GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Northeastern Italy had a 6.0 earthquake at 04:00 Sunday 20 May, and six people have been found dead, Italian media are reporting. Ferrare and Modena appear to have been hardest hit, with four night workers killed in three separate locations by falling buildings or materials.
A 100-year-old woman and a 37-year-old German woman who was in Italy for her work died from shock-related injuries.
At least 12 people appear to have been injured by the tremors, unusually strong for Italy. The 6.3 earthquake that hit the town of L’Aquila in 2009 killed nearly 300 people.
Local newspaper Il Resto Del Carlino is publishing a series of photos showing the damage in towns and villages in the region.
Reuters reports that the epicentre appears to have been “in the plains near Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of the Po river valley, and the tremor was felt as far west as Liguria, bordering France, and the Friuli region bordering Slovenia,” adding that several historic buildings have been badly damaged, including the roof of the cathedral in Mirandola, which collapsed just hours before the town’s children were to receive their First Communion there.
Truck overturned, en route to Gondo, on the Swiss-Italian border, closed the Simplon pass Tuesday afternoon
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A truck overturned Tuesday 15 May at 14:20 on the downhill side of the Simplon pass, heading towards Italy. The 56-year-old Italian driver was injured slightly. The road was closed following the accident.
He was returning from Visp in canton Valais to Torino, Italy when the truck went onto its side on a hairpin bend near Gondo.
Police have not yet determined what caused the accident.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Germany, the UK and now Italy: Switzerland’s southern neighbour is the latest to enter into talks with Bern over ways to get more of its citizens money into the taxman’s hands. A steering group has been set up and will meet for the first time 24 May to consider several financial and tax issues, but one of them has already been resolved: an outstanding payment of the “retrocession for cross-border commuters” has been resolved, says Bern, and the payment order in favour of Italy has been issued.
Widmer-Schlumpf and Monti to meet soon
The Federal Department of Finance and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance announced Wednesday 9 May that a working visit will soon take place between President Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf and the President of the Council of Ministers of of Italy, Mario Monti.
The announcement follows a working session in Bern Wednesday between State Secretary Michael Ambühl, head of the State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF), and Italian Ambassador Carlo Baldocci, diplomatic adviser to the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The two “discussed various financial and tax issues. Also in light of the recent developments in the European Union, their discussions included the model for an agreement on the regularization of assets held in Switzerland by non-resident taxpayers and the introduction of a withholding tax on future investment income, as well as access to financial markets, existing black lists, the revision of the double taxation agreement (also with reference to the exchange of information) and the agreement regarding the taxation of cross-border commuters.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A long-range rocket launched by North Korea Friday 13 April to mark the 100th anniversary of the regime’s founding leader exploded 90 seconds after taking off, nonetheless drawing condemnation from G-8 countries.
A joint statement from foreign ministers of the G-8, which comprises the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Italy, condemned the action, and said they may request an “appropriate response” from the United Nations Security Council.
Switzerland also condemned the North Korean move.
The launch, which North Korea said was intended to put a satellite into orbit, has been widely seen as an attempt to test long-range missile technology forbidden by UN resolutions.
The failure of the much-lauded Unha-3 rocket was reported on national television in North Korea, in a rare demonstration of candor. A statement said that it had failed to enter orbit.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet Friday to discuss the launch.
Links to other sources: BBC, The Guardian, MSNBC
Google on famed Rhaetian Railways line in Switzerland: world's first Street View train shots
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – What better country than Switzerland to start showing train lines on Google Maps Street View, and what better line than the Unesco World Heritage site Albula/Bernina line on the Rhaetian Railways!
The new views were unveiled Thursday at the Transport Museum in Lucerne.
The rail company and Google worked together in October to show the magnificent scenery and craftsmanship of this very special train line, with Street View images from the 122 km between Thusis in canton Graubuenden Tirano in Italy.
The project is part of a larger cooperative effort between Unesco and Google to make digital visits of World Heritage sites available to people around the world, says Mattias Nutt, director of UNESCO Destination Switzerland.
Mounting the Google Trike onto the Rhaetian Railways train roof
The images were shot by Street View cameras mounted on a “Trike”, a three-wheeled bicycle placed on one of the Rhaetian Railways cars that was specially prepared for the job.
