Swiss Identity

Finance minister invites Holocaust survivors for talks

This content was published on Apr 11, 2000 The finance minister, Kaspar Villiger, has invited two Holocaust survivors for private talks to discuss their compensation claims. Charles Sonabend (pictured) and his sister Sabine made separate claims against the government for expelling them and their parents in 1942. Their claims are based on their parents’ death in the concentration camp, Auschwitz, after they were…

Demographics

Switzerland joins international community to demand Chechnya inquiry

This content was published on Apr 11, 2000 Switzerland has urged Moscow to open an independent inquiry into alleged atrocities in the breakaway republic of Chechnya. The Swiss ambassador, François Nordmann, told the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, “It is the responsibilty first and foremost of the Russian authorities to clear the accusations made against it and to bring those responsible…

Culture

“Mummenschanz” casts spell on Geneva audiences

This content was published on Apr 11, 2000 The laughter of the audience is just about the only sound to be heard during performances by the Swiss mime group “Mummenschanz”, as they present their latest show in Geneva. Formed in 1972 as a fringe event at the Avignon Festival, the group originally combined spoken dialogue with mask sketches to create a world of…

Demographics

More deaths in Swiss Alps

This content was published on Apr 11, 2000 The number of people who died in Swiss mountain accidents last year rose sharply. Two disasters – an avalanche in canton Valais and a canyoning tragedy -were primarily responsible for the increased number of deaths. A total of 115 people died in alpine accidents in 1999 – an increase of eight per cent. The Swiss…

Greenpeace uses new ammunition against nuclear waste transports

This content was published on Apr 11, 2000 The environmental organisation, Greenpeace, has pointed the finger at the energy ministry, alleging that it contravenes Swiss law when it allows nuclear waste to be exported for reprocessing to Britain and France. Greenpeace based its argument on a legal study unveiled today. The author of the report, by the law professor, Heribert Rausch, claims that…

Culture

Marthaler produces sombre review of a century

This content was published on Apr 10, 2000 The Basel Theatre has staged an eagerly-awaited first performance of the latest project by the theatre producer Christoph Marthaler. “20th Century Blues” invites the audience to put together in their mind the music of some of the great composers of the 20th century with abstract evocations of the contradictory moods that the period created. The…

Demographics

Swiss Holocaust revisionist jailed for one year

This content was published on Apr 10, 2000 Gaston-Armand Amaudruz has been given a one-year jail term by a Lausanne court for repeatedly writing articles which negate the Holocaust and Nazi war crimes. The prosecution had asked for a fifteen month sentence. It is only the second time since the advent of the 1995 Swiss anti-racism law that a sentence of this length…

Culture

Literature house opens with music and dance

This content was published on Apr 10, 2000 The official opening of a «House of Literature» in Basel was celebrated with a programme indicating that there will be much more to it than the printed word. But although guests were entertained by music and dance, all of it was text-oriented. “It will have three basic functions,” said Walter Brack of the Christoph Merian…

Demographics

Damages claims brought against doomsday cult leader

This content was published on Apr 10, 2000 Uriella, the Swiss leader of the doomsday cult “Fiat Lux”, is on trial again. A court in canton Appenzell-Ausserrhoden is hearing a claim by a former follower that the cult cheated her out of her entire assets totalling more than SFr600,000. The 59 year-old woman from Zurich, who had been a member of “Fiat Lux”…

Culture

Zurich banishes the winter with traditional bonfire

This content was published on Apr 10, 2000 Zürich has celebrated the end of winter with the city’s traditional Sechseläuten festival. The city guilds’ traditional afternoon parade was followed by fireworks and a huge bonfire with the burning of the Böög (pictured) at the stroke of six. Winter is officially over with the burning of the Böögg, a three metre high snowman stuffed…

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