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Swiss Politics

Schmid toasts his last day in public

This content was published on Dec 27, 2008 Schmid, who announced his resignation in November amid mounting critical pressure, will hand over the post to incoming minister Ueli Maurer of the rightwing Swiss People’s Party officially at midnight on December 31. Schmid has served as defence minister for eight years. Critics began to call for him to step down after Roland Nef, his…

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Swiss tsunami survivors still have nightmares

This content was published on Dec 26, 2008 Although the exact figure will never be known, it is now thought that about 230,000 people died. Many of those who survived, locals and western tourists, still bear psychological scars. A new word leapt from specialist text books into mainstream language: tsunami. The overwhelming majority of the dead were, naturally, locals. Over a million people…

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Libya insists on Swiss apology

This content was published on Dec 26, 2008 The Libyan deputy minister for European affairs, Abdelati al-Obeidi, told a media conference on Thursday that his country wanted “to defend the rights of its citizens”. In addition to an apology Libya is also calling for the officials responsible for the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife to be punished, Obeidi said. Geneva police…

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Chile “not doing enough” to protect Swiss rights

This content was published on Dec 23, 2008 Couchepin brought the issue up on day two of his three-day visit to Chile during a meeting with Edmundo Perez Yoma, the country’s interior minister. The grievances stem largely from Swiss biotech companies and medical firms. Couchepin asked the Chilean authorities to apply their own laws regarding intellectual property more thoroughly. Before the meeting, Couchepin…

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Swiss to consider joining anti-pirate force

This content was published on Dec 23, 2008 The cabinet will consider a proposal in early 2009 for special troops to join the European Atalanta naval operation designed to deter pirates in the region. Switzerland cannot protect commercial ships travelling through the area on its own, Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey said on Tuesday. By taking part in the mission Swiss vessels would have…

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Libya tightens the screws on Switzerland

This content was published on Dec 23, 2008 Libyan civil aviation authorities informed the airline at the beginning of last week that the flights were being stopped “for technical reasons associated with a project at Tripoli airport”, said spokesman Jean-Claude Donzel, confirming newspaper reports on Tuesday. Relations between the two countries have been strained since July over the brief detention in Geneva of…

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Couchepin makes first visit to Chile

This content was published on Dec 22, 2008 Couchepin, who holds the interior ministry portfolio, will meet five Chilean ministers during his three-day trip and sign two bilateral agreements on exchange programmes for professional trainees and the awarding of scholarships. Also on the agenda are the global financial crisis, the common goal of integrating into the work of G20 countries and scientific partnerships.…

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Swiss Politics

Zimbabwean officials added to banned list

This content was published on Dec 22, 2008 A majority of the officials are linked to President Robert Mugabe and are believed to be responsible for campaigns of violence surrounding the 2008 presidential elections, the economics ministry said on Monday. The decision comes into effect on Tuesday, December 23, and falls in line with recent action by the European Union, the ministry added.…

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Swiss Politics

Maritime office favours soldiers on board ships

This content was published on Dec 22, 2008 On Monday, the head of the Basel-based SMNO, Reto Dürler, told Swiss radio that experience had shown the presence of soldiers on board vessels was effective in preventing attacks. Dürler was responding to a statement Couchepin made in the SonntagsZeitung newspaper saying the government was ready to send soldiers to protect Swiss ships from pirates.…

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Swiss Politics

More stimulus for the Swiss economy?

This content was published on Dec 21, 2008 The government announced a stimulus package of about SFr650 million ($588.63 million) on Tuesday, its second to counter the crisis, as it forecast Switzerland was heading into its worst recession since 1991. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said the economy would shrink by 0.8 per cent in 2009, but recover in 2010 with…

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