Watch the gas pedal: they're watching your speed here!

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Vaud drivers will soon have the privilege of being the first to test a new federal highway department system for catching speeders on the A9 autoroute from Aigle to Bex.

An eight kilometre stretch of road will be equipped in September with a new radar system that measures a driver’s speed for that length of road to produce an average speed. Drivers who have gone over 120kph on average will be flashed at the end of the stretch.

The goal is to cut down on the number of drivers who are over the limit then suddenly reduce their speed as they approach fixed radars. The new system is designed to reduce accordeon-type traffic jams.

Aigle to Bex on the A9 is at the entrance to Valais, where the A9 has less traffic and several long straight stretches. The new radar area links the more heavily radar-equipped Vaud highway and Valais,where there are few radars and a noticeable shift in drivers’ speeds.

A similar test programme will be run near Basel, but on a 1.8km stretch of road, and a mobile version will be used. The three are costing the highway department CHF1.6 million, according to the Nouvelliste, and once a report on their effectiveness is published each canton is free to decide if it wants to use the system. Austria, Britain, Italy and The Netherlands already use similar systems.

National Highway Department regulations on radar measurements, pdf

Update 08:30  Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Catholic church in Switzerland is dealing with its own crisis of pedophile priests, in the wake of revelations in Germany: Saturday a commission of experts for the Swiss Bishops Conference (SBC) announced that it is examining nine cases of possible sexual abuse.

The group’s president, Monsignor Norbert Brunner, said in an interview that appeared in the Sunday edition of Le Matin that he believes the system the church has in place for dealing with sexual abuse and pedophile priests, put in place in 2002, is adequate. He cites the recent directive sent to the Irish Catholic church by Pope Benoit XVI as a sign the Swiss approach is correct.

The pope’s apology to the church in Ireland over the weekend appears to have met with mixed reactions, with the New York Times reporting anger, but the Irish Times saying there was a small number of protests, and its main story Monday is about Dublin’s Archbishop Diarmuid Martin called for investigations into sexual abuse to be extended.

Abbot Martin Werlen at the Einsiedeln Abbey near Zurich spoke out Friday for changes in the Swiss church’s approach. He called in particular for the church to create an international register of priests who have been charged with sexual abuse, which would be available to bishops when priests are moved from one diocese to another. Werlen announced Friday that the abbey had nine cases of sexual abuse against students in the 1970s. Another case was announced separately of a monk at the Disentis school abusing a student some years ago.

Links to other sites: Catholink (Fre), Le Matin interview with Adrian von Kaenel, lay president of SBC commission(Fre), Le Temps (Fre), NZZ (Ger), swissinfo

Versoix Chocolate Festival 2010, Switzerland (photo, ©2010 Mr Kio)

Versoix, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The urge to turn the town into a chocolate bazaar overcomes Versoix every March and the sixth year of the Versoix Chocolate Festival took place as happily as usual Saturday 20 March.

This year’s festival had an unusual feature: chocolate-makers participating in the festival spent Saturday working in relays to build a five-metre high chocolate bunny, only to let the Geneva-Servette Hockey Club break it into pieces Sunday at 16:00 and hand it out to the public (donations for a nibble or two go to Haiti for post-earthquake aid).

Versoix has had chocolate-makers since 1858 but on this one day every year the town of 13,000 has more visitors than residents and all roads (and rails for the chocotrains) end in chocolate.

Versoix Chocolate Festival 2010, Switzerland (photo, ©2010 Mr Kio)

But the less said the better, for chocolate is meant to be looked at, smelled, touched, nibbled.

Eaten.

GenevaLunch photos by Mr Kio. (Photo album with 44 images from the Versoix Chocolate Festival, mmmmmm)

Old Trafford, Manchester, England (GenevaLunch) - Manchester United, the current holders of the Premier League Championship, moved back to the top of the table with a 2-1 victory over rivals Liverpool. A massed crowd, many wearing  green and gold protest scarves, saw the home team fall behind after a beautifully headed goal by Liverpool striker Fernando Torres but after that Man United dominated play. They were rewarded with a slightly generous penalty which Wayne Rooney succeeded in converting a penalty when goalkeeper parried the ball back to him.

The energetic Park Ji-Sung later made it 2-1 with a diving header. In Saturday’s games Arsenal beat West Ham 2-0 despite playing most of the game with 10 men after Thomas Vermaelen was sent off.

Didier Drogba scored in the fifth minute for Chelsea away to Blackburn but El Hadji-Diouf equalized  in the second half to  leave Chelsea four points behind Man United, although they do have a game in hand. Arsenal are in second place. Spurs won 1-2 at Stoke to stay in fourth place while Man City are fifth after beating Fulham 1-2.

Links to other sites: Premier League, Guardian

Rough cut diamonds, covered by Kimberley Process. Photo, Wikipedia

Switzerland told to take lead in toughening Kimberly Process rules

Update 22:45  Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Switzerland to take the lead in tightening diamond trade rules designed to stem the flow of conflict diamonds, often called blood diamonds. HRW has timed its appeal to coincide with the opening of Basel World, Switzerland’s premier watch and jewelry show in Basel. More than 100,000 people are expected to attend the show, which opened 18 March and runs to 25 March.

HRW in June 2009 published a report on the Marange district in Zimbabwe, where diamonds were discovered in 2006. Members of the Zimbabwe government are involved in exploiting local people to work the mines, according to the report. HRW documents a massacre of 200 people in the area in 2008.

Fair trade groups are also focusing on the Zimbabwe situation at BaselWorld: the annual Rapaport Fair Trade Conference has as its topic this year the issue of human rights and the jewelry industry, with a special focus on the situation in Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe was reported by Rapoport 5 March to be ready to sell diamonds now that the Kimberly Process has a monitor: the Kimberley Process, currently chaired by Israel, announced 1 March that a monitor for Zimbabwe would visit the area and report on the situation, according to a work plan submitted by the Zimbabwe government. Abbey Chikane, the monitor, was formerly the chief executive officer of South Africa’s State Diamond Trader.

The HRW report exposes weaknesses in the Kimberley Process, which is a joint initiative by governments, industry and civil society designed to halt the trade in rough diamonds by rebel groups which use the money to fund conflicts. Its charter refers only to diamonds from conflict areas under rebel control, ignoring human rights abuses in diamond mines under state control.

Decisions by the group are taken by consensus, which makes it difficult to pursue individual members accused of human rights abuses, and HRW points out that the Kimberley monitoring regime is weak.

Switzerland is a founding member of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, whose members certify that diamonds they ship do not come from areas under the control of rebel groups. The problem was highlighted in the 2006 film Blood Diamond.

Links to other sites: Basel World, Human Rights Watch and commentary by HRW committee members published in Le Temps, Kimberley Process

Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Geneva-Servette came from 3-1 down in the play-off series to tie 3-3. The final game of the series will be played in Geneva Tuesday 23 March, at 19:45. The Geneva Eagles were 1-0 down in the first period but scored twice in the second and then took the game 2-3 in front of 7,000 spectators. In the other play-offs Bern had already beaten Lugano 4-0, Zurich and Zug are at 3-3 while Kloten beat Davos to take the series 4-3.

Links to other sites: GSHC, Le Matin

Planica, Slovenia (GenevaLunch) – Swiss ski-jumping sensation Simon Ammann, winner of an historic “double double” by winning two golds at both the Salt Lake City and the Vancouver Olympics, added another title to his resumé. A week after winning the ski-jumping World Championship he took to the skies on even bigger jumps in the skiflying World Championships, soaring 236.5 metres with his final jump to leave Austrian Gregor Schlierenzauer six metres back.

