SPORT Blatter defies calls to quit as FIFA president Decision to seek fifth term confirmed along with admission of “unprecedented” times for world football’s governing body. 28 May 2015 17:29 GMT | Sport, FIFA, Sepp Blatter, Football Defying calls to quit, Sepp Blatter has confirmed his decision to seek a […]
WORK SCHEME Farmers ready to employ refugees as farmhands By Anand Chandrasekhar MAY 20, 2015 – 15:05 Refugees often find it tough to enter the Swiss workforce (SBV/USP) A three-year pilot project to allow refugees to work on farms has been met by support from Swiss farmers. The move could […]
FAST-TRACK PROCESS Zurich set to host new federal asylum centre MAY 26, 2015 – 11:50 The Duttweiler Areal, as seen in 2013, site of the proposed new fast-track centre (Keystone) Zurich and the federal migration authorities have announced that the city is to host a new federal asylum centre, following […]
SAFE HAVEN Switzerland good first refuge for asylum seekers MAY 17, 2015 – 12:24 The majority of asylum seekers allowed into Switzerland last year did not qualify for refugee status (Keystone) Proportionally Switzerland admits more asylum seekers into the country on a provisional basis than most other European nations. […]
UNIVERSITAS 21 STUDY ‘Outward looking’ universities boost Swiss ranking By Isobel Leybold-Johnson swissinfo.ch MAY 21, 2015 – 01:00 Looking forwards: students in Switzerland get a good education (Keystone) Switzerland’s higher education system has been ranked 2nd in the Universitas 21 2015 global ratings. One aspect […]
PRINT SEND THIS ARTICLE 1 COMMENTS As a political refugee in Switzerland, Hani Abbas chose exile to escape Syrian security forces. Many of his fellow cartoonists and journalists had been assassinated, imprisoned or tortured. Abbas was born in 1977 in Yarmouk, a large Palestinian refugee camp in the suburbs of the […]
By Veronica DeVore swissinfo.ch Language learning in Switzerland is linked to wider political debates over immigration and education. An online poll shows strong support for giving priority to national languages in school and in the workplace. Recently, several cantons have been embroiled in disputes over whether to introduce the teaching […]
A look at the major issue of integration 05/07/2015 Focus Author: Marc Lettau (Text) Andrea Caprez (IllustrationS) Immigration is the biggest political bone of contention in Switzerland this year. For immigrants already here, how Switzerland envisages integration in future is a particularly highly charged issue. Should the state demand and […]
GULF STATES Swiss tourist resorts ready for Ramadan By Yasmine Kanunah, in Geneva MAY 10, 2015 – 11:00 Interlaken, with a view towards the Jungfrau, is a favoured destination of […]
Manama: When FIFA president Sepp Blatter addresses delegates at the 26th Asian Football Confederation congress on Thursday at least four men watching him are likely to be imagining themselves standing […]
By swissinfo.ch and agencies MAY 7, 2015 – 15:28 People with a migration background have greater trust in the Swiss police, courts and political system than people without such a […]
REFUGEE CRISIS Increase in illegal immigrants crossing Italian border By swissinfo.ch and agencies MAY 6, 2015 – 21:45 Last week 240 people tried to cross the Italian border into Switzerland illegally, with 120 migrants reaching Switzerland over the weekend alone. Ten additional guards have been sent to the Ticino border. […]
DESECRATED TOMBS Muslim graves vandalised in Lausanne MAY 4, 2015 – 14:29 The designation of a special zone for Muslim tombs was announced on March 25 (Keystone) Thirteen graves with tombstones bearing Arabic- or North African-sounding names have been vandalised at the Bois-de-Vaux cemetery in Lausanne. The cemetery is scheduled […]
OPINION How does Switzerland matter for the British elections? By Pieter Cleppe, Open Europe MAY 4, 2015 – 14:57 With EU relations a campaign issue, the UK could learn a few things from non-EU member Switzerland, writes Pieter Cleppe of the Brussels think tank, Open Europe. By Pieter Cleppe Pieter […]
Conviction upheld for ex-Swiss pol who called for Kristallnacht against Muslims April 29, 2015 6:43am (JTA) — A Swiss court upheld a lower tribunal’s conviction of a former politician who called for a Kristallnacht against Muslims. The High Court of Zurich this week upheld a district court’s ruling against Alexander […]
EARTHQUAKE Long-term rebuilding needed for Nepal By John Heilprin APR 27, 2015 – 14:33 A Swiss team is assessing needs in earthquake-hit Nepal after the devastation seen in villages like this one, Kumalpur, on the outskirts of capital Kathmandu, Nepal on 27 April 2015. (Keystone) A Swiss team of experts […]
MEDITERRANEAN CRISIS ‘Migrants are not adventurers or tourists’ By Luigi Jorio APR 28, 2015 – 11:00 Since the beginning of the year, 16,900 migrants have landed in Italy, among them many women and children (Keystone) Europe has the wrong approach for containing the number of refugees crossing the Mediterranean, an […]
URBAN BEEKEEPING Honey from the city Hives and honey production on a rooftop in the middle of the city of Zurich. Helena Greter – well protected – opens the trays. The honeycombs are removed during the summer harvest The beekeeper carefully analyses the colony to ensure good health There is a large selection […]
IMMIGRATION Amnesty asks Swiss to help end European migrant crisis APR 22, 2015 – 16:35 Amnesty International is urging the Swiss and other European nations to create a new rescue operation in the Mediterranean for migrants like these disembarking from an Italian Coast Guard ship on April 22 (Keystone) Amnesty […]
Source: SWI ‘Faced with boat disasters, Europe must act’ By Thomas Stephens APR 20, 2015 – 08:57 The weekend’s refugee disaster off the coast of Libya has prompted indignation in […]