GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Michele Bachmann, US congresswoman from Minnesota, has decided not to be Swiss after all, in the wake of media brouhaha over her decision to take up citizenship in a Thurgau village along with the rest of her family. Her husband, technically a Swiss and US dual national at birth, only decided to register as a citizen in March 2012. Bachmann, under laws that were in effect until 1992 in Switzerland, automatically became Swiss by virtue of marrying a Swiss man.
She announced the news on her House of Representatives website: “Today I sent a letter to the Swiss Consulate requesting withdrawal of my dual Swiss citizenship, which was conferred upon me by operation of Swiss law when I married my husband in 1978. I took this action because I want to make it perfectly clear: I was born in America and I am a proud American citizen. I am, and always have been, 100 percent committed to our United States Constitution and the United States of America. As the daughter of an Air Force veteran, stepdaughter of an Army veteran and sister of a Navy veteran, I am proud of my allegiance to the greatest nation the world has ever known.”
Fortunately for Bachmann, renouncing her Swiss citizenship will be far easier than giving up a US passport would be: she will not have to pay $450 or swear that she will file any outstanding tax forms with the Swiss government for the past several years (since she presumably has not been filing Swiss taxes) as she would have to do if she gave up her US passport instead.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – It’s taken two years of allowing his position to “evolve” but US President Barack Obama came out with it Wednesday evening 9 May: he now supports same sex marriages, he told ABC news, saying that he’s always believe “gay and lesbian Americans should be treated fairly, and equally”. Vice-president Joe Biden said last week that he is in favour of same sex marriages, putting pressure on Obama to re-state his own position. A Gallup poll published Tuesday in the US says that public opinion is divided nearly equally on the issue, 50 percent for and 48 percent against, reports Bloomberg.
Part of the debate in the US is over whether the states have the right to decide, as Obama suggested, or if the Supreme Court has ruled otherwise.
NASA says lessons learned from 2011 twisters
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The killer tornadoes that hit the southeastern United States a year ago left mostly chaos in their trail, but they also handed scientists some interesting lessons, says Nasa (US aeronautics agency). The lessons could come in handy as unseasonably warm weather reaches across much of the US, bringing with it early tornadoes.
The 27-28 April twisters were “the costliest convective storms in US history”, the agency says of the deadly storms: 202 tornadoes in two days took 316 lives. Tornado topography, which looks at how the lay of the land may affect potential storms – valleys to channel them, mountain slopes to help air roll quickly – was given a scientific boost by the massive number of storms in a short time in adjacent areas.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Connecticut is about to become the 17th US state to abolish the death penalty, with both houses voting for a bill to ban it and the governor announcing 11 April he will sign the bill. Five states have abolished it in the past five years, says Human Rights Watch: New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, and Illinois. The group, which has a worldwide campaign against the death penalty, notes that another 13 states that have the penalty on the books have not used it for at least five years.
Human Rights Watch applauds the new bill, but points out that 11 prisoners in Connecticut have still-valid death sentences because it will not apply retroactively. “The failure to make the change retroactive is contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 15 states that if a law reduces a criminal penalty, all offenders should benefit from such a reduction, even those who committed their offense before the reduction. However, when the US ratified the treaty in 1992, it included a reservation that it would not adhere to this provision.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – North Korea’s plan to launch a long-range rocket next month upstaged talks at the 53-leader summit on nuclear security as it came to a close Tuesday 27 March in Seoul, South Korea.
The North Korean foreign ministry said it would carry out plans to launch a satellite missile into orbit next month to commemorate the 100th birthday of the regime’s founder, Kim Il-Sung. The ministry declared in a statement published by state news agency KCNA, “We will never give up the launch of a satellite for peaceful purposes” and that North Korea has “as much right to launch our satellite as other countries do”.
The United States, Japan, South Korea and other states expressed concerns that the launch breaches a United Nations ban and would violate an agreement concluded last month between the US and North Korea.
Meanwhile world leaders at the Seoul meeting called for closer cooperation to deal with nuclear terrorism, and issued a joint communiqué calling for an effort to secure “vulnerable nuclear material”.
