Jolie’s double mastectomy: breast cancer’s new public face

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie at the annual meeting of the refugee agency's governing body.

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Actress Angelina Jolie, well-known in Geneva for her frequent visits to the city and appearances as a goodwill ambassador for the UN refugee organization UNHCR, went public Tuesday about her recent breast cancer preventive surgery. The actress says in an article in the New York Times published 14 May that her chances [...]

3 ICRC employees kidnapped in S Yemen

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Two international staff and one local employee of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) were kidnapped Monday morning 13 May in southern Yemen as they were traveling in a car, the Geneva organization has confirmed to Swiss public broadcaster RTS. Further details are not available, given the delicate situation, with [...]

Cern to open scientific tourist trail

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GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Cern will inaugurate, 2 June, a “scientific tourist trail through the Pays de Gex and the Canton of Geneva known as the Passport to the Big Bang” the Geneva-based European Centre for Nuclear Research said Monday 13 May. Cern is scheduling activities for the public at its various sites that day. In [...]

The state of the union: Africa’s imperiled giants

Since the poachers arrived no elephants have been seen at the Bai, which was described as an “elephant mortuary” ©2013 WWF

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Elephants and rhinos are back in the news this week, as poachers continue to decimate their numbers in Africa. Swiss-based WWF International issued a statement 10 May saying that at least 26 elephants were massacred at the Dzanga Bai World Heritage site in Central African Republic (CAR) Wednesday after 17 people with [...]

MSF berates Gavi over vaccine price

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GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Médecins Sans Frontières is criticizing the Geneva-based Gavi Alliance, which 9 May announced a new, lower cost for a vaccine against the human papillomavirus (HPV) in developing countries. MSF charges the group, of which it is a member, and two Swiss pharmaceutical companies with not doing enough to make the vaccine cheaper. [...]

Swiss gov’t boosts Global Fund money

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss government is increasing its contribution to the Global Fund by 43 percent, from a 2013 pledge of CHF7 to 10 million. Bern is also looking to further increase its support for the fund during the 2014-16 budget period, says Swiss Foreign Affairs Minister Didier Burkhalter, but details have not yet [...]

WTO new head announcement expected Wednesday

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Pascal Lamy’s successor as head of the World Trade Organization is expected to be announced today or Wednesday 8 May, after a final week of consultations with members. The WTO has until 31 May to announced a new secretary general. The group announced 26 April that an earlier round of consultations had [...]

One-quarter of world road deaths: pedestrians

A growing number of Swiss towns and cities have 20kph zones where pedestrians and cars mingle, but the pedestrian has the right-of-way

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Walking is a dangerous business, worldwide, and the WHO would like to see that changed. The World Health Organization says that more than 270,000 pedestrians lost their lives on roads each year, a startling 22 percent of total road deaths. Traffic accidents kill 1.24 million people every year. The United Nations is [...]

Religious matters on the menu

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland will see presentations by two notable religious leaders in April, some of the highlights of several conferences, talks and debates centred around religion. The Dalai Lama, Tibetan religious leader who has a strong interest in science will be in Bern, Fribourg and Lausanne 13-16 April, attending the Forum Fribourg. He will [...]

Int’l Day of Mine Awareness: Swiss one of 10 biggest spenders

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland spent CHF17.3 million in 2012 to rid the world of anti-personnel mines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war, the government said Friday 5 April, to mark International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. The country is one of the 10 largest financial contributors in the world [...]