Friday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Japan’s Foreign Minister Taro Aso could be in line to be the next prime minister, after announcing he will run for his party’s presidency. CNN
• Asif Ali Zardari, The widower of Benazir Bhutto, former head of Pakistan, is expected to be elected president on Saturday, despite being shadowed by past unproven charges of corruption and little experience in political leadership. International Herald Tribune
• Condoleezza Rice begins a tour of North Africa Friday with a "historic" visit to Libya, the first by an American secretary of state since 1953, agreed to following Libya’s promise to move hundreds of millions of dollars into a humanitarian account, compensation money for the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie airplane bombing. The money has not yet been paid. BBC
• Moscow has had to "shore up the rouble" by intervening heavily, reports the Financial Times, in the wake of what analysts say is $21 billion in foreign capital taken out of the country to support the fight in Georgia.
• US lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to an additional four years on corruption charges, to be served at the same time as the six years behind bars he is already doing. He is credited with helping the Republicans lose control of Congress in a far-reaching scandal. Reuters

Thursday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Sarah Palin’s first public speech as John McCain’s choice for vice-president wowed the Republican convention crowd in St Paul, Minnesota, almost overshadowing the fact that McCain was voted the Republican’s official candidate for president. CNN, International Herald Tribune
• The US is close to filing a case at the World Trade Organisation against China for export restrictions on steel; the European Union already has three investigations underway against China for dumping. Financial Times
• Tropical storm Hanna is heading for the Bahamas, where it could hit Haiti very hard, a country that has already been badly battered this year, with three major storms in 21 days killing 170 people, leaving thousands homeless in a situation the president says is a "catastrophe." BBC
• Serena Williams beat her sister Venus in a "heart-stopping" game, writes Reuters, in "the greatest duel yet" between the sisters: 7-6 7-6.

Wednesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• International tennis: Roger Federer made it through his game at the US Open in New York, USA, in a "thrilling game" where both his strength as a player and his recent frailty were on display (BBC), while Rafael Nadal and the Williams sisters are expected to put on a real show Wednesday, Reuters writes.
• US Republicans: Palin continues to lead the Republican convention news, with a New York Times article on her odd start in politics, the Huffington Post carrying numerous blogs sounding off on the pregnant daughter subject and other Palin matters, and Reuters pointing out that her appearance at the convention Wednesday will give most Americans their first opportunity to see the Alaska governor. CBS is checking out the rumours that she was a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, saying it looks like maybe it was her husband, not the governor, who belonged to the separatist group. The Guardian in the UK kindly lifted the focus from the pregnant teenage daughter to Governor Palin’s husband’s arrest 20 years ago for drunk under the influence of alcohol, at age 22.
• US forces appear to have been involved in an attack that killed 15 people in Pakistan, just over the border from Afghanistan. BBC
• India is starting a major rescue and aid operation in the face of major flooding, as criticism of its slow and too-weak response continues at home and abroad. CNN
• Coca-cola is offering $2.5 million for a Chinese juice company, the largest-ever foreign buyout of a Chinese firm, if it goes ahead. Beijing-based Huiyuan had 2007 sales of $380 million and owning it would give the US beverage multinational a strong footing in China. International Herald Tribune
• A man was arrested in Washington state, not far from the Canadian border, after a shooting spree that killed six people and injured two others. Reuters
• [Reuters video] Chopsticks in pure gold for $7,000: what more could you want? If you live in China, one Japanese company figures, quite a lot. They’ve manufactured a $1 million 13-piece dining set, all gold, aimed mainly at the very wealthy in China, the world’s largest gold producer.

Updated 17:00  Tuesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• A CCTV security camera in the home of Christopher Foster, a financially troubled businessman in Shropshire, England, caught him with a rifle, "leaving his burning stable block," reports the Telegraph in the UK. The bodies of Foster’s wife and presumably of his 15-year-old daughter (not yet officially identified), both shot, were found in the ruins of their mansion. Foster’s body has also been identified.
• Vaud, Switzerland tennis player Stanislaus Wawrinka lost to a strong-playing Andy Murray in the US Open 6-1 6-3 6-3, "guaranteeing [Murray's] highest ever world ranking of No5," reports the Guardian, UK.
• Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej of Thailand has announced emergency measures with protestors still occupying his official compound: no public gatherings are allowed and no media reports that undermine public security – but a curfew for Bangkok is not part of it. Reuters
• Yasuo Fukuda, Japan’s primer minister, abruptly resigned Monday night after a year in office, repeating the action of his predecessor Shinzo Abe, who also surprised the world with his resignation, and plunging Japan "into further political confusion. International Herald Tribune
• The pound is weakening on poor economic news, falling to a new low against the euro, at £0.8139 and slipping under the $1.80 bar against the US dollar, to $1.7996. Financial Times
• Google’s new open source web browser, called Chrome, is set to compete with Firefox and Internet Explorer and is designed to be light and quick but especially good with the growing number of web applications like Google’s own map products. The beta version launches Tuesday. BBC