Eyes, or rather ears, were raised at the summit on Tuesday, when US President Barack Obama was heard telling Russian President Dimitri Medvedev, as his microphone was on, that he would be more flexible about discussing missile defense following US elections in November.
Obama later explained his not-so -private exchange with the Russian leader to reporters, “You can’t start that a few months before presidential and Congressional elections in the United States, and at a time when they just completed elections in Russia, and they’re in the process of a presidential transition.”
Links to other sources: BBC, New York Times, The Telegraph
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A number of tornadoes have torn through several states in the centre and south of the US and the death toll now stands at 31, but there are fears it will rise as rescue workers check rubble. The deaths occurred in four states: Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Alabama, but areas in at least three other states have tornado watches in place.
It’s unusual to have such a high number of deadly storms. Twisters usually occur later in the year, as the weather warms up.
Links to other sites: CNN, NPR, Storm Prediction Ceneter, US Weather Service
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A dawn tornado that tore apart Harrisburg, Illinois Wednesday morning 29 February left 12 dead and massive damage to property in its wake as a massive storm cut across much of the Midwest in the US. A reprieve was welcome, reports CNN, but another storm appears to be building that is causing major concern. “A developing storm over the mid-Mississippi River Valley could pose a moderate risk to parts of Tennessee, Kentucky and northern Alabama, forecasters said.”
Links to other sites: Kansas City Star, Chicago Sun-Times
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – AP/Republic newspaper in Arizona report that a 35-year-old Zurich man was rescued from a canyon after Navajo police found his vehicle. He had reportedly hiked into Waterholes Canyon not far from Flagstaff, Arizona and went down into a dry waterfall canyon with a rope, but was injured and was stuck there, with no cell phone reception. He had rope burns to his hands and an injured ankle, according to the report.
The AP story doesn’t say how long he was down the canyon, only that he was rescued Monday, but he presumably had time to reflect on how his situation resembled that of an experienced American hiker caught in a canyon, an autobiographical drama retold in the film “127 Hours”.
Canadians vs Americans, you 0, me 1 when it comes to the War of 1812
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Americans and Canadians have a new old bone of contention, reports The Globe and Mail: who won the War of 1812. We did! each side has been claiming for exactly 200 years, it appears, and the argument isn’t about to let up as bicentennial celebrations get underway.
More than 1,000 citizens of each country were surveyed at the end of January, reports the Canadian newspaper, and while Canadians felt strongly that the best outcome of the war was that the invaders were pushed back, Americans said it gave rise to the national anthem, “The Star-spangled Banner”. “Canadians see it as a war which saved them from American assimilation and preserved them from American politics, gun laws and shared citizenship with Snooki of the Jersey Shore,” notes The Globe & Mail, which adds that while Americans saw no significant outcome to the war, “given a list of things which might define Canadian identity, 53 per cent of respondents picked universal health care, but winning the War of 1812 and squelching the American invasion was ranked second, with 25 percent support.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Hillary Clinton’s offhand announcement, at the tail end of a Town Hall meeting in Washington, Thursday 26 January, that she’ll leave her post as Secretary of State when the president has time to name a replacement came as a big surprise to many while others wondered why it is news, since it’s not the first time she’s said it. Media reaction was at first muted as startled journalists dealth Clinton’s abrupt cutoff of speculation about whether she would stay on if President Obama is re-elected. And then the kudos began to appear. Clinton says she would like to find out just how tired she is after 20 years in politics and government.
Links to other sites: Atlantic Newswire, CBS News, Chicago Sun-Times, Shriver in the Guardian, Politico, US State Department transcript of Town Hall meeting
BASEL, SWITZERLAND – Novartis will be cutting close to 2,000 jobs in the US, in New Jersey, as the result of an expected fall in demand for a relatively new medicine and the expiry of the patent for another, the company announced Friday 13 January in Basel. The sales force will lose 1,630 jobs and another 330 will go in related administrative posts. Staff will be informed of the specifics in April and the job cuts will be made in the first half of 2012.
