Italian police dismantle Kosovar trafficking network
Italian authorities have dismantled a Kosovar criminal network that was smuggling gold and weapons as well as trafficking migrants, particularly into Switzerland.
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Le Matin Dimanche/SDA-ATS/cl
According to a Sunday report in Le Matin Dimanche newspaper, 17 people have been arrested, including two in the southern Swiss canton of Ticino.
The network was responsible for transporting and housing migrants, as well as providing false documentation. According to investigators, there are many applicants to leave Kosovo, but as the country is not in the Schengen zone, a visa is required to enter countries that are, including Switzerland. However, many are trying other routes, paying up to CHF2,400 ($2,413) for illegal passage to Italy, CHF3,500 to Switzerland and CHF8,000 to Germany.
A spokesperson for the Swiss Border Guard told the French-language newspaper that most migrants use the train to enter Switzerland, without using such a network. During the first six months of the year, 342 Kosovars were arrested in Switzerland for illegal residency. According to the State Secretariat for Migration, 76,000 undocumented people from various countries currently live in Switzerland.
Swiss football boss wants crackdown on individual hooligans
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The head of the Swiss Football League says he prefers a harsher approach to individual hooligans rather than collective punishment measures affecting all fans.
Amherd: Council of Europe is ‘as urgently needed as ever’
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The Swiss government emphasised on Sunday the vital role of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, 75 years after it was founded.
Swiss minister: Italy will back Switzerland in EU talks
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Bern can count on the backing of Italy as it re-enters talks with the European Union on future relations, Viola Amherd says.
Student protestors at University of Lausanne continue pro-Palestine sit-in
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Since Thursday, a hall on campus has been occupied by students calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and a ceasefire in Gaza.
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Swiss public broadcasters RTS and SRF are drastically reducing their communications via the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Israel: president of Swiss universities rejects academic boycott
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Luciana Vaccaro, president of Swissuniversities, the umbrella group of Swiss universities, is not in favour of an academic boycott of Israeli universities.
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Kosovars set to receive Swiss pensions again
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Switzerland and Kosovo have agreed to resume the payment of old age and disability pensions suspended eight years ago amid cases of fraud.
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Some 76,000 illegal and undocumented immigrants live in Switzerland. In 2015, Geneva launched a pilot project to go about regularising them.
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The trial of two Swiss men and an Italian woman who helped around 20 migrants enter France has been postponed until November 8.
Eagle gesture puts spotlight on Swiss Kosovar community
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“Albanian eagle” goal celebrations by Swiss footballers with ethnic Albanian heritage linked to Kosovo have sparked controversy.
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