It was put at the head of a special train, allowing the cameras to take a series of panoramic photos of the line and its vistas.
Four of Google’s new Rhaetian Railways Street Views
MILLLENIUM STADIUM, CARDIFF, WALES – The Welsh team completed their Grand Slam, which involves winning all the Six Nations matches in a season, with a 16-9 win over France, 17 March. It was their third slam in eight years and brought comparisons with the great 1970s team led by Mervyn Davies,who died the previous day. It was not a particularly good game, except in the result, with only one try and long periods of rather negative defensive play by the French team. The Welsh team will not care too much about the manner of the victory.
The English forwards dominated as they crushed Ireland 30-9, including a penalty try. The match was balanced until half-time but then England took complete control at the scrums, aided by handling errors by the Irish.
Italy won the match with Scotland 13-6 to avoid the “wooden spoon” for the bottom team. Scotland’s manager Andy Robinson insisted he would stay on despite his team losing all five matches.
Links to other sites: Wales Online, Guardian, BBC
New information on neutrinos backs suspicions earlier measurements were somehow flawed
Gran Sasso Lab in Italy
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Physicists can relax a bit this weekend, with Cern’s latest statement on the hubbub surrounding 2011 measurements taken in Italy that appeared to show the first serious deviation from Einstein’s law of relativity.
Cern, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, startled the world 23 September 2011 by stating that neutrinos flying in beams sent through the Earth’s crust the 730km between Cern in Geneva and the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy had been measured traveling at 20 parts per million above “the world’s cosmic speed limit”, the speed of light.
Friday 16 March Cern issued a statement:
“The Icarus experiment at the Italian Gran Sasso laboratory has today reported a new measurement of the time of flight of neutrinos from CEern to Gran Sasso. The Icarus measurement, using last year’s short pulsed beam from Cern, indicates that the neutrinos do not exceed the speed of light on their journey between the two laboratories. This is at odds with the initial measurement reported by Opera last September.
“The evidence is beginning to point towards the Opera result being an artefact of the measurement,” said Cern Research Director Sergio Bertolucci, “but it’s important to be rigorous, and the Gran Sasso experiments, Borexino, Icarus, LVD and Opera will be making new measurements with pulsed beams from Cern in May to give us the final verdict. In addition, cross-checks are underway at Gran Sasso to compare the timings of cosmic ray particles between the two experiments, Opera and LVD. Whatever the result, the Opera experiment has behaved with perfect scientific integrity in opening their measurement to broad scrutiny, and inviting independent measurements. This is how science works.”
“The Icarus experiment has independent timing from Opera and measured seven neutrinos in the beam from Cern last year. These all arrived in a time consistent with the speed of light.”
Cern had earlier announced that tests will be run in May that should provide a clearer understanding of the measurements taken in September.
Background, Cern + neutrinos, GenevaLunch
Patrouille Suisse ready to swoop over the slopes in Crans-Montana between World Cup ski race runs
View from Crans-Montana area at dawn Friday, a weekend filled with promise for World Cup skiers (click on image to view larger)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A good time was had by all, but the repeat of 1987, when the Swiss dominated the World Cup ski competition in Crans-Montana, never quite happened 24-26 February.
The sun was mostly shining, the skies were filled with the roar and impressive aerobatics of the Patrouille Suissse planes, and Swiss skiers put in a good but not brilliant performance.
Didier Cuche, in his final run on a Swiss course before he retires at the end of the season, came in first in Friday’s Super-G, with five Swiss in the top 20, but as the crowd of 23,000 and the snow both warmed up, the Swiss performance slipped a bit.
A fleet of buses including scores of Swiss postal cars, and a one-way system for local roads, get the crowd of 23,000 ski fans moving smoothly
The second leg of the Super-G Saturday saw Cuche in third place and Beat Feuz, the new Swiss hope, in 10th, with Austrian Benjamin Raich winning the run.
The Giant on Sunday gave Cuche a 15th place but Didier Defago put in an excellent appearance and came in fifth. The event was won by Massimiliano Blardone of Italy in a surprise performance and Marcel Hirscher of Austria, who now leads the overall rankings, was second.
Didier Cuche is now fourth in overall ranking, and Beat Feuz third, with five events left in the season.
