International sports, European Champions League football
Rome, Italy (GenevaLunch) – They came, they saw , they conquered: FC Basel won what is quickly becoming a famous victory in Rome as they beat Roma 1-3. The Swiss team went ahead with a stunning goal from Alex Frei and then scored two more as they dominated the game. It was the first victory by a Swiss team over Roma.
In other matches Arsenal crushed Shaktar 5-1 and Chelsea scored a valuable away win as they beat Spartak Moscow 0-2. Manchester United play tonight without Wayne Rooney: the unhappy star is injured.
The German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, has denied that Chancellor Angela Merkel told French President Nicolas Sarkozy she would order the closing of Roma camps in Germany within a few weeks. Sarkozy told a press conference 16 September that Merkel had told him German authorities were to clear Roma camps in the coming weeks and added: “We’ll see how calm German politics will become then.”
The embroglio comes after an EU summit in Brussels was dominated by France’s policy this summer to clear hundreds of illegal Roma camps and deport the people in them to Romania. Merkel and Sarkozy are said not to get along well personally and communicate in poor English.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Investigators have been hearing the case of a 71-year-old man, arrested in Geneva at the end of August, the Tribune de Geneve reports, when he was caught with a 13-year-old Roma boy.
The pair were nabbed coming out of the public toilets at the Cornavin train station in Geneva after a security guard heard unusual noises.
The man reportedly paid CHF50 for the youth’s time, and the mother was taken in on suspicion of encouraging prostitution.
The boy has since run away from home.
France is increasing pressure on its Roma population, and others considered to be illegal immigrants. The moves are part of president Nicolas Sarkozy’s crackdown on crime.
Some have criticized the moves as populist and racist, and as an attempt to revive the flagging support for the president. The measures include the closing of illegal settlements and offering a 300 euro incentive to adults who volunteer to return to Romania and Bulgaria.
Under the rules of the European Union concerning the free movement of people there is nothing to stop these people returning to France.
Links to other sites: Guardian, New York Times
City of Manchester Stadium (GenevaLunch) - Tottenham Hotspurs scored a vital away win at Manchester City to qualify for the vital fourth Premier League place amongst the elite European Champions League teams next season. The high spending Manchester City will have to settle for a place in the Europa Cup. Spurs were deserving winners, with a late goal from Peter Crouch providing the 0-1 victory in a game where they had the better organisation and more chances, 5 May. Manchester United’s noisy neighbours will have to wait at least another season to compete with the top European clubs.
Inter Milan won the Italian Cup with a 1-0 over A S Roma to claim the first part of a potential treble. They lead Roma in the Serie A championship and are in the finals of the European Champions League against Bayern Munich. The match was an ill-tempered affair after accusations that Roma’s arch rivals Lazio had allowed Inter to win their last Serie A game in order to stop Roma from taking the title.
Links to other sites: Guardian, Premier league
Title: Colourful Dreams of Remembrance: Hungarian Contemporary Roma Artists
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: Sponsored by Permanent Mission of the Republic of Hungary to the UN in Geneva.
Start Date: 2010-03-03
End Date: 2010-03-26
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Police in Geneva Thursday morning rounded up 26 Romanians who were begging in the streets, public radio RSR reports, in a sweep of the city that involved four police vans and 30 officers. The move was linked to the upcoming federal vote, 8 February, on extending the free movement of people to Romania and Bulgaria, in an effort to reduce a popular negative perception of traveling people, notably Roms, and some other groups from these countries. Also Thursday, the Federal Council in Bern issued an unusually strong statement against racist overtones in political advertising for the 8 February vote.
