George Clooney sells Barack Obama in Geneva

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - They may swoon for George, as in Clooney, but he's going to try to sway them for Barack, as in Obama: a small number of US citizens will pay anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000 Tuesday evening to rub elbows with the American actor, in town on a fundraising mission at the invitation of Geneva lawyer Charles Adams, a partner in the international law firm of Hogan & Hartson.

Clooney fans, even those willing to pay that much to see him, can attend the $1,000 reception and the $10,000 dinner for 75 people at the Adams home only if they hold valid US passports: as Cookie Parker of the National Finance Committee of the Democrats wrote when she announced the evening, it's a fundraiser and "only American citizens with US passport numbers can contribute to the campaign."

Vevey debate over new parking slots

Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Vevey citizens could well go to the polls in a referendum over parking spaces to settle how many and where, near the Place de la Marché. After years of discussion and debate the town council has presented its plan, with a reduction of 100 parking spaces, but also reducing the current 440 spaces that are aboveground to only 60. Another 280 spaces would go underground and the lakefront area would be developed.

Lake Geneva region now one area, new Credit Suisse study shows

Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The economy might be in the doldrums elsewhere, but it's booming from Geneva to Montreux, thanks to the region's  overall attractiveness, and the result is that the Lake Geneva area has become a homogeneous region, conclude the authors of a report published by Credit Suisse Thursday morning. The report cites the growth of the economy, increasing population density and more intense  commuting as part of the reason why the right bank of Lake Geneva has merged. It also cites a strong start-up scene and migration to the area as indications of its pull, as well as the landscape, quality education and a good transport infrastructure.

But the report, by the bank's economists, also underlines weak points, noting that "the high tax burden, constant accommodation shortages and unemployment, which is high for Switzerland, spoil the picture of this dynamic economic area."

The population that has been moving into the area covers all age groups, according to the report, with students and people starting their careers pulled towards the urban centres, and families moving to outlying areas, in general. Overall, the population in the region is younger than in the rest of Switzerland.

The increasing density, which Credit Suisse expects to continue for some years, will continue to put pressure on housing, already very tight in Geneva and tight in Lausanne. Nyon and the Morges-Rolle areas are some of the most sought-after by newcomers, but as Lausanne's housing situation worsens the bank believes several areas to the east of the city will grow in popularity because of good commuting options: Gros-de-Vaud, Glâne/Veveyse, Aigle and Monthey/St-Maurice.

The relatively high cost of housing, especially in the urban centres, coupled with tax rates that are less attractive than in many cantons, nevertheless upsets the rosy picture. In Geneva in particular, the large number of foreigners moving into the canton are offset by the population moving out to less expensive areas, giving the canton a negative immigration figure in recent years.

Road closed: Gland man dies in road accident in town

Gland, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A 78-year-old resident of Gland has died following a road accident on the route du Mont-Blanc shortly before noon. The man was driving towards the lake when he lost control of his car near the Mauverney roundabout, possibly after being taken ill. He hit a construction rubbish bin and then collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction. The truck driver managed to stop his vehicle before it was hit and he was not injured but the driver of the car died at the scene of the accident despite ambulance and Rega helicopter as well as other medical help.

The area was closed to traffic until 15:00.

Edipresse adds another newspaper to chain

Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Edipresse is investing in Le Régional, buying a majority of the capital in the local free paper that covers the Lausanne to Montreux area. The newspaper currently prints 98,000 copies and will extend the print run to 115,000 and extend distribution further east to cover the Chablais area. According to 24 Heures, the new ownership will allow Le Régional to add three new jobs, advertising and editorial.

Edipresse owns the major newspapers in the Lake Geneva area with the exception of Le Temps, where is shares equal ownership with Ringier, Switzerland's largest publisher. In early 2008 it created a commercial English-language online site aimed at multinationals, Swisster.

