GenevaLunch - World

She's been dead a week, but she still seems unlucky to me

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:19:56 +0100

Much as I love my children - I hope they are listening - there are some things you eventually want to be too old to do, and having children at age 100 is one of them. National Geographic just sent an e-mail with a photo of this old gal of a pregnant fish. They know that I and many other subscribers love to stack our copies of the magazine without actually reading it, so we probably all missed the death of this female shortraker rockfish last week. They seemed to think the startling fact was that she was 100 years old.

Zurich team finds means to stop diabetes 2 progression

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 08:56:34 +0100

swissinfo - A team at Zurich University, working with scientists in Sweden and Denmark, Thursday published in the New England Journal of Medicine their findings that anakinra, a medicine used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, blocks the action of Interleukin-1 beta, which has a key role in diabetes type 2.

Diabetes type 2 affects 90% of diabetics and is on the rise worldwide, especially in older people. It is linked in particular to excess weight and can lead to a variety of other health problems. In the US, national statistics show that 7% of the population has diabetes. According to the World Health Organization diabetes accounts for 5% of deaths globally every year and the number of cases is set to increase by 50% in the next 10 years unless urgent action is taken.

Swiss man receives Thai king's pardon, sent home

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:26:13 +0100

swissinfo - The 57-year-old Swiss man who last month was sentenced to 10 years in a Thai prison for spraying paint on images of King Bhumibol of Thailand, has been pardoned and sent home.

Citigroup to shed 5% of its workforce

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:33:51 +0100

Le Temps, Fre - Citigroup, the largest bank in the US, announced Wednesday that as part of a major restructuring plan it will lay off 17,000 employees, or 5% of its workforce around the world. The bank expects to save $10.4 billion in three years. The group employs 800 people in Geneva and Zurich.

Interview: Ariel Ruiz i Altaba on silencing the wolves - cancer cells

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:15:36 +0100

Interview: Ariel Ruiz i Altaba on silencing cancer stem cells

"The silencing of the wolves" could be the title of an uplifting film based on the work of a team of biologists in Geneva. Their most recent discovery, published 28 March in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, could shake the foundations of current approaches to cancer treatment.

"The survival rates for many cancers haven't really changed. Even though early detection has vastly improved and terminal patients live a little bit longet with current treatments, there is no cure for many cancer types, including glioblastoma – a deadly form of brain cancer, and metastatic tumors such as those of the prostate, lung or skin. We have nothing that cures cancer once metastis sets in," Ariel Ruiz i Altaba, professor of stem cells at the University of Geneva's medical school, who led the team of eight researchers. "We have only treatments that reduce the tumour burden with highly toxic and non-specific agents."

International news, 10-16 April

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 09:21:09 +0100

In world news:

Friday

Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico nearly doubled his fortune in 2006 to an estimated $50 billion, the largest gain of any billionaire in the past decade. RSR, Fre, background story - Forbes and
Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, from his base in the UK, says he is planning a revolution to depose President Vladimir Putin. Reuters
A New York school struggles with the dilemma of how to keep an extraordinarily gifted 16-year-old chess player in school, where he has managed to complete only three courses in three years. New York Times

Weekend sports: sailing

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:55:02 +0100

GenevaLunch - Valencia - The Alinghi team demonstrated their class in the preliminary races but will now have to wait to see which team will take the Louis Vuitton Cup and so win the right to challenge Alinghi in the America's Cup, 23 June - 7 July. Alinghi news

Weekend sports: golf

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:47:40 +0100

GenevaLunch - US Masters - The Augusta, Georgia course proved too much for the golf superstars. American Zack Johnson, a virtual unknown, played a steady round to take the green jacket, while Tiger Woods slipped up after leading the field. Johnson tied the highest-winning Masters aggregate, set in 1954.

Weekend sports: Formula One

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:41:28 +0100

GenevaLunch - Malaysian Grand Prix - McLaren-Mercedes scored a surprise double triumph, with Fernanado Alonso and Lewis Hamilton taking the top two places. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took third while teammate Felipe Massa came in fifth.

Weekend sports: football

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:33:59 +0100

GenevaLunch - The English premiership was thrown open when Portsmouth beat Manchester United 2-1. Chelsea are now only three points behind after beating Spurs 1-0. Aresenal lost to West Ham 0-1. In Monday's games Newcastle against Arsenal was a no-score draw while Watford beat Portsmouth 4-2. BBC

Weekend sports: cricket World Cup

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:15:14 +0100

GenevaLunch - Australia dominated England, with a seven-wicket victory despite a century by Kevin Pietersen. Bangladesh beat South Africa with a fine display on a slow pitch. New Zealand beat Ireland.

A time for hope

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:46:39 +0100

The hope of pushing yourself high into the sky: rewarded at last.

A couple days ago I noticed the visiting father of a neighbor who is from Northern Ireland. I had no idea what side of that political fence he was on, but I congratulated him on the breakthrough in Irish politics. I said I hoped this was really peace, at last. "Oh, I think it is. We think this time it really is," he said firmly.

This is that rare week in a year of news when all of a sudden hope seems to outweigh despair on the grand scale: pockets of despair are certainly easy enough to find if you're looking. I have to thank the Irish Times for reminding me that Easter is the season of hope and this is one year when the label seems to fit.

Int'l sports roundup: football

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 17:21:36 +0100

GenevaLunch - Champions League: Roma beat Manchester United 2-1 in a game marred by crowd violence and Paul Schules being sent off for two clumsy tackles. Chelsea were held to a 1-1 draw by Valencia. Liverpool beat PSV Eindhoven 0-3. BBC on reaction to the violence

Int'l sports roundup: cricket

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 14:42:22 +0100

GenevaLunch - World Cup: Sri Lanka beat England by just two runs in a thrilling match in Antigua. Sri Lanka were held to 235 runs, but the top of the English batting collapsed again, with Captain Michael Vaughan out for a duck (no runs). England needed 3 from the final ball but Ravi Bopara was bowled out by Dilhara Fernando. The semi-finalists are likely to be Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

European Union opens its Swiss Embassy in Bern

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 08:55:57 +0100

TSR, Fre - The European Union has, at last, opened an embassy in Bern. Swiss media are focusing mainly on the significance of the opening for the ongoing difficult tax discussions between the country and its surrounding neighbour. TSR touches on the fact that it has taken so long to open an embassy, suggesting the explanation lies in the fact that the EU has had a presence in Geneva (office for international organizations) and that the EU likely expected, for a long time, that Switzerland would become a member of it.