Updated, 18:45  Monday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Manchester City football club looks likely to pass from the hands of owner Thaksin  Shinawatra, former prime minister of Thailand who is currently facing corruption charges, to Abu Dhabi United Group. International Herald Tribune
• Hurricane Gustav has residents of New Orleans holding their breath, waiting for its expected midday landing, and the Republicans at the convention further north in Minnesota are cutting back on first day activities. CNN
• India is struggling to cope with 1.2 million people left homeless and hungry by massive flooding in the northeast of the country. BBC and BBC video
• Uncertainty clouds the handover announced for October, by the US government to the Shi-ite-led Iraqi government, of the mainly Sunni "Awakening Councils," unofficial forces that have helped keep order in parts of the country.  Reuters
• Commerzbank in Germany is buying Dresdner Bank for €9 billion from Allianz, in what the Financial Times refers to as "a deal that will re-shape the German banking industry." The new entity combines Germany’s second and third largest banks and creates a serious rival for Deutsche Bank, the country’s largest.
• [Reuters video] The body of Jill Foster, wife of missing businessman Christopher Foster and mother of missing Kirstie Foster, age 15, has been identified in the burned out ruins of a mansion in Shropshire, England. A man’s body has been found but not yet identified. Jill Foster was shot before the mansion, reportedly "barricaded" from the inside, was set on fire. Her husband’s company had recently gone into liquidation. Times, UK and Reuters video
• [Reuters video] A mass march with "tens of thousands" of people took place in Taipei, Taiwan, to protest President Ma Ying-Jeou’s moves to improve ties with China, saying he should concentrate on improving the economy. 

Friday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Tropical Storm Gustav is building into a hurrican that could hit New Orleans and oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico next week, but it is already being blamed for 68 deaths in the Caribbean, reports Reuters.
• Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the US of sparking the conflict in Georgia, saying that the naval buildup by the US off the Georgian coast aims to heighten tensions, and he linked the situation to the US presidential contest saying that someone wanted to create "a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of U.S. president." AFP, CNN (which interviewed Putin), Reuters
• "America, we are better than this," Barack Obama said in a clear reference to the policies of George W Bush for the past eight years. He told his audience Thursday night during his acceptance speech as presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in the US that Republican John McCain would simply be more of the same. New York Times
• Some three million of people on the Nepal-India border have been displaced by "extreme flooding" after a river burst its banks in some of the heaviest monsoon rains in decades. CNN

Thursday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• A human touch on the assembly line has the iPhone world charmed and chatting, after a woman in China who was testing an iPhone smiled into the camera and left her picture there. It ended up in the hands of a UK buyer but so far only one such phone has surfaced. Reuters
• Russia has failed to get the support it sought from fellow members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for its actions in Georgia when "when China and other Asian nations expressed concern about mounting tensions in the region." CNN
• Barack Obama has been nominated as its US presidential candidate by the Democratic Party. by acclamation, making him the first African-American to be a major party candidate. Obama, born in Hawaii, is the son of a Kenyan father and Kansas mother. New York Times
• Libyan authorities say two hijackers surrendered and released all passengers without any violence, after failing in their demand to take the Sudanese airplane they commandeered in Darfur to Paris. AFP
• A new study in German is impressing scientists in various fields with what appears to be clear evidence, using a survey of 8,500 cows spotted in 300 fields on Google Earth, that cows face north or south when at rest or grazing, showing that they sense the Earth’s magnetic field. NPR
• Eight survivors have told authorities in Malta that 71 other people, all illegal migrants, drowned when their boat sank in the Mediterranean. BBC
• The Dalai Lama has cancelled trips for the next three weeks, with his doctors saying the 73-year-old spiritual Tibetan leader is suffering from exhaustion. CNN
• Del Martin, a pioneer for gay rights in the US, has died of natural causes, age 87, just two months after marrying her partner of 55 years, Phyllis Lyon, age 84, under California’s new laws recognizing same-sex marriages. Reuters
• [Reuters video] Israel is "transfixed" by the case of a missing girl, Rose, whose grandfather married her French mother and is now accused of murdering the six-year-old, whose body has not been found.

Wednesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• [BBC video] Thai police are trying to end a "standoff," reports the BBC, with anti-government protestors who surrounded the prime minister’s residence Tuesday evening.
• Hilary Clinton received a standing ovation at the US Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado before throwing her support strongly behind Barack Obama for president. CNN
• Europe will begin its "long foreseen demographic decline in just
  seven years’ time – the point at which deaths exceed births," writes the International Herald Tribune, citing a report published Tuesday by the European Union. Britain and France will overtake Europe’s most populous nation, Germany, by 2050 and 2060, respectively.
• The euro fell to a six-month low against the dollar, mainly thanks to nervousness about the German economy and a gloomy outlook – the worst in 15 years – on the part of German business leaders. Financial Times
• Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former US presidential candidate John Edwards, is getting little sympathy following the public acknowledgement that he had an affair and lied about it. "It seems an odd way to treat a woman with incurable cancer wronged
  by a cheating husband, the latest in a series of deep hardships in life
  that includes the death of a teenage son," notes CNN

Updated 11:15 / Tuesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• The Russian parliament has voted in favour of independence for South Ossetia and Abkhazia, amid warnings from other countries about Georgia’s territorial integrity. International Herald Tribune
• Pakistan’s split coalition is prompting concerns about who the next president of the country will be, described by Reuters as a "nuclear-armed US ally." Security concerns are growing, with the latest incident a blast at a rally in southwestern Pakistan killing three people.
• Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says that the US government has agreed to withdraw all troops by the end of 2011, a date the US is not confirming. Reuters refers to the date as "the most explicit statement yet that the increasingly assertive Iraqi government expects the US presence to end in three years."
• Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe will open Parliament today with his Zanu PDF party in a minority for the first time since he came to power in 1981. Monday, Lovemore Moyo, a member of the opposition MDC, was elected speaker of the house and said that the parliament will no longer rubberstamp Mugabe’s policies. BBC
• The Democrats’ convention in Denver Colorado, warming up to officially nominate Barack Obama as their candidate, had a two-act show Monday evening, with Senator Edward Kennedy, senior party member who is fighting brain cancer, and Michelle Obama, wife of Barack, putting in appearances. International Herald Tribune
• The Rev Antonio Rubbi, an Italian priest, is organizing an online beauty contest for Catholic nuns, starting in September, saying they are "Nuns are a bit excluded." The public will be able to vote for those they consider models. CNN
• Monkeys experience the joy of giving, new research shows. Reuters

Monday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• The Beijing Olympics appears to be breaking several television viewing records, with Reuters reporting that it is "the most-watched US television event of all time" and that virtually all of China’s 1.3 billion people watched the final day on TV.
• Barack Obama’s Democratic Convention in Denver, Colorado, US, is starting to show the cracks in his presidential election strategy, writes John Ibbitson in an analysis in Canada’s The Globe & Mail
• Twenty-five people of the 90 people on board survived when a Boeing 747 crashed in a field shortly after takeoff in Bishkek, Kyrgystan. Xinhua
• Israel is freeing 200 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture just hours before a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. CNN
• The births have not been easy, reports Xinhua, but 19 panda cubs have been born in captivity since the Sichuan earthquake, which severely damaged the animals’ habitat.

Friday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Scotland Yard and the British government have confirmed that a memory stick has disappeared in a major data security breach: it contained records of 33,000 serious offenders, 10,000 "priority criminals" and for all prisoners in England and Wales their names with dates of birth, according to the Times, UK
• Barack Obama is expected to announce his running mate in the US presidential race Saturday at a rally in Springfield, Illinois, and with a text message at the same time. CNN
• Members of Awakening, a Sunni group of "former insurgents," are being arrested by the mainly Shiite government in Iraq, a concern to the United States government which has been paying many of the Sunni former fighters as citizen patrols. They "have been a major pillar in the decline in violence around the nation," writes the New York Times.
• Only 39 bodies had been identified by mid-afternoon Thursday as relatives began the difficult task of identifying victims from the Madrid air crash that killed 153 people Wednesday. The Spanish government says about half of the passengers lived in the Canary Islands, where the plane was headed. AFP
• The IOC (International Olympics Committee) is asking the international gymnastics federation to investigate the age of gymnastics gold medal winner He Kexin to ensure she is of age: an athlete must be 16 during the year in which Games are held. BBC
• A stillborn baby in Jerusalem was discovered to be alive after spending several hours in a hospital cooler. The baby girl, born at only 23 weeks into her mother’s pregnancy, was then rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit. Reuters
• Small clusters of blogger-activists with free Tibet flags, mostly Americans, have been detained by Chinese authorities in Beijing as the Olympics run into their final days. Reuters

Thursday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world.

• Investigators are searching for clues in the wreckage of the Spanair flight that crashed in Madrid Wednesday, killing 153 and injuring 19, many of them critically. The flight data and voice recorder were both found. Spain has declared three days of mourning. BBC
• Heavy monsoons in Uttar Pradesh, in northern India, have killed 74 people in the last 24 hours, according to official reports, bringing deaths from monsoons in India to 300 for this year. In Nepal last week 50,000 people fled their homes as monsoons hit. CNN
• The Competition Commission in Britain has heavily criticized BAA, which owns many of Britain’s airports, including three in London. According to The Times, the group will be forced to sell two of the three, meaning Stansted and Gatwick would probably be auctioned off in 2009. Financial Times
• Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, president of Sudan, has shrugged off charges of genocide by the International Criminal Court, saying they have strengthened his position. Mail & Guardian, South Africa
• Victoria may become the fourth state in Australia to ban smoking in cars carrying children, noting that "smoking in cars with the windows up can have twice the effect of being in a smoky pub." The Age, Australia
• Dutch swimmer Maarten van der Weijden won gold in the men’s 10 km open water race Thursday – just five years after returning to the sport following intensive treatments for leukemia. International Herald Tribune
• [Reuters video] A turtle at the zoo in Jerusalem has been put on skates to give her a relatively normal life despite paralyzed legs.