The restructuring that lies behind the job cuts will result in CHF160 million in exceptional charges in the first half of 2012 in addition to an exceptional charge of CHF900m in the second half of 2011 following a “reassessment of the future sales potential of Rasilez/Tekturna in light of the Altitude results”.
Preparations were underway to restructure the company’s general medicines business with the patent expiring for the hypertension market leading medicine Diovan (valsartan) in the US in September 2012. The restructuration is being speeded up, the company says, after Altitude clinical studies were recently called to a halt, ending trials for Rasilez/Tekturna (aliskiren), another hypertension drug.
Novartis notes that the
“study was halted following the recommendation from the Data Monitoring Committee overseeing the trial. The study was investigating Rasilez/Tekturna in a high-risk population of patients with type-2 diabetes and renal impairment. As a precautionary measure Novartis Pharmaceuticals ceased all promotion of Rasilez/Tekturna-based products for use in combination with an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). Novartis Pharmaceuticals, in consultation with health authorities, is now recommending that hypertensive patients with diabetes should not be treated with Rasilez/Tekturna in combination with an ACE-inhibitor or ARB. Patient safety is the highest priority for Novartis and we are in continuing dialogue with health authorities worldwide to establish the most appropriate next steps.”
Novartis announced in November that it is cutting 1,000 jobs in Switzerland, some 350 of them in Prangins, near Nyon.
Swiss parliament must approve the new US-Swiss double taxation treaty
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The new double taxation treaty between the US and Switzerland, agreed to in June 2011, is heading towards Swiss approval, with the upper house of parliament giving it the green light Tuesday 13 December. It could face more difficulties in the lower house, which will now debate it.
The treaty is designed to replace a 1996 treaty. Both provide for judicial assistance in cases of tax fraud, but the new treaty defines the framework for this more precisely and admits tax evasion as well as fraud, in some cases, as grounds for a request for assistance.
Tax evasion is a crime, but not a penal offense in Switzerland, whose list of allowable tax deductions is far shorter than those of the IRS, and evasion has until now not been accepted as grounds for assistance.
The June agreement was amended in November after a parliamentary commission recommended, 7-3, that the addition be made: it allows for group requests covering several financial accounts to be made together and, significantly, bank data could be given to US authorities without the US first providing a name and account number, in a very limited number of cases.
In a separate set of talks, Switzerland and the US have been discussing the case of 11 Swiss banks that are under investigation by the US Department of Justice for illegally assisting Americans in the US to hide money offshore from the IRS, the tax arm of the US.
Swiss president says concern over legality of UK, German deals is EC’s “internal” problem
Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey in Geneva 28 November
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland is looking for an agreement with the US that will draw a line on the past, where banks and US tax fraud or evasion is concerned, Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey said Monday 28 November. It should include an agreed method for the US to collect tax money in the future while Swiss banking secrecy laws are respected.
“We don’t want to be a place for people who are trying to evade taxes. But we want to sort out past issues, once and for all, and put some order into [things],” she said, referring to ongoing problems between Swiss banks and the US tax arm, the IRS.
“And in the same agreement, we want to deal with the future,” for example through the kind of withholding tax agreement Switzerland struck in August with German and the UK.
“That, in essence, is our position, and it’s the same as it was with the UK and Germany.”
Her remarks were made at a press conference in Geneva Monday afternoon, 28 November where the president was presenting an overview of International Geneva, and its growth in size and importance in the past decade. She earlier attended the opening of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in Geneva.
EU tax commissioner suggests to UK paper the EU might sue Britain
Switzerland, under the UK and German agreements, which have yet to be ratified, is to collect withholding taxes on transactions by financial institutions, then turn over the money to the other countries without divulging the name of the account owners.
But European Union Tax Commissioner Algirdas Semeta told the Financial Times in an interview published Monday morning that he believes Britain and Germany went too far in signing their own bilateral tax agreements with Switzerland. The FT writes that:
“Brussels is threatening to sue Britain unless ministers significantly alter a landmark tax deal with Switzerland, in a dispute that will cast doubt over the £4bn to £7bn of expected proceeds for the Treasury. European Commission lawyers concluded that the bilateral deal, which recovers billions of unpaid taxes in return for protecting the prized secrecy of the Swiss banking system, is in breach of European Union laws that are tougher on tax evasion.”
