Cluster: Swiss Abroad

Switzerland has its record-breaking tunnel

This content was published on Oct 15, 2010 The rail tunnel that goes through the Gotthard massif in southern Switzerland is now the world’s longest at 57 kilometres. The massive tunnel boring machine 800 metres deep in the east tunnel started up at 2pm. Approaching from Faido with a great rumble, “Sissi”, as the TBM is known, smashed through into the Sedrun side…

Swiss Politics

Minister carries vote message to the people

This content was published on Oct 15, 2010 The justice minister was there to launch the government’s counter-initiative to a rightwing proposal to tighten the rules on the deportation of criminal foreigners. A nationwide vote on the issue takes place on November 28. The choice of Wünnewil as the launch pad of the counter-initiative may not be accidental. With its 3,000 residents the…

Swiss Politics

Poll finds political centre-right holds sway

This content was published on Oct 15, 2010 A nationwide survey also found the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, which won 28.9 per cent of the vote in 2007, has the potential to remain the largest group. The findings, published on Thursday by the gfs.bern research and polling institute on behalf of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, apparently confirm a shift away from a strong…

Swiss Politics

Kyrgyzstan democracy faces tough road ahead

This content was published on Oct 14, 2010 Kyrgyzstan is trying to form the first parliamentary democracy in Central Asia, a region dominated by post-Soviet strongmen, only four months after hundreds died in ethnic violence and six months after its president was toppled in a popular uprising. On Wednesday the five political parties that won seats in the new parliament agreed to a…

Swiss Politics

Swiss expert helps with Hungarian disaster

This content was published on Oct 14, 2010 On October 4 about 700,000 cubic metres of caustic sludge and water burst from a storage pool of a metals plant, inundating three western Hungarian towns and spilling into the Danube. At the request of the Hungarian government, the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC) sent an expert with practical experience in comparable situations…

Swiss Politics

Anti-deportation group calls initiative unfair

This content was published on Oct 14, 2010 Certain groups will be subject to special punitive law if either version is accepted, according to Green parliamentarian Marlies Bänziger. This would be unconstitutional and especially unfair for people who had been born here but had not acquired Swiss citizenship, she told the media in Bern on Thursday. A lawyer speaking for the group said…

Swiss Politics

Cabinet moves reform plans forward

This content was published on Oct 13, 2010 President Doris Leuthard stressed the importance of boosting collective decisions to adapt to a changing world. “A two-year presidency would help facilitate contacts and protect the interests of Switzerland in an increasingly interconnected world,” she told a news conference on Wednesday. Leuthard said a rotating two-year presidency was a major change for a country with…

Swiss Politics

Aircraft noise dispute goes to highest court

This content was published on Oct 13, 2010 The Swiss have lost successive appeals over a unilateral German decree banning low-altitude night time flights over its airspace, imposed in 2003. “The government remains convinced that the German decree puts excessive restrictions on the capacity of Zurich airport and discriminates against the airline Swiss,” the transport ministry said in a news release on Wednesday.…

Swiss Politics

Switzerland and Norway – the European outsiders

This content was published on Oct 12, 2010 The two countries are wealthy, mountainous, enjoy political stability and are sceptical about the European Union. “The Norwegian press is featuring Switzerland quite a bit these days. It’s very interesting and new,” political scientist Ulf Sverdrup said. “The debate over the continuation of the bilateral approach with the EU has not gone unnoticed in Norway.…

Swiss Politics

Lake Geneva access vote could make waves

This content was published on Oct 12, 2010 This is just one of a number of ongoing waterway access disputes in Switzerland. It is estimated that just 50 per cent of the shores of lakes Zurich, Geneva and Constance are accessible to ramblers. The pretty lakeside town of La Tour-de-Peilz on the Swiss Riviera between Vevey and Montreux is set to become an…

Cluster: Swiss Abroad

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Cluster: Swiss Abroad

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Switzerland has its record-breaking tunnel

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Minister carries vote message to the people

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Poll finds political centre-right holds sway

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Kyrgyzstan democracy faces tough road ahead

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Swiss expert helps with Hungarian disaster

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Anti-deportation group calls initiative unfair

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Cabinet moves reform plans forward

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Aircraft noise dispute goes to highest court

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Switzerland and Norway – the European outsiders

More

Lake Geneva access vote could make waves

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