GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 24-year-old German man arrested in Los Angeles has been charged with 37 counts of arson in relation to a spate of more than 50 fires, mostly cars, in the past week. Harry Burkhardt is also wanted in Germany on suspicion of arson in Neukirchen, near Frankfurt: the family home burned down in October 2011.
Burkhardt was evicted from a US courtroom after his mother was arrested for a traffic offense 28 December and appeared in court, where her son made a scene and shouted obscenities at Americans. Her arrest resulted in Germany being alerted; she is wanted on several counts of fraud in the pair’s home country.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - A 48-year-old German climber died after falling 20 metres into a crevasse while climbing the Allelinhorn near Saas Fee. He and his guide, also German, had left the Mittelallelin lift station and skied across the Feeglatscher.
At about 3,700 metres the climber lost a pole when they were on a very steep bit. The guide told him not to move while he fetched it, because just a few metres further there was a crevasse that runs the length of the glacier. He unroped himself and took off his skis and backpack. When he returned, his client, who had moved from the spot, had fallen into the glacier.
The rescue team that was called was too late and could only declare the man dead at the scene of the accident, say canton Valais police.
Cantonal vote also rejects education initiative
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – A low turnout of voters in canton Vaud, 40 percent, Sunday 4 September rejected a proposal to give long-term foreign residents the right to vote, with 69 percent saying no to the initiative that was supported by the political left. If the measure had passed Vaud would have been the first canton to extend voting in communes to the cantonal level.
Voters rejected some changes to the education system in favour of a counter-proposal that will stream weaker students in with general courses starting in 2013 and that will notably require all students to study English and German, starting earlier than they currently do.
Voting linked to citizenship duties
The proposal would have allowed foreigners resident in Switzerland for at least 10 years, with three of those in the canton, to elect officials and vote on issues at the cantonal level.
Swissinfo cites Philippe Leuba, head of the Vaud cantonal interior office, as saying “the vote could not be interpreted as a rejection of foreigners”.
The government, encouraging long-term foreigners to become Swiss, had recommended before the vote that citizens oppose it, saying it is wrong for foreigners to separate the right to vote from the broader responsibilities that go with citizenship.
Secondary students to be grouped by ability for mathematics, languages
Voters also rejected an initiative called “School 2010: save the schools” but accepted a counter-initiative called Leo, proposed by cantonal authorities. Leo calls for a much-debated part of the secondary system to disappear, the options programme for weaker students starting in year 7, who will be streamed in with general classes starting in 2013.
Leo will also require all students to study German and English, starting at an earlier age. They will be grouped by ability for mathematics, French and German.
Zurich Airport tightens rules for cross-border taxi rides
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – German and Austrian taxis have until July 2012 to freely drop off and pick up Swiss clients who call for them at Zurich Airport, but 1 July of next year new rules kick in.
The cross-border taxi business picked up once the Schengen Accord opened the borders, but Swiss federal authorities have been working since the start of 2011 with the canton, the city and the airport to put order into the taxi business.
Taxis, under the new rules, will be allowed to drop off and pick up fares for 90 days in any given year, after which they are free to drop off clients, but not to pick them up at Zurich Airport.
SION, SWITZERLAND – A 46-year-old German man died near Loetschental, in canton Valais, about 13:00 Monday 4 July, when his kayak overturned for reasons that aren’t clear. Valais police say he was travelling down the Lonza river near Loetschental with two others, another German and a Swiss man, each in a kayak, when the accident occurred. His companions pulled him out of the river and tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him.
The doctor aboard an Air Zermatt emergency helicopter pronounced him dead at the scene.
German media’s campaign against the country’s popular defense minister resulted 1 March in his resignation, but he has pointed the finger at the media for making it impossible to do his job, rather than at the root of the problem, a doctoral thesis that was shown to be heavily copied. The Wall St Journal calls Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg “a charismatic Bavarian aristocrat who charmed the electorate and was widely seen as a future chancellor” until he withdrew from politics on Tuesday amid the controversy over his doctoral dissertation.
