Four convicted spies, Russian citizens accused of working for western governments, have been pardoned by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, and 10 Russians are being deported from the US, in a spy swap deal that ends a short-lived nouveau Cold War scare which at times has verged on the farcical. The 10 Russians admitted to spying in a New York court and are being put on a plane, but it’s unclear where they are headed, with speculation rife that they will be part of a swap in Vienna. Their real names were read out in court. One of them, who grew up in Peru, is being sent there, reports Ria Novosti. The convicted spies in Moscow may or may not be leaving Russia, with information fuzzy about a link between the 10 spies in the US and the Moscow prisoners’ requests for pardons.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, BBC, NPR, Ria Novosti, Xinhua
Swiss top 16 countries for honesty, Nation Brands Index places country at 8
Zurich, Switzerland 2010: a nice place to live, says Mercer
Update 16: 30 [Video] Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Zurich and Geneva once again come in second and third in the Mercer city quality of living rankings, following Vienna, Austria and just ahead of Vancouver, Canada. Mercer notes that these are not quality of life but quality of living rankings based on measurable criteria.
Calgary, Canada was named the best eco-city and Baghdad was at the bottom of the heap as the worst city for quality of living.
Mercer, which advises companies and staff on international workplace issues, has one of the most respected city rankings of the many produced. They rate 320 cities once a year using 10 categories and 32 criteria.
Switzerland also comes out top in a survey on honesty recently run by Reader’s Digest, where 1,000 Swiss were questioned as part of a survey of 16 countries.
Overall, 91 percent of Swiss questioned would return a wallet they found, while worldwide the figure was 63 percent. Russians came out worst in the survey, but in general the stronger the economy and the less poverty, the more honest people are, according to the survey’s results.
And the Nations Brand Index, which is used by Presence Swiss to measure outside perceptions of the country, rated Switzerland a strong number 8 for 2009.
Links to other sites: 20 Minutes (Fre), Readers Digest Switzerland
How are cities ranked by Mercer?
Geneva airport, few takers for the trolleys this week
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Geneva airport flights began to take off and arrive Tuesday, but the majority of flights have not yet been reinstated. Airport officials are asking travelers not to go to the airport unless they have confirmed flights, and in any event to check the online timetable.
Flights arrived during the day from Palma de Mallorca, Athens and Zurich. They left for Vienna and Brussels, but flights to Marseilles and London have been canceled.
British airspace was partially opened Tuesday, but only briefly, with officials scrapping a plan to open the rest when a second cloud of volcanic ash began to arrive.
Links to other sites: Met Office, UK, Times, UK
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Zurich private bankers Vontobel Group announced late 30 July they were buying the Swiss operations of Commerzbank for an undisclosed sum. Vontobel hopes to reduce its dependence on derivatives and structured products with the purchase. The purchase involves 127 employees in Commerzbank’s Zurich headquarters, a Geneva office, and a representation in Vienna, Austria.
Vontobel’s existing assets under management grow by 20 percent with the additon of the CHF 4.5 billion client assets of Commerzbank, to a total of CHF28bn, Vontobel said in a statement. Earlier this week, Frankfurt-based Commerzbank sold the Swiss asset-management business of Dresdner Bank, which it acquired in 2008 from insurance giant Allianz, to Liechtenstein’s LGT.
Related: Le Temps (Fre), NZZ (Ger), Wall Street Journal
Background:“Julius Baer profits fall, Dresdner Zurich sold to LGT“, 27 July 2009, GenevaLunch
London, England (Economist Intelligence Unit) – The annual Economist liveability survey of 140 cities worldwide ranks Vancouver in first place with an almost perfect 98 score out of 100. There are four European cities among the top 10. Vienna is in second place, Helsinki in seventh, just ahead of eighth-tied Geneva, Sydney and Zurich.
A Saturday night fight at a Sikh temple in Vienna, Austria has resulted in the death of a “guru” of an Indian Sikh sect, with 10 others injured. Riots broke out in the Jalandhar district of the northern state of Punjab, and police have imposed a curfew. Times of India, Xinhua.
Geneva's Cointrin Airport
London, England (GenevaLunch) – Second and third place are not so bad, but the coveted first place in the annual Mercer best cities in the world selection was taken by Vienna for 2009 for two simple reasons: housing and “recreation” are better, a Mercer spokeswoman told GenevaLunch Tuesday. The company has received numerous calls from journalists asking if Zurich lost the top slot, which it had in 2008, because of the economic crisis or problems with banking secrecy. Not at all, Mercer insists.
