Cluster: Swiss Identity

Geneva wins annual Wakker heritage prize

This content was published on Jan 7, 2000 The annual Wakker prize for the protection of Swiss heritage has been won by the city of Geneva. The prize has for the first come back to the home city of its founder.The prize worth SFr20,000 ($13,000) was given to Geneva for its work in renovating public areas along the Rhone river. The theme of…

Demographics

Tunnel site gives rise to prostitution fears

This content was published on Jan 6, 2000 Police in the Swiss canton of Ticino fear a sharp rise in prostitution once construction work on new trans-alpine rail tunnels begins. As many as 10,000 workers, mostly foreign, will be brought into the country to build the new Gotthard tunnels between central Switzerland and Ticino. They will come to Switzerland without their families. The…

Culture

Notre Dame to take Geneva by storm

This content was published on Jan 6, 2000 A theatrical phenomenon is opening its doors in Geneva. Notre Dame de Paris, the musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel, took Paris by storm in 1998 and after two years on the road is preparing to raise the roof at the Swiss city’s Arena. Lyricist Luc Plamondon and composer Richard Cocciante have taken Hugo’s…

Demographics

Indian sect leader Swami Omkarananda dies at 70

This content was published on Jan 6, 2000 (AP) — Swami Omkarananda, a Hindu monk and sect leader who was imprisoned in Switzerland for attempted murder, has died, the centre he founded said Thursday. He was 70. Omkarananda died from flu Tuesday at his home near Bregenz, Austria, said Erhard Finger, spokesman for the Divine Light Center in Winterthur. Born in India, Omkarananda…

Demographics

School teachers better prepared for violent incidents

This content was published on Jan 5, 2000 Teaching staff in canton St. Gallen have learnt their lesson from a tragic teacher shooting a year ago and are now better prepared to manage violent situations, the cantonal authorities said on Wednesday. “Many things changed after the shooting on January 11, 1999,” said Liana Ruckstuhl, spokeswoman for the cantonal education board at a news…

Culture

Thirty-four new books published each day in 1999

This content was published on Jan 5, 2000 Book production in Switzerland increased by 5 per cent last year, even though there was no boom in millennium titles as some industry watchers had predicted. A total of 13,700 new books were published in the past 12 months, an increase in line with the steady rise on international markets. Sheet music, novels and legal…

Demographics

Red Cross hostage drama continues in Bogota

This content was published on Jan 5, 2000 Four members of the International Committee of the Red Cross are still being held hostage by disgruntled Colombian farmers at the ICRC offices in the capital, Bogota. The Geneva-based ICRC suspended its operations in Colombia after about 50 farmers armed with sticks stormed the building and took 37 of its personnel hostage. 33 of the…

Demographics

Swiss want no punishment for smoking pot

This content was published on Jan 5, 2000 A majority of Swiss cantons and most government parties have come out in support of legalising the purchase and consumption of marijuana, the authorities say. Most of the 26 cantons, and three out of four parties represented in the cabinet, said they also would like to stop prosecuting people who grow cannabis for personal consumption.…

Culture

Swiss art dealer wins case against Italian government

This content was published on Jan 5, 2000 A Swiss art dealer has won a long-running legal battle against the Italian government, forcing it to pay him compensation from a deal involving “The Gardener” by Van Gogh. The issue was finally decided by the European Court of Human Rights. The art dealer, Hans Beyeler, who owns a famous museum in Basel, won the…

History

Religious leaders take on politicians — at cards

This content was published on Jan 5, 2000 Secular authorities in Solothurn have taken revenge on the church — including Bishop Kurt Koch of Basel — in a sporting, if unusual, way. For more than 30 years, members of the city government in Solothurn have got together for an annual exchange of views with local bishops who are part of the country’s largest…

Cluster: Swiss Identity

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Cluster: Swiss Identity

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Geneva wins annual Wakker heritage prize

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Tunnel site gives rise to prostitution fears

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Notre Dame to take Geneva by storm

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Indian sect leader Swami Omkarananda dies at 70

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School teachers better prepared for violent incidents

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Thirty-four new books published each day in 1999

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Red Cross hostage drama continues in Bogota

More

Swiss want no punishment for smoking pot

More

Swiss art dealer wins case against Italian government

More

Religious leaders take on politicians — at cards

Popular Stories

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