Updated 19:00. Wednesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world.

• [Update: 100 now feared dead, BBC] A Spanair plane, headed for the Canaries, swerved off the runway in Madrid and crashed, killing at least 45 people and seriously injuring another 19, according to early reports. Reuters, CBC
• Michael Bloomberg, mayor of New York, has suggested at an energy conference in Las Vegas that his city should install windmills on skyscrapers and bridges in New York. NY Daily News
• Sprinter Usain Bolt, in an extraordinary race, set a new 200 metres world record, just days after doing the same in 100 metres, making him the first man to do both in the same Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984. New York Times
• Monsanto’s GM research crops in France have been totally destroyed by a group of about 100 people, the company said in Paris Wednesday. The crops have been hit by anti-GM crop "militants" at several sites, first in June and most recently last week. AFP, Fre and Organic Consumers Association
• Nato on Wednesday accused Russia of not respecting the ceasefire agreement with Georgia, but Russia’s foreign minister charged that Nato with being biased. CNN
• At least 43 people have died and police report another 45 injured after an explosives-filled car crashed into a police academy 60 miles east of Algiers. Most of those who died were civilians and young recruits waiting to take entrance exams, reports the International Herald Tribune
• Two British women, Keri-Anne Payne and Cassie Patten, gave Russian Larisa Ilchenko a hard race in the 10km open water swimming competition but the 2004 winner took gold again, in just under two hours and by only a second, in a thrilling race to the finish. BBC
• Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has died in Paris, of a stroke. He suffered a stroke in June, while attending the African Union summit in Egypt, and was rushed to France for treatment but this week his health suddenly deteriorated. Al Jazeera
• Canadians could go to the polls as early as 27 October, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper "backtracking" on a later date set by his government, reports The Globe & Mail.
• Nigeria’s "dream team" has made it to the Olympics football (soccer) finals 12 years after its gold medal in Atlanta, Georgia. All Africa
• A 5.0 earthquake hit southwest China in Yunnan Province, causing houses to collapse and other damage, but no casualties have been reported. Reuters

Tuesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Brussels is hosting an emergency meeting of Nato foreign ministers to discuss what its reaction should be to the "Russia’s military action" in Georgia, as alarm grows because Russia appears to not be pulling out. BBC
• Chinese fans’ disappointment as national hero Liu Xiang pulled out of the hurdles heat, is being tamped down by the 39 gold medals won so far in the Olympics, putting China strongly ahead of the United States, which has 22 gold medals. Reuters
• The United States is facing a dilemma in Pakistan as a weak coalition takes power, replacing nine-year leader Pervez Musharraf who was a strong US ally in its fight against "an expanding Taliban insurgency," reports the International Herald Tribune
• Zimbabwe’s inflation rate has reached a mind-numbing 11.2 million percent, according to its statistical office, making it the highest rate in the world. CNN
• The world’s central banks should better coordinate any aid given to their banks in times of crisis, Swiss National Bank Chairman Jean-Pierre Roth told the Financial Times in an interview published Tuesday.

Updated 14:50. Monday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Fifty people reportedly died in Haiti when tropical storm Fay hit the island and their bus was caught by torrential waters. The storm lashed Cuba early Monday and is heading toward the Florida Keys, where people are being evacuated in the face of hurricane warnings, as the storm builds in strength. MSNBC/MSN
• Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf has resigned (New York Times)  Reuters
• Russia has signed a peace accord with Georgia, but the International Herald Tribune reports that it is tightening its grip, rather than pulling out.
• Hundreds fled floodwaters as a dam broke near the remote Native American village of Supai at the lower end of the Grand Canyon in the United States. Reuters
• Hindu-Muslim tensions are building up in a valley in Kashmir, with protestors taking their case to the regional United Nations office, in a situation provoked by a dispute over a small piece of land that escalated into fighting which killed more than 21 people last week. BBC
• A North Korean woman accused of being an infamous spy during world war 2, who was executed by South Korea, in fact never shared secrets and appears to have been the victim of a frameup, newly released US government documents show. Her son by the US colonel who was reportedly part of the the spy ring, is planning a film about her extraordinary story. CNN
• Close to 2 million people will be out of work in the United Kingdom by 2011, says the British Chambes of Commerce, as new government figures show the jobless rate rising for the third month in a row. Times, UK

Friday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Michael Phelps (who consumes 12,000 calories a day) swam his way to a sixth Olympic gold medal Friday, in the men’s 200-metre individual medley final, breaking a world record in the process. With American women taking gold in gymnastics, the US now has 13 gold medals but China continues to lead with 22. Guardian, New York Times
• [Reuters video] Kevin Warwick, star speaker at the last Lift conference in Geneva, is now in the news talking about a robot that wants to be a rat.

