AUGUSTA, GEORGIA, USA - Bubba Watson, from Bagdad , Florida, sneaked past the field to win a tie-break at the Masters, 8 April The South African Louis Oosthuizen started the final day with an albatross on the second, three under par, and then held on but was caught in the last few holes. He led the field for most of the round despite pressure from Americans Matt Kuchar and Bubba Watson and Phil Mikkelson. Watson pulled even at the final holes to take the match to tie-break. Both just missed their putts for birdies on the first play-off hole, and then both went way off the fairway on the second. Watson hit an amazing recovery shot to make the green in two while Oosthuizen again missed a putt, leaving the American with a simple two putts to take the tournament.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Tensions are rising globally over push and shove tactics by Iran and Israel that may involve the US. Two attacks on Israelis Monday 13 February, one in India and the other in Georgia, were blamed by Israel on Iran, while Iran says its staged them to smear its name.
Four people were injured.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted by state media Saturday as saying that his country will unveil nuclear “major achievements” in the next few days. He has been sharply criticized in the recent past on suspicion that Iran is developing nuclear weapons and not just the peaceful energy tools the president claims.
“Tensions hit a boiling point weeks ago when Iran conducted military exercises in the Persian Gulf after threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial shipping lane for oil,” reports CNN.
Ahmadinejad’s announcement came during public celebrations of the country’s 1979 revolution which overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Aljazeera reports that “Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister in Gaza, gave a speech at Ahmadinejad’s side vowing that his Islamist movement would continue its ‘resistance’ to Israel.”
Israel is reported to be threatening to attack Iran, a report that the Washington Post met with “The language reflected a deepening rift between Israeli and US officials over the urgency of stopping Iran’s nuclear programme, which Western intelligence officials and nuclear experts say could soon put nuclear weapons within the reach of Iran’s rulers. Although accepting the gravity of the Iranian threat, US officials fear being blindsided by an Israeli strike that could have widespread economic and security implications and might only delay, not end, Iran’s nuclear pursuits.”
Links to other sites: Iran Press TV, Jerusalem Post, NY Times, Times of India
With luck, Irene is a name that will be used again
Hurricane Irene, 25 August - click on image to view larger (photo, Nasa/Goes)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – This is the moment to hope that Irene doesn’t join retirees Katrina, Mitch and Tracy, storms that were so violent their names were taken off the Atlantic hurricanes list, according to Geneva-based WMO (World Meteorological Organization). Irene is currently battering the northern Bahamas as a category 3 hurricane and it is expected to move towards North Carolina by Saturday, after dumping 150-300mm of rain in the Bahamas, says to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.
The storm centre is, for now, expected to miss Florida and Georgia.
Irene is the first storm of the season, which is expected to have 7 to 10 hurricanes. Three to five of those, says meteorologists in Geneva, are likely to be major hurricanes.
Irene’s name was selected from one of six lists used to name Atlantic tropical storms. The lists were created in 1953 and are managed by a WMO committee. Only women’s names appeared until 1979, when men’s names were added. The names are used on a rotating basis, unless a storm is so deadly that it must be retired, the case with Katrina, which caused enormous damage in New Orelans in the US in 2005 and killed nearly 2,000 people.
Igor and Thomas were retired in 2010 after they caused deaths and heavy damage. They will be replaced on the official lists by Ian and Tobias, available in 2016.
Nasa called Irene a major storm Thursday 25 August, saying its length is about one-third the length of the US coastline.
Storms that have ravaged Alabama and other parts of the southeastern United States have now killed nearly 300 people, reports CNN, with the governor of Alabama saying that 131 deaths in that state alone have been officially recorded. Some of the largest tornadoes in memory ripped through the South late Wednesday and early Thursday 28 April. Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Virginia had declared states of emergency even before the extent of the damage became clear. Entire neighbourhoods were flattened in parts of Alabama and more than 360,000 people were without power Thursday morning after the funnels, some of them an extraordinary mile wide, swept through several cities. NPR reports that it is the largest number of deaths from a single tornado “outbreak” since 315 died in 1973.
