GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A self-confessed suspect in a 33-year-old child disappearance case, which had provoked nationwide attention, is expected to appear in court accused of second-degree murder, Friday 25 May in New York.
Pedro Hernandez, was arrested Thursday 24 May, and admitted to killing 6-year-old Etan Patz, after a relative’s memories were revived when the case received renewed attention recently with the excavation of a basement in the boy’s neighborhood.
The disappearance of the young Manhattan resident as he walked on his own for the first time to take the bus to school, captivated American parents at the time, as it was widely felt that children’s freedom had been lost. A national campaign for missing children began soon after with image of the disappeared displayed on milk cartons.
Following the arrest, New York Police Commisioner Raymond Kelley explained that Hernandez, who was 18 at the time, had lured the boy from the bus stop “with the promise of soda”. He then took him to the basement of a grocery store, strangled him there and “disposed of the body by putting it in a plastic bag and placing it in the trash”.
Hernandez’s neighbors in the nearby town of Maple Shade, New Jersey, where he moved about three years ago, say the suspect, had lived a rather non-descript life there with his wife and teenaged daughter.
Hernandez’s court appearance takes place 33 years to the day after the disappearance.
Links to other sources: CBS, CNN, BBC, South Jersey News
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Wall Street was boosted Tuesday 1 May on better than expected US manufacturing reports, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a four-year high.
The Dow closed the first day of May, historically known as a “sell” month, at 13,279.40, up 0.5 percent from Monday’s closing, reaching its highest level since December 2007.
Concerns over a possible slowdown in US economic recovery and renewed worries about the European debt crisis were countered by the release of a report on US domestic manufacturing for April, showing the highest growth since June 2011.
Other US indices were also up on Tuesday’closing, with the S&P rising 0.6 percent to 1,405.82 just shy of its 2012 peak, and NASDAQ up 0.1 percent to 3,050.44.
Links to other sources: CNN, Wall Street Journal, Reuters
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The JetBlue pilot who made world headlines after he was arrested for causing a mid-air panic among passengers is being held without bond following a federal court hearing in Texas Monday 2 April.
Clayton Osbon, who has been a flight captain with the US airline for 12 years, was charged last week after making distressing remarks and acting erratically on a New York to Las Vegas flight. The pilot allegedly ran in the aisle shouting “say your prayers” and violently knocked on the cockpit door when he was locked out by a worried first officer, before being subdued by several passengers.
An off-duty pilot took the controls of the plane, allowing it to make an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas.
Shares in JetBlue remained down on Monday evening, closing at $4.85, down from $5.22 on March 28, the day before the incident. Another pilot incident occurred on a JetBlue flight in 2010 when a pilot, following a dispute with a passenger, exited from the plane via its inflatable chute after landing in New York.
Links to other sources: CNN, The Daliy Mail, Reuters
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A grand jury in the US has not indicted a McDonald’s cook who was famously accused of assaulting two customers, with the incident caught on a surveillance camera inside the restaurant in Greenwich Village in New York.
He had been indicted on assault charges for swinging a metal object at them several times after the women appeared to attack him by slapping him, with one of the women climbing over the counter and the other joining her when he tried to retreat into the kitchen.
The incident was sparked when a cashier questioned a $50 bill offered by the women. The cook, who gave one of the women a fractured skull and neurological damage, according to her lawyer, had a history of violence.
The two 24-year-old women now face several charges, including disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing, according to CNN.
South Sudan reception centre, UNHCR refugee camp, November 2011
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Friday 11 November was a day of rising fears internationally that tensions are building along the Sudan-South Sudan border after a series of bombs were dropped just inside South Sudan’s Unity state, hitting a refugee camp. Several Geneva-based humanitarian groups expressed their growing concern Friday.
And then late Friday came some good news from New York, that the newly-formed Republic of South Sudan has made banning anti-personnel mines one of its first multilateral commitments.
It became an independent state 9 July 2011, but fighting and accusations have continued between the two countries.
South Sudan “deposited its notification of succession to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or Ottawa Convention today at the United Nations headquarters in New York, becoming the 158th state to agree to be legally bound by this landmark humanitarian instrument,” the AP Mine Ban Convention office in Geneva said in a statement Friday night.
The news was a bright spot in the otherwise gloomy reports of the bombs and world reactions to them. Authorities in South Sudan blamed Sudan for the bombardment of a refugee camp in the oil-rich border state of Unity, according to UPI.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for “an independent, thorough and credible investigation to establish the precise circumstances of this aerial bombing.” She said in a statement late Friday that “The camp at Yida, which is close to the border with Sudan, is housing thousands of civilians, including women and children.” She added that “while the number of casualties is not yet clear, I understand that five or six bombs were dropped on the camp, and that at least one fell close to a school.” Pillay says that if “it is established that an international crime or serious human rights violation has been committed, then those responsible should be brought to justice.”