Links to other sites: Eurosport, Swissinfo

Update  Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) -  Credit Suisse has confirmed weekend Swiss media reports that it is restricting travel for staff in Germany, following an announcement Friday by the German government that it is investigating 1,100 cases of tax evasion and that the investigation includes looking at the role played by Credit Suisse staff. “We already have restrictions on travel in place and now these are being applied very strictly in the case of Germany,” a Credit Suisse spokesman told Reuters Sunday. A German official told Swiss magazine Blick the accounts could be worth an estimated €1.2 billion.

Germany has been threatening for months to use information it purchased in 2008, stolen from a bank in Liechtenstein, LGT, to investigate tax evasion cases. In recent weeks tensions have risen between Germany and Switzerland over Germany’s efforts to buy data held by France that was stolen from HSBC in Geneva.

Background, GenevaLunch

Links to other sites: Le Temps (Fre), TSR (Fre)

Stade de France, Paris (GenevaLunch) - Saturday’s international between France and England was another game where one side tried to play attacking rugby and the other side relied on forward power and kicking penalties. The unusual feature was that it was England that scored the only try of the game, while France scored four penalties to win 12-10. The win secured the Grand Slam for France, who were already assured of the Championship.

England started by conceding a penalty but struck back with a slick try in the corner from Ben Foden. Ironically the heavy rain that started to fall favoured the French with their solid forward-based game. England gave away three penalties and a few free kicks until coach Martin Johnson changed the front row. In the second half Jonny Wilkinson was brought on and contributed a penalty but was unable to get into shooting range a second time.

Scotland pulled off a surprise away triumph against Ireland, winning the last game to be played at Croke Park 20-23. Next season Ireland will return to a renovated Aviva stadium at Lansdowne Road. Wales had a comfortable victory over Italy who ended the Six Nations Championship without a point.

Links to other sites: Six Nations, Guardian, Irish Times

Vancouver, Canada (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s Christoph Kunz won the gold medal Friday 19 March for the Men’s downhill at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, to add to the silver medal the 27-year-old from Bern won earlier in the week for the super-G event. Second place also went to the Swiss, thanks to Michael Brugger, 27, from Fribourg.

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

Nyon, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – English Premier League football club Arsenal and Spanish Barcelona will face each other in the quarter-finals of the European Champions League. The draw was held at UEFA, the European Football head office in Nyon. French striker Thierry Henry, who is Arsenal’s highest-ever goalscorer, played for Arsenal when the two last met but he now plays for Barcelona.

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.

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss government will decide next Wednesday how to best withdraw its support for Kofi Annan’s Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF), according to Le Temps newspaper, which says the decision has already been taken. The Wednesday meeting will review whether to pay CHF1 million in debts incurred by the forum or whether to let it sort out its own affairs, says journalist Stéphane Bussard in an article Friday 19 March. Bussard does not cite a source.

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

Charges against Tribune de Geneve journalist dismissed by judge

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

Head for the hills: Extreme World Championship in Verbier, balmy weather in the Alps, decent snow in Jura and an affordable new hut in Zermatt

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

Hillary Clinton, Geneva, March 2009

Update 16:12  Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State and Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, have said after meeting in Moscow that the two countries are very close to an agreement on the Start talks. Clinton was in Moscow for a meeting of the Middle East Quartet.

The announcement by the pair comes just after the publication of a lengthy interview of Clinton by New Times, a Russian magazine, where she says the US and Russia are “close” to an agreement on reducing their arsenals of nuclear weapons. “I’m optimistic that we’ll be able to complete this agreement soon.”

Clinton and Lavrov agreed in Geneva in March 2009 to seek a new Start treaty by the end of 2009, and while both sides said in December that good progress had been made, the year-end goal was not achieved. Few details of the talks have escaped the total news blackout which both sides have respected.

Clinton’s interview this week provides a rare prognosis from one of the leaders.

