Swiss Abroad

Tackling the mafia through the money trail

This content was published on Jul 19, 2011 In last year’s annual report, the Swiss Federal Police confirmed once again that mafia were infiltrating Switzerland, in particular in the border cantons. Prosecutor Pasi is based in one such region – Italian speaking Ticino. In these regions, criminal elements are attempting to set up money laundering structures for income stemming from illegal activities. The…

Swiss Politics

Trial opens into foiled attack on IBM

This content was published on Jul 19, 2011 The trio – a Swiss-Italian and two Italians – are accused of planning arson attacks, and of the distribution and sale of unauthorised imported explosives. They were caught in April 2010 during police road checks in canton Zurich in possession of 476 grams of explosives and other components needed to build an improvised explosive device.…

Swiss Politics

Nuclear watchdog’s independence questioned

This content was published on Jul 19, 2011 The non-governmental organisation, Fokus Anti-Atom, is questioning the assertion by the Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate (ENSI) that fissures in the core shroud of the reactor at the Mühleberg plant do not pose a safety risk. At the end of June, the operator of the power station, BKW Energy, shut down Mühleberg five weeks before its…

Swiss Politics

Deepwater oil still “trapped” beneath ocean

This content was published on Jul 18, 2011 Samuel Arey, an environmental chemist from Lausanne’s Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), has carried out research into the behaviour of the oil and gas released from the damaged well deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven rig workers were killed on April 20, 2010, and the US government estimates some 206 million gallons of oil…

Swiss Politics

Swiss release more funds for Africa food crisis

This content was published on Jul 18, 2011 The money will be used to assist refugees in Ethiopia and Kenya and the most vulnerable populations in Somalia, the foreign ministry said in statement on Monday. Countries in the Horn of Africa are suffering from a severe food crisis which is currently impacting some 11 million people – a number which is expected to…

Swiss Politics

US reportedly rejects global tax deal

This content was published on Jul 18, 2011 The SonntagsZeitung newspaper said the US authorities had written to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and the finance ministry informing them of their decision. Speculation has mounted recently that the two countries were considering a voluntary disclosure scheme that would inflict fines and the handover of data in return for the US dropping legal…

Swiss Politics

Swiss help developing countries reduce CO2

This content was published on Jul 18, 2011 The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said on Monday it had signed up to two projects in the context of the World Trade Organization’s third Global Review of Aid for Trade which is currently underway in Geneva. Seco said it will contribute SFr7 million to the Partnership for Market Readiness programme which aims to…

Swiss Politics

Fragmented centre becomes political battleground

This content was published on Jul 18, 2011 Under pressure to mobilise their grassroots, both the Radicals and the Christian Democrats have launched a series of initiatives covering tax breaks for families and the fight against rampant bureaucracy. Elections in the cantons over the past four years have seen the two parties suffer a string of defeats. And all recent opinion polls have…

Swiss Politics

Credit Suisse in sights of US tax probe

This content was published on Jul 15, 2011 Investigators have now escalated the probe and are attempting to implicate the bank in hiding some $3 billion (SFr2.46 billion) of client assets from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They must prove that the bank’s hierarchy sanctioned staff actions before client data can be demanded in a re-run of the UBS case two years ago.…

Swiss Politics

Court rules transfer of UBS bank data legal

This content was published on Jul 15, 2011 The ruling overturns an earlier decision by the Federal administrative court that said the Swiss Financial and Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) had abused its power when it ordered that details of about 250 account holders suspected of tax evasion in the US be handed over. Finma maintained that it had made its decision after consultations…

Swiss Abroad

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Tackling the mafia through the money trail

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Trial opens into foiled attack on IBM

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Nuclear watchdog’s independence questioned

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Deepwater oil still “trapped” beneath ocean

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Swiss release more funds for Africa food crisis

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US reportedly rejects global tax deal

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Swiss help developing countries reduce CO2

More

Fragmented centre becomes political battleground

More

Credit Suisse in sights of US tax probe

More

Court rules transfer of UBS bank data legal

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