Phil Collins and Orianne Cevey divorce settlement, talk of stars circuit

Updated 19 August. Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Daily Mirror in the UK broke the news, People Magazine picked it up and now the celebrity news circuit is passing it around: the divorce after six years of marriage between musician Phil Collins and his wife Orianne Cevey Collins is costing him more than any British celebrity has, to date, had to pay out to an ex-spouse. The figure cited by the Daily Mirror is £25 million, a number the newspaper says came to light in accounts for Philip Collins Ltd, the former Genesis star's "personal management company" in London. How the British tabloid obtained the accounts is not clear; Swiss divorce settlements are by law private. The couple live in separate homes near Nyon, Vaud. Orianne Collins created a jewelry company called The Right Label which has made a splash at the Baselworld art show and earlier this summer at the Cannes Film Festival.

Lausanne newspaper 24 Heures noted 19 August that the details of the divorce settlement could not be confirmed through either member of the ex-couple.

Cern's first LHC test a success

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The particles injection test on the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at Cern 8-10 August was a success, the European Nuclear Research Center reports.

They shared details in an e-mail: "The synchronization of the LHC's clockwise beam transfer system and the rest of CERN's accelerator chain was successfully achieved last weekend. Tests began on Friday 8 August when a single bunch of a few particles was taken down the transfer line from the SPS accelerator to the LHC. After a period of optimization, one bunch was kicked up from the transfer line into the LHC beam pipe and steered about 3 kilometres around the LHC itself on the first attempt. On Saturday, the test was repeated several times to optimize the transfer before the operations group handed the machine back for hardware commissioning to resume on Sunday. The anti-clockwise synchronization systems will be tested over the weekend of 22 August."

Cern runs first LHC test 9 August

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Cern's LHC (Large Hadron Collider) will have its first synchronization run this weekend, 9-10 September, a key step in the process to get the world’s most powerful particle accelerator up and running. Cern (European Organization for Nuclear Research) announced late Thursday that the first attempt to circulate a beam in the LHC will be made 10 September. According to Cern, "The LHC  producing beams seven times more energetic than any previous machine, and around 30 times more intense when it reaches design performance, probably by 2010. Housed in a 27-kilometre tunnel, it relies on technologies that would not have been possible 30 years ago. The LHC is, in a sense, its own prototype."

Starting up the machine is a long process that starts that starts with cooling down each of the machine’s eight sectors. This is followed by the electrical testing of the 1600 superconducting magnets and their individual powering to nominal operating current. These steps are followed by the powering together of all the circuits of each sector, and then of the eight independent sectors in unison in order to operate as a single machine.

By the end of July, all eight sectors were at their operating temperature of 1.9 degrees above absolute zero (-271°C). The synchronization phase scheduled for this weekend begins with synchronizing the LHC with the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator, which forms the last link in the LHC’s injector chain. Timing between the two machines has to be accurate to within a fraction of a nanosecond. This weekend's work involves the clockwise-circulating LHC beam, with the second synchronization to follow in coming weeks. Cern notes that "Tests will continue into September to ensure that the entire machine is ready to accelerate and collide beams at an energy of 5 TeV per beam, the target energy for 2008. Force majeure notwithstanding, the LHC will see its first circulating beam on 10 September at the injection energy of 450 GeV (0.45 TeV)."

Television coverage of the start-up will be made available through Eurovision..

Fetes de Geneve: images by Athos99

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Michel Bobillier, whose photos of the Fetes de Geneve fireworks were published in 2007 by GenevaLunch, has made a bright and fun 120-second montage of the light show, as a warmup to this year's show Saturday 7 August. Remind yourself why these are some of the best fireworks around, not to be missed!

Photo courtesy of Athos99: Music this week has been memorable, including a popular concert by Michel Lalanne who played to an appreciative audience only four days after surgery.

Switzerland, Ghana sign tax treaty

Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland and Ghana have signed a treaty to avoid double taxation on income, capital gains and fortunes. The treaty must be ratified by both country's parliaments before it goes into effect.