The trial of Geert Wilders, head of the anti-immigrant Party of Freedom, is set to continue Tuesday, 5 October, after he impugned the impartiality of the presiding judge 4 October. Wilders is on trial for inciting discrimination and hate in interviews he has given in Dutch media and through a film, Fitna, which means strife in Arabic.
He claims that freedom of speech is on trial, and that the 1.5 million people who voted for his party in June’s elections are also on trial with him. Wilder’s party gained 24 seats in the last election and will support a minority conservative government in return for legislation on the wearing of the burqa and limits to immigration, of concern to the party’s voters.
Links to other sites: BBC, Bloomberg, CNN, Daily Telegraph, Wall Street Journal
Spain to the finals for the very first time. There will be a new World Champion on 11 July – Photo 2010 FWCLOC
International Sports, World Cup football
Durban, South Africa (GenevaLunch.com) - The 2010 World Cup will have a European winner, from a country that has not yet won the ultimate prize in football.
Carlos Puyol scored the only goal for Spain in the semi-final with Germany with a booming header direct from a corner kick. Spain controlled the game for most of the match but their intricate passing set up few chances against the young German team.
Germany had been the in-form team of the 2010 World Cup, scoring four goals against Australia, England and Argentina, but they generated few chances against the technically superior Spanish players.
In the end the result was a repeat of the Euro 2008 final, 1-0 for Spain.
The World Cup final on Sunday will be against the Netherlands who have twice before reached the finals: losing on both occasions to Germany.
Spain have never before reached the final.
Links to other sites: Fifa, Guardian
Follow GenevaLunch’s daily recap of the 2010 World Cup.
Swiss trains in real time
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Every CFF passenger train moving along its scheduled path on a mashed-up Google map is now accessible to see via the internet thanks to the inventiveness of a Dutch programmer who lives near Lausanne. Swisstrains.ch combines the Swiss national railways’ timetable and a Google map to bring a realistic and informative virtual ride on the trains. It only works because of the well-deserved punctuality of Swiss trains.
Hover the cursor over one of the red dots that represents a train floating along a red railway line, and the train’s number, its point of departure and departure time, as well as its destination, destination time and average speed comes up. A pop-up dialogue box provides information on each train currently going to or from a determined station. Click on the “follow” button and the train whips you along its path in satellite view in real-time.
Title: Chateau Rouge, Annemasse: modern dance, Zofia by t.r.a.s.h.
Location: Château Rouge, 1 route de Bonneville, Annemasse
Link out: Click here
Description: Dance by Netherlands’ t.r.a.s.h., choreography by Kristel van Issum. Born of the Dutch underground rock movement, they are typhoons of motion
Start Time: 20:30
Date: 10 Nov 2009
End Time: 21:45
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nineteen countries have now secured their places in the Fifa World Cup finals to be held in South Africa in 2010 after the penultimate games in the qualification series. In the African group Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are through and six places are up for grabs. Australia, Japan and the two Koreas take the Asian places with one more team entering a playoff with New Zealand. Seven of the 13 European places are decided:
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland moved to the top of its qualifying group for the 2010 Fifa World Cup with a 2-0 win over Greece in their match. The Swiss scored two goals in the final 10 minutes after playing much of the game with an extra man as Vyntra was sent off for receiving two yellow cards.
Sea levels could rise 7-82cm, and endanger low-lying regions like the Netherlands and delta regions such as Bangladesh and small ocean islands, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience in its July 2009 issue. The findings are broadly in line with Geneva-based Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings. The study’s author, Mark Siddall of the University of Bristol warns that the figures are averages and that regional variations could be higher. Related: Le Monde (Fre)
A Dutch man, 38, drove his car into the Queen’s Day parade in east Amsterdam Thursday 30 April killing 5 people and wounding 12 others, say Dutch officials. The car missed his intended target, the bus carrying the queen and royal family, and crashed into a stone monument several meters away. The driver was injured in the crash and has been detained. The government cancelled the remaining official activities for the day. Financial Times