• Consumer prices rose in the United States at the fastest annual rate in 17 years, with the CPI (consumer price index) in July rising 0.8% or 5.6% year over year. Reuters

• Morgan Tsvangirai and other opposition leaders in Zimbabwe had their passports returned after they were earlier confiscated, and they flew out of the country for a meeting in South Africa to continue negotiations to find a power-sharing settlement. BBC
• Wednesday, 27 August, could provide an interesting moment at the US Democratic Party convention when the name of Clinton, as a candidate, is called out, in a peace-making gesture. New York Times
• Yang Wei of China put in a stellar gymnastics performance to take Olympics gold in the men’s individual all-around event. Xinhua
• Tennis superstars were "humbled" at the Olympics Thursday, with Roger Federer losing to James Blake and then the two Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, also knocked out in the quarter-finals. Reuters
• JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley have agreed in the US to pay back auction rate securities to the tune of $7 billion and to pay $60 million in fines, in the latest settlement that earlier this week saw Switzerland’s UBS settling with several states in the US. Bloomberg
• Two women have been arrested and charge in relation to the deaths of a UK couple murdered on their honeymoon in Antigua 27 July (the husband died later after being airlifted back to Wales). Times, UK

Wednesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• The United States has flown military troops into Georgia as part of a "humanitarian mission" of aid, reports the International Herald Tribune, calling it a direct challenge to Russia. Meanwhile, writes the Moscow Times, Russia and Georgia are accusing each other of breaking the truce. The BBC meanwhile reports that Russian troops have started handing control of Gori over to Georgian troops.
• The German economy contracted 0.5% in the second quarter, for the first time in four years. BBC
• Kosuke Katajima from Japan, in swimming won two gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, in the men’s 100 and 200 breaststroke events, the same double gold he won in Athens, a rare feat in the Games. France’s Alain Bernard in a "thrilling" race won the men’s 100 freestyle. Reuters
• Roche’s July offer to buy US-based Genetech, in which it has a 56% share, has been rejected, with Genetech saying it remains open to a buyout, but at a higher price. Financial Times
• Canada remembers its two aid workers who were killed in a Taliban ambush of their well-marked aid organization vehicle in Afghanistan this week. The Globe & Mail, Canada
• Chef Julia Child and historian Arthur Schlesinger were, before they gained fame in these fields, spies for the US government’s OSS, a precursor of the CIA, in the days when Nazi Germany was building its power. Details about the OSS, in secret files until now, will be open to the public 15 August. CNN

Wednesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• French Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s shuttle diplomacy with Russia and Georgia appears to be paying off with a truce agreed – but the road ahead could be long and bumpy, reports the BBC.
• "Michael Phelps swam into world history," writes the International Herald Tribune, with the most career Olympic gold medals ever, 11. The American has also broken five world records at the Beijing Games. CNN
• Robert Mugabe appears to be surviving yet another blow to his political career after reportedly striking a deal to share power with Arthur Mutambara, leader of a breakaway faction from the main opposition party, MDC, possibly sidelining MDC leader Morgan
  Tsvangirai. Negotiator Thabo Mbeki has not yet made a statement about the state of the talks, despite expectations he would. AllAfrica, Times, UK
• A father and brother pulled a bear off an eight-year-old boy that attacked him when the trio went hiking in Florida’s Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The boy suffered cuts and the bear was later shot by rangers when it tried to attack them. CNN
• A small group of Americans who chained themselves to a fence in a Beijing park as part of a Tibet protest, have been arrested. Reuters

Updated 15:10. Tuesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Russia has called a halt to its military operations in Georgia. Reuters
• US swimmer Michael Phelps has joined the elite ranks of Olympic athletes, becoming only the fifth person in the history of the Games to win nine gold medals. AFP, CNN
• Efforts are being stepped up by other countries, with a UN draft resolution, to push for a peaceful settlement of the Russia-Georgia dispute, with Russian criticizing the UN move and the Georgian capital, Tribilisi, preparing for a Russian attack. BBC The West faces tough choices, outlined by the International Herald Tribune.
• [Reuters video] The price of oil fell more than $1 a barrel early Tuesday, as the dollar rose. Meanwhile, in other financial news reported by Reuters, JP Morgan’s losses since 1 July add up to $1.5 billion.

