IOC President Jacques Rogge, YOG Ambassadors and the Innsbruck 2012 YOG mascot Yoggl at the Olympic Museum (photo ©2011 CIO / Richard Juilliart)
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The Olympic Museum in Lausanne, one of the region’s most popular tourist attractions, will close 30 January for 20 months for major renovations. Entrance to the museum, which has 200,000 thousand visitors a year, is free from 1 December to 29 January.
During the renovations a CGN Lake Geneva boat docked in Ouchy will house a temporary, smaller museum.
The International Olympic Committee is investing CHF55 million to modernize the museum, which opened in 1993.
It will be enlarged, from 2,000m2 to 3,000m2, thanks to its research centre moving to a neighbouring building.
The restaurant will have a green roof and the museum will be equipped with at least 300 screens. The museum will be developing two new areas for school group visits.
The new-look museum will re-open in November 2013.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Tourists who are tempted to drive across Switzerland on the faster roads without the sticker might want to reconsider. It will cost you double, with the fine jumping from CHF100 to 200. Swiss motorists beware: you have until 31 January to make sure the sticker is on your vehicles.
The cost of the sticker remains CHF40 for the 2012. It can be used starting 1 December and is valid until 31 January 2013. The old 2011 sticker is valid until 31 January 2012.
The highway department warns drivers they must remove their old stickers to make it easier to see the new one. The sticker has to be placed on the windscreen, on the inside of the car, near the edge of the windscreen; stickers not correctly placed can prompt a fine this year.
The stickers serve as a sign you’ve paid the Swiss road tax, which replaces the tolls in some neighbouring countries.
They are available at customs agencies, petrol stations, post offices, highway department offices and garages.
Screen shot of the video posted by the FRC shows the Swiss hostages surrounded by gunmen
PAKISTAN – A Bern couple kidnapped in Pakistan Friday 1 July are reportedly “alive and well” says the FATA Research Centre, FRC, a “non partisan and non-political research organization” based in Islamabad, which has obtained two videos of the hostages.
In one of the videos posted by the FRC, David, 28, a police officer in Bern, calls in English for the release of a “Dr Aafia from US custody” and for the release of Taliban prisoners from Pakistani custody in exchange for the couple’s release.
“Let them go! We are in danger,” says the man.”If you don’t do this, it is possible that we will die,” he added.
In a second video, the Swiss couple is seen surrounded by masked gunmen.
The couple speaking in Swiss-German requests the release of Taliban prisoners. It is believed that one of the videos was shot in late August, the other, in late September.
David, and his traveling companion, Daniela, 31, were kidnapped as they returned to Switzerland, in the Balochistan province, which has borders with Afghanistan and Iran, an area considered dangerous.
The Swiss government advises against non-essential travel there.
Video of the FRC Read more…
Update 5 July BERN, SWITZERLAND – ATS news agency, citing a German news agency, says Tuesday that a Bern couple kidnapped in Pakistan Friday 1 July have reportedly been taken by Taliban captors to southern Waziristan province. The Taliban appear to be taking credit for the kidnapping but have not provided any terms for releasing them.
Earlier, AFP reported the pair had been “transferred” across the border into Afghanistan’s tribal belt area, quoting a local Pakistan official. The two tourists, Daniela and David, are the only known cases of Swiss people kidnapped in Pakistan.
The pair were traveling in a van in the Balochistan province, which has borders with Afghanistan and Iran, an area considered dangerous. The Swiss government advises against non-essential travel there.
It appears they may have been planning to return to Switzerland via Iran, although little information is being given out by the official federal Swiss cell set up to deal with the situation.
He works as a police officer in Bern and she followed but did not complete police training; he is 31 and she is 28. Their blue van was found abandoned about 170 east of Quetta, the provincial capital.
Officials told AFP Monday 4 July that no demands have been made by the kidnappers to date, nor is it known who they are.
Links to other sites: Le Temps (Fr), TSR (Fr), The Express Tribune
©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.
A huge blast Thursday 28 April at the popular Argana two-storey cafe in Marrakech’s Place Jamaâ El Fna, a Unesco World Heritage site, killed 14 people and injured another 20, according to initial figures released by the Moroccan government. Reuters says it was told initially that gas cannisters might have caused the lunchtime blast, but officials now appear to be giving more weight to the possibility that it was the work of Islamists.
Foreigners are reportedly among those killed, but officials had not yet confirmed this early Thursday evening.