Crans-Montana event details, TSR, Fre and FIS live reviews
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Italy was dealt a blow Thursday by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled against it in a case known as Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy that date back to 2009. “Italy violated the European Convention of Human Rights by intercepting and returning to Libya in 2009 a group of Somalis and Eritreans without examining whether this would constitute a real risk to their lives,” according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR),which intervened in the court case.
The Geneva-based organization is calling on countries to provide better access to humanitarian assistance for people picked up at sea, who are often more vulnerable than other asylum-seekers, both physically and psychologically, it says. The decision 23 February “provides important guidance to European states in their border control and interception practices, representing a turning point regarding state responsibilities and the management of mixed migration flows”, the UNHCR believes.
“As an intervener in the case, the UNHCR highlighted the obligation of states not to forcibly return people to countries where they face persecution or serious harm. This is known as the ‘non-refoulement principle’. In its submission to the Court, UNHCR underlined that, given the situation prevailing in Libya at that time, push-back policies undermined access to protection and the principle of non-refoulement, which also applies on the high seas. The UNHCR appreciates the challenges that irregular migration poses to Italy and other EU countries and acknowledges the significant efforts made by Italy and other states to save lives in their search and rescue operations.”
Fiberglass death lands Schmidheiny involuntary manslaughter sentence
TORINO, ITALY - Swiss business baron Stephan Schmidheiny and Belgian aristocrat Jean-Louis de Cartier were sentenced by a court in Torino, Italy 13 February after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for their part in the deaths of some 2-3,000 Italian workers by asbestoes poisoning.
The pair, who were sentenced in absentia, were given 16 years each in prison for their roles as part owners and senior managers of the Eternit fiber company, but it is unlikely they will ever serve time. Their countries do not extradite their own citizens, the case with most countries. And their lawyers say they will appeal, a process likely to take years.
The company declared bankruptcy in 1986, closing the four factories in Italy covered by the court case.
Britain, France, Germany, Italy Spain: US citizens’ bank data in exchange for US reporting some of their citizens’ bank accounts
Overseas Americans already caught in crosshairs
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A proposed deal that is being hailed by the six countries involved as a step forward in their fight against international tax evasion ironically borrows from a Swiss solution proposed as part of new double taxation treaties. In both cases data on foreign citizens is not turned over directly to the other government by financial institutions. Instead, the banks would hand data on foreign clients to their own governments, which would pass it on.
The US and EU-5 proposal comes as Swiss and US negotiators grapple with differing interpretations of a pending a new tax treaty. Strict Swiss data protection laws have been a sticking point. The Swiss have insisted they will not accept “fishing expeditions” but will accept bulk requests where tax fraud or evasion is shown to be likely.
Switzerland proposed for its recently negotiated double taxation treaties with Germany and the UK that Swiss banks collect withholding taxes that the Swiss government will then pay to these countries. Their citizens can elect to declare the assets and get the withholding tax back or cede it to their governments if they do not want to declare their accounts.
The news of the six nation proposal came at the same time 8 February as the publication of 355 pages of regulations for Fatca, new US legislation designed to fight tax evasion.
EC applauds government to government approach
Europolitics reports that the European Commission was happy with the news.
“The European Commission issued a statement applauding these arrangements: ‘Thanks to this intergovernmental approach – the only one conceivable for now because it is rapid – to the exchange of tax information, the extra administrative costs, compliance costs and legal impediments (related to data protection) that financial institutions in the EU would have experienced will be considerably reduced’. The financial sector itself has estimated at US$100 million the extra costs for a multinational European bank as a result of implementation of the new legislation.
“For the Commission, which opened the debate on FATCA with Washington in April 2011, any EU member state should now be able to adopt this government-to-government approach to information exchange by concluding ‘coordinated bilateral agreements’ with the United States. Washington is considering developing other partnerships with third countries.”
Automatic data handover part of the likely new deal, but reciprocal
The new agreement between the US and Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain would see financial data for all Americans automatically handed by these countries to the IRS, the US tax arm.
In return, the US would hand over data, too, but, in addition, the other countries’ financial institutions would benefit from being included in a group registration with the IRS. The result: complying with Fatca would be far less expensive.
The US argues the new arrangement would lower the cost of implementing Fatca—and that it will at the same time bring the other governments information about bank accounts held in the US by some of their own citizens, those with offshore accounts.
