Cluster: Swiss Identity

Dance competition draws stars for celebration

This content was published on Feb 2, 2012 One week a year, Lausanne becomes the dance capital of the world as 15 to 18 year-olds from ballet schools on all continents flock to Lausanne to take part in the competition. Major artists coach, inspire and appraise them. And for dance lovers who cannot make it to Lausanne, the web takes the Prix to…

Demographics

Bank data sharing lands on cabinet agenda

This content was published on Feb 1, 2012 Referring to recent media reports that millions of bank client emails had been handed over, cabinet spokesman André Simonazzi said the figure was exaggerated. As the finance ministry said previously on Tuesday, 20,000 pages of encrypted data were involved, he said. He would not comment on whether the data had already been sent. Cabinet members…

Culture

Action!

This content was published on Feb 1, 2012 Karl Tellenbach (1877-1931) is one of Bern’s most famous characters. In 1970, director Kurt Früh was the first to tell the true story of the Bernese barber, known as Dällebach Kari, for a cinema audience. More than 40 years later, director Xavier Koller, whose Journey of Hope was named Best Foreign Language Film at the…

Sirens ring out across Switzerland

This content was published on Feb 1, 2012 The test included the general siren for emergency cases – from natural disasters to chemical hazards – as well as the water siren, which is for people living below dams. A siren network was first created in Switzerland just before the Second World War when bomb attacks were feared, but since the 1980s the devices…

Demographics

Gunmen abduct tourists in the Philippines

This content was published on Feb 1, 2012 The tourists, aged 47 and 52, had gone to an area where they could see endangered species. They were seized by an armed group in the country’s southernmost Tawi-Tawi island province and taken away on a boat, authorities said on Wednesday. The Tawi-Tawi governor, Sadikul Sahali, said the tourists had not wanted to be escorted…

Demographics

Cabinet wants to continue US visa waiver deal

This content was published on Feb 1, 2012 The cabinet has decided to open negotiations with Washington aimed at extending the accord while respecting new security requirements – including the automatic exchange of DNA and fingerprints as well as data on suspected terrorists. The foreign ministry said the data protection aspects would be taken into account and parliamentary committees and cantons would be…

Culture

Andermatt’s fairytale gets a dose of reality

This content was published on Jan 31, 2012 The former army town is being turned into a mega resort courtesy of its knight in shining armour, Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris. His approach of creating new resorts out of thin air has worked well abroad, but in embarking on this first European venture he hadn’t anticipated major economic and political upheavals. On the one…

Demographics

Call for quicker turnaround of asylum seekers

This content was published on Jan 31, 2012 The rapid treatment of cases that don’t meet requirements could deter other refugees from travelling to Switzerland, the council’s secretary-general Beat Meiner said on Tuesday. Applicants would think twice about making the journey to Switzerland, which involves effort and money, if they knew they could be made to leave within two weeks, he said, adding…

Demographics

Sensitive Swiss bank data handed to US

This content was published on Jan 31, 2012 However, the ministry denied reports that millions of client emails were involved, putting the scale of the transfer at some 20,000 pages “on the US business of the banks”. Full access to the information, with names of client advisors, will only be provided on a case-by-case basis or when a tax agreement is in place…

Demographics

Disability assistance provides lifeline at home

This content was published on Jan 31, 2012 The policy provides disabled people with funds to employ personal assistants to carry out tasks specific to their needs and has been the norm for more than two decades in places such as Scandinavia, the United States, Britain and the Netherlands, for example. For Peter Wehrli, the seven hours of paid assistance per week that…

Cluster: Swiss Identity

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