• The Chinese men’s gymnastics team took a much-coveted gold medal at the Olympics in Beijing Monday, in front of an enthusiastic hometown crowd. IHT, Xinhua
• The mayor of Montreal, Canada appealed for calm after a night of rioting following the shooting death by police of a teenager in Montreal North over the weekend. CBC, Canada

Monday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Russia has begun bombing Georgia, with Georgia saying it has pulled back its troops but rejecting a Russian ultimatum. France has sent its foreign minister to Tibilisi and Moscow "to promote a peace plan designed in Paris," reports Reuters. Le Monde (Fre), Moscow Times, New York Times
• UK households are being hit hard by rising utility bills, with announcements that electric bills will rise now followed by the possibility that annual increases for water and sewage bills could be up to 3% over the rate of inflation for the next five years. Times, UK
• Zimbabwe’s political parties are to resume power-sharing talks Monday after Robert Mugabe gives a Heroes’ Day address, with signs that the two sides are closing in on an agreement. AFP
• Singer and songwriter Isaac Hayes has died, age 65. His career included a string of successful hits, including the theme from Shaft. He was also for several years the voice behind Chef in South Park. He was found dead next to a still-running treadmill and police say no foul play is suspected. CNN
• Police in California don’t know how much money was spilled or stolen when motorists stopped in high-speed traffic to gather up bills that tumbled out of a sack a motorcyclist was riding. CNN

During our GenevaLunch slowdown holiday week we bring you a selection of daily news highlights.

• Lake Geneva region, Clarens, Vaud: One man has died and another is seriously injured after their boat crashed during the night near Grangettes, Vaud. They left St Sulpice late Thursday night and headed towards Grangette at the top end of the lake to do some early morning fishing but were apparently traveling too fast and hit an obstacle. 24 Heures, Fre
• Switzerland: some CHF860 million a year could be saved on health care, says Santesuisse, pointing to the continuing high price of medicines in the the country. TSR, Fre
• Switzerland: the rate of unemployment remained unchanged in July, at 2.3%. TSR, Fre
• World: Zhang Yimou, one of China’s top film producers, is putting on what could be the biggest production of his life, the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. A profile, in Le Temps, Fre
• World: "Raining on Beijing’s parade," is the title of an analysis by John Chalmers at Reuters of the lasting and damaging resentment that could be provoked by "grudging" coverage of the Olympics and negative comments by several Western leaders as the Beijing Summer Games open today.
• World: Fighting between Georgian troops and the separatists in the region of Ossetia escalated sharply Friday morning, to the worst level in some years. International Herald Tribune
• World: Pakistan’s Premier Pervez Musharraf says he will fight impeachment proceedings. AFP
• World: US military authorities have released photos of crates that are used to isolate violent prisoners in Iraq, in response to a freedom of information request made in 2005. CNN

During our GenevaLunch slowdown holiday week we bring you a selection of daily news highlights.

• Geneva: A fire that sent large amounts of smoke billowing from the roof of an unfinished building next to the new maternity unit of the HUG, Geneva’s university hospitals, happily did not cause any injuries, but did force patients, including newborns, to be evacuated. Tribune de Geneve, Fre
• Geneva: The ICRC (International Red Cross) has confirmed that it is asking the Colombian government for clarification after new TV footage aired Tuesday in Colombia appears to show intentional misuse of the Red Cross emblem during the July hostage-freeing expedition.
• Lake Geneva region, Vevey, Vaud: Nestle’s first six months of 2008 have given the company profits of CHF5.21 billion, up 6.1% over the same period in 2007. Nescafe was a strong performer, bottled water less so. Exchange rates had a negative impact on sales, which nevetheless rose 3.8%. TSR, Fre
• Switzerland: The summer of 2008 is turning out to be a dream one for the Swiss tourism industry, with trains small and great filled and the hotel business looking to hit the 20 million nights mark for the first time in 15 years. Le Temps, Fre
• World: US President George W Bush "scolds China over human rights," in Bangkok on his way to China. Reuters
• World: Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a driver for Osama bin Laden, was convicted by a US military panel of one war crime, but charges of a second one were dismissed, in the first Guantanamo Bay trial. New York Times
• World: A woman on her way to work in London from Kent in southern England says she was lucky to escape with her life after she was pushed onto the railway track by two young men she had asked to stop smoking. Smoking on train platforms is illegal in Britain. Times, UK
• World: CNN makes headline news of stories about missing girl Madeleine McCann that ran in the UK press earlier this week, suggesting that suppressed police information in Portugal may have shown a link to a Belgian pedophile ring.

During our GenevaLunch slowdown holiday week we bring you a selection of daily news highlights.

