Picture of the day: Solar Powered Airplane
Courtesy: AFP
Pilatus seals record plane deal with India
by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch The Pilatus aircraft manufacturer has confirmed a deal to export 75 PC-7 MkII military training aircraft to India worth $523 million (SFr500 million) – the biggest-ever […]
Switzerland: Muslim cemeteries seen as ‘long-term investments’
Switzerland’s tendency to allow cantons or towns to decide certain issues sometimes makes for piece-meal solutions, and such is the case with special sections of cemeteries for different religions. The […]
Aid workers kidnapped in Afghanistan
swissinfo.ch and agencies Five aid workers with the Swiss-based humanitarian group Medair – two foreign female doctors and three male Afghan colleagues – have been kidnapped in a remote part of north-eastern Afghanistan, a government spokesman has confirmed. The five Medair workers were reportedly visiting a clinic and bringing food […]
Swiss withdraw UN draft resolution
by Rita Emch in New York, swissinfo.ch Switzerland and four other states have withdrawn a draft resolution on reforming the working methods of the United Nations Security Council. The text […]
Indonesia: Rights Record under Scrutiny at UN
Human Rights Watch: Geneva: United Nations member states should urge Indonesia to adopt specific measures to ensure religious freedom, free expression, and accountability for abuses at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of […]
International Geneva needs a “real boost”
by Simon Bradley in Geneva, swissinfo.ch International Geneva is described as a sprawling mansion that needs modernising. But the challenges are daunting: budgetary pressures, fluctuating exchange rates, insecurity, housing and […]
Language programme aims to boost integration
The Federal Migration Office has launched a language training system specifically defined around the integration needs of migrants. The course will be gradually introduced in collaboration with the cantons from […]
EU’s Rehn against debt funded growth, backs Spain plan
TALLINN (Reuters) – The European Union’s top economic official on Saturday warned against funding national growth packages with new debt and urged governments to stick with structural reforms and cuts to fiscal deficits as the route out of the region’s economic crisis. The election of new president in France on […]
Swiss wrestle with expelling undesirables
by Luigi Jorio, swissinfo.ch Swiss immigration policy and the deportation of undesirables are hot topics in a country where one in five people is a foreigner. While some have committed […]
Sashes to sashes: the death of Miss Switzerland?
by Thomas Stephens, swissinfo.ch Until recently, beauty contests – largely derided as out-dated sexism in the rest of Europe – have been big business in Switzerland. Now, however, the winds of change are blowing away the clouds of hairspray. Ever since Switzerland’s Stefanie Job won the inaugural Miss Europe in […]
OIC chief: Global action to fight Islamophobia needed
By JEDDAH: P.K. ABDUL GHAFOUR ARAB NEWS STAFF The secretary-general of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation has urged the international community to take effective action to prevent growing Islamophobia or enmity toward Islam and Muslims all over the world. “Islamophobia is on the rise. In fact, it has entered […]
Swiss adolescents have a healthy lifestyle
Swiss adolescents are more satisfied with life and generally healthier than their contemporaries in the rest of Europe and North America, a report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) […]
Swiss government report declares homeopathy is ‘cost effective’ in treating patients
by Dana Ullmann (NaturalNews) In a story akin to “the mouse that roared,” a major report from the Swiss government has determined that the very small doses commonly used in homeopathic medicine are both effective and cost-effective. Despite the impressive technological prowess of conventional medicine today, the Swiss government has […]
What future for the younger generation?
by Jean-Michel Berthoud, swissinfo.ch Youth unemployment is a major problem in Europe: in the European Union over 20 per cent of under-25s are affected, and in Spain and Greece it’s […]
Aga Khan Award for Architecture Prize Doubled to US$ 1 Million
Geneva, Switzerland, 13 March 2012 — The Aga Khan Award for Architecture, considered by many architects and urban planners to be the most important award for architecture, has announced a […]
Paying undesirables to leave Switzerland
by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch Should Switzerland give financial aid to rejected asylum seekers who refuse to leave or convicted illegal immigrants to encourage them to return home voluntarily? This issue […]
Switzerland: Population still growing
The number of people living in Switzerland has increased yet again, closing in on the eight million mark in 2011. The country’s population reached 7,952,600 last year, up 82,400 or […]
Muslims in Switzerland “lack legal protection”
by Clare O’Dea, swissinfo.ch Muslims in Switzerland face discrimination, while the country allows legislative gaps on racism to remain open, an Amnesty International report has claimed. The report, entitled Choice […]
Saudi woman scientist bags gold medal in Geneