Chappatte cartoon from 2009: 2010 didn't see an improvement in revenues (©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.)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – GenevaLunch is on a slow-news holiday schedule for the next two weeks, but to make sure you don’t miss key reports we’re bringing you highlights from some of the news beats, with links to original sources:
EPFL plays key role in understanding Deepwater Horizon oil spill
EPFL is playing a key role in understanding how the properties of hydrocarbons are important in understanding the wellhead structure and pollution diffusion—how pollution spreads out—in the depths.
EPFL notes in a press release: “The main problem was the depth of the well, nearly 1,500 meters below the sea surface. It was a configuration that had never been tried before, and the pollution it unleashed after methane gas shot to the surface and ignited in a fiery explosion is also unequalled. Much research has been done since the spill on the effects on marine life at the ocean’s surface and in coastal regions. Now, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) professor Samuel Arey and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute reveal in the advance online edition of Proceedings of the national Academy of Sciences how escaped crude oil and gas behave in the deep water environment.”
Swiss pharma industry has good second quarter 2011
Novartis‘s second quarter results, announced 19 July, were strong: Net sales grew 27 percent (up 19 percent in constant currencies) to $14.9 billion. The Basel pharmaceutical company says four drugs received approvals: the US FDA approved Afinitor for advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and Arcapta Neohaler for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the European Union granted approval for Lucentis in retinal vein occlusion and for hypertension medicine Rasilamlo. The company’s shares rose 3.15 percent Tuesday as a result, reports Le Temps (registration).
Roche is buying mtm laboratories AG (mtm), a privately-held company based in Heidelberg, Germany, the Basel pharma company announced 19 July, for CHF160 million up front and another CHF90m when agreed milestones are met: “mtm is a global leader in developing in vitro diagnostics with a focus on early detection and diagnosis of cervical cancer, the largest early detection market in oncology.”
Swiss media ads down sharply in June
Advertising revenue for Swiss media continues to fall, with June income down 6.5 percent overall from a year earlier to CHF132.3 million, show figures published 19 July by Remp, the industry research arm, reported in Le Temps. Worst hit was the economic and financial press, down nearly 23 percent, with revenues of CHF3.7m. Revenues for daily papers, which account for about half of all media advertising income, was down 8.9 percent. Sunday papers were a rare exception, with revenues inching up by 2.8 percent over a year earlier, to CHF11.8m.
Internet use continues to grow, with a report in mid-July showing that 80 percent of the population surveyed using the Internet several times a week and 67 percent daily, reports Cominmag.
Ed. note: Barbara Ender, an occasional contributor to GenevaLunch, is a Lausanne-based travel editor.
Walking through history
By Barbara Ender
Zadar, Croatia (©2011, Barbara Ender)
“Would you like a free hug?”
An offer I couldn’t refuse. I turned to see a group of cheerful girls in orange T-shirts, opened my arms and embraced all the youth and joie de vivre of Zadar. A memorable, tactile introduction to one of Croatia’s most delightful cities, golden, vibrant, resilient, young at heart.
Young at heart—but old in its bones. The city is built on a peninsula, just 1km long and 300m wide. Founded by Illyrians 3,000 years ago, it has been ruled and planned by Romans, Byzantines, Franks and Venetians, attacked by Ottomans, ravaged by Huns, Ostrogoths, Crusaders and bubonic plague, bombed by the Allies in the second world war and shelled by Krajina rebels and the Yugoslav People’s Army from 1991 to 1995.
Rebuilt, restored, snug within its massive Venetian ramparts, it is a crazy quilt of architectural styles, and a miracle of survival.
Zadar, Croatia, side street (©2011, Barbara Ender)
Most visitors arrive on cruise ships or ferries and enter the city from the harbour at the western end, but I was staying overnight in a big hotel outside the walls on the mainland.
As the afternoon began to close, I walked past the tiny Fosa marina, beneath the sculpted Venetian lion on the Land Gate, through the walls into the long and narrow main street that follows the course of the ancient Roman cardo towards its crossing with the decumanus at the Forum.
On each side, enticing little side streets beckon, some dark and mysterious, others gleaming red and ochre in the dwindling light, others trying to lure me into ancient peeling courtyards festooned with laundry. High heels clatter along the limestone pavement, giggling students pass by, two to a bicycle, but I walk straight on, intent on my goal.
Ongoing battle over press postal subsidy continues
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The upper house of the Swiss parliament’s transport and telecommunications commission has agreed to back motions by the lower house that will slow down the deregulation of the Swiss postal system. The two houses have agreed that the ruling Federal Council should provide an interim report showing the impact of the first two years of deregulation before further measures to open the market are adopted.
The upper house commission also agreed to go along with a lower house motion to increase by CHF20 million a subsidy to the post office for the rebates it offers the press.
Two bombs have killed 49 people, unofficial sources report, with the death toll rising as many of the scores of injured are in critical condition, in Lahore Pakistan. It is unclear if the blasts were two suicide bombs or one, followed by a remote-control device exploding in the heart of Lahore’s commercial centre. One bomb went off in a crowded market, where shops and motorcycles quickly caught fire, and the other near a bank, late Monday 7 December.
Christie's unmounted flawless 62.3 carat diamond sold for CHF8.01 million (click on image to view larger)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Forget the girl’s best friend, diamonds that investors love are dazzling the jewelry world this week. Christie’s big November precious gems and jewelry sale in Geneva Wednesday 18 November ended on a high note, with the sale of a 62.3 carat diamond going for CHF8.01 million at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues.
Overall, the sale brought in CHF32.28m, another strong sign that the market has recovered, after Sotheby’s sold CHF37 million in jewels Monday. The buyer was Aleks Paul of Essex Global Trading in New York, a dealer who also walked off with two other lots of diamonds worth more than CHF5m.
And down the street at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel the Antiquorum sale of fine watches set a record price for watches sold in 2009: CHF5.12m for the Patek Philippe Yellow Gold Calibre 89, one of only four in the world, each unique.
A day after a bomb ripped through a crowded popular market in the old town of Peshawar, capital of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province, and killed over a hundred people, mainly women and children, rescuers were still pulling bodies from the rubble. Over 200 people were wounded in the attack. It was the worst such attack since 2007, and no one has claimed responsibility for it yet, although the Taliban denies responsibility.
October has been the bloodiest month in Pakistan, with casualties from bombings around the country reaching 300 dead and many more wounded. Most believe the bomb attacks are in retaliation for the Pakistani army’s ongoing incursion into South Waziristan, a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban. Some commentators believe this latest attack could turn the people against the Taliban. Al-Jazeera, AP, BBC
Title: Seasonal market in La Chaux
Location: La Chaux, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: One day seasonal produce and artisans market, music, activities and fun for the whole family.
Date: 05 Sep 2009
Statues of "peace" and "justice" flank the entrance to the WTO, Geneva: artist Luc Jaggi sculpted them in 1925
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - China reacted with disappointment Thursday 13 August to the report issued by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva on its publications and audiovisual materials dispute with the US. The WTO ruled that China must open its market more to the import of US films, DVDs, books and music downloads to respect commitments made when it joined the WTO in 2001.
Title: Flea market in Morges
Location: Morges, Vaud
Link out: Click here
Description: Over 120 sellers, food, music and more at the monthly flea market in the Halles CFF in Morges.
Date: 27 Sep 2009