Micheline Calmy-Rey, Swiss president
Calmy-Rey says this is an internal matter for the European Union, and it’s not for Switzerland to comment on who is competent in this area, the EU or its member states.
Switzerland and the European Union have a tax agreement covering “taxation of savings income in the form of interest payments”, signed in 2004 and revised in 2008 and again in January of this year.
The FT reports indicates that the EU’s pressure on Britain and Germany to renegotiate their deals with Switzerland is causing some friction.
Whether or not Switzerland would be open to new negotiations remains unclear, although the Swiss Bankers Association CEO Claude-Alain Margelisch said last week that “our view is that there can be no renegotiation” and the organization’s priority is to see that all parties are convinced that the agreements are true and fair compromises.
US talks could create new agreement, but form is still unclear
The US-Swiss talks are widely expected to be completed within weeks if not days, but the ultimate form an agreement might take is not yet clear, Mario Tuor, spokesperson for the Swiss Federal Tax Office told GenevaLunch Monday evening. The two countries have a treaty dating back to 1996 that covers tax fraud, still in place, and a new treaty covering tax evasion, which goes before the Swiss parliament in December 2011.
Tuor repeated Calmy-Rey’s assertion that Switzerland also wants an agreement which covers the banks not currently being investigated by the US Justice Department for helping Americans evade US taxes. “The form [it would take] is not yet clear. But it is clear now that we will not need a parliamentary agreement,” which a treaty would require. “We won’t need an agreement that calls for a treaty because it will be based on existing law.”
Switzerland and the US signed a treaty in 2009 that covered an American request for assistance with UBS 4,450 bank accounts, whose owners had not been identified, thus putting the demand outside the existing legal framework.
The talks are raising questions among many Americans who live overseas and who are grappling with the implications for them of tax reporting changes that were designed to prevent fraud by wealthy Americans who live in the US and have offshore accounts.
Uganda landmine survivors met in March 2012 (photo ©2011 Landmine Monitor / D Osman)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – There is some good news on the landmine front, the “Landmine & Cluster Munitions Monitor 2011″ (full report online), issued 23 November reports, but it is dampened by news that three countries laid landmines this year, with two of them, Israel and Libya confirmed.
Myanmar is the third suspect, and four non-state armed groups laid mines as well.
Record ordnance cleared
On the brighter side:
- at least 200km2 of mined areas were cleared by 45 mine action programs in 2010, the highest annual total ever recorded by the Monitor; 198km2 in 2009, the previous record, and 160 km2 in 2008
- more than 388,000 antipersonnel mines and over 27,000 anti-vehicle mines were destroyed during this clearance
- programmes in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Croatia, Iraq, and Sri Lanka together accounted for more than 80% of recorded clearance
- an additional 460km2 of former battle area was reportedly cleared, destroying in the process more than 1.2 million items of unexploded ordnance; largest totals: Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Lao PDR.
Eighty percent of the world’s nation, 158 countries, have now joined the Landmine Ban Treaty. Donor contributions for mine action rose to $637 million, a record high, with 31 countries contributing. Five main mine action donors—the US, European Commission, Japan, Norway, and Canada—accounted for 64% of all funding.
Eighty-seven states have completed the destruction of their stockpiles, including Iraq, who was added to the list in June 2011.
5% increase in new victims
Account holders domiciled abroad must ensure someone is designated as a contact in case of litigation
BERN, SWITZERLAND – US citizens with Swiss bank accounts who are domiciled in the US and who have not clearly designated, in the bank’s files, a representative who can be contacted on their behalf ad litern (in case of litigation) might want to remedy the situation before the end of November. At that point a new amendment to the ordinance covering the Swiss-US double taxation treaty goes into effect. It is designed to “ensure that the procedural rights of affected persons domiciled in the United States remain guaranteed even if administrative assistance requests are submitted based on certain patterns of behaviour”.
