The Wild Horse (Equus ferus) previously was listed as Extinct in the Wild, but as a result of ongoing reintroduction efforts it is now showing signs of improvement and has moved down a category to Critically Endangered. Photo, IUCN; Patricia Moehlman
Barcelona, Spain (GenevaLunch) - Gland-based IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) is bringing together 8,000 “world’s leading decision-makers in sustainable development” at its World Conservation Congress, 5-15 October. The congress had a colourful opening session but quickly settled down to business as the group issued its latest red list for the world’s animals: one in four, or 1,141 of the 5,487 mammals on Earth now risk extinction.
Etoy, Switzerland, 6 October 2008, first snow on the Swiss Alps
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland’s first real snowfall arrived 5 October, with the Alps frosted with a clean white layer and snow landing at less than 1,000 metres. Meanwhile, in Lausanne, EPFL’s students are pursuing micro-forecasting, with the idea that in the future we should be able to have accurate forecasts to within 100 metres: video report in French on TSR’s Nouvo.
Updated 14:00
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - European markets reacted badly to weekend news that banks in Ireland, then Denmark and Austria are providing guarantees to savers, seeing it as a sign of a deepening financial crisis. Shares fell more than 5% during the morning on several markets, with Moscow suspending trading late in the morning for an hour when share prices dropped 7.60% and 9.60% in 20 minutes on the RTS and Micex indexes; oils prices also fell (TSR, Fre and Bloomberg) .
Geneva, Switzerland (swissinfo) - Researchers at the University of Geneva, whose Neurocenter is holding its annual meeting today, have recently made strides in understanding how the brain’s organization is affected by learning and memory functions.
Bern, Switzerland (RSR, Fre) - Moritz Leuenberger, Switzerland’s minister for energie and the environment, announced in an RSR interview over the weekend that he is backing a green bonus-malus system for consumers that will reward them for environmentally friendly behaviour while penalizing them for driving larger cars, for example.
(GenevaLunch) - New world number one Jelena Jankovic won her second title in two weeks, beating Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4 6-3.
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) - The Aga Khan’s filly Zarkava triumphed in the richest race on turf when she won her seventh successive race at the $5.58 million at the Longchamp course. It is the first time a filly has won the race since 1993. Details, The Guardian
(GenevaLunch) - GE Servette lost 2-0 against Fr Gotteron after ex-Servettte attacker Laurent Meunier scored against hs old team in the first minute.
(GenevaLunch) - Premier League: Chelsea and Liverpool preserved their place at the top of the League while Hull continued their amazing start to the season with an away win at Tottenham.
St Prex, Vaud, late autumn cool weather sunrise
Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Bring out those woolens, if you don’t already have them handy! The weekend is taking us from cool to chilly weather, with temperatures of 4-12C Saturday and 3-15C Sunday in western Switzerland, according to MeteoSwiss.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss consumer price index, CPI, rose 0.1% in September over the previous month, for an annual inflation rate of 2.9%.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Official figures were released Friday morning for Swiss health insurance premiums in 2009, and the Lake Geneva region has been spared the increases that are as high as 5% in much of central Switzerland.
Bern, Switzerland (Le Temps, Fre) - Swiss citizens are likely to go to the polls in February to vote on the free movement of people being extended to Romania and Bulgaira, as well as on whether or not to accept the new biometric passports.
Bern, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) - The Swiss Federal Council Thursday reassured the public that Swiss banks are relatively solid, with higher capital requirements than the coverge called for by international standards.
Updated 09:42
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - UBS announced Friday morning, following its Extraordinary General Meeting Thursday, that as part of its efforts to get the bank back to profitability it is cutting 2,000 jobs in its investment banking business, part of a “recalibration to the market environment.”
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Hans-Rudolf Merrz, Switzerland’s finance minister, left the hospital Wednesday, following major heart surgery 10 days earlier, and he informed the Federal Council that he will be take up his duties again when doctors say he is ready.
Dignified Alpine plants, Switzerland
Cambridge, Massachussetts, USA (GenevaLunch) - Little Switzerland made a big name for itself Thursday night by taking the Ig Nobel prize for peace, awarded by Improbable Research. Read more…
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Two of the four new members of the UBS 12-member board are Americans: William Parrett, former CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Sally Bott, Group human resources director at BP (British Petroleum).
Lausanne, Switzerland (24 Heures, Fre) - Police and cantonal authorities met Wednesday and failed to reach agreement on pollice salaries as well as payment for the overtime officers put in during the Euro 2008 games. As a result, the refusal by police to issue minor traffic tickets, whose fines are an important source of cantonal revenue, continues.
Etoy, Vaud, Switzerland (20 Minutes, Fre) - A command station in Etoy Wednesday morning at 10:00 set off a 15-minute electricity cut in the Aubonne-Morges area, followed by a second power outage in the same area shortly after 11:00.
Peter Kurer, chairman, UBS
Updated, 12:25
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Shares in UBS rose 7% when the market opened in Zurich this morning, folowing an announcement by UBS that it expects to have a small profit for the third quarter of 2008 and to be profitable for the whole of 2009.
Updated 3 October, 09:00
Bern, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) - Electricity prices will be going up rapidly in the wake of the Swiss market being opened early in 2009 and, according to TSR, they could double within five years.
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland’s growth will slow down to 1.9% for 2008 and 1.3% for 2009, although 2009 carries a higher than usual risk the situation will change, the federal government’s team of finance experts at Seco (finance ministry) said Thursday morning.
Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Multinational Nestlé announced Thursday that it has agreed to a Taiwan government request and temporaraily withdrawn two China-made milk product lines, Neslac and KLIM, from the market there, but it argues strongly that all evidence shows the products are safe.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - It’s not just investors who are having a bad money day: two thieves in Geneva were caught redhanded as they were rummaging through a woman’s bag they had stolen in a restaurant across from the Cornavin train station.