Significantly, too, “the Fatca partner [country] would not be required to terminate the account of a recalcitrant account holder”, an American who did not report account information to the IRS, according to the US Treasury.
The reporting requirements and burdens would not be the same: the US is asking for all US accounts to be reported because it is the only country besides Eritrea to tax its citizens on the basis of citizenship rather than residence. The five European countries would be given data only on their citizens who have US accounts but who are resident in the home country.
Ed. note: Eritrea was condemned in 2009 and again in December 2011 by United Nations Security Council resolution 2023, for destabilizing the Horn of Africa region. Eritrea is sanctioned in part for its diaspora tax, used for military purposes. The US voted in favour of the sanctions. The only other country, according to Wikipedia, that has a citizenship-based tax system as opposed to residence system, was the Philippines, but it changed to a residence system in 1995.
Fatca: data privacy concerns circumvented by reporting to banks’ own governments
Fatca, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, is a US law that went into effect in March 2010 but which is only gradually being implemented. It requires foreign financial institutions (FFI’s) to report to the US government US accounts, according to the US Treasury Department’s press release on the six-nation proposed agreement Wednesday 8 February.
Fatca’s implementation has been rescheduled several times and it has been the subject of much heated debate in the financial industry. The US Treasury Department in its press release concedes that Fatca “has raised a number of issues, including that FFIs established in these countries may not be able to comply with the reporting, withholding and account closure requirements because of legal restrictions.”
Data protection laws have been part of this debate in the UK, for example.
Questions have also been raised about the legitimacy of the American government writing laws that apply to non-US businesses, the FFIs, outside the US.
Fatca and Americans living outside the US: not tax evaders
US expatriates have voiced a number of concerns about Fatca, starting with its failure to distinguish between Americans in the US with offshore accounts and Americans who are resident, particularly long-term, overseas.
American Citizens Abroad (ACA), a Geneva-based international non-profit organization, in 2011 and after public debate in town hall meetings, called for the outright repeal of Fatca, saying it “destroys lives and the US economy”.
Growing number of Americans in Switzerland refused regular bank accounts
A Town Hall meeting of Americans in Geneva Wednesday 8 February called for a show of hands of those who have been turned down for a bank account in the past year: an estimated 50 percent said yes, and afterwards some people admitted privately they haven’t told their banks they are American for fear their accounts will be closed.
The US is currently investigating 11 Swiss banks for aiding wealthy Americans based in the US to evade taxes. More importantly, for Americans who live in Switzerland, Swiss banks, like those elsewhere, are preparing for Fatca, and US clients may be viewed as a liability.
ACA has been gathering growing evidence that US residents abroad, even if they file taxes, are being refused bank accounts and that financial institutions are beginning to divest themselves of US securities.
The New York Times in an article published 9 February says “Fatca has also been criticized by American expatriates because it imposes new reporting requirements. Some have said it makes Americans less attractive as clients for financial institutions, raising the cost of doing business overseas. Those criticisms were not addressed in the proposed rules.”
Tax evasion effort tacked onto jobs bill
Fatca was passed by the US Congress to little fanfare in 2010, tacked onto a much larger jobs bill called the Hire Act. President Barack Obama when he signed it, made reference to four of the five parts of the Hire Act, never mentioning the foreign tax compliance section. The IRS web page devoted to Hire initially failed to mention Fatca as well (Hire Act (pdf).
The US Treasury Department press release yesterday mentions that the five Fatca partners of the US would look at “certain accounts” as part of the agreement.
The law itself is more precise, stating that FFIs will be obliged “in the case of any United States account maintained by such institution, to report on an annual basis” several pieces of information:
“(A) The name, address, and TIN of each account holder
which is a specified United States person and, in the case of any account holder which is a United States owned foreign entity, the name, address, and TIN of each substantial United States owner of such entity.
(B) The account number.
(C) The account balance or value (determined at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may provide).
(D) Except to the extent provided by the Secretary, the gross receipts and gross withdrawals or payments from the account (determined for such period and in such manner as the Secretary may provide).”
