Swiss Abroad

Swiss to vote on curbing population growth

This content was published on Nov 2, 2012 The Environment and Population Association (Ecopop) on Friday handed in more than 120,000 signatures to the federal authorities. No date for the vote has been set yet. The initiative committee wants to limit annual immigration to Switzerland to 0.2 per cent of the resident population. It also seeks to set aside ten per cent of…

Swiss Politics

Polluted sites would cover vast areas

This content was published on Nov 1, 2012 The Federal Environment Office said on Thursday that it had compiled and analysed data from all available federal and cantonal registers. The 38,000 polluted sites would cover 80 per cent of canton Geneva or all of canton Zug. Nearly half of those sites are industrial areas, 40 per cent former dumps, ten per cent shooting…

Swiss Politics

Swiss vow to improve human rights situation

This content was published on Oct 31, 2012 Swiss representatives said on Wednesday that another 86 proposals made during its second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) earlier in the week would receive a response at the next session of the Geneva-based council in March next year. The Swiss rejected suggestions to ratify the UN convention on migrant worker rights or to draft legislation banning…

Swiss Politics

Istanbul – a metropolis between East and West

This content was published on Oct 31, 2012 In its 2,600-year history, Istanbul – in 2010, the European Capital of Culture – has experienced splendour and misery like hardly any other city. Today, its 14 million inhabitants are experiencing an unprecedented boom – just ten years ago the country was bankrupt, hyperinflation was rampant and banks were disappearing. Barbey’s images reflect the open…

Swiss Politics

Liberalised cheese market benefits all

This content was published on Oct 30, 2012 The Federal Office for Agriculture commissioned the economic think tank BAK Basel to assess the impact of the free dairy market on dairy production and consumers. The report concludes that Switzerland would not have fared any better if it had continued to subsidise and protect its cheese market. Bilateral agreements with the EU in addition…

Swiss Politics

More Americans give up passports over tax

This content was published on Oct 26, 2012 The US embassy to Switzerland told swissinfo.ch that it had processed 411 renunciations in the first nine months of this year. This compares to 180 Americans giving up their passports in 2011. While the number of Americans that turn in their passports is a small fraction of the estimated 35,000 to 40,000 US citizens living…

Swiss Politics

Asylum seekers – a view from the inside

This content was published on Oct 26, 2012 “Over the past few years the type of people seeking asylum has changed radically. Today they are no longer political refugees in the strict sense. Most come to Europe in search of work and to improve their standard of living.” So says Margherita (not her real name), who has been working in the centre at Chiasso for…

Swiss Politics

Caps for new medical practices tabled

This content was published on Oct 24, 2012 Interior Minister Alain Berset said the planned re-introduction of a moratorium on some practices and other restrictions would be limited to three years and was in response to several demands by parliament. “It is a tried and tested method and the cantons know exactly how to apply it,” Berset, whose portfolio includes health matters, told…

Swiss Politics

Geneva’s green hub loses out to geopolitics

This content was published on Oct 23, 2012 Geneva’s ambitions to host the permanent secretariat of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) were dashed on October 20, when the fund’s board chose the South Korean city of Songdo as the new home for the environmental agency. Switzerland had hoped to add another illustrious jewel to Geneva’s list of UN departments and environmental agencies, but…

Swiss Politics

Political racism rears ugly head

This content was published on Oct 22, 2012 Over the past few months a number of alleged discrimination cases against foreigners and Muslims involving political figures or party members, mainly from the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, have hit the local headlines. These include a racial discrimination case opened last month with the Zurich public prosecutor’s office against People’s Party parliamentarian Alfred Heer. He…

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