BROADER PROTECTION? Court clears way for collective asylum for Syrians MAR 19, 2015 – 15:14 The Swiss cabinet has the power to grant Syrian refugees temporary protection collectively instead of on an individual basis, according to a ruling announced on Thursday by the Federal Administrative Court in St Gallen. The […]
MAR 16, 2015 – 19:09 Similarities: Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga (left) and Kosovan counterpart Atifete Jahjaga (Keystone) Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga has expressed concern about continuing mass emigration from Kosovo during an official visit from Kosovan President Atifete Jahjaga. “The republic needs its own young, qualified citizens,” Sommaruga said in Bern […]
By Thomas Stephens MAR 11, 2015 – 09:10 Tidjane Thiam’s face was on the cover of the main Swiss newspapers on Wednesday, along with the words “non-banker”, “carrier of hope” […]
By swissinfo.ch and agencies MAR 11, 2015 – 16:21 Cosar’s militia allied with Kurdish fighters who eventually liberated the northern Syrian city of Kobane, also known as Ayn al-Arab (Keystone) Johan Cosar, a Swiss citizen who has been fighting against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria, was arrested in Basel […]
MAR 12, 2015 – 19:38 The Swiss want to focus on established migration routes to tackle illegal immigration (Keystone) Swiss president Simonetta Sommaruga, called for thinking beyond the EU to stem illegal immigration at the Schengen Mixed Committee Meeting held in Brussels on Thursday. She also urged the use of […]
Eritreans make up the majority of asylum seekers at the shelter. Donations from the villagers The shelter’s residents prepare their own food. What’s for dinner? The centre houses several families. Space is limited for the 150 or so asylum seekers. In the morning residents can sign up to […]
Bertrand Piccard, one of the two Swiss pilots of the solar-powered plane Solar Impulse 2, lands at the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi’s small Al Bateen Airport during the third test […]
CATHOLIC CHURCH Swiss Bishops Conference rejects gay blessing By swissinfo.ch and agencies MAR 6, 2015 – 14:33 The priest of Buerglen, Wendelin Bucheli, failed to receive support from the Swiss Bishops Conference after he blessed a lesbian couple (Keystone) The blessing of a same-sex partnership is contrary to church doctrine […]
REFUGEE CRISIS Switzerland to welcome 3,000 Syrian refugees By swissinfo.ch MAR 6, 2015 – 16:18 Over 3.8 million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries since the conflict began (Keystone) The Swiss cabinet agreed in principle on Friday to welcome an additional 3,000 Syrian refugees to Switzerland over the course of […]
TERRORISM Human rights under threat, says foreign minister By swissinfo.ch and agencies MAR 2, 2015 – 12:01 Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter urged the international community to root out terrorism (Keystone) The fight against terrorism was the focus of the opening speech by Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter at the […]
CORPORATE RETREATS Religious houses open doors to the working world By Terence MacNamee MAR 1, 2015 – 11:00 The Disentis monastery, an oasis of calm and tranquility (swiss-image) Swiss monasteries […]
By Jo Fahy Whether it’s a turban or a headscarf, showing your religion in Switzerland can make others treat you extremely differently. From stares in the street to difficulty in […]
Kamprad, 88, moved back to his home country of Sweden last year after living in Switzerland for almost four decades. The house in Epalinges, a bedroom suburb north of […]
By Keerthana Balajee Nagarajan, Zurich swissinfo.ch FEB 22, 2015 – 11:00 Choosing where to educate children – local or international schools – can depend on money and cultural factors. That’s especially the case with families from India, in Switzerland for work. It’s a Monday morning at Happy Nest, one of […]
The Swiss People’s Party has launched a popular initiative calling for a ban on religious headgear in schools in canton Valais. It follows a successful initiative in 2013 that banned […]
Burkhalter and John Kerry at a meeting last year. Photo: Sebastien Bozon/AFP Burkhalter: anti-terror measures a ‘priority’ Published: 20 Feb 2015 12:24 GMT+01:00 Combating violent extremism is a “priority” in Switzerland, Swiss foreign minister and former president Didier Burkhalter has said, telling a counter-terrorism summit in Washington this week that […]
OSCAR-NOMINATED FILM Swiss ‘secondo cinema’ shines in Hollywood By Ariane Gigon FEB 20, 2015 – 08:00 Talkhon Hamzavi was born in Tehran in 1979 and arrived in Switzerland aged seven (Keystone) Swiss-Iranian film director Talkhon Hamzavi has been nominated for an Oscar for her coming-of-age social drama about a young […]
Saudi Artist Ahmed Mater Sues Swiss Watchmaker Swatch For Plagiarism Coline Milliard, Wednesday, February 18, 2015 Ahmed Mater’s Magnetism (2012) is emblematic of the vibrant new art scene emerging from the Gulf. The etching print, which exists in several versions, pictures a black cubic magnet neatly encircled by steel dust—a poetic evocation of […]
ANTI-EXTREMISM Breaking the radicalisation cycle By Simon Bradley FEB 18, 2015 – 10:20 Global efforts to counter violent extremism continue to intensify with a high-level summit in Washington this week. Outside of international talks, are grassroots approaches the answer? A new Geneva-based agency thinks so. On Wednesday, civil society and […]
After ten months of testing, a federal pilot project in Zurich is significantly reducing the length of time it takes to process asylum applications without harming the quality of decision-making, Swiss migration officials say. But there’s still room for improvement with the fast-tracking, the State Secretariat for Migration said on […]