Lausanne-Vevey trains back on track
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – News from western Switzerland:
Monsanto continues to woo Syngenta
The possibility of an agrochemical giant dimmed slightly during the week when Syngenta turned down a buyout offer from Monsanto, but the US firm is expected to make a new bid for Basel-based Syngenta within weeks. “The St. Louis-based group is after Syngenta for its industry-leading crop chemicals, driven by the idea that seeds and pesticides will be better sold and developed together,” Reuters reports. Monsanto is also after consumers, wooing them with a campaign designed to overcome objections to their products for health and future food supply reasons.
Syngenta said the initial bid undervalued the company. A key to making a deal work is to find a buyer for Syngenta’s seed business, in order to get around antitrust objections in several countries. More on the story from Mother Jones and ABC
UNHCR gets aid to Yemen, raises concerns over Burundi
The UNHCR in Geneva said Friday the first of six planes have arrived, carrying urgent aid supplies to people displayed in Yemen by a sudden surge in fighting. The organization says it is also closely watching the situation in Burundi, which has rapidly deteriorated in the past week, with a failed coup.
“While the coup attempt is reported to have been foiled, the situation in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura remains tense with sporadic outbursts of violence reported this morning. Over 105,000 people have now fled the country to neighbouring Tanzania (70,187), Rwanda (26,300) and to the province of South Kivu (9,183) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In Tanzania, the number of new arrivals has risen sharply over the last few days, with local immigration authorities reporting that over 50,000 Burundians are living rough in Kagunga on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, possibly even more. There are also reports of at least 10,000 people waiting to cross the border into Tanzania.”
Vevey-Lausanne trains running
The heavy rains and mudslides a week ago left their mark on the SBB/CFF rails along the Lake Geneva shoreline, and the Vevey-Lausanne trains were stopped for several days while the tracks were cleared and repaired. The trains are now back on their normal schedule.
Sheep working rail slopes
Here’s a chance to perfect your Swiss German (subtitled video, whew), määh, and learn how the SBB/CFF is using sheep to nibble down the 2,700 hectares of slopes its owns near its train lines.