The UNHRC, the High Commissioner for Refugees office in Geneva deplored the bombings, noting at its weekly briefing Friday that there were reports earlier in the week of bombings in New Guffa Village in Upper Nile state, in addition to Thursday’s bombings in Unity state.
“Several bombs dropped by an aircraft in the Yida area impacted a temporary camp that shelters over 20,000 refugees who have recently fled violence in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan’s Southern Kordofan State.
Two of the bombs fell within the Yida camp, including one close to the school. Fortunately there were no casualties in the camp and we are verifying the situation of surrounding communities. UNHCR had been readying new refugee sites away from the border when the incident occurred in Yida yesterday. We had hoped to begin the relocation of refugees but our efforts have so far been hampered by heavy rains which have made the road to the camp impassable.”
The significance of the measure taken by South Sudan was noted by the Convention’s leadership. “ndmine contamination in South Sudan is a grave problem for reconstruction and development, and impedes agricultural activities,” said H.E. Gazmend Turdiu, the Convention’s President. “By joining the Convention, South Sudan is making a commitment to clear mines on its territory, to assist landmine survivors and to never, under any circumstances, use anti-personnel mines.”
The Internal Displacement Centre (IDMC) in Geneva also voiced its concern Friday, noting that each side has been blaming the other for escalating violence. The US Wednesday condemned Sudan for air attacks in recent days, with State Department spokesperson Mark Toner saying, “The provocative aerial bombardments near the border increase the potential of direct confrontation between Sudan and South Sudan.”
The IDMC said Friday in a statement that
“The government of Sudan has accused South Sudan of supporting rebels on the northern side of the border, in the states of South Kordofan, where fighting has been ongoing since June, and in Blue Nile which has seen fighting since September. On 5 November, Sudan submitted a complaint against South Sudan to the UN Security Council, accusing it of providing rebels with “anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles as well as with ammunition, landmines and mortars”. Sudan has imposed restrictions on humanitarian access to South Kordofan and Blue Nile citing security concerns, including the presence of landmines and the movements of rebel groups. Humanitarian organisations estimate that over 200,000 people have either been displaced or severely affected by the conflict in South Kordofan. The UN estimates that 28,500 Sudanese from Blue Nile have fled to Ethiopia and that 19,500 others have taken shelter among communities along the border.”
South Sudan, for its part, says the IDMC, denies supporting the rebels. It “has repeatedly accused Sudan of supporting rebels on its side, in Upper Nile and Unity states. The most recent fighting in Unity state took place on 29 October, after the rebel SSLA (South Sudan Liberation Army) warned the UN and humanitarian organizations to leave the area for their own safety. This put at risk displaced communities who depend on aid for survival, and troops with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMiss) were deployed to help local authorities deal with the aftermath of the attacks and to monitor the situation. In addition to ongoing internal displacement within Unity state, the UN has reported more than 20,000 people fleeing into the state from South Kordofan in Sudan. Humanitarian aid organizations are concerned that “the number of people arriving to Unity might double before the end of the year if fighting continues in South Kordofan.”
Landmines in South Sudan are the result of over 20 years of civil war and the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre in South Sudan reports that, “all 10 states of the newly-formed country have reported mine-related injuries and deaths. Contamination in 306 villages varies in size, from an item that may take an hour or so to destroy, to entire minefields which could take up to a year or more to address.” The AP Mine Ban Convention says that as of September 2011, “a total of 3,210 injuries and 1,263 deaths had been reported in the country. Since 2005, over 25,000 landmines have been destroyed. To date over 2,700 landmine survivors have received support.”
South Sudan, as a party to the Convention, will now have the right to ask other signatory states for help.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – When Italian dictator Benito Mussolini tried to flee Italy at the end of the second world war, heading for Switzerland, his suitcase was confiscated by the Italian partisans and turned over to US army authorities after he was executed.
The bag, including military garb for the dictator, and clothes for his mistress, Claretta Petraci, ended up in the hands of a US army corporal, Paul Moriconi, who died in 2010. His family, in New York, sold the items at an auction this week for over $5,000, according to AP.
©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 – Harry Potter opened to crowds of fans in New York Monday 11 July, for the last time. The premiere of the latest and last of the record-breaking films, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two” opened at Lincoln Center. The movie premiered last week in London.