It also puts the onus on account holders to make sure someone can be officially notified if an account comes under suspicion by the IRS and the US makes a request for administrative assistance to Switzerland.
Swiss banking privacy laws do not allow banks to turn over data until the federal government’s tax office orders them to do so, if the US request meets criteria set out by the 1996 treaty.
Requests will in future be published in the Swiss Federal Gazette, and owners of accounts who are not named, or their representatives, will have 20 days from date of publication to appeal the Swiss decision, before the data is turned over to US authorities.
BERN, SWITZERLAND – The number of asylum seekers in Switzerland rose 4.9 percent in October, representing 100 more individuals (total, 31 October: 2,142) than in September, new figures from the Federal Migration Office shows. The office says that at the end of September the figures for the second quarter of the year were stable, with a 1.2 percent increase.
Zurich, Bern and Vaud have the largest number of active asylum applications under consideration.
Eritreans and Tunisians remain the two largest groups seeking asylum, with Nigerians third.
Switzerland sent 351 applicants to Italy in October, under the terms of the Dublin Regulation, which is designed to prevent asylum-seekers from applying to several European Union states or to move continually from one to another.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – World headlines include the following, over the weekend:
- Clocks go back in the US, a week after Europe moves from summer to winter time – NPR
- Chinese mine workers, some 200-strong, pulled out 45 miners Saturday who had been trapped for more than 48 hours after an explosion – CBS, Xinhua
- Pakistan charges 7 in Bhutto death in 2007 – Aljazeera, Reuters Canada
- Syria: 553 of some 15,000 prisoners released, but 20 killed Friday – Aljazeera, Xinhuanet
- Colombia: Farc leader Alfonso Cano killed, but now what? – CS Monitor, Guardian, Jakarta Post
The WHO board call for reform points to "WHO's unique mandate as the directing and coordinating authority for work in international health"; here, part of a 2009 WHO report on the health problems linked to the high number of road accidents in Africa
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The World Health Organization, based in Geneva, late Friday 4 November, approved a number of resolutions to reform the health body at the most basic levels.
The crucial question of how to improve funding was set aside for two months until the next general meeting of the executive board. The WHO, in a statement issued Friday night, states that the board will then review “a proposed mechanism to increase predictability and flexibility of financing for the organization”.
Two key changes agreed to in the special board meeting on WHO reform that just drew to a close in Geneva will be to establish a contingency fund for emergency work and to clarify roles and responsibilities “between the three levels of the WHO – country offices, regional offices and headquarters – to create a tightly networked, leaner and streamlined organization”.
The WHO has repeatedly faced under-funding for a number of reasons including the high percentage, in its budget, of “voluntary donations” and in the past, criticism from the US government which withheld funding. That relationship has been on a better footing for several years, and in September 2011 the US and the WHO agreed to strengthen the relationship.
The board also agreed to set up a mechanism for independent evaluation and to:
- develop criteria for priority-setting of its work in global public health
- engage “an increasing number of public health actors, including foundations, civil society organizations, partnerships and the private sector. The Board felt strongly that in any opportunity for engagement, WHO’s independence and integrity must be protected from undue influence by those with vested interests.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The US lower house of Congress, the House of Representatives, voted overwhelmingly Wednesday 2 November in favour of a resolution reconfirming the country’s motto, “In God we trust”. The motion is non-binding, reports CNS news. “The resolution approved Tuesday not only reaffirms the national motto, it also supports and encourages its public display in all public buildings, public schools and government institutions,” it reports.
Republican Randy Forbes of Virginia was behind the resolution, approved 396-9, with 8 Democrats and 1 Republican opposing it.
The motto was adopted in 1956, but it had been used on coins since 1864.
Zurich Zoo temporarily welcomes 1,000 unplanned insect guests
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Zurich had its own headline animal news Wednesday 19 October, but it was not alone. The city’s airport was the scene of a discovery by Swiss customs officials of 261 illegally imported tarantulas, a haul that led officials to the apartment of the owner, where another 900 illegally held insects were housed. The Mexican redknee tarantulas and meat-eating centipedes have been taken to Zurich Zoo to be cared for.