• Geneva: Givaudan, the scents and flavours company, saw profits increase by 13.3% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2007, to CHF94 million, above the average market performance. TDG, Fre
• Switzerland: Libya is insisting on an apology from Switzerland and a quick end to legal proceedings against Motassim Bilal Kadhafi (Hannibal Kadhafi) and his wife, Aline, following their 15 July arrest in Geneva. TSR, Fre
• Switzerland: A British driver who told police he drove for one km on the left after turning around on the Flueela, a winding mountain road near Davos, injured two when his car collided with a motorcycle. 20 Minutes, Fre
• World: Police records in Portugal show a possible sighting of Madelein McCann, the three-year-old British girl who disappeared while on holiday with her parents in the country, in 2007, of which the McCanns were unaware. BBC
• World: Jose Ernesto Medellin, a Mexican national, has been executed in Texas for the rape and murder of two young women. His case sparked international controversy after an international court ruled that he and about 50 other Mexicans had illegally been denied access to their home country’s consul. CNN
• World: High oil prices are creating a windfall for Iraq that could amount to $79 million in surplus cash, an amount that is raising questions in the US about the $48 billion spent annually by the US on rebuilding Iraq, reports the International Herald Tribune. 

During our GenevaLunch slowdown holiday week we bring you daily news highlights.

• Switzerland: Swiss Re will pay CHF1.55 million for Barclay’s Life, the reinsurance giant has announced. 20 Minutes, Fre The Swiss company’s profits slid from CHF1.2 billion for the second quarter of 2007 to CHF0.6b for the period April-June 2008. TSR, Fre
• Geneva: a 20-year-old died after losing control of his motorcycle on a curve at the Jussy exit and crashing into an oncoming car. Tribune de Geneve, Fre
• world, Switzerland: the new Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, is "an aesthetic triumph that should cement the nation’s reputation as a place where bold, creative gambles are unfolding every day," writes Nicolai Ouroussoff in the New York Times architecture review, calling it one of a handful of memorable Olympic stadiums.
• world: Northern Rock, the British bank that was nationalized in February 2008 to prevent its collapse, lost £585 million in the first six months of 2008, more than expected, but it did reduce the amount it borrowed from the Bank of England. BBC
• world: The Olympic torch arrives in Beijing Tuesday night after leaving Sichuan province, hardhit earlier this year by earthquakes. Reuters
• world: Russian writer and Soviet dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn has died, in the US, age 89. New York Times obituary

Thursday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• China has "hit out at a resolution by the US Congress that urged Beijing to
  improve on human rights and stop repression of ethnic minorities," action taken after Amnesty International published a report saying China’s human rights record in the months before the Olympics has worsened. AFP, Voice of America, Xinhua and press briefing 29 July by Chinese Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao, US Congress resolution
• The Japanese Embassy in India says it has received an e-mail warning of a bomb planted in a Delhi market. More than 30 explosions went off in India over the weekend and according to the International Herald Tribune, another 19 were found, unexploded.
• Middle East peace talks are "in limbo," Reuters reports, following calls by the opposition in Israel for new parliamentary elections in response to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s announcement that he will step down in September. Olmert’s ability to rule has been crippled by investigations into corruption scandals, he said Wednesday.
• The presidential election in the United States is making a shift to slingshot politics, with Republican John McCain’s new advertising campaign that depicts Barack Obama negatively, as "arrogant, out of touch and unprepared," writes the New York Times.
• China is battling Beijing’s pollution problem in the days running up to the Olympic Games, by putting in place an emergency plan that is weather-dependent and would call a halt to more construction and limit vehicles on the road in three provinces if necessary. CNN, with details, Xinhua

Wednesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Radovan Karadzic, former Serbian leader, was flown to The Hague to stand trial for crimes against humanity and genocide, linked to Sarajevo’s 43-month siege and the Srebrenica massacre. AFP, International Herald Tribune and NY Times slide show (10 images)
• International banks, including UBS, could be under greater pressure to write down more of their debts, following Merrill Lynch’s "disposal of $30 billion in mortgage-related securities at a cut price," reports the Financial Times
• George Tupou V, the king of Tongo in the South Pacific, is relinquishing most of his powers, just days before his coronation activities begin. Guardian, UK
• [Reuters video] A strong earthquake, registered at 5.4, shook Los Angeles, California, in the US Tuesday shortly before noon. No structural damage or serious injuries have been reported.
• DNA tests have shown that the body of a man found off the coast of Brazil earlier in July is that of a priest, Father Adelir Antonio de Carli, who was attempting to break a record for flying attached to helium balloons, as a charity fundraiser. BBC
• Forty per cent of middle-aged, middle-income Americans are using their credit cards less in an effort to curb expenses, a new survey shows. CNN
• Facebook fans of Scrabulous are having to adjust to the disappearance of their favourite game after the owners of Scrabble managed to get the social network to remove it, in the face of a lawsuit. Washington Post

