Firefighters in Naples, Italy will spray water on the city’s mounting piles of garbage to prevent them being set on fire by New Year’s revellers and stray fireworks, the city’s director of public hygiene said 29 December. The city has been burdened with more than 1,400 tons of uncollected rubbish for month after neighbouring communities protested against the construction of new landfills and waste treatment plants.
The European Commission has threatened to fine the city if it does not remove the garbage. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi told reporters that he would personally solve the problem in a few months.
Title: Lausanne cathedral Christmas concert
Location: Lausanne
Link out: Click here
Description: JC Geiser, the Lausanne cathedral’s noted organist, presenting Bach, Daquin and Dupré for the annual Christmas organ concert. Arrive early to ensure a seat. Free, but a collection will be taken (suggested: CHF10, 15).
Start Time: 17:00
Date: 2009-12-25
Title: New Year’s Eve lake cruises
Location: Lake Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: New Year’s Eve lake cruises from Vevey, Montreux, Le Bouveret, Villeneuve (haut lac), Lausanne, and Geneva with on-board dinner and party. The haut lac cruises will see the Vevey fireworks display.
Adults CHF199, children 10-16 years, CHF99, children 6-9 CHF49, under 6 free. Cruise includes meal, wine, water, tea, coffee and midnight champagne.
Reservations absolutely recommended: Infoline +41 (0)848 811 848 – www.cgn.ch
Check individual ports for exact sailing times. Enjoy! Happy New Year!
Start Time: 19:30
Date: 2009-12-31
Some of these stories, like that of the Russian woman who killed her drunken husband by closing their folding couch, do make it to the front pages:
A woman who returned three hours later to check on her unusually quiet husband discovered that she had in fact killed him when, angered by his drunken state, she closed their Murphy bed sofa into the wall with the man inside. Reuters
Dubai is cancelling New Year’s celebrations in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, bombarded by Israeli forces. International Herald Tribune
Facebook is having a bad week in terms of pleasing the public, with Italians upset at the growing number of Mafia bosses’ pages fans, reports the New York Times based on an article in Italy’s La Republicca, while in the US but also elsewhere there is growing anger at the social network’s decision to remove some breastfeeding images, saying they don’t meed decency standards. Independent, UK
Nasa, the US space agency, has issued its final report on Columbia, the space shuttle that exploded in February 2003, killing the seven astronauts aboard, noting that they knew for about 40 seconds that they had lost control. CNN
A theft victim in New York offered to take his robber out to dinner in a new twist on giving the shirt off your own back to someone poorer. NPR
Hey, it’s 2009 in New Zealand as we hit the “publish” button here in Switzerland. New Year’s Eve is a very short night in New Zealand – check out the balmy weather there and forget about Swiss snow for a minute. New Zealand Herald
Swiss CFF railway clock, Zurich main train station
The World (GenevaLunch) - Going, going, nearly gone – 2009 2008 is out the window and 2010 2009 (thanks, Colin, for noticing that the editor leaped over an entire year!) is in the door, or very nearly, depending on where you are.
If you read this as we publish, you’ll find that Chatham, New Zealand, is about to ring in the New Year! 2009, that is.
World Clock countdown for the rest of us
Chatham Islands, tourist information
