Cluster: Swiss Abroad

Federal Court to decide on fate of Haiti funds

This content was published on Aug 25, 2009 The family of Jean-Claude Duvalier – nicknamed Baby Doc – appealed on Tuesday against the decision taken two weeks ago by the Federal Penal Court to unfreeze deposits worth SFr7,000,000 ($6.6 million) and give them to the authorities in Haiti. The case will now be heard by the Federal Court in Lausanne. The family argues…

Swiss Politics

Scots and Swiss deal with separate Libyan crises

This content was published on Aug 25, 2009 Last Thursday – the day Merz announced he had ended a year-long feud with Tripoli by apologising for the arrest of the Libyan ruler’s son in Geneva last year – the Scottish government released a Libyan national, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, from prison. Megrahi, convicted of the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie in Scotland, received a…

Swiss Politics

Good image intact despite negative headlines

This content was published on Aug 25, 2009 However, Switzerland’s involvement in human rights and humanitarian issues is not well known, according to the authors of the survey conducted by the Graduate School of Public Administration. The study was carried out among more than 13,000 people in seven countries, including the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Japan and China between 2000 and…

Swiss Politics

Switzerland moves up as attractive tax location

This content was published on Aug 24, 2009 A study by tax experts at KPMG found Switzerland moving up four positions to 13th place in an international comparison of 86 countries around the world. Income tax has continually fallen over the past seven years, but a countertrend is becoming visible under the pressure of the difficult economic situation. Ireland was the first country…

Swiss Politics

Geneva still fuming over Libyan apology

This content was published on Aug 24, 2009 swissinfo.ch went to find out what people in Geneva feel about the agreement to end a year-long standoff that has frozen Swiss-Libyan business ties and left two Swiss businessmen marooned in Tripoli. “Humiliation”, “scandal” and “shocking” are some of the more common words and phrases still being heard on the streets of Geneva just three…

Swiss Politics

Switzerland: a country of politicians

This content was published on Aug 24, 2009 But some posts remain unfilled, as Switzerland’s system of grass-roots democracy is suffering from a shortage of volunteers. Why “very probably”? Because Switzerland, organised on federal lines, does not keep centralised statistics in this field. As for statistics in other parts of the world…. It is, however, established that Switzerland’s resident population of 7.7 million…

Swiss Politics

Libya continues to dominate Swiss concerns

This content was published on Aug 23, 2009 Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said the legal basis was questionable, adding that the issue would be put forward at next Wednesday’s meeting of the seven-member Swiss cabinet. The Swiss president, Hans-Rudolf Merz, apologised on Thursday in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, for the detention of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife Aline in July 2008 after Geneva police received…

Swiss Politics

Subtle democratic rights fail to spark interest

This content was published on Aug 23, 2009 Voters will have the final say on the fate of the so-called general people’s initiative in a nationwide ballot at the end of next month. Approved by voters with an overwhelming majority in 2003, it has never been put to use because it is seen as incompatible with the rules of the current parliamentary system.…

Swiss Politics

Merz out on a limb over his visit to Libya

This content was published on Aug 21, 2009 He said it was the only way to break a deadlock in economic relations with the north African country and secure the release of two Swiss nationals held for allegedly violating visa regulations. Merz’s visit to Tripoli on Thursday prompted mixed reactions in Switzerland. Critics have accused him of groveling before an unreliable authoritarian regime…

Swiss Politics

Geneva concerned over Libya accord fallout

This content was published on Aug 21, 2009 In an agreement signed by President Hans-Rudolf Merz in Tripoli on Thursday, the Swiss government offered an “official and public apology for the unjustified and unnecessary arrest” of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife in Geneva in July 2008. The agreement also sets up a three-person independent arbitration panel to sift through the conditions of the…

Cluster: Swiss Abroad

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Cluster: Swiss Abroad

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Federal Court to decide on fate of Haiti funds

More

Scots and Swiss deal with separate Libyan crises

More

Good image intact despite negative headlines

More

Switzerland moves up as attractive tax location

More

Geneva still fuming over Libyan apology

More

Switzerland: a country of politicians

More

Libya continues to dominate Swiss concerns

More

Subtle democratic rights fail to spark interest

More

Merz out on a limb over his visit to Libya

More

Geneva concerned over Libya accord fallout

Popular Stories

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