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Swiss Politics

Swiss to relax banking laws

This content was published on Mar 13, 2009 The decision will permit the exchange of customer information with other countries in individual cases where a specific and justified request has been made, a government statement said on Friday. “The cabinet acknowledges that the wish of the people of Switzerland for appropriate protection of personal privacy is still firmly entrenched,” it said. “For this…

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Rights chief pushes Geneva anti-racism summit

This content was published on Mar 12, 2009 Navi Pillay made the remarks after a meeting in Bern with Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey on Thursday. Several countries are reportedly boycotting the conference amid concerns that Israel will be targeted over its occupation of Palestinian territories. These fears are unjustified, Pillay noted. She said the conference in Geneva in April would focus on…

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Swiss Politics

Arms exports ban rejected in parliament

This content was published on Mar 12, 2009 A clear majority voted against the people’s initiative by the pacifist group, Switzerland Without an Army. The issue still has to be discussed by the Senate, before it comes to a nationwide vote at a later date. Opponents argued the ban would lead to 10,000 job cuts in the country and threatened the purchase of…

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Parliament pardons Spanish Civil War fighters

This content was published on Mar 12, 2009 The Senate on Thursday unanimously followed the House of Representatives in lifting the convictions of those who served in a foreign army in the 1930s. Up to 800 Swiss-based volunteers, including a small number of women, joined Republican troops fighting against fascist rebels. More than 400 of them were handed jail sentences. Only a handful…

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Senate agrees new credit to counter recession

This content was published on Mar 11, 2009 The SFr710 million ($615 million) package is destined for infrastructure projects in the transport sector as well as energy, environment research and tourism. Two days after animated late-night discussions in the House of Representatives, the bill won unanimous approval by the Senate. “We consider the packet drafted by the government as reasonable, pragmatic and well…

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Swiss urged to aid Sino-Tibet dialogue

This content was published on Mar 10, 2009 Claude Levenson – a friend of the Dalai Lama and author of several books on Tibet – tells swissinfo that although Switzerland was among the first countries to welcome Tibetan refugees in the 1960s, its stance today is less bold. Levenson, who has been following the Tibetan situation for 25 years, says Switzerland needs to…

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North Koreans seek inspiration in Switzerland

This content was published on Mar 9, 2009 The guests were looked after by Fribourg University’s Federalism Institute. After four days of study they travelled to different regions of the country speaking to local politicians and officials. News of the visit only made it into the newspapers after they had left. “They were certainly surprised by the complexity of the system. They realised…

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Cornered finance ministers offer dialogue

This content was published on Mar 9, 2009 On Sunday evening, the weather in Luxembourg was damp and foggy – and so too the outcome of the meeting between the three finance ministers: host Luc Frieden of Luxembourg, Switzerland’s Hans-Rudolf Merz and Josef Pröll from Austria. At a media conference at Senningen Castle, the ministers stressed that banking secrecy had to be defended.…

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Abuse of elderly in care is “isolated case”

This content was published on Mar 8, 2009 Five care workers, including a nurse, are under investigation for involvement in abusive filming, assault and theft at the Entlisberg nursing home. The scandal has played out the worst fears of elderly people and their families about the quality of care given to the most vulnerable in society, particularly dementia patients. More than 100,000 staff…

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Women academics still struggle to make professor

This content was published on Mar 7, 2009 As International Women’s Day is celebrated this weekend, experts talk about how balancing work and family, a husband’s career and old-fashioned attitudes are holding women back. But they point out that the tide is slowly turning. “When you start your academic career, you don’t have any idea of what it’s really going to be like,”…

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