Swiss Identity

Parents seek help in cross-border abductions

This content was published on Jan 26, 2010 Of the new cases, 73 relate to the return of missing children and 29 concern the violation of visiting rights. A further 115 unresolved cases date from before 2009 bringing the total number of ongoing cases to 217. In comparison, the Swiss Central Authority for Dealing with International Child Abductions handled 208 cases in the…

History

Voters used minaret ban to halt spread of Islam

This content was published on Jan 26, 2010 Vox Analysis, a study regularly done after nationwide referendums to understand voter choices, found that the vote was not against Muslims or foreigners in principle. The authors said Swiss xenophobia was not the main reason why the ban on the construction of minarets was passed by 57.5 per cent of voters on November 29. About…

Demographics

First Guantánamo inmate arrives in Switzerland

This content was published on Jan 26, 2010 The Uzbek national arrived in January in his host canton of Geneva, the government announced on Tuesday. The government stressed that he is a free man who has never been charged with any offence; he has committed to learning one of the national languages and intends to look for work to support himself. The man’s…

Demographics

Swine flu pandemic coming to an end

This content was published on Jan 26, 2010 In the second week of this year, week 13 of the pandemic, doctors participating in the national notification system recorded 8.6 suspected cases of flu out of 1,000 consultations. This rate corresponds to 81 patients per 100,000 population; the threshold for a national epidemic is 50 per 100,000. According to the World Health Organization’s A/H1N1…

Culture

Hidden heritage hopes for visibility

This content was published on Jan 25, 2010 That’s a view shared by six alpine countries – Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy – who together are putting forward a selection of ancient pile dwellings for inclusion on the Unesco World Heritage list. It’s an unusual submission: the remains are largely underwater or in bogs, and thus invisible to the public. Albert…

Demographics

How Switzerland champions champions

This content was published on Jan 25, 2010 The city of Lausanne takes pride in its designation as the Olympic capital, officially awarded to it by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1994 to mark the body’s 100th anniversary. But the love story between Lausanne and the Olympic movement is much older than that. Back in 1915, the French baron Pierre de Coubertin,…

Demographics

Federer sails into Australian Open quarterfinals

This content was published on Jan 25, 2010 The top-ranked Swiss star, who was beaten in last year’s final by Rafael Nadal, hasn’t lost to Hewitt since the Australian beat him in a Davis Cup match in late 2003. Federer has reached the semifinals or better at the Australian Open every year since winning the 2004 title, his first of three. Federer broke…

History

Minaret ban was a “symbolic gesture”

This content was published on Jan 25, 2010 A survey of voters carried out by Swiss universities found, however, that the majority in favour of a ban was not equivalent to overall rejection of Muslims in Switzerland. On November 29, 57.5% of votes cast were in favour of the people’s initiative, much to general surprise. Switzerland is the first European country to forbid…

Demographics

Support for young “sans papiers” grows

This content was published on Jan 25, 2010 An estimated 10-30,000 young “sans papiers” live in Switzerland without legal status. They can attend the state school system, but as a rule only until 16 – the end of compulsory schooling. Professional training and apprenticeships are out of reach. “It really is a ticking social time bomb,” Green Party parliamentarian Antonio Hodgers told swissinfo.ch.…

Demographics

Rüegg is number two in four-man bob

This content was published on Jan 24, 2010 It was the fifth silver medal for Rüegg at the European Championship, setting big expectations for the Vancouver Games for the native of canton Schwyz. Countrymen Beat Hefti and Daniel Schmid, the first- and third-place finishers in the two-man event on Saturday, were not in the running. Hefti placed tenth and Schmid missed the second…

Swiss Identity

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Swiss Identity

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Parents seek help in cross-border abductions

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Voters used minaret ban to halt spread of Islam

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First Guantánamo inmate arrives in Switzerland

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Swine flu pandemic coming to an end

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Hidden heritage hopes for visibility

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How Switzerland champions champions

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Federer sails into Australian Open quarterfinals

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Minaret ban was a “symbolic gesture”

More

Support for young “sans papiers” grows

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Rüegg is number two in four-man bob

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