Clinton told New Times that “the existence of thousands of nuclear weapons is the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War. While the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up. As more nations seek to acquire these weapons, the United States and Russia, as nuclear powers, have a special responsibility to lead in efforts toward a world without nuclear weapons. By taking concrete steps such as the new Start treaty, we can reduce our own stockpiles and encourage others to do the same.”

Background, GenevaLunch

Links to other sites: US Mission in Geneva with interview excerpts, New Times (Rus)

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss and Belorussian governments Thursday signed a bilateral agreement covering vacations offered to children who have grown up in the region affected by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. There have been a small number of cases in other countries where teenagers have refused to return home.

The new agreement provides a clear statement that the children cannot be adopted.

The vacations have been offered by several European countries, including Switzerland, for a number of years. They are designed to give the children some time in an environment that is better for their health.

Bluefin tuna (photo, ©2010 WWF/Canon Manu San Felix)

[WWF video] Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Atlantic bluefin tuna’s last reasonable chance for survival as a species has taken a beating: its defenders have been defeated in a critical vote at a Cites meeting in Doha, Qatar. A clear majority of nations of the Cites pact of countries, which regulates trade in endangered species, voted 18 March against a ban on bluefin tuna fishing.

The Cites head office is based in Geneva.

Gland, Switzerland-based World Wildlife Fund for Nature, which has campaigned for a ban to allow stocks to recover from over-fishing, says 72 countries in Cites voted against the ban, while 43 voted for it and 14 abstained.

”After overwhelming scientific justification and growing political support in past months – with backing from the majority of catch quota holders on both sides of the Atlantic – it is scandalous that governments did not even get the chance to engage in meaningful debate about the international trade ban proposal for Atlantic bluefin tuna,” says Sergi Tudela, head of fisheries at WWF’s Mediterranean office, from Doha.

Libya called the vote after cursory discussion of the motion that had been put on the table by Monaco. Several European countries including France, Italy and Spain, which have large subsidized fishing fleets, were unwilling to support an immediate ban. Japan, which imports 75 percent of the catch, lobbied heavily in Doha against the ban. Japan is estimated by WWF to have imported 32,000 tons of the fish in 2007, when the total allowable catch for that year was 29,500 tons.

The motion to ban the trade of tuna was made by Monaco in 2009 after the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (Iccat), the body set up to regulate sustainable  exploitation of the bluefin tuna, failed to impose credible restrictions, in defiance of its own scientists’ recommendations.

Links to other sites: Al-Jazeera, BBC, CNN, WWF

WWF video arguing for a ban on fishing bluefin tuna

Opening ceremony at BaselWorld (image, BaselWorld 2010)

Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The world’s largest watch and jewelry fair opened Thursday 18 March in Basel. BaselWorld began on an upbeat note, with export figures released by the Swiss federal government the previous day showing watch exports in February alone rising 9 percent. The fair is fully booked, according to its managing director, Sylvie Ritter, with 1,915 exhibiting companies and nearly 100,000 international buyers.

And while BaselWorld to many equals watches, the jewelry business is in fact nearly as large, with watches taking up 62 percent of the exhibit space, jewelry 24 percent and related products the rest. The fair has 759 jewelry exhibitors and 592 watch exhibitors, from 45 countries.

BaselWorld runs to 25 March.

• Opening times: 09:00-18:00 (Thursday 25 March to 16:00).
• Tickets: CHF60 for the day

Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A Nigerian man who was being sent back to Nigeria on a special repatriation flight died at Zurich Airport Wednesday night 17 March, under circumstances that the police and federal authorities have not made clear. An investigation into his death has been opened and Bern announced Thursday that all such special flights are cancelled until further notice.

Details about whether the man was an asylum-seeker or not have not been released, but asylum-seekers whose requests are turned down are returned on “special” flights, as are people without papers who are arrested for serious crimes.

Swiss news agency ATS reports that the man, 29, was arrested for drug trafficking and that he had been on a hunger strike.