Tuesday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Turkey’s top judges have opened hearings into disbanding the country’s governing party, two days after a deadly bomb attack killed 17 people in Istanbul, and the day after a memorial service for 10 of them at a city mosque. International Herald Tribune
• Australia’s new Government has overturned its immigration policy of mandatory  jailing of asylum seekers for indefinite periods. BBC, Sydney Morning Herald
• President George W Bush has become the first president in 50 years to approve the execution of a US soldier. CNN
• China is giving Beijing a final check as the 10-day countdown to the Olympics begins, including hiding some of the city’s less attractive homes and businesses. International Herald Tribune, Xinhua
• A British couple were shot on the last day of their idyllic beachside honeymoon in Antigua. BBC
  
• Amnesty International and China are at loggerheads over the group’s latest report on the human rights situation in the country in the leadup to the Beijing Olympics. AFP, BBC

Monday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• Lufthansa ground and cabin staff have begun an indefinite strike over pay, asking for a 9.8% increase while the company is offering 6.7% in two stages. BBC
• The deadliest attack in Turkey since 2003 has killed 16 people and injured 154 in a pedestrian area well away from tourist centres. It comes on the eve of a court case over banning the main political party and has been blamed by the city governor of Istanbul on terrorists. Reuters
• Two "vital forms of credit used by companies" have fallen by 3% in the past year, according to Federal Reserve figures, showing reluctance by banks to loan businesses money, after their own real estate losses. New York Times
• Backlashes are expected in Belgrade, Serbia following the arrest last week and expected extradition to The Hague of Radovan Karadzic, former president, for war crimes. Financial Times

Friday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• [Reuters video] Long lines are forming in Beijing for the  remaining tickets to the Olympics, which start in two weeks. The Chinese government hopes to make $140 million from the sales and judging by public interest in the tickets, says Reuters, there should be no problem.
• The first-ever European Union and South African "summit" attended by French head and EU President Nicolas Sarkozy, South Africa’s leader Thabo Mbeki and European Commission chief Jose
  Manuel Barroso, in Bordeaux Friday, is designed to take economic relations to a "new level" but the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe is likely to overshadow talks. AFP
• Gordon Brown’s native Scotland dealt him a blow, with a by-election vote in one of Labour’s "safest seats," East Glasgow, going to the Scottish National Party. BBC
• The Irish Government has been told by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Committee that it should make its family legislation gender-neutral and that it should ensure the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers are protected, two of the 19 recommendations given following a Committee review. Irish Times
• US Presidential runner Barack Obama wooed crowds in Berlin Thursday before heading for France, but the reaction in Europe’s English language media varied, from the International Herald Tribune’s skeptical "tone poem" with no substance view to the Financial Times assessment that the speech before 200,000 was "important" in his "efforts to boost his foreign policy credentials."
• Eight hostages held by Farc in Colombia since 18 July have been freed following negotiations that the Geneva-based ICRC (International Red Cross) has taken care to point out were carried out between the ICRC and Farc alone. ICRC
• A 9-year-old in New Zealand has been made a ward of the court to allow a judge to legally change the girl’s name, at her request, from the one her parents gave her: Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii. Court records show the country is not short on unusual names for children. NZ Herald

Thursday news gathered by GenevaLunch from sources around the world

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel warns that Germany cannot remain aloof from the economic downturn and a significant fall in growth in 2009 can be expected. Financial Times
• In Vermont, USA, farmers are rediscovering the world of cheese, with a boom in handmade specialty cheeses designed to compete with European cheese. Reuters
• Snack firms in Britain, including big names like Coca-Cola, Mars and Nestle, are pledging £200 million as part of a government-sponsored anti-obesity campaign. BBC
• The European Union Tuesday renewed its assets freeze and travel ban on Robert Mugabe and his Zimbabwe government colleagues, as Mugabe’s Zanu PF party officials failed to show up for the first of 14 days of talks about power-sharing, in Pretoria. Business Day/AllAfrica For another point of view on Africa and Zimbabwe, see opinion piece, The Monitor, Kampala/AllAfrica
• British couple John and Anne Darwin were each sentenced Wednesday to more than six years in prison for their scheme where he was declared lost after disappearing in a canoe, in order to collect insurance money and avoid crushing debts. The scheme fell apart when he left Panama and reappeared in Britain in December 2007. Their Panamanian fortune is estimated at $1 million, writes the Times, UK
• Cambodia has appealed to the UN for help over a border row with Thailand, saying that war appears "imminent." Al Jazeera
• The ruse by the Colombian government that freed 14 hostages including Ingrid Betancourt, involved two of the rescuers posing as journalists from a main TV network, TeleSUR, the country’s defense minister said Wednesday. CNN
• Hollywood’s 10 best actors were paid more than twice as much as the US movie industry’s 10 best actresses, Yahoo News reports.
• A man in Florida sentenced to 43 years for child molestation has yet to spend any time behind bars, more than a year after his conviction. CNN