Swiss Abroad

North Koreans seek inspiration in Switzerland

This content was published on Mar 9, 2009 The guests were looked after by Fribourg University’s Federalism Institute. After four days of study they travelled to different regions of the country speaking to local politicians and officials. News of the visit only made it into the newspapers after they had left. “They were certainly surprised by the complexity of the system. They realised…

Swiss Politics

Cornered finance ministers offer dialogue

This content was published on Mar 9, 2009 On Sunday evening, the weather in Luxembourg was damp and foggy – and so too the outcome of the meeting between the three finance ministers: host Luc Frieden of Luxembourg, Switzerland’s Hans-Rudolf Merz and Josef Pröll from Austria. At a media conference at Senningen Castle, the ministers stressed that banking secrecy had to be defended.…

Swiss Politics

Abuse of elderly in care is “isolated case”

This content was published on Mar 8, 2009 Five care workers, including a nurse, are under investigation for involvement in abusive filming, assault and theft at the Entlisberg nursing home. The scandal has played out the worst fears of elderly people and their families about the quality of care given to the most vulnerable in society, particularly dementia patients. More than 100,000 staff…

Swiss Politics

Women academics still struggle to make professor

This content was published on Mar 7, 2009 As International Women’s Day is celebrated this weekend, experts talk about how balancing work and family, a husband’s career and old-fashioned attitudes are holding women back. But they point out that the tide is slowly turning. “When you start your academic career, you don’t have any idea of what it’s really going to be like,”…

Swiss Politics

Economics minister calls for spending

This content was published on Mar 7, 2009 At a conference on Saturday, Leuthard said that people should not panic, but continue to shop normally and plan for any investments they needed to make. Speaking to an assembly of women from her centre-right Christian Democrat party in Frauenfeld in northeastern Switzerland, the minister said that it was important to support the economy using…

Swiss Politics

Lavrov speaks in Geneva for atomic arms deal

This content was published on Mar 7, 2009 Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the nuclear weapons treaty was a priority in “resetting” relations as Washington has urged. Lavrov was addressing a United Nations disarmament conference in the Swiss city on Saturday, a day after he held bilateral talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “We are prepared, as was suggested by…

Swiss Politics

Clinton and Lavrov start afresh in Geneva

This content was published on Mar 6, 2009 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pledged to reset relations in the first formal high-level talks between the two countries since US President Barack Obama took office in January. The US aims to have a new strategic arms agreement with Russia by the end of this year, when the…

Swiss Politics

ICRC loses contact with hostages in Philippines

This content was published on Mar 6, 2009 But the Swiss-run aid agency says it heard one hostage in the Philippines speaking on the phone on Friday with a television reporter. At the end of January a Philippine government official visited the three ICRC workers at a jungle hideout near the Jolo Island’s Indanan township. The ICRC believes Swiss national Andreas Notter, Filipino…

Swiss Politics

Working less can earn you more

This content was published on Mar 6, 2009 Monika Bütler, a professor at St Gallen University, published a report on Thursday showing it was not necessarily in a parent’s best interest to work more than 24 hours a week if the other parent has a full-time job. The higher one parent’s income, the less profitable the second parent’s income can become, as childcare…

Swiss Politics

Differences over Kosovo surface at Serb meeting

This content was published on Mar 6, 2009 At a meeting between Vuk Jeremic and Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey on Thursday, the Serbian official stressed that his country’s position over the ethnic-Albanian region of the former Yugoslavia had not changed. It is still a part of Serbia, Jeremic said. Switzerland disagrees with that. The alpine country was one of the first to…

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