Cluster: Swiss Abroad

Volatile Kurdistan threatens regional peace

This content was published on Nov 3, 2007 Two Swiss researchers say that that the risk of all-out military action by the Turks against the guerrilla movement is low, but warn that the situation in Iraq remains volatile. “Our objective is to have an Iraq that has stability and safety and that does not create threats for its neighbours,” Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip…

Swiss Politics

Justice minister in China for security talks

This content was published on Nov 2, 2007 During an official four-day visit to China, Swiss Justice Minister Christoph Blocher also underlined the importance of respecting the issue of intellectual property rights. Blocher met Zhou Yongkang, the former minister for public security who recently joined the party’s top body, the Politburo Standing Committee, to discuss the importance of sharing information in the fight…

Swiss Politics

Swiss unruffled by EU blue card

This content was published on Nov 2, 2007 Employers and authorities in Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, say they are ready for the competition of the new scheme which, if agreed by EU states, would offer candidates a fast track to obtain work permits. Like Switzerland, the EU’s population is ageing and many member states are caught up in…

Swiss Politics

“Land of football boot” to host 2014 World Cup

This content was published on Oct 30, 2007 President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, who was handed the trophy at Fifa headquarters in Zurich, also met Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey to discuss plans for closer cooperation between the two countries. “The executive committee has decided unanimously to give the responsibility, not the right, to organise Fifa’s World Cup 2014 to the country Brazil,”…

Swiss Politics

Far-right crushed by success of People’s Party

This content was published on Oct 29, 2007 In its heyday, the far-right group was a political force to be reckoned with, making the curbing of immigration socially acceptable. The Swiss Democrats saw their share of the vote drop below one per cent and lost their only seat in the 200-member House of Representatives in last week’s parliamentary ballot. “We disappeared from the…

Swiss Politics

Cuba invites UN envoy from Switzerland

This content was published on Oct 28, 2007 Ziegler, who has been assured full cooperation with the authorities, arrived on Sunday and will stay in the Caribbean republic until November 6 in what is a controversial trip. The Cuban embassy in Geneva sent an invitation to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in June asking for Ziegler in what…

Swiss Politics

People’s Party wants to see big changes

This content was published on Oct 28, 2007 Ueli Maurer, the party’s outgoing president, has called for the changes between now and 2009, in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. After last week’s election, in which the People’s Party increased its seats in the House of Representatives by seven to 62, Maurer said that three cabinet members should go. These were…

Swiss Politics

Eritrean asylum seekers face uncertain future

This content was published on Oct 27, 2007 People from Eritrea currently top the list for asylum applications. They accounted for more than 14 per cent of all asylum applications in the first nine months of 2007. Blocher told the media earlier this week that Switzerland’s generosity in granting deserters and contentious objectors refugee status had made it a target for Eritreans fleeing…

Swiss Politics

Main parties undergo shake-up after elections

This content was published on Oct 26, 2007 The rightwing Swiss People’s Party president is leaving on a high after his party effectively won at the polls, but his centre-left Social Democrats counterpart came under pressure to go following a dismal result. People’s Party head Ueli Maurer was the first to announce his decision on Friday. He leaves after more than 11 years…

Swiss Politics

Aid official warns of “shocking” Gaza crisis

This content was published on Oct 25, 2007 For Walter Fust, head of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the situation in the increasingly isolated Palestinian territory is “untenable” and “shocking”. “This siege policy [in Gaza] has damaging consequences that require a substantially increased international humanitarian response,” Fust told swissinfo on Wednesday at the end of a four-day visit to Gaza.…

Cluster: Swiss Abroad

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

Cluster: Swiss Abroad

More

Volatile Kurdistan threatens regional peace

More

Justice minister in China for security talks

More

Swiss unruffled by EU blue card

More

“Land of football boot” to host 2014 World Cup

More

Far-right crushed by success of People’s Party

More

Cuba invites UN envoy from Switzerland

More

People’s Party wants to see big changes

More

Eritrean asylum seekers face uncertain future

More

Main parties undergo shake-up after elections

More

Aid official warns of “shocking” Gaza crisis

Popular Stories

Most Discussed