Links to other sites: AsiaOne News, USA Today, Xinhua
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A turnaround hailed in media in the US and France as “dramatic” has seen former IMF head Dominique Levi-Strauss freed from house arrest on his own recognizance, as the credibility drops of the woman who says she was sexually assaulted by him. The judge, without making a public statement, has released Strauss-Kahn and agreed to return the $6 million in bail he posted, but the prosecution says it is not dropping the case.
Strauss-Kahn’s passport remains in the hands of US justice officials.
Links to other sites: CNN, Le Monde (Fr), Washington Post
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Homosexual marriages were made legal in New York Friday 24 June, sparking citywide celebrations. The move comes just days after the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva approved a South African resolution covering homosexual rights that was strongly supported by the US.
US Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said in Geneva 17 June “You’ve just witnessed a historic moment at the Human Rights Council and within the UN system with the landmark resolution protecting the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. This resolution is important because it underscores the most basic human rights principle, that all people are endowed with universal human rights. This resolution reinforced the most simple and yet elegant idea that no person should be targeted for attack or violation because of who they are or who they love.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s not guilty plea in a New York court Monday 6 June has opened the door to a long court case in the US, with a possible 25 years in prison as the outcome, according to US legal experts cited by several American media. DSK, as the former head of the IMF is popularly called in his home country of France, has pleaded not guilty to seven charges filed against him 15 May, including rape.
Several hotel employees shouted “shame on you” outside, to show their solidarity with the maid at the Hotel Sofitel whom he is accused of having sexually attacked 14 May. The process of pleading not guilty lasted from 15:05 when he entered the court building to 15:46, when his lawyer announced as they were leaving that DSK pleads not guilty.
His next hearing is scheduled for 18 July and the trial, which promises to be lengthy given his not guilty plea, is expected to start in the autumn.
Meanwhile, his movements are limited outside the apartment where he is staying and he is paying $200,000 a month for a security team that has the right to “to use force should he attempt to flee”, reports The Guardian.
The New York Post, whose headlines about the case have pushed a number of journalists to ask if the tabloid has gone too far, surprisingly was not one of the first to report his guilty plea Monday.
Links to other sites: Guardian, Liberation, Wall St Journal
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be freed on $1 million bail Friday 20 May, but assigned with a permanent guard to his home after being formally indicted on sexual aggression charges by a Grand Jury in New York, in the US. Fox News points out that he will also have to take out a $5 million insurance bond, noting that “it’s not believed the wealthy banker will have any problem meeting the financial conditions of his release.”
An arraignment hearing has been set for 6 June, where the former IMF boss will formally answer charges.
Links to other sites: Figaro, Fox News, Le Monde, NY Times, NY Post
It’s only the end of January, midway through a New York winter, and the city of New York has already had more than twice the snow it usually gets during a winter. The 19 inches that fell Wednesday and Thursday broke a record dating back to 1925 for the most snow in January: 36 inches, or more than a metre, and more than 8 inches above the old record.
The northeastern US has been battered this week by heavy snows that have closed airports and schools throughout the region, and not for the first time this winter. Working parents, according to the Boston Globe, are particularly feeling the stress. The continuing heavy snows are causing a variety of problems, with a parking lot roof collapsing in Boston and trapping two men, who were not injured, while in New York some people found their snowplows blocked inside their garages and the city suspended its rule of alternative side of the street parking. State Regent exams were cancelled and schools didn’t open for only the 9th time in 33 years.
Links to other sites: Boston.com, Huffington Post, New York Daily News
Raw video, AP
The strange case of Carlina White, who was kidnapped at the age of 19 days and who last week, 23 years later, found her real family, could pose thorny legal questions. The woman suspected of kidnapping her from a hospital in Harlem, New York, and then raising her, has been arrested in Connecticut for violating parole. She was on parole after being convicted of suspected embezzlement. The statute of limitations for kidnap charges in New York might have run out, police there say, and the possibility of the federal government taking on the case is being reviewed.
The Bank of China, one of four state-owned banks, has allowed limited trading in renminbi, China’s currency, in its New York and Los Angeles branches since the end of 2010. Trading in the yuan, as one unit of the currency is called, has only been possible in Hong Kong and will be limited to $3,000 per trade and a total of $20,000 per customer per year. Renminbi deposits in Hong Kong increased more than four-fold to rmb280 billion between the end of 2009 and November 2010.
The move is seen to reflect China’s worries about the reliance on the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency and will tend to strengthen the yuan, although trading limits will restrict movements initially.
The northeastern US is snowed in by blizzards, and with the three main airports in New York closed down due to snow, travel throughout the country is disrupted. NPR reports that 2,000 flights were cancelled in New York alone, but the storm has brought gusting winds of up to 128kph and heavy snowfalls from Maine to the Carolinas, with 50cm of snow in New York. Tour buses had food and water delivered by police after the buses were stranded on New Jersey’s Garden State Parkway because tow trucks couldn’t reach them with five foot drifts, according to CNN.