It defines a US account: “In general.—The term ‘United States account’ means any financial account which is held by one or more
specified United States persons or United States owned foreign entities.” The exception is an individual whose aggregate accounts at one financial institution, including for example retirement accounts, are under CHF50,000 in a given year.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The cruise ship Costa Concordia, which crashed into rocks Friday 13 February off the Italian coast, remains the scene of painstaking searches for survivors, with Manrico Gianpetroni, chief purser, brought out alive and suffering from a broken leg, and a Korean couple on their honeymoon brought out dazed. Checks have now made it possible to ascertain that 17 people remain missing, fewer than earlier thought, but at least five people died, with two bodies found Sunday afternoon, and 70 were injured in the accident to the luxury liner that had 4,000 people on board.
Reuters cites Italian police as saying that “the captain of the luxury 114,500-tonne ship, Francesco Schettino, was under arrest and accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.”
Links to other sites: BBC, CNN, La Stampa (It), Le Monde (Fr)
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Swisscom, the Swiss telecommunications giant, announced 14 December that it will “charge to income an exceptional impairment” of CHF1.2 billion as a result in the fall in value of Italian mobile company Fastweb, which it bought in 2007. The Italian firm has grown well in the corporate market, where it is number two, but it has suffered in the private telecoms market, according to its Swiss parent.
An “impairment test has now shown that, taking into account the higher capital costs and lower growth, Fastweb’s corporate value at the end of 2011 is approximately EUR 1.3 billion below the book value of net assets including goodwill.”
Swisscom has invested a total of euros 4.6 billion to buy the Italian company.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Italy’s new prime minister, Mario Monti, has told the country’s parliament, through his minister for relations with that body, that Italy should not seek a double taxation agreement with Switzerland along the lines of those with Germany and the UK.
But the opposition then accused him of not being open to negotiations with Switzerland, which has expressed its willingness to seek an agreement, and of not going after the CHF14-15 billion such an agreement could bring into the Italian government coffers.
The European Commission has said it is opposed to such agreements, which allow Switzerland to respect its banking secrecy laws and partner governments to collect tax revenues for their citizens holding Swiss bank accounts. The UK and German agreements call for Swiss financial institutions to collect withholding taxes on transactions, money that is paid to the foreign treasuries. Account holders then have the choice of coming forward and announcing their holdings in order to recuperate the tax, or remaining silent and forfeiting the tax.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Credit Suisse Thursday pushed its GDP growth forecast down sharply, from 2 percent to 0.5 percent, for 2012. The bank points to the euro crisis, which “continues to weigh on markets, with economic momentum in Europe fading unexpectedly quickly.” Switzerland will be hurt by the fall in exports due to “decidedly gloomier” prospects for countries to which the Swiss export, and the accompanying fall in capital investment on new machinery and equipment.
Consumers and the construction industry, which continues to boom thanks to low interest rates, will prop up economic growth, the bank’s analysts say.
Renovations, new construction: building industry and consumption will prop up Swiss economy in 2012
But “a significant cooling of European growth is no longer avoidable”, according to Credit Suisse, and “while the US economy has accelerated again slightly following the dip seen in mid-2011, the opposite is occurring in Europe. Most significantly, economic momentum in Germany – Switzerland’s key trading partner – has slowed. At the same time, the partial spillover of the debt crisis to Italy has brought increased volatility on the financial markets, growing tensions on the credit and interbank markets, and falling confidence among households and businesses.”
Sentiment is more of an issue than home-grown problems, the bank notes, pointing out that Swiss public finances and companies do not have excess debt.
“On the contrary, interest rates in Switzerland will remain low until at least the end of 2012. In addition, inflation is not an issue in Switzerland at present; pressure on consumer prices is holding up, so purchasing power is safeguarded (inflation in 2012: 0.4%). Finally, immigration is likely to remain strong, meaning an important driver of the growth in consumption will remain in place. By contrast, the constant talk of crisis, together with a deterioration in the labor market situation (unemployment rate in 2012: 3.3%), is increasingly impacting sentiment, and poses certain constraints for the growth in consumption.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Easyjet is adding three new cities in southern Europe to its 2012 summer flight schedule: Catania, Sicily in Italy, Athens, Greece and Venice, Italy.
The first will be at least twice a week and the other two three times a week, starting 18 April 2012.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A group of scientists with Italy’s Gran Sasso research centre say their measurements of neutrinos sent by the Cern labs in Geneva indicate colleagues are mistaken in thinking these have travelled faster than the speed of light. They published their findings Saturday 19 November.