USA, farm’s exotic animals let go
The news came in the wake of a major breakout in Zanesville, Ohio, Wednesday, that resulted in 49 animals being killed after they escaped, with another six reportedly taken to a zoo, according to CNN. One animal was missing late Wednesday, but authorities believe it may have been eaten.
©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.
Innovation a factor keeping Switzerland at peak of global competitiveness (photo, ©2011 E Wallace/GenevaLunch)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland is once again at the top of the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Report, followed by Singapore, which has overtaken Sweden, then Finland with the US now in fifth place, slipping two slots since last year.
The report was published Wednesday morning 7 September by the Geneva-based organization that organizes an annual meeting of world business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland every January. The full report is available online.
Japan remains the top Asian country, at number 9 and China has advanced one place to number 26. Slovenia and Montenegro had steep falls of more than 10 places, while Sri Lanka rose by an impressive 13.
Switzerland is given top marks for its overall performance, especially ” innovation, technological readiness, and labor market efficiency”, where it comes first. The country’s strong points for the WEF include:
- “Switzerland’s scientific research institutions are among the world’s best, and the strong collaboration between its academic and business sectors, combined with high company spending on R&D, ensures that much of this research is translated into marketable products and processes that are reinforced by strong intellectual property protection.
- “This robust innovative capacity is captured by its high rate of patenting, for which Switzerland ranks 7th worldwide.
- “Productivity is further enhanced by a business sector and a population that are pro-active at adapting latest technologies, as well as by labour markets that balance employee protection with the interests of employers.
- “Moreover, public institutions in Switzerland are among the most effective and transparent in the world (7th). Governance structures ensure a level playing field, enhancing business confidence; these include an independent judiciary, a strong rule of law, and a highly accountable public sector.
- “Competitiveness is also buttressed by excellent infrastructure (5th), well-functioning goods markets (5th), and highly developed financial markets (7th), which benefit from a sounder banking sector than seen in last year’s assessment.
- “Finally, Switzerland’s macroeconomic environment is among the most stable in the world (11th) at a time when many neighboring economies continue to struggle in this area.
The weak point for Switzerland could be difficulty in maintaining its innovative capacity, which “will require boosting the university enrollment rate of 49.4 percent, which continues to lag behind that of many other high-innovation countries.”
Global Competitiveness Report 2011, WEF (top 20 countries)
Global Competitiveness Report, partial chart, ©2011 WEF
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Nestlé says it is one of just a few brands to offer ice cream snacks for dogs in the US and it claims to be gathering new fans rapidly for its new Frosty Paws Bites frozen ice cream snacks for dogs.
The bites are specially formulated for dogs who are lactose intolerant and cannot digest dairy products such as regular ice cream properly, says the Vevey-based Swiss multinational.
The product contains protein, vitamins and minerals, but no milk, comes in vanilla and peanut butter flavours with a vanilla yogurt coating. The Frosty Paws brand already offers larger ice cream cups for dogs.
As the leading ice cream snacks range for dogs, Frosty Paws is one of the only brands in the United States to offer frozen products for people’s canine companions.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The US Park Service is reporting one of the worst years in recent memory for deaths in the popular western US national park, Yosemite, reports the Los Angeles Times. Fourteen people have died so far this year, with a California women the latest victim after she slipped while coming down the rain-soaked granite face of Half Dome peak. An influx of visitors, but also lack of understanding the dangers of nature are often involved in the park’s accidents, says the newspaper. Several deaths this year have been linked to water with people dying after falling into swollen rivers or slipping on rainy surfaces.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Credit ratings agency Moody’s announced 13 July that it will review the US debt rating, since the country is not yet making significant progress on resolving the budget and debt ceiling crisis that could lead to a US default 2 August if not resolved soon. The announcement was followed a few hours later by President Barack Obama walking out of heated talks between Republicans and Democrats. It also prompted the head of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, to say that a default would constitute a major crisis that would send ripples through the financial world.