International sports, American football
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (GenevaLunch) – The biggest snowfall in Minnesota since 1991, with 43 cm of fresh snow, nearly two feet, caused the inflatable roof of the Metrodome to collapse about 05:00 Sunday. The Metrodome is home to the several sports teams, including the Minnesota Vikings. Their game with the New York Giants was postponed to Tuesday 14 December and moved to Detroit after the Vikings found their flight diverted to Kansas City. The storm was followed Sunday afternoon by a wind chill advisory: the 7F/-14C temperatures are expected to have the impact of -15F.
The snow was accompanied by strong winds and gusts up to 64 kph.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, NFL video news, Star & Tribune (Minneapolis)
Bruegger’s Bagels customers in New York State face an additional charge if they take their bagels out sliced, with cream cheese on top, or if they eat them on the premises. New York State, essentially broke, is enforcing a little-noticed law that distinguishes between essential food items and luxuries. A bagel sliced and topped with cream cheese immediately becomes a luxury item, subject to a seven cent tax.
The owner of the franchise, which sells bagels in 33 locations across New York, was audited by the State tax authorities and handed a fine and ordered to start to collect. To show that he was not charging customers for cutting their bagels, he put up signs in the stores.
Links to other sites: Reason, Wall Street Journal, WRGB News
US Justice officials say Faisal Shahzad, who was arrested Monday 3 May, has admitted to planting an explosive device in a car in Times Square, and told them he was trained in Pakistan. He was arrested in New York after the Emirates flight to Dubai that he was on was asked to turn around and return as it taxied down the runway for takeoff. Shahzad’s name had been on a no-fly list but he had managed to order his ticket while en route to the airport, pay cash for it, make it through JFK Airport security and board the plane. Customs officials found his name on the boarding list shortly before takeoff and turned the plane around. A Justice Department official says there was never any danger he would have left the country, however.
He will be charged with terrorism across national borders, according to the Justice Department.
Links to other sites: US Justice Department and BBC, New York Times
US federal agents and police have taken a man into custody in relation to the attempted bombing of Times Square in New York City 2 May. Faizal Shahzad, a 30-year-old naturalized US citizen originally from Pakistan, was boarding a plane for Dubai when he was arrested. He recently returned from a trip to Pakistan, and a US Justice Department official said in an announcement that they had “gathered significant additional evidence”, which led to his arrest. The charges were not revealed. The man had recently paid cash for the Nissan Pathfinder that was used in the failed attack.
Links to other sites: New York Times, US Justice Department
The auditors who sign off on corporate accounts are a group who generally remain in the background of public debates over failures, and those who have handled banks’ book during the recent global financial crisis are no exception, but a 12 March report on Lehmann looks set to change this. Anton Valukas was appointed by a US court to provide a report after Lehmann’s 2008 bankruptcy, the largest in US corporate history. Among Valukas’s findings, detailed in the 2,200-page report: Ernst & Young, one of the Big Four accounting firms, did not live up to professional standards. The Financial Times argues that ‘the claims against E&Y, although exceptional, give grist to a growing lobby questioning the purpose of auditors in providing investors with a true picture of the financial health of a company.”
The scrutiny by world media of Ernst & Young following Friday’s report was followed Monday 15 March by the news that Saudi Arabia has pulled the auditing company’s securities license, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Links to other sites: Ernst & Young, Financial Times, Guardian/Observer, JDSUpra legal blog, New York Times, UK Reuters UK/Yahoo
Governments asked Ban Ki-moon and IPCC for external review
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Chair Rajendra Pachauri have asked the InterAcademy Council (IAC), a group of the world’s leading science academies, to review the scientific procedures of the Geneva-based IPCC. IPCC was created in 1986 but came into the limelight in 2007 when it won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with former US Vice-president Al Gore for work on climate change. The group has come under pressure since the news surfaced in recent months that its 2007 report on climate change contained scientific errors which were not caught in the approvals and editing process.
The two men asked for the review after IPCC member governments requested it.
In a statement issued as part of a press conference in New York to announce the review, the IPCC and the Ban’s office stated that:
Alinghi sailing near Valencia 21 January 2010 (photo: GJ, Alinghi)
Left to right: Ricardo Peralta, Spanish government delegate; Ernesto Bertarelli, Alinghi team president; Alec Tournier, SNG general secretary; Rita Barberá, the mayor of Valencia and Vicente Rambla, vice-president Valencia regional government (Photo: Alinghi)
New York, NY, USA (GenevaLunch) – New York Justice Shirley Kornreich told Geneva-based Alinghi and San Francisco sailing team BMW Oracle Friday in a telephone conference call Friday 29 January that she will not rule on the legality of sails used by Alinghi in the America’s Cup sailing race before the scheduled start to the competition.