Another group of Gran Sasso researchers, working south of Rome with the Opera programme at Cern in Geneva, claimed in September 2011 that they measured neutrinos travelling faster than the speed of light. Their finding provoked a flurry of scientific debate, given the implications for physics of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity.
Robert Evans of Reuters in Geneva reports that the second Gran Sasso group, working far below the ground, published a paper on the Cornell University Library site Saturday that refutes this: “Icarus, another experiment at Gran Sasso—which is deep under mountains and run by Italy’s National Institute of National Physics—now argues that their measurements of the neutrinos energy on arrival contradict that reading.”
The new paper comes just days after other reports came in that appeared to confirm the Opera group’s initial findings. The Cern team that announced its findings in September were careful to say they were not announcing a discovery, but rather the results of their tests, inviting speculation and debate over the implications of these.
Swiss soldiers travel on Swiss trains for free when on duty (photo: Morges station, November 2011)
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The 2012 train schedule that goes into effect 11 December will offer travellers better connections for trips abroad. Some parts of the Lake Geneva region will also see improvements. But the best news for many working travellers is that mobile connections are being improved, as is the online sales service.
The CFF rail company presented highlights of the new schedule to the press Thursday 17 November.
You’ll be able to plug in and connect better in 2012
All the new trains will have electric plugs and existing intercity trains will also get them. “All the new Duplex trains on the intercity trains will be equipped with WLAN,” says Jeannine Pilloud.
A major improvement could be the installation of equipment that amplifies signals received inside and outside the train cars, giving better access to the cell phone and Internet network.
1.8 million cell phone tickets ordered and number growing
The CFF app for ordering online tickets via cell phone is proving popular, with 1.8 million users since it was introduced in 2010, and the number is growing steadily, says the rail company.
Users of the small pocket timetables will find that some of the international ones are disappearing, in favour of online information, and that smaller stations’ stops are no longer listed, but are incorporated into regional listings. All details will be available online, however.
French-speaking Switzerland, especially commuters, to see significant improvements
A host of changes for trains in the Lake Geneva region will have a significant impact:
More double-decker trains will be used on the Geneva airport/Lucerne line, offering more seats
An additional InterRegio train will run between Neuchatel and Lausanne at 07:53 and the Neuchatel/La Chaux-de-Fonds/Le Locle line will have additional service during rush hour and a pair of trains is being added to the Neuchatel to Bienne line
Canton Vaud: the S4 line is being extended from Morges to Allaman, stopping in Saint Prex and Etoy, which will now have trains every 30 minutes instead of once an hour, Monday to Friday.
Geneva: La Plaine/Geneva, more trains will run during rush hour. Coppet–Geneva–Lancy-Pont-Rouge trains, the 30-minute schedule is being extended for weekend night and trains will run every half hour on Fridays and Saturdays until the end of the day.
New international connections, travel time cut on major links
©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.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Hickstead, the 2008 Olympic gold horse ridden by Canadian Eric Lamaze, died of heart failure following an aortic rupture, The FEI, the international equestrian federation, said Wednesday, based on a preliminary post-mortem. The horse collapsed and died in the arena in Verona, Italy, Sunday 6 November after competing with just 4 faults.
Lamaze was unhurt.
Cause behind the rupture may never be known says vet
The FEI’s veterinarian director, Graeme Cook, said Wednesday that “under FEI regulations any equine death at an FEI event must be investigated and a post mortem undertaken. The preliminary findings have revealed a catastrophic rupture of the major blood vessel, the aorta, which very rapidly led to heart failure. This is an unusual incident in Jumping and while we are investing the very many possible causes of a rupture of this nature, it is possible we may never know the real reason behind it.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Italy’s Prime MinisterSilvio Berlusconi agreed late Tuesday 8 November to step down, but on condition that the parliament pass two key financial reforms. There were signs Wednesday that parliament would play his game, with the leader of the opposition party, Dario Franceschini, saying his party is ready to approve the law by the end of the week. But even this was not enough to contain borrowing costs and calm markets, reports the Financial Timesin the early afternoon: “The sell-off in the Italian bond market spread into equity and currency markets, with the Eurofirst 300 down more than 2 per cent and the euro down 1.5 per cent against the dollar at 1.3627.”