“The review of the US government’s bond rating is prompted by the possibility that the debt limit will not be raised in time to prevent a missed payment of interest or principal on outstanding bonds and notes. As such, there is a small but rising risk of a short-lived default.
“Moody’s considers the probability of a default on interest payments to be low but no longer to be de minimis. An actual default, regardless of duration, would fundamentally alter Moody’s assessment of the timeliness of future payments, and a Aaa rating would likely no longer be appropriate. However, because this type of default is expected to be short-lived, and the expected loss to holders of Treasury bonds would be minimal or non-existent, the rating would most likely be downgraded to somewhere in the Aa range.”
Links to other sites: BBC, Financial Times, Moody‘s, Washington Post
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – US President Barack Obama told congressional leaders Monday 11 July that they will have to meet for daily talks to resolve the impasse over the US budget, as he pushes for a long-term agreement with Republicans that would raise the national debt ceiling. The budget has already overshot the ceiling of $14.3 trillion and the US is currently running an annual budget deficit of $1.5t.
Republicans are unhappy with Obama’s call for tax increases and his fellow Democrats are unhappy with his insistence on cutting social welfare programmes. But Obama told reporters in Washington Monday that he won’t back off on his demand for a longer term deal rather than a quick fix to the ceiling issue before 2 August. If the budget is not passed by then, the day the budget runs out, the US will risk defaulting on its debt.
Meanwhile, as the budget debate heats up, 15 states in the Midwest are under heat wave advisories, meaning temperatures are expected to rise above 105F (41C), coupled with high humidity in some areas, such as Kansas City and St Louis, Missouri. CNN cites specialists who recommend that people avoid caffeine and alcohol in these areas.
Links to other sites: BBC, CNN, Washington Post
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Dr Jack Kevorkian, who brought assisted suicide into the limelight in the US, died at the age of 83 in Michigan, of complications from pneumonia and kidney problems. Kevorkian spent nearly eight years in prison after being sentenced in 1999 on second-degree murder charges linked to the death of one of his patients who had Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). He had been accused on several occasions of helping people to die, and he was a strong advocate of right-to-die legislation in the US, although he changed his stance after his time in prison.
He was convicted on second-degree murder charges in 1999 stemming from the death of a patient who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was paroled in 2007.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The American Dream, of every family owning its own home, is taking a beating, even as housing prices continue to fall. The Standard&Poors/Case Shiller home price index, which is published every two months, comes out Tuesday 31 May and analysts expect it to show a decline in housing prices for the eighth month in a row. The New York Times is referring to it as the worst downturn in housing since the Great Depression of the 1930s in the US.
Quarterly figures published by the US Census Bureau at the end of April show that home ownership fell to 66.4 percent in March 2011, down from a high of 69.2 percent in 2004. Home ownership climbed steadily from 1985 until 2004, then began to slip, but since the end of 2009 the slip has turned into a steady slide.
More than 11 percent of US homes are vacant, Census Bureau figures show.
Links to other sites: Boston Globe, New York Times, US Census Bureau figures
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Oprah Winfrey ended her 25-year run on television in the US Wednesday 25 May, with a word to her in-studio audience that typified her approach to the millions that tuned in every afternoon: “I want you to know that what you have to say matters to me.” She handed out her e-mail address to the audience, with those words, saying that leaving the show, which made her a household name and a setter of tastes and trends, was not bittersweet. “Sweet but not bitter”, she told the audience.
Links to other sites: CNN, Entertainment Weekly, The Oprah Winfrey Show, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A social media manager who has 3,000 Twitter followers put her skills to good work and within five hours of her bike being stolen it was home and the suspected thief was under arrest. Elaine Ellis, a known tech expert in Boulder, Colorado, posted a cell phone photo of the thief taken by her neighbour on Ellis’s blog. From there she quickly had it up on Twitter and Facebook. One of her followers alerted police when he spotted the thief, reports The Daily Camera in Boulder.
Police in Boulder say that social media are increasingly being used as investigative tools, according to the local paper.