Morocco has been relatively untroubled by terrorism since a bomb killed 45 people in 2003, but it has suffered by a drop in tourism, a key industry, from the global economic recession.
Links to other sites: AP/The Australian, The Independent, Reuters
Australian media carrying the story of a kangaroo that was apparently castrated and cruelly damaged Sunday afternoon 10 April while it was alive, reported that there is a public outcry over the incident, but authorities said late Tuesday that the animal had not been intentionally injured.
Police and animal welfare specialists say the number of cases of cruelty to animals is on the rise, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, but possibly due to increased awareness rather than more cases. It initially appeared that the kangaroo, after being hit by a car, was castrated, possibly for souvenir parts.
“Kangaroo scrotums are sold in souvenir shops as pouches and bottle openers,” reported the SMH.
An autopsy done on the kangaroo, which was put down by Wildlife Victoria volunteers, showed that he had in fact lost body parts as he was dragged by the car after being hit, news service AFP reports.
Four British tourists died when their Cessna 185 plane crashed while flying over the Nasca geoglyphs in southern Peru 2 October. The plane was piloted by two Peruvian pilots, both of whom also died. Initial reports said the plane’s engine malfunctioned.
The Nasca lines are gigantic lines scored into the desert floor 400km southeast of the capital Lima in the shape of animals or geometric figures and are best seen from the air. In February, seven people died in a similar crash and in 2008 five French tourists also died in a plane crash over Nasca.
Links to other sites: Andina News Agency (Spa) CNN, Daily Mail
A tourist plane carrying 14-15 people, mostly foreign tourists according to early reports, crashed early Tuesday 24 August in the Himalayas near the capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, after their plane was unable to land in Lukla, a popular trekking area in the Everest region. There are reportedly no survivors. Bad weather, with heavy rain and poor visibility, is hampering rescue workers, according to a government ministry. Foreign embassies, including the US, are trying to determine if their citizens were on board; four Americans and one Japanese were reportedly among the passengers, but the government has not given details about the others.
Links to other sites: AFP/France24, BBC, Channelnewsasia
Geneva, Switzerland - heat wave (photo, Peter Brodbeck on flickr)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The city of Geneva is now offering a “Geneva pass” with several special visitor offers that should save tourists money and make it easier to select some of the city’s top attractions.
The city’s tourism office is making available for one, two or three days (CHF25, 35 or 45) passes with a good variety of options on offer, some free, some discounted, and with some gifts.
Sightseeing tours by tram, boat or guided walks are part of the offer, with free visits to a number of museums.
Bonneteau, or shell and pea, on the streets of Geneva (photo: ©2010 Peter Brodbeck on flickr)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Police warned the public in mid-May about a popular street game scam, called bonneteau in French, “shell and pea” in English, saying that seven groups appeared to be operating.
The warning did little to stop the con men, it appears and this week the Liberal political party has been handing out flyers to warn the public about the trick, just days after the canton distributed 30,000 flyers to businesses and international organizations to alert them.
The Tribune de Geneve today carries a story explaining why the police do little to stop the trick that is a close cousin of three card monte, an older card game trick.
Police have been keeping an eye on the groups who play it, but say that it takes about half a day of plainclothes police work plus 20 officers to nab a group of six or seven and have enough solid proof that what they are doing is illegal: it isn’t a priority for their limited personnel resources, according to the Geneva newspaper.
Geneva street scam (photo ©2010 Herbi Ditl on flickr)
The police department says it runs regular checks on players as part of the Figaro police operation, particularly around Paquis and the train station.
The game is simple, according to one observer, “They hide the ball behind their thumb and so when you choose a box, there’s actually no ball under any of them. Then when they return another one to show you it was there, they can quickly release the ball again and make you believe it was there all the time! Quite good dexterity, but a real scam! And indeed, they make thousands of francs a day!”
The Geneva police department describes it this way:
A small ball is moved under three cups or match boxes and the player has to guess where the ball is at the moment when play stops. It’s a gambling trick, in other words. The player picks a box, and loses each time he or she guesses.
What is in fact happening is that the person with the ball is very quick and manages to hide the ball, not under one ofthe boxes but in his hand. He makes it reappear at just the right moment, in exactly the right place. It’s a really simple trick for an experienced magician.