He reportedly fell ill shortly after being handcuffed as the flight was preparing to leave. ATS reports that he was one of 16 people being sent back to Lagos, all of whom had refused to leave the country voluntarily.

Police as a rule handcuff those who refuse to leave voluntarily, for security reasons, a practice which has sparked debate. An incident at Geneva’s Cointrin Airport in February 2009 where two men were injured led to an investigation and calls for impartial observers to accompany flights.

Producing Swiss Emmental cheese (image, Swiss Cheese Marketing)

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss are the world leaders in eating cheese and for 2009 the country set a new record for per person consumption, 21.4 kg. New 2009 figures from the Swissmilk show that in economically tight times the Swiss ate more, not less cheese, with consumption rising by 240g per person. The preference is for fresh, medium-hard cheeses.

Swiss cheese consumption 2009 (table, Swissmilk - click on image to view larger)

Those numbers are not as reassuring as the Swissmilk, the national milk farmers’ federation would like because foreign cheeses accounted for the increase, with Switzerland consuming 310g more of imported cheese, per person, and 70g less of Swiss cheese.

Appenzeller was the big loser, with consumption falling 10.5 percent, and Emmental was the big winner, up 7.5 percent. Switzerland Cheese Marketing will lead a country-wide publicity campaign to push the quality of Swiss cheese to consumers, starting in May 2010.

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss exports were up 3.3 percent in nominal terms (-0.6 in real terms) in February, to CHF13.9 billion, and for the first time since 2008 they rose for most business sectors. Imports slipped and trade for the first two months of 2010 shows opposite trends, with exports up 1.3 percent but imports down by 2.4 percent. The balance of trade at the end of February was positive, at CHF1.3 billion.

Asia and North America accounted for the growth, with exports in Europe unchanged. The watch industry, up 9 percent, led the way with strong Asian sales. Asian imports were down markedly, by 24 percent, underscoring the spread between export and import activity.

A notable exception to export growth was the clothing business, down more than 10 percent.

Christophe Kunz, front right, first member of the Swiss Paralympics team to win a 2010 Vancouver medal (image: Swiss Paralympics, Facebook)

Vancouver, Canada (GenevaLunch) - Swiss skier Christoph Kunz, 27, has won Switzerland’s first medal at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games, taking silver in the Men’s giant slalom sitting event. The race was run in rain with heavy fog and Kunz finished with a time of 2:40.35, behind Germany’s Martin Braxenthaler, who won in 2:37.40.

Kunz is a seven-time Swiss champion and, according to swissinfo, he is a favourite for the upcoming downhill and super-G events.

Kunz, who is from Bern and who works in banking, participates in all five Men’s Alpine skiing events, using a mono-ski with sled seat. He lost the use of both legs in a motorcycle accident seven years ago.

Switzerland won 11 medals at the Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympic Games.

Links to other sites: Swiss Paralympic Committee, Swiss Paralympics Facebook page

Image March 2010 ©Rando, Bern Bear Park

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Bern Zoo’s first baby bears in nearly 20 years have been spotted outdoors in recent days.

The bears, Urs and Berna, are putting on 70 gr a day, reports the zoo, while the world speculates on whether they are male or female.

The zoo’s webcams normally allow a relatively good view of the bears’ activities, but mother Bjoerk’s den has a dirty window, making the images unclear

The zoo says it isn’t yet possible to go in and clean the window. Webcam viewers will have to be patient. Meanwhile the video on Berner Zeitung’s site, showing mother bear trying to line up her cubs to face the photographers, is a good substitute.

Image March 2010 ©Rando, Bern Bear Park

Image March 2010 ©Rando, Bern Bear Park

Background, GenevaLunch

Links to other sites: Bern tourism office, Bear Park

Video, 7 min: Berner Zeitung newspaper, with  mother Bjoerk and cubs by Christian Lierchti.

Click on images to view larger