to TF1, with the arrest, also Friday 30 September, of a swindler who is well known to French police. He reportedly loaned luxury cars to Neyret while the assistant police chief vacationed in the south of France.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Left in France over the weekend won control of the Senate, putting the brakes on President Sarkozy’s programmes and promising a tough fight for the 2012 presidential campaign. The latest in a series of strikes over economic reform measures comes Tuesday 27 September when teachers’ unions stage a walkout.
Primary school teachers who are striking must announce their participation 48 hours in advance and the rate varies between 20 and 54 percent, according to the unions, reports Le Monde (Fre).
French ministers are meeting Wednesday to review the 2012 budget, which includes cutting 14,000 teaching posts. If the job cuts go through it would bring to 80,000 the number of teachers lost from 2007 to 2012, while the number of students has steadily increased, points out the French daily.
Dominique Strauss Kahn will meet French accuser - Photo source IMF
PARIS, FRANCE – The Parquet, or public prosecutor in Paris, has ordered Tristane Banone, 32-year-old journalist, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn to face each other in court, after hearing each in preliminary interviews. DSK, as he is popularly known, resigned as head of the International Monetary Fund while arrested in New York on charges (later dropped) of raping a hotel maid, earlier this year.
Banone has accused him of trying to rape her in 2003, in a case that continues to grip French media, in part because of DSK’s political ambitions.
Each is accusing the other of lying and DSK is bringing charges of defamation against Banone.
The court has not set a date for the two to meet before a judge.
One person was killed and four were hurt in an explosion at a French nuclear waste site on Monday 12 September, but officials said there was no radioactive leak and the authorities quickly declared the emergency over.
L’Autorite de Surete Nucleaire, France’s nuclear safety agency, says it appears a furnace exploded at the Centraco nuclear waste treatment site.
The blast was completely contained within the furnace, which is used to melt waste.
The oven, used to melt low-level radioactive waste, blew up and caught fire but no radioactive or chemical leaks occurred, said power company Électricité de France SA, whose subsidiary operates the furnace.
Links to: La Provence (Fr), CTV, The Wall Street Journal
PARIS, FRANCE – An explosion at the Codolet nuclear power plant in the south of France, near Marcoule, early Monday 12 September killed one person and injured four others. One person is in critical condition.
The French government says there are no leaks or outside contamination from the accident in an area where nuclear waste is treated.
The explosion occurred at a furnace where waste is melted down. The plant treats very slightly and slightly radioactive materials.
Soft drinks to have health prevention tax, like alcohol and tobacco
PARIS, FRANCE – The 2012 presidential election in France has fresh economic fodder for its debates, with the Left moving quickly to criticize the country’s new austerity plan. Prime Minister François Fillon Wednesday 24 August unveiled details of the belt-tightening programme, which aims to cut costs in order to allow France to maintain its dept payment programme. The new programme calls for a 1 billion euros cut in spending in 2011 and 11 billion in 2012.
The austerity programme is the result of slower than expected growth, with 1.75 percent now predicted for both 2011 and 2012, down from earlier predictions of 2.0 and 2.25, reports Le Monde.
Unions and Left-wing politicians are decrying the cuts as a patchwork solution that will have the greatest impact on the poor, who can least afford it. The very wealthiest will be taxed more under the programme and, a detail that has caught the media’s eye, soft drinks will be taxed alongside alcohol and tobacco, in an effort to reduce obesity.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The 25-year-old man who has been on the run from Orbe since he escaped police after seriously injuring two of them with hot oil has been arrested in France, near Lons-le-Saunier. He threw boiling oil on the officers as they surrounded his apartment, where he briefly held his wife hostage and threatened to kill the police who initially came to answer the domestic violence call.
French national gendarmerie officers arrested him at 12:50 Wednesday after working with Swiss police to identify areas he would be likely to head for. He broke into a home belonging to family members near Picarreau in the French département of Jura. He fled the house on a bike but was stopped by police in Crançot, on the national highway heading in the direction of Lons-le-Saunier.