Guttenberg initially denied plagiarism allegations, calling them absurd, but Bayreuth University last week revoked his doctoral degree, saying he had violated academic standards by not adequately citing sources. The minister has admitted his dissertation was flawed, but he has not admitted to plagiarism.
Links to other sites: AP/Yahoo, Deutsche Welle (En), Reuters
Bern, Switzerland and Athens, Greece (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss embassy in Athens received a package with a bomb Tuesday 2 November, one of five embassies in the city to receive such packages. The bomb sent to the Swiss was not thrown into the courtyard, nor did it explode, contrary to initial international media reports, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern, although it sent out a flame .
The news comes the day after a young Greek man was arrested on suspicion of having sent a package, intercepted in Greece, to French President Nicolas Sarkozy as well as to the Belgian, Dutch and Mexican embassies Monday. An employee in a courier delivery service was injured when one of them exploded at the company’s office.
The other four packages sent Tuesday, to the Bulgarian, Chilean, German and Russian embassies, were dismantled by bomb specialists from the Greek police.
Metal was detected in the package delivered to the Swiss embassy, prompting a check. Based on initial information, the local embassy team at the gate, considering the package suspect, threw it into a courtyard. It is unclear if the flame shot out when it was thrown.
(Reuters video) The European Union has two new leaders, in posts created by the Lisbon Treaty, which goes into effect 1 December 2009 following final approval by Ireland and the Czech Republic. Herman van Rompuy, Belgian prime minister, was named President of the European Council, a two-and-a-half year job. He was elected by a majority vote by the 27 members states. A key part of his job is to chair meetings of the European Commission. Catherine Ashton was made EU high representative for foreign affairs. She has been the EU’s trade commissioner for the past year.
The election of the pair, both of whom have relatively low profiles in international affairs, has been praised by the US, France and Germany but those who were hoping to see the first European president play a strong role are expressing disappointment. Turkey’s leaders are unhappy with Rompuy, who resisted Turkish membership and the UK media reaction has been more puzzled than enthusiastic.
Links to other sites: BBC, Die Welt (Ger), Guardian, UK, Le Monde (Fre), Le Temps (Fre), Times, UK
Update 31 August 06:30 Martigny and Valais, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The week’s end death and serious injury toll from non-road accidents in the Lake Geneva area in Switzerland was high, with 2 young men in critical condition after a swimming pool accident in Martigny and a diving accident in Prangins, and three people dead from mountain climbing accidents.
An American student, 20, is in critical condition, reports the Tribune de Geneve, following a diving accident Sunday afternoon at the Plage de Promenthoux in Prangins. Diving is banned along the lakefront in the area because of the shallow water. He was flown by a Rega helicopter to the Lucerne paraplegic trauma centre after receiving emergency treatment at the site of the accident.
A 23-year-old and two friends climbed the municipal pool fence at 05:00 Saturday, according to 24 Heures, and once in the pool two of them noticed that their friend was missing.
Mother and baby, Lake Geneva
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nathan and Emma win the stakes for most popular names for babies born in French-speaking Switzerland in 2008, but if you want to follow the German speakers you’ll go for Tim and Lara.
Down in Ticino and Graubuenden’s Italian-speaking areas, the winners are Alessandro and Giulia, reports news agency ats.
Three and a half years of talks have finally ended, with Porsche and VW agreeing to merge, but with the independence of all 10 brands maintained. Porsche had been trying to take over VW, a move resisted by Lower Saxony, which owns 20 percent of VW, and other shareholder groups. Financial Times
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The German consulate general in Geneva has announced it will cease operations at the end of June 2009 and that all consular services for Swiss residents are being moved to Bern.
A German couple who appear to have abandoned their three young children in a pizza parlor in Italy have been found by police outside Aosta, across the border from Switzerland, and are being questioned. They left their car outside a pizza parlor and went outside to smoke, then never returned for the children, believed to be ages 4, 2 and 8 months. BBC and background The Scotsman
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – In a lengthy, ongoing Swiss educational debate over which languages to learn at what stages of schooling, Swiss German cantons in the centre of the country now offer clear evidence that learning English in the third year of primary school helps with French when children take it up as a third language of study two years later.
