Swiss Abroad

Switzerland moves into Mugabe’s firing line

This content was published on Nov 4, 2011 An angry President Robert Mugabe warned: “We are not without means to reciprocate.” Mugabe has taken offence because Switzerland refused visas to some of the Zimbabwean delegation expected at Telecom World – a summit of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) which was held from October 24 to 27 in Geneva. Among those to miss out…

Swiss Politics

Turbine protestors have the wind in their sails

This content was published on Nov 3, 2011 At the beginning of October, the people of Bourrignon, on the heights above the Jura cantonal capital of Delémont, voted against a plan to erect 14 turbines near their village. Several communes in the Franches-Montagnes region of the Jura are to vote shortly on initiatives calling for either a total ban, or a moratorium, on…

Swiss Politics

Multinationals face pressure over rights

This content was published on Nov 3, 2011 More than 50 groups, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace and church charities as well as trade unions and women’s associations, are collecting signatures for a petition. It calls for legal provisions to sue Swiss firms whose subsidies abroad are suspected of violations of human rights and environmental standards. Campaigners of Rights Without Borders said the current…

Swiss Politics

Kosovan leader backs down over organ report

This content was published on Nov 3, 2011 Marty’s 2010 report for the Council of Europe alleged that after the end of hostilities with Serbia in 1999, high-ranking members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) had been involved in the murder of mostly Serbian prisoners, whose organs were then trafficked. Thaci and his government, as well as Albania, have denied Marty’s claims. When…

Swiss Politics

Multinationals’ power “must be kept in check”

This content was published on Nov 3, 2011 Swiss economist Mauro Baranzini tells swissinfo.ch that new supranational institutions are needed to keep these transnational corporations in check. The tangled web of connections that link multinationals was highlighted in a study published by researchers at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ). In the study, “The network of global corporate control”, it was found…

Swiss Politics

Government adapts plans for railway funding

This content was published on Nov 2, 2011 She said the government would boost its payments “considerably”, notably by paying SFr2.3 billion ($2.6 billion) annually towards a fund, to lessen the burden on the cantons and consumers. Leuthard said the cabinet would withdraw plans to drastically limit tax breaks for commuters, following widespread opposition by political parties and organisations. However, she said it…

Swiss Politics

Swiss aid in South Sudan

This content was published on Nov 2, 2011 South Sudan is the youngest state in the world. After a long civil war which killed more than two million people, in July the country finally gained independence. But life is still far from normal. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is playing an active role in helping people satisfy basic needs and…

Cabinet lowers interest on pension capital

This content was published on Nov 2, 2011 The cabinet on Wednesday decided to lower the interest rate to 1.5 per cent from two per cent in line with recommendations by a government advisory board. The move was prompted by volatile financial markets as well as falling stocks and bonds, a cabinet statement said. Trade unions had called for a rate of up…

Swiss Politics

Greek referendum will jolt “confused Europeans”

This content was published on Nov 2, 2011 Charles Wyplosz, professor of economics at Geneva’s Graduate Institute, welcomes the Greek plebiscite on the proposed European Union bailout, which he hopes will shake up the “confused” and “divided” Europeans. The bailout was a “useless austerity imposed on the Greeks”, but the referendum is a chance to introduce an element of democracy in the process,…

Swiss Politics

Minister takes pointers from Berlin integration

This content was published on Nov 1, 2011 Recalling that integration is a two-way street, Simonetta Sommaruga praised the work of the programme which trains women with an immigrant background as outreach workers. Sommaruga made room for the language class during a one-day working visit to meet her German counterpart Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich. “Language is the alpha and the omega,” she said…

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