Links to other sites: TSR (Fre), Yahoo France

Links to other sites: BA, BBC, Times, UK

The New York Times had earlier reported that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared anxious to lower the temperature after Israel came in for heavy criticism over the housing. “We all condemned the announcement, and we all are expecting both parties to move toward the proximity talks and to help create an atmosphere in which those talks can be constructive,” Clinton said before the Quartet’s statement.

Links to other sites: Guardian, UK, Jerusalem Post, Moscow Times, New York Times

The other games will feature Bayern Munich against Manchester United, an all French affair as Lyon play Bordeaux, while Inter Milan face a trip to play CSKA Moscow. The two favourites, Barcelona and Man United, cannot meet before the final in Madrid 22 May.

Links to other sites: CNN, Guardian, UEFA

Swiss take cheese world championship first and second place, 2010 (photo: World Cheese Championship)

Madison, Wisconsin, USA (GenevaLunch) – Say “cheese” this week and the Swiss dairy industry will smile. Awards at the World Champion Cheese Contest in Wisconsin 18 March might provide a clue as to why the Swiss hold the world record for eating cheese. First and second place awards went to Swiss cheesemakers. Cheeses and butters from 20 countries participated in the bi-annual event, with 2,313 competitors’ products judged by an international team of 30 judges.

First place went to Cedric Fragniere, Emmi Kase AG in Kirchberg, Switzerland for his gruyère, with an overall score of 98.79.

Close behind, winning the first runner-up award was Cheesemakers from Andeer Sennerei, from Andeer, Switzerland for their Andeerer Traum cheese, with 98.52 points. An Austrian cheese took third place.

Cheesemaker Michael Spycher of Kaserei Fritzenhaus in Wasen, Switzerland, was named World Champion in 2008 for his gruyère.

Switzerland exported more than 62,000 tons of cheese in 2009. It produces some 450 types of cheese and more than half the milk produced in Switzerland is used to make cheese.

Walter Fust, who heads the non-profit foundation created in 2007, told Le Temps Thursday that he was not aware any such decision had been made.

The GHF 17 March published a notice on its web site that it is “urgently considering the options for the future” of the organization, in the light of “disappointing receipts from donors.” The Swiss Confederation is a key donor.

Several media reports in recent days have referred to the difficult financial straits of the organization. The Swiss government in May 2009 ordered an audit of the GHF after paying half of its annual CHF1 million contribution. The forum has also been supported by Austria, France, Germany and Liechtenstein, as well as the city and canton of Geneva but funds promised by some of the donors have reportedly not come through.

Links to other sites: Global Humanitarian Forum, Le Temps

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The legal case opened Thursday 18 March between Hannibal Qadaffi, son of Libya’s leader, and canton Geneva plus the Tribune de Genève newspaper. The judge quickly dismissed charges against a journalist working for the Tribune who had approved but not selected the article and photograph, the newspaper reports. But swissinfo reports that Hannibal Qadaffi, who has asked for damages of CHF100,000, said Thursday evening he is no longer interested in the money: he wants an international tribunal to acquit him. Qadaffi was interviewed by news agency AFP.

A tribunal was agreed to by Switzerland and Libya shortly after the incident where Hannibal and his wife were charged in Geneva with abusing household servants during a stay in the city in July 2008. The court case was closed when the servants later dropped the charges. The two countries had agreed to each appoint an arbiter and the two justices would then appoint a third, but the third person was not appointed within the deadline period. Switzerland suspended the agreement when Libya refused to let two Swiss businessmen leave the country.

The Tribune Thursday called for the judge to separate the case against the canton, which is accused of dereliction of duty in letting a photo be leaked to the press, while the case against the Tribune, which, it argues, is about invasion of privacy.

Links to other sites: AFP interview, swissinfo, Tribune de Geneve

This weekend we won't see fresh snow, but more green

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Temperatures are warming up nicely on the plain, but it remains cold enough in the mountains for skiers to find good snow. It’s not yet clear what conditions will be like for the Easter school holidays that start in a week, but for this weekend, the skiing is good if you stay above 2,000 metres.

If you’re still on the mountainside at 17:32 Saturday 20 March you can celebrate the first day of Spring there.

Snowpacks are weakening thanks to daytime sun radiation, says the Swiss national avalanche centre in its Friday 19 March bulletin, but avalanche danger is low to moderate.

Weather forecast, snow depth

The snow is disappearing in many areas, which the MeteoSwiss snow depth maps show.

Temperatures of +4C at 2,000 metres means it will continue to go rapidly in the next few days. Temperatures from Geneva to Sion were 13-14C Friday at 11:30, with sunshine everywhere and highs expected to reach 18-19C later in the day. The forecast for the weekend: highs of 17-19C, mostly sunny, some foehn wind in Alpine valleys. MeteoSwiss

Alpine resorts report: night skiing, family races, new Alpine hut and Xtreme!

New Monte Rosa hut above Zermatt (photo, Zermatt Tourism)

The big event this weekend is in Verbier, the fourth and final leg of the Freeride World Tour, the Nissan Xtreme by Swatch Verbier. This is  where professionals put on a breathtaking display at the Bec des Rosses, 3,222 metres, after competitions in the US, France and Russia earlier in the season. The public gathers at Gentianes. For a taste of what to expect this weekend:

Crans-Montana has night skiing Friday 19 March. Leysin has an international curling tournament on this weekend. Villars-Gryon is hosting a Rivella family ski race Sunday 21 March, 10:30-14:00.

Zermatt’s extraordinary new Monte Rose hut, solar-powered and expected to be 90 percent energy  self-sufficient, is being called the most complex wooden construction in Switzerland. It’s open for business, with space available. Prices (cash) range from CHF9 for children to CHF35.50 for non-members over age 18. The hut is part of the Swiss Alpine Club system (SAC).

Crozets, Jura

Jura report by Shirley Curran

Conditions in our ski resorts in the Jura mountains are still excellent. We have a good covering of snow right down to Mijoux and Lélex. The weather has remained cold so that the quality of the snow is good – quite hard but well prepared in the morning, softening to spring snow in the afternoon. The best aspect of all is that the crowds have deserted us. Skiing in the Jura is highly to be recommended at this point in the season. Crozet is open on Wednesday and at the weekends. The other resorts are fully operational.

Cern operations group leader Mike Lamont (foreground) and LHC engineer in charge Alick Macpherson in the Cern control centre 19 March

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Two 3.5 TeV proton beams successfully circulated in the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at Cern for the first time Friday morning 19 March, shortly after 05:20, a key step in ramping up the LHC for 7 TeV collisions, whose data will be fed to a series of physics research projects around the world.

Cern (European Organization for Nuclear Research) says this is the highest energy yet achieved in a particle accelerator.

Teams at Cern are preparing the LHC for 7 TeV (two beams at 3.5 TeV colliding), which will happen in the near future. At 3.5 TeV the collider’s operation will fulfill two objectives: calibration and research. The machine has to be carefully calibrated in order for its results to make sense.

The current run on the LHC began in November 2009, with a short stop early in 2010 to  prepare the machine for higher energy collisions. In its first 26 days over a billion particle collisions were recorded and the data send around the world via the LHC computing grid.

Once 7 TeV collisions have been established, the plan is to run continuously for a period of 18-24 months, with a short technical stop at the end of 2010, says Cern.

”Getting the beams to 3.5 TeV is testimony to the soundness of the LHC’s overall design, and the improvements we’ve made since the breakdown in September 2008,” says Steve Myers, Cern’s director for accelerators and technology. “And it’s a great credit to the patience and dedication of the LHC team.”

Background, GenevaLunch on LHC dates, on LHC programme