Reuters had written early Wednesday that markets were set to rally on the news of Berlusconi’s departure after some 20 years of colourfully marking Italian politics.
Berlusconi told his own TV station Canale 5 Wednesday that he will not run in 2012, when early elections are held. “I will resign as soon as the law is passed. Since I believe there is no other majority possible, I see elections being held at the beginning of February and I will not be a candidate in them,” reports Xinhuanet. He repeated his determination not to stand again to newspaper La Stampa.
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.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Bond markets were nervous Monday as Greece scurried to put in place a 100-day emergency coalition government that will push through a bailout plan before money runs out. Governments in the eurozone rushed to placate the traders as Italy’s borrowing reached its highest-ever point, raising new fears about its financial stability.
Reuters reports that Lucas Papademos appears to be the front-runner to lead the coalition government, which would be in place until new elections in February. He is a former vice-chairman of the European Central Bank.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is calling for a confidence vote, vigorously denying he is planning to resign. Italy’scost of borrowing reached its highest ever level Monday, with AP noting that “if the cost of borrowing rises too much, Italy might not be able to refinance its debt. Italy is the euro zone’s third-largest economy and is too big be bailed out by Europe’s financial rescue fund.”
Links to other sites: BBC, Economist, Miami Herald/AP
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
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Dublin is under water and three people are dead, five missing in Liguria, in northwest Italy, as heavy rains led to floods Monday and Tuesday. Thailand’s continuing woes from rivers swollen by weeks of heavy rain resulted in the second airport in the capital, Bangkok, being closed Tuesday 25 October.
Dublin is almost back to normal Wednesday after several public transport services shut Tuesday, following torrential rains the previous day and night. Other parts of Ireland still have roads shut due to flooding. The rainfall in October has set a record for the country.
Italy’s popular tourist towns in Cinque Terre, along the Ligurian coast, have been hit by high winds and rain. Three people have died and five are missing according to Spezia police Wednesday morning. Authorities are asking residents of the area to stay home if possible and to not drive their cars.
Links to other sites: Bangkok Post, CBS, Irish Times, TSR (Fr)
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.
MILAN, ITALY – Sunday 9 October was a car-free day in Milan, designed to get the pollution level, one of Europe’s highest, down to legally acceptable levels. Seventy firefighters and extra police officers ensured that from 08:00 to 18:00 virtually no cars were driven in the city. The city’s safety commissioner said they were also checking cars with stickers for the handicapped, which could be driven, to catch cheaters, according to Corriere della sera newspaper.
The fine is euros 155 for driving on a car-free Sunday.
The ban followed 10 days of restrictions on certain categories of vehicles that were labelled polluters. The system kicks in when the pollution level rises above 50 micrograms of particulates per m3 of air over 12 days
Source: WHO, September 2011
Detractors, including some environmental groups, say the day off does little to bring down levels. Corriere della sera cites one critic who notes that the level has dropped to within legal limits after only on six of the 15 car-free Sundays in recent years, and that the city should invest more in anti-pollution measures for its public transport system.
Milan’s citizens were encouraged to take advantage of free entry Sunday to the city’s swimming pools and discounted entries for several museums, using the additional buses and subway trains that were put on for the day.
The northern Italian city has one of the highest car ownership ratios in the world and ranks as one of Europe’s most polluted cities for both the extent to which pollution rises above the European Union PM10 (particulates) limit of 50 micrograms per m3, and the duration. An Ecopass system to reduce car traffic went into effect in 2008, at which point 98,000 cars reportedly entered the city every day. The number of cars affected by Sunday’s ban three years later was 120,000, according to city officials.
The most recent comparative figures, from the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva in late September, show Milan, Torino and Naples sharing the top spot, with 2008 annual PM10 figures of 44 or 45 on average. The WHO published its new clean air guidelines and database covering more than 1,000 cities in 91 countries, noting:
“PM10 particles, which are particles of 10 micrometers or less, which can penetrate into the lungs and may enter the bloodstream, can cause heart disease, lung cancer, asthma, and acute lower respiratory infections. The WHO air quality guidelines for PM10 is 20 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) as an annual average, but the data released today shows that average PM10 in some cities has reached up to 300 µg/m3.”
