Now need to coordinate with House of Representatives version
US President Barack Obama could sign into law before 4 July, US Independence Day, a new law that will create a watchdog agency to monitor risks in the financial industry, prevent banks and others that take deposits from proprietary trading, and to close down large institutions that are failing. The bill passed 59-39, but the two houses of Congress will now fight out a merged version to create the new legislation. Market observers have blamed sharp drops in stock markets 20 May at least in part on the US Senate’s bill.
Links to other sites: BBC, Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal
Google Street View in English: no luck, but try the French version
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Google Street View is being taken to the Swiss administrative high court in Bellinzona, Ticino, by Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner Hanspeter Thuer, after weeks of discussions have failed to force the company to comply with Thuer’s directives. The federal government, in a press release Friday 13 November notes that Thuer “requested Google to take various measures to protect personal privacy in its Street View online service. Google has however refused to implement the majority of the measures recommended.”
Google’s Swiss street views went online in mid-August, but 11 September the government ordered the company to better camouflage faces and vehicle license plates, particularly near “sensitive” areas such as schools, hospitals and prisons. Bern says that in its written reply 14 October Google refused to comply with most of the requests, or take into consideration these problems:
Durotherm leak test
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Double-walled Durotherm stew pans made by the Swiss company Kuhn Rikon which are no longer watertight, after they have been dropped or otherwise damaged, may be dangerous to use, says Swiss consumer watchdog, the Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau (FCAB). If water leaks into the space between the inner and the outer wall and is then heated up, the pressure build-up could cause the pan to explode in certain cases. The company shows this in a video on its website, how to test for leaks, and recommends that damaged pans be returned for testing.