The America’s Cup, generally considered the most prestigious race in the sailing world, is scheduled to be raced in 10 days in Valencia, Spain.
Kornreich has presided over a series of legal battles that have threatened the race since Alinghi won the last one in July 2007.
Alinghi promptly announced that the race “is free to proceed as ordered by previous New York rulings: in Valencia on the 8, 10 and 12 February.”
Washington, DC had its largest ever single snowfall in a December day and New York City was shoveling out from under a foot of fresh snow on Sunday. A slow-moving northeaster dumped large quantities of the white stuff on about a quarter of the US population, according to the BBC. Emergencies were declared in several states and air traffic is badly snarled in many areas.
Links to other sites: ABC News, BBC, Boston Globe
An Air France superjumbo Airbus 380 flight from New York to Paris has been cancelled due to technical problems. The aircraft’s 511 passengers have been put up in local hotels or have continued their journeys on other planes, Monday 14 December.
Air France cited a problem with the fuel tanks. It is the second time the superjumbo A380 has been grounded on this route since its entry into service late October. A system of pumps and valves in the A380′s fuel tanks not only supplies the engines with fuel but also redistributes the fuel around the aircraft to change its centre of gravity while in flight in order to improve fuel efficiency.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, France 24, Yahoo News (Fre)
Miami, Florida (GenevaLunch) – Artworks worth some $6 million were confiscated by US federal marshals at Art Basel Miami Beach shortly before the VIP opening Thursday 3 December, to settle an insurance dispute. The paintings, including works by Joan Miro and Edgar Degas, were part of the booth belonging to one of Zurich’s well-known art galleries, Gmurzynska. The art fair told Bloomberg it was the first time artworks have been seized for a court case. By later in the day the two parties said they had settled the dispute and the art would be back on Friday, but no details were provided.
The gallery has been in a dispute with former Wall Street raider Asher Edelman over a painting he loaned the gallery for the 2007 Miami fair, the largest contemporary art show in the US.
Republican challengers in New Jersey and Virginia have bested their Democrat opponents in elections for governor, while in New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, narrowly maintainted his job over Democrat challenger, Bill Thompson, in elections 3 November.
In Virginia, Bob McDonnel easily beat his Democrat opponent to become the first Republican governor there in 12 years. In New Jersey, Chris Christie edged out billionaire first-term governor Jon Corzine. Congressional elections in New York and California are not yet decided.
The elections are seen by many as a referendum on US President Barack Obama’s first eight months in office. BBC, CNN,NPR, Reuters
Where the race will be decided. ©NARAL
Geneva, Switzerland and New York, USA (GenevaLunch) – Team Alinghi, representing the Société Nautique de Genève in the 33rd America’s Cup race, has announced it will appeal the decision by Justice Shirley Kornreich of the New York Supreme Court to deny Alinghi the right to defend its title in Ras al-Khaimah (RAK), United Arab Emirates, in February 2010.
Kornreich had ruled 27 October that the race be held in the southern hemisphere or in Valencia, Spain, basing her decision on the terms of the “Deed of Gift” which stipulates that the race be held in the southern hemisphere between 1 November and 1 May.
Bern, Switzerland / New York, NY, USA (GenevaLunch) – Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz capped off a busy political week for Switzerland with an address to the United Nations General Assembly where he argued that because “the G-20 lacks legitimacy” exchanges between the UN and the G20 group of nations “must be strengthened. The G-20 has taken over a role in discussing important global issues. This development must not take place at the expense of other nations or global institutions such as the UN.” Libya and Switzerland’s removal from the OECD gray list also made headlines in Switzerland and elsewhere.
G20 needs to create level playing field: Merz
Merz told world leaders Thursday 24 September at the assembly that “basic considerations of due process are absent in the sanctions procedures. The members of the G-20 themselves are not subject to the same scrutiny. Switzerland advocates a level playing field and a much better consultation among non-members of the G-20.”
US President Barack Obama will hold separate meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in New York, USA, before meeting them together Tuesday 22 September, in an effort to jump-start talks that have stalled largely because of Palestinian intransigence in the face of continued Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
None of the three sides expect much to come out of the meetings, say observers, who note that Obama is keen to have something to show leading up to the UN General Assembly meetings and the subsequent G-20 meetings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Al-Jazeera, Jerusalem Post, New York Times