Bern, Geneva and Zurich showed annual averages of 21 to 24, while Rome was 35 and Paris 38, according to WHO figures.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Europe’s financial outlook is gloomy today: Italy’s economy slipped another notch late Tuesday 4 October, Greece was refused another loan by the European Union, and the euro fell in early Wednesday trading in Asia.
Moody’s downgraded Italy’s government bond rating from Aa2 to A2 and gave a negative outlook because of long-term debt financing risks and the economy’s slow growth. It is the first cut for Italy by the ratings agency in two decades, reports Bloomberg, and follows the 20 September cut by S&P. Italy is now the sixth country in the euro region to have its credit rating cut this year.
Meanwhile, European finance ministers delayed giving Greece the euro 8 billion bailout money it needs to avoid defaulting while insisting the EU will not allow it to default. Markets rallied in Europe on the more positive news that the ministers have agreed a coordinated approach to EU banks’ capitalization is needed, with the commissioner for economic affairs, Olli Rehn telling the Financial Times, “Capital positions of European banks must be reinforced to provide additional safety margins and thus reduce uncertainty,” adding that “This should be regarded as an integral part of the EU’s comprehensive strategy to restore confidence and overcome the crisis.”
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Financial Times, RT News, Russia (video)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Media in the Italy, Britain and the US are heavily covering the release from prison of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, following the judge’s decision in Italy to overturn their murder convictions in the November 2007 death of Meredith Kercher. Coverage of the trial and release continue to follow national lines, with American media often portraying Knox as an innocent victim, British media emphasizing the prosecution’s description of her as a liar with a split personality, and Italy media incensed that their justice system is being called faulty by Americans.
Knox sobbed as she left the courtroom. Sollecito’s father gave an emotional TV interview outside. And Kercher’s family quietly left, telling journalists briefly of their disappointment, appearing stunned by the verdict. They will give a press conference later today.
Rudy Guede, 24, from Cote d’Ivoire, was also accused of the murder in a separate trial and his appeal was upheld although he, too, claims innocence.
A fourth person involved in the court case, bar owner Patrick Lumumba, was once Knox’s employer, and while under interrogation she accused him of the murder. He was detained for two weeks based on her evidence. Know was found guilty 3 October of slander and was sentenced to three years, which she has served, and ordered to pay him several thousand dollars. Knox is likely to quickly sign an agreement worth at least $1 million with a US television network, according to Britain’s Sky News.
Links to other sites: Guardian, UK, Seattle PI, Sky News, Zimbio images
Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Faster than a speeding bullet, faster even than the speed of light, neutrinos flying in beams sent through the Earth’s crust the 730km between Cern in Geneva and the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy are astonishing the world scientific community. Initial measurements of the neutrinos have given scientists startling results, showing them to travel at 20 parts per million above “the world’s cosmic speed limit”, the speed of light.
Neutrinos are elementary particles that are electrically neutral.
The Opera project, which has thus far measured some 15,000 neutrino events, has prompted Cern to open access to other scientists to better understand the results, the Geneva group says in a statement Friday, linked to a seminar on the results. The surprising results, which fly in the face of accepted science, must be independently verified, says Cern. Checks for faulty equipment and methodology have turned up nothing.
“The Opera measurement is at odds with well-established laws of nature, though science frequently progresses by overthrowing the established paradigms,” Cern notes in its Friday statement. “For this reason, many searches have been made for deviations from Einstein’s theory of relativity, so far not finding any such evidence. The strong constraints arising from these observations makes an interpretation of the Opera measurement in terms of modification of Einstein’s theory unlikely, and give further strong reason to seek new independent measurements.”
“This result comes as a complete surprise,” said Opera spokesperson, Antonio Ereditato of the University of Bern. “After many months of studies and cross checks we have not found any instrumental effect that could explain the result of the measurement. While Opera researchers will continue their studies, we are also looking forward to independent measurements to fully assess the nature of this observation.”
“When an experiment finds an apparently unbelievable result and can find no artefact of the measurement to account for it, it’s normal procedure to invite broader scrutiny, and this is exactly what the OPERA collaboration is doing, it’s good scientific practice,” says Cern’s research director Sergio Bertolucci.
