A study of a million UK women, published in the British Medical Journal, indicates that those who drink alcohol and are overweight may be at as much as double the risk for developing cirrhosis of the liver and other liver diseases. The study suggests that alcohol limits for obese and overweight people may need to be redefined.
Links to other sites: British Medical Journal, BBC
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - World media have been celebrating International Women’s Day for much of the week, with stories about the progress made by women in the past 100 years, particularly in politics and economically. But women are conspicuously small in numbers on Forbes latest list of the world’s rich. You have to move beyond the first 10 to find a woman, and most of those in the top 20 are from the same US family, the Waltons of Walmart fame. Birgit Rausing, whose money comes from Tetra Laval, is described by Forbes as “living quietly in Switzerland”. She is part of a very small group of wealthy women whose money has almost always been inherited, the magazine notes, while men who have made their fortunes do so in family businesses to a much smaller extent.
Swiss unemployment stable in fourth quarter, 2010 outlook brighter
More people working in Swiss healthcare
Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Lake Geneva region showed the strongest growth in employment in the fourth quarter of 2009, up 1.1 percent. Zurich was the only other area to show growth, 0,9 percent. Overall, Swiss unemployment remained stable, with a slight slip of 0.3 percent compared to the same period in 2008.
Fourth quarter figures for Swiss unemployment published Thursday morning 25 February show with significant differences between industry, where the number of jobless continues to rise, and the services sector, where the jobless rate is falling. The outlook for 2010 appears to be brighter, according to Federal Statistical Office forecasts, with an increase in the number of jobs available. For the first time in five quarters, industry looks set to increase the number of jobs open, after seasonal worker adjustments to the figures.
The number of people actively working rose by 0.3 percent in 2009, thanks to women, whose presence in the workforce increased by 0.8 percent, while the number of men working fell by 0.1 percent.
The number of deaths is rising from a Nato bombing mission that killed at least 33 civilians. The air strike was against a suspected “insurgent” convoy but many women and children were found among the dead.
Prix de Lausanne 2009
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – For the first time ever more young men than women will compete in the Prix de Lausanne dance competition 26-31 January. A record number of dance students, ages 15-18, tried out for the competition in October, most by video: 226 candidates (153 young women and 73 young men), representing 36 nationalities.
The cut leaves 81 young dancers, from 21 countries, who compete for scholarships and invitations to pursue studies in some of the world’s top classical dance programmes.
The Nobel Prize for Economics did not make its customary trip to the free market apostles at the University of Chicago. Instead it recognized two things not always understood by economists: women and the public interest in common resources. The Nobel panel chose two American professors: Elinor Ostrom from Indiana University and Oliver Williamson from Berkeley, part of the University of California. Ostrom has specialized in the field of common-pool resources, which can suffer from congestion and over-use. Her work was developed from a study of dams in Nepal and can be applied to many areas of sustainable development such as fishing grounds and bio-diversity. Her work stresses that local communities often manage resources better than government bureaucracies.
Williamson has focused on the importance of transaction costs and developed a critique of the view that corporations are solely driven by the profit motive. Both economists deal with institutions as complex bodies with sometimes conflicting aims. The Nobel panel denied being greatly influenced by the current economic crisis but it might well have decided it was not the right time to again reward the Chicago School of economics.
Links: Nobel Prize in Economics
Title: Career Women’s Forum
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: Designed for people who are trained and already work with IFRS and who want to know about changes and updates for 2009 and 2010.
Date: 23 Sep 2009
Title: Lecture: Brilliant women, brilliant science
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: An in depth look into the world of science, engineering and technology shared through the experiences of four women leaders. The lecture will highlight areas in which women are making a contribution to the advancement of science.
Date: 22 Sep 2009
An Oxford University professor’s research into the men who make the best husbands, from a woman’s point of view, concludes that in countries with more egalitarian men, notably Sweden and Norway, women are happier to do their share of household work, marry or live with a man more often. Almudena Sevilla-Sanz, whose economics research focuses on time studies and households and populations, among other areas, placed Japan, Germany and Austria near the bottom of the list and Australia at the bottom. The UK was third and the US fourth. The study involved 13,500 men and women aged between 20 and 45 from 12 countries. It will be published by the Journal of Population Economics. Reuters
US President Obama denied Western meddling in Iranian affairs yesterday 23 June, and UN Secretary general Ban Ki-moon called on Iran to respect the will of the people. The UK expelled two Iranian diplomats after Iran expelled two British ones. Several Western news organizations are noting that they are severely restricted in their ability to report the news from Iran.
People are taking to the rooftops at night to shout Alahu Akbar (God is great) in defiance, as the daily protests in Teheran and other Iranian cities die down after unprecedented police repression. The street protests have included clerics as well as many women who have been beaten and, in one celebrated case, shot.
Iran’s Guardian Council, the country’s supreme arbiter of the elections, refused to consider new elections, saying that the irregularities reported were insignificant and would not change the outcome of the disputed 12 June election, although Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khameini, later allowed five extra days to examine charges of fraud. One of the losing candidates, Mehdi Karroubi, strongly criticized the state-run media, and called for a day of mourning Thursday 25 June. A leading critic of the regime, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri has also called for three days of national mourning for those killed in the protests. BBC, CNN, Reuters
Lords/London, England (GenevaLunch) – Shahid Afridi was the star as Pakistan at last was in the news for a celebration of victory. The Pakistan team has played little cricket in the last few years as other teams have refused to travel to Pakistan because of security concerns. The last team to visit was the Sri Lankans who were forced to end their tour by a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus.
A new report from Cancer Research UK shows that men are 70 percent more likely to develop types of cancer that affect both men and women and 60 percent more likely to die from them. The reasons are not clear but appear to be linked to a greater reluctance on the part of men to visit the doctor and obtain treatment early enough. “It is thought half of all cancers can be prevented through lifestyle changes,” notes the BBC, covering the report’s publication.
Patricia Francis, Richard Newfarmer
Ndioro Ndiaye
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The figures are starting to roll in and they are clear: women are being hit hardest by the economic global crisis and the way it affects them will define the longterm impact of the crisis.
Title: Panel: Women Leading Change – Traction for Trade, Geneva
Location: Geneva
Link out: Click here
Description: An interactive panel sponsored by Geneva Women in International Trade (Gwit) and on the occasion of the International Women’s Day. Unleashing women’s economic potential to bring the global economy back on track.
Date: 04 Mar 2009
Title: Find your voice
Location: Geneva, Hotel Bristol
Link out: Click here
Description: Branka Zei-Pollerman, director of the Vox Institute in Geneva, will lead you through the many subtleties of human voice as a powerful tool for leadership and persuasion.
Start Time: 18:15
Date: 04 Dec 2008
End Time: 21:00
