Swiss Abroad

Ticino is a “model for Europe”

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 The following is taken from a speech Steinberg gave at Franklin College Switzerland in Lugano in 2004, and the excerpts are reprinted here with his kind permission. What makes Ticino different? The answer I propose may surprise you: Ticino serves as a model of Europe and acts as the glue which has helped to hold…

Swiss Politics

“Had I known that California was a wilderness”

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 That is because Cavalli, a native of the Ticino village, Verscio, was a writer by trade as editor of the San Francisco-based, Italian-language newspaper, L’Elvezia. In this extract from an account published in 1890, Cavalli describes an encounter with a group of immigrants travelling by train to California. Into the West I spent the 30…

Swiss Politics

“I have made a very bad calculation”

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 In this autobiographical letter he wrote as an old man in 1905, he reflects on the trials and tribulations of attempting to make a life for himself in the New World. There is more than a hint of bitterness in his writing. Unlike the two letters reprinted in the Journey into the Unknown section, Pozzi…

Swiss Politics

Migrations interview: Part five

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 swissinfo: Your own father migrated to California. But he came back… G.C.: My father worked for nine years in California but he returned, as did many, many others. As I told you, 27,000 people emigrated to California but, of these 27,000, only 1,000 established ranches. We need to double that figure, because there were the…

Swiss Politics

Migrations interview: Part three

This content was published on Jan 7, 2009 swissinfo: Let’s take a step back and talk about how they actually travelled abroad. Did the first emigranti in the 1850s begin their journey on foot, or did they take diligences (stagecoaches) to the ports? Giorgio Cheda: They travelled partly on foot, partly by diligence and partly by train. There were already sections of railway…

Swiss Politics

Israel holds the diplomatic cards, experts say

This content was published on Jan 6, 2009 Fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen continued on Tuesday as Israel attempted to end militant rocket fire. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile said the Gaza Strip faced “a full-blown humanitarian crisis”. The military offensive against Palestinian rocket squads launched by Israel on December 27 has left over 600 Palestinians dead…

Swiss Politics

Female medical careers need booster

This content was published on Jan 6, 2009 Proposals have been put forward to increase the number of part-time posts to enable female doctors – and male ones as well – to better combine work and family life. Researchers writing in the latest bulletin of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences reported that women made up 57 per cent of medical students in…

Swiss Politics

ICRC warns of critical situation in Gaza

This content was published on Jan 5, 2009 The Swiss-run ICRC, guardian of the Geneva Conventions on humanitarian law, said late on Monday that as the number of casualties continued to rise, it was focusing on arranging safe passage for Palestine Red Crescent ambulances, which collect the wounded and transport them to hospitals. The ICRC said ambulance movements were coordinated with the Israeli…

Swiss Politics

Illegal immigrants win reprieve in Zurich

This content was published on Jan 5, 2009 Around 150 rejected asylum seekers occupied a church last month claiming that Zurich was more draconian than other cantons. The authorities have accepted the new advisory body but have given no sign that rules will be relaxed. The compromise solution was hammered out on Monday during talks between representatives of the immigrants, the cantonal authorities…

Swiss Politics

ICRC medical team allowed to enter Gaza Strip

This content was published on Jan 5, 2009 The Geneva-based ICRC said the specialist team, including a surgeon, had been allowed to enter Gaza at the Erez crossing on Monday. It will help staff at the Shifa hospital carry out complicated operations on Palestinians that have been wounded in the conflict between Israel and Hamas militants. The team took with it vaccines against…

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Swiss Abroad

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Ticino is a “model for Europe”

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“Had I known that California was a wilderness”

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“I have made a very bad calculation”

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Migrations interview: Part five

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Migrations interview: Part three

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Israel holds the diplomatic cards, experts say

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Female medical careers need booster

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ICRC warns of critical situation in Gaza

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Illegal immigrants win reprieve in Zurich

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ICRC medical team allowed to enter Gaza Strip

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