Smoke on the water: Montreux is located on the southeast end of the lake (Photo: ESA)

(JP-wb) — Montreux has inspired poets, dramatists, playwrights and musicians to give maximum performances. Next week more than 900 scientists will meet in the Swiss city to exchange results and discuss the latest satellite imagery taken of Mother Earth.

Whether its about climate change, oceans, glaciers, agriculture or meteorology, without the “eyes from the skies” modern geo-science wouldn’t be possible. Satellites measure temperatures, detect the ice cover of mountains and polar regions, allow weather forecasts and give valuable information on natural and ecological disasters.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has received more than 800 inquiries for lectures which will spread out over 54 different thematic meetings. Scientists of more than 40 countries have registered for the conference.

The satellite picture to the right (click on the image to enlarge) shows the venue Montreux. Surrounded by the Swiss Alps, vineyards and lakes, the idyllic city served famous literates like Lord Byron, Tolstoi, Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens and Ernest Hemingway, ans also musicians like Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky as motivation, and also as a second home.

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(JP-wb) — When unbaptized babies and children die, they end up in “limbo”. This was one of the Roman Catholic Church’s traditional conceptions, a theological speculation that has never received official Church approval.

Pope Benedict XVI has now revised this traditional teaching on the so-called limbo, approving a church report released Friday that said there was reason to hope that babies who die without baptism can go to heaven.

Although Catholics have long believed that children who die without being baptized are with original sin and thus excluded from heaven, theologians have long taught, however, that such children enjoy an eternal state of perfect natural happiness, a state commonly called limbo, but without being in communion with God.

The International Theological Commission had already completed its 41-page document weeks ago, but it had never been officially published until today. The Pope’s secretariat announced that Benedikt XVI has agreed and authorized the text.

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Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas

(JP-wb) — CNN reports that the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) evacuated building 44 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston after a person with a gun was seen and a shot was fired, a NASA spokeswoman said Friday.

At the moment it is not yet known if anyone was hurt. Local police were on the scene, she said. Another NASA spokesperson, James Hartfield, told CNN there were gunshots heard in the building and a call for help came in at 1:40 p.m. (2:40 p.m. ET) to which Houston police responded. Hartfield said all of the employees that would have been in that building have been evacuated.

There is “extremely tight security” at Johnson Space Center, said Hartfield. All persons are required to have some sort of I.D. or security card to enter.

The latest updates say that a suspected gunman has barricaded himself on 2nd floor of the building which is one of the smaller buildings on the Space Center. A nearby space center intermediate school has been locked down as a precaution.

NASA suspects the gunman is a contractor and not an employee. The nature of his complaint is not known. Apparently the situation is isolated to this office building.

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(JP-wb) — Peru filed an official protest with the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) that Chile clears its remaining land mines in areas near the two countries border, according to previous commitments made during the organization’s assembly last year in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The protest was filed by the Peruvian ambassador to the O.A.S., Ántero Flores-Aráoz, who requested that Chile initiates immediate efforts for their clearance, in agreement with O.A.S. Resolution 2180.

According to the Peruvian delegation, the Office of Humanitarian Mine Action (OHMA) of the O.A.S. updated information to obtain that America will become the first continent(s) free of antipersonnel mines, ratifying by the Ottawa Convention in 1997.

It August 2002, then-Chilean president Ricardo Lagos first initiated the destruction of 76,388 anti-personnel mines which still crowd the borders to Peru and Bolivia for more than 25 years.

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(JP-wb) — Peruvian president Alan Garcia is currently packing his bags for his second get-together with U.S. president George W. Bush in Washington.

He is scheduled to depart from Lima’s Jorge Chavez airport on Sunday and will shake hands with Bush at the White House a day later on Monday, April 23rd. Later he will meet with various legislators and government officials before returning to Lima on Wednesday.

A White House press notes states the visit will underscore the friendship and cooperation between the United States and Peru, and will be an opportunity for the President to continue to build on the relationship with a key regional partner who is committed to democracy.

The visit will also be an opportunity for the President to underscore his appreciation for President Garcia’s positive leadership in Peru and within the region. The two leaders will discuss continuing cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including the importance of free trade to sustained economic growth, job creation, and prosperity.

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Saying adieu: Jacques Chirac

(JP-wb) — On Sunday France elects a new president. Surprises have tradition but rarely was a race as close and exciting as this time. Whoever will become the chosen one to replace Jacques Chirac, the “fifth republic” will change radically.

Presidential elections in France sometimes have the character of Russian roulette. This was the case in 1995 when conservative prime minister Edouard Balladur looked like the sure winner for a long time, only to be overtaken by Jacques Chriac in the last moment. Five years ago the surprise was even bigger when socialist favorite, prime minister Lionel Jospin, didn’t even make it into a run-off, losing to right-wing populist Jean-Marie Le Pen. This however played favorably into the cards of president Chirac who was re-elected in a landslide by gaining over 80% of the votes.