They rarely accept bets of under CHF100 and these can go up to several thousand francs for one “pass”. In addition to the person with the ball there are usually three to five others involved in the game. While one of them takes care of the box two others pretend to be betting, in order to encourage bystanders to join in. Another two or three stay a dozen metres away to keep an eye out for police and signal when they spot them. They then quickly disperse and melt into the crowd.
In fact, it’s not gambling but confidence trick. A word of caution to amateur photographers: the game organizers can be threatening if you try to film or photograph them.
In France, bonneteau players reportedly risk a fine of up to €5,000 and a prison sentence, but as in Switzerland, catching them is a tricky business.
Eight dead, fourth journalist shot in two days and tourists under attack as crisis deepens
A gun battle is underway in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok, several media are reporting late Sunday Swiss time.
The red-shirt protests also appear to have spread beyond Bangkok as the government backed down from its threat to call a curfew but declared a two-day holiday in the face of a deepening crisis, reports the Bangkok Post Sunday evening (Swiss time). Eight people are now known to be dead, and a fourth journalist was shot and wounded Saturday as the government attempts to seal off the protesters. The luxury Dusit Thani Hotel, where a number of foreigners including journalists are staying, came under attack with gunfire in the early hours of the morning, Bangkok Time.
Protest leaders have called for UN-moderated talks, which the government promptly rejected.
Links to other sites: AFP, Bangkok Post, CNN, Reuters
There is even room for the groceries!
Migros says electric cars will rent for CHF1,200 a month and scooters for CHF150 a month
Update 19:35 Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Migros is no stranger to transport, as one of Switzerland’s main suppliers of petrol, but the country’s largest supermarket is about to start selling us electric parks and a series of services for electric vehicles that will include: a “lively” Internet site, insurance, financing, regular car services and maintenance, advice.
The supermarket chain will kick off the new set of electric vehicle services through a partnership with Alpmobil in the Goms (Conches) Valley, east of Brig in canton Valais. The tourism project will offer visitors 60 electric vehicles supplied by Migrol, the petrol station brand owned by Migros. The cars will be spread around the Goms Valley, available at train stations and hotels, for example, says Alpmobil, which is a tourism planning project covering the San Gottardo region.
“The energy for this project is also coming out of the region and consists of hydro power and in future also increased wind power and PV power. The goal is to reduce the CO2 emissions and respirable dust and last but not least noise reduction,” says project director Dionys Hallenbarter.
Cliff viewed from Lauterbrunnen, heading towards Muerren, one of scores in the area
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – High mountain areas are places of danger, a fact sometimes overlooked by visitors, a police spokesperson from canton Bern says. The officer was answering questions from GenevaLunch about whether the police are investigating the possibility of foul play or a link between the disappearance of two men in their early 20s in three years, from the small town of Wengen. The second man, Myles Robinson, age 23, disappeared 22 December. His body was found in a wooded area below a high cliff Monday 28 December.
Media reports shortly after his disappearance raised the question of a possible link with the unsolved death of Daniel Baptista, age 21, in 2006.
The police cannot comment on the investigation into the hours before Robinson’s fall or his death in particular, which has been handed to an investigating judge, or magistrate.
But the officer cautions against speculating, noting that the danger of the mountains is a factor that has to be considered for the many unresolved cases of missing persons in the region over a period of several years.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Motorists who fail to have a current year autoroute sticker correctly plastered to their cars risk a fine that will rise to CHF200. The upper house of parliament has approved a measure already passed by the lower house, that will increase fines from the current CHF100. The 6 percent of cars that travel on the highways without the sticker cost the government an estimated CHF20 million a year.
North Korea has once again opened some areas to South Korean tourists, agreed to help reunite families and to provide access again to an industrial park, in the continuing dance between rapprochement and keeping a distance. South Korea remained wary, saying the agreements were on a civil and not at a government level. The news came on Monday, just a day before the death in Seoul of Kim Dae-jung, 85, former president of the South who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2000 for his efforts to create better ties between the two countries. JoongAng Daily, Reuters
Authorities in Yemen said Monday 15 June that the bodies of some of the nine tourists kidnapped 12 June while they were on a picnic have been found, but reports differ on the number of dead and whether two children who were with them have been spared and are now safe. The group, seven Germans, one British man and a South Korean woman, reportedly all worked at a hospital in the area, in the northwest of the country. AFP/BBC reports that three bodies were found, while TSR (Fre), citing agencies, says that seven bodies were found, including that of one of the children, but that the two other children are safe.