Links to other sites: al.com (Alabama news), NPR
You Tube carries several videos of the tornadoes in several parts of Alabama, including this 8-minute one, with a meteorologist from Birmingham ABC TV commenting live as a tornado sweeps into downtown Tuscaloosa, Alabama:
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The question of UNHCR help for what Russia refers to as Georgian refugees in Abkhazia, the break-away Georgian republic, is on the agenda in Geneva 16 December, with the 14th round of talks on security in the Georgia-South Ossettia region underway. Ria Novosti reports that “The former Georgian republic of Abkhazia will press for the UN to register Georgian refugees on its territory at security talks in Geneva, the delegation’s chief Vyacheslav Chirikba said on Wednesday,” noting that Georgia has repeatedly blocked attempts by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to register up to 60,000 refugees in Abkhazia.”
Geneva-based UNHCR in June 2010 published a report on the precarious situation in Abkhazia two years after the war ended. The area was the focus of a new approach to aid and fundraising by UNHCR in 2008, with UNHCR providing basic aid for 45,000 refugees at the time, and seeking to provide more aid.
The Moscow Times reports that parliamentary committees in Georgia have been meeting to plan ways to “destabilize” the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, following their failure to convince the Lausanne-based IOC (International Olympic Committee) to move the Games elsewhere because of continuing tensions between Georgia and Russia. “Georgia, which fought a five-day war with Russia after attempting to retake its breakaway province of South Ossetia in 2008, appealed in November that year to the International Olympics Committee to relocate the Olympics from Sochi because of the possibility of conflict in neighboring Abkhazia, another separatist Georgian region. The committee ignored the request,” write the newspaper, which quotes Maxim Agerkov, an analyst with a think tank, as saying that “The only possible option is destabilizing the situation in the region,” and that Georgia could use existing local ethnic conflicts and separatists to influence the situation.
Links to other sites: The Voice of Russia, Pravda
Date for compliance with special US treaty covering UBS draws near
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The Swiss Federal Council has approved four double taxation treaties, with Poland, The Netherlands, Japan and Turkey, all of which now conform to OECD requirements. The governing council of seven has forwarded these to the Swiss Parliament, which can consider an optional vote to approve the treaties. Switzerland earlier this year gave final approval to 10 0ther double taxation agreements.
The government also approved two completely new agreements, with Georgia and Tajikistan, but noting that “because a speedy entry into force of the DTAs was sought, Switzerland, Georgia and the Republic of Tajikistan agreed to waive the extended administrative assistance clause in accordance with the OECD standard for the time being.”
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) in Geneva is sending emergency aid teams to 75,000 Uzbeks who have crossed the border from Kyrgyzstan into Uzbekistan since Friday.
“We have agreed with the Uzbek government to support their efforts and assist tens of thousands, mostly women and children seeking safety in Uzbekistan,” notes UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres. The UNHCR emergency team includes experts on operations, field officers and logistics. It is scheduled to deploy immediately, the organization says in a news release Monday afternoon. The UNHCR is also preparing an airlift from its emergency stockpile in Dubai.
The refugees continue to flee from violence, including men on the loose with hatchets, as ethnic unrest in the area flairs. Georgia’s minister for re-integration, Temur Iakobashvili, called the violence Russian-inspired “ethnic cleansing” of Uzbeks, according to Civil.Ge, a Georgian news media. Aljazeera’s reporter on the border says the fleeing Uzbeks are making claims that are difficult to substantiate, that Kyrgystan’s military are joining in some of the attacks. The country’s interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, in place since early April, says an outside third party is needed to calm the situation and that she has contacted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to ask for help.
Al Jazeera video
Russia has announced it will station troops permanently in the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia, in a meeting with Abkhazian leader Sergei Bagapsh in Moscow, 17 February. The two did not announce a time frame. Russia fought a brief war with Georgia in August 2008 over two regions Georgia considers its own and which Russia has recognized as independent. Georgia calls the Russian military presence an “occupation”.
Links to other sites: Al-Jazeera, AP, Ria Novosti
The breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia began to use Russia’s international direct dialling phone code, +7, Sunday 15 November, instead of Georgia’s, +995, in a further break with Georgia. Russia and Georgia fought a war in July over South Ossetia, another breakaway region in Georgia.
“The old codes will work until Jan 1. Then they will be turned off and people will use the new codes of independent Abkhazia,” said Nadir Bitiev, a senior aide to Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh, reports Reuters. Two-thirds of the International Telecommunications Union‘s (ITU) members must agree to admitting a new member. Only the Russian Federation recognizes Abkhazia as an independent country, along with Venezuela and Nicaragua. Moscow Times
Siberian bear cubs (Photo: RANDO)
Siberian bear cubs, welcomed at Bern's Tierpark (Photo: RANDO)
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, arrived in Bern 21 September to military honours and a town that was completely locked down for security reasons. It is the first state visit to Switzerland by a Russian head of state. Medvedev thanked his host, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz, for representing Russia’s interests in its conflict with Georgia, and he suggested that Swiss neutrality might enable Switzerland to act as a go-between to build bridges between Russia and Nato in order to advance Russia’s new vision for security in Europe.