The outcome of the first election round scheduled for this Sunday couldn’t be more uncertain. In fact, four candidates are going head-to-head and all have great expectations on making it to the next and final round on May 6th. The two front runners will then battle it out to become Chirac’s successor. Bookies are placing their bets on duel between Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal.

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(JP-wb) — Peruvian sports stars, Surfing world champion Sofia Mulanovich and international soccer player Claudio Pizarro will team up within the next few days for a special media campaign to boost votes worldwide for the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu as one of the new 7 world wonders. Lima’s football club Universitario del Deportes will also join in.

Peru’s ministry for foreign trade and tourism informed on Thursday that it is very satisfied for the continuing support of the campaign which has been an immense promotion for several months now.

Minister Mercedes Araoz appreciated that many Peruvian artists and sportsmen have added themselves to the campaign, for example the Miss World 2004, Maju Mantilla, members of the pop group “Libido”, actress Camucha Negrete, folk singer Sonia Morales and the 2005 South American Rallye champion Ramon Ferreyros.

Also promoting Machu Picchu are the 2006 Pan-American Surf champion Gabriel Villarán, 2006 American Surf champion Javier Swayne, famous hair styler and owner of Tommy’s salon Javier Ampuero, and the President of the Peru’s National Sports body Arturo Woodman.

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(JP-wb) — Chile’s massive armament purchase affects the strategic balance in the South American region and is always reason for concern, said Peru’s Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Garcia Belaúnde after being asked about a recent article published in Chilean newspaper “La Tercera” which gave an account of the latest purchase of twelve F-16 supersonic fighter jets for the Chilean Air Force.

Garcia Belaunde indicated that he read the article but he declined to comment since he had not received any official confirmation.

Nevertheless, he remarked there is no bilateral or continental agreement which would regulate a maximum number of jets allowed for each country but added that there are no reasons that would justify such a increase in military equipment. According to Belaunde, the subject will be discussed in the next “2 + 2″ meeting scheduled for October.

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(JP-wb) — Peruvian authorities approved an urgency decree on Wednesday which extends the current effective emergency situation for the archaeological complex of Chan Chan by another 120 days, informed president Alan Garcia.

This measure was approved upon the request of the Interior Ministry during a cabinet session today. As part of its decentralization efforts, Peru’s ministerial cabinet is currently on a road trip in the northern city of Chiclayo.

Chan Chan, the largest Pre-Columbian city in South America, is also located in this area, in the region of La Libertad, five kilometers west of Trujillo.

With this extension the government looks to preserve its conservation and adding to its value as a cultural heritage site. The vast mud and adobe city of Chan Chan was built between c.850 and c.1470 and was the imperial capital until Chimor was conquered by the Inca in the 15th century. It is estimated that 30,000 people lived in the city at the time.

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(JP-wb) — The 5th Penal Court of the Superior Court of Justice in Lima (CSJL) sentenced Vladimiro Montesinos, ex-intelligence chief and adviser of former president Alberto Fujimori, to five years in prison, after he was found guilty of abuse of power and influence peddling.

The Supreme Court presided by the justice Victor Prado Saldarriaga also sentenced him to pay S/. 600,000 nuevo soles (US$ 190,000) in damages to the State.

In this case, the conviction relates to the so-called Hayduk case involving one of Peru’s biggest fishing companies whose shareholders were charged with drug-trafficking. The company was owned by Peruvian economist, banker and businessman Dionisio Romero Seminario. He is also the president of one of Peru’s largest banks, Banco de Credito del Peru.

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(JP-wb) — Peruvian blogger Jose Alejandro Godoy revealed on his blog ” Desde el tercer piso” (From the third floor) that several people were hired illegally to work for Peru’s second vice-president Lourdes Mendoza del Solar. According to the blogger, not only does first vice-president Luis Giampietri have a specific budget of S/. 100,000 soles to his disposition, the same is the case for Mendoza and she also contracted advisers and personnel with money assigned by the Prime Minister’s office.

Godoy found that six people were hired by the second Vice-presidency and they were paid more than S/. 31,000 soles as of now.

Although budget allocations for the vice-presidencies were also carried out by the previous government of president Alejandro Toledo - he even gave his wife and First Lady Eliane Karp her own office and budget - the present regime of Alan Garcia has embarked on a policy of austerity and salary reductions within the state apparatus, which makes it even more surprising that these spending practices were upheld and continued.

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(JP-wb) — The “Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru” (PUCP) in Lima, one of the top-quality private education institutions in South America, has become the center of a public controversy. The Peruvian media is criticizing the “Opus Dei” organization of the Catholic Church of having the intention to take over the faculty’s leadership on a step-by-step basis. This way the “tolerant house of studies” would be destroyed, Vatican Radio reports on its website.

The university was founded on March 18, 1917, by F. Jorge Dintilhac as Peru’s first non-profit private institution of higher learning. Today there are currently 17,000 undergraduate students who pursue more than 40 different specialties in 9 faculties, making in the largest in South America.

According to an “Apoyo” pol, the majority of Peruvians consider it the best private university in the country. The main campus is located in Lima’s district of San Miguel.

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