Switzerland’s programme for economic cooperation with Eastern Europe has supported the transition process in the Russian Federation since 1993. The focus has been mainly on building the private sector, sustainable development of natural resources and governance issues such as migration, human trafficking and prison management.
Switzerland has been working with Russia on sustainable forest projects for several years, part of the economic cooperation programme.
Four agreements were signed at the end of the first day of the two-day visit, covering visas, repatriation, aid in cases of disaster, and a memorandum on sport. The two countries have now signed several treaties.
Flushing Meadows, NY, USA (GenevaLunch) – Roger Federer will face Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the US Open, a remake of the 2008 semis, after defeating Robin Soederling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(6). The win, in occasionally conditions Wednesday night 9 September, gives him his 22 consecutive semi-final game in a major tournament.
US teen surprise star Melanie Oudin, a relatively short 17-year-old from Georgia who made it to the quarter-finals against great odds, was knocked out by Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, number 9 in the world, 6-2, 6-2. Underdog Oudin, wearing pink and yellow shoes with “believe” on the back, charmed the US public during the Open.
Related: Roger Federer site, Yahoo Sports
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland moved to the top of its qualifying group for the 2010 Fifa World Cup with a 2-0 win over Greece in their match. The Swiss scored two goals in the final 10 minutes after playing much of the game with an extra man as Vyntra was sent off for receiving two yellow cards.
WBC former welterweight champion Vernon Forrest, 39, known for being an articulate and civic-minded citizen in a sport not always known for these, was shot dead at a gas station in Atlanta, Georgia. He had chased thieves who tried to rob him as he filled the tank of his Jaguar. Atlanta AJC
Shadu, age 3, has lost his mother, DR Congo (image: ICRC June 2009, P Yazdi)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – More than half of the civilians directly touched by the world’s eight major conflicts have been displaced, and half say they have lost contact with a family member. One in five have lost their livelihood.
These are some of the findings of a statistical and interview set of surveys ordered by the International Red Cross (ICRC), based in Geneva, to ascertain the extent to which civilians today are affected by major conflicts.
The greatest fears mentioned by people surveyed:
Russian government officials revoked the diplomatic accreditation of two Canadian diplomats working in Nato’s Moscow office. This action was in response to the dismissal of two Russian envoys working in Nato’s headquarters in Brussels. The diplomatic quarrel stems from Nato’s military exercises in Georgia that the Russians see as a provocation, according to a BBC report.
Augusta, Georgia, USA (GenevaLunch) – Argentinian Angel Cabrera became the 2009 Masters champion as 48-year-old American Kenny Perry fell at the last two holes to spoil his chance of becoming the oldest ever winner of the famous green jacket. Cabrera won a three way play-off with Perry and Chad Campbell.
Update 9 March (transcript from US Mission in Geneva) Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - “Nothing was off the table,” said a clearly pleased US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had the first words at a press conference with her counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. She characterized their wide-ranging meeting as “a very productive meeting of minds.”
It all happened over what Clinton described as an “excellent dinner” with, on the table, vegetable soup, grilled turbot fillet with carrots and turnips, chocolate molleux with wine, coffee and tea.
Bern, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Switzerland has signed agreements with both Russia and Georgia to represent the interests of each with the other, a diplomatic service called “good offices,” which Switzerland has traditionally supplied to several countries with strained or severed diplomatic relations.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Russia, Georgia and the two Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, all involved in fighting in the area in recent months, Wednesday sat in the same room in Geneva and talked about possible solutions to end the disputes – a major change from the first effort at talks in October 2008, when arguments over who should be allowed to sit at the table ended the meeting before Russia and Georgia were even in the same room together.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Diplomacy has much to do with differing perceptions, and the 15 October meeting in Geneva to resolve the Russia-Georgia crisis provided a good example of this: either the talks were halted or they were suspended, or they ended as planned but with nothing decided and another meeting will take place in November. It all depends who you ask.
The European Union has begun monitoring a withdrawal of Russian troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two regions that broke away from Georgia earlier in 2008. Some 200 monitors from 22 nations have arrived in the area to observe the withdrawal which Russia says will be completed by 10 October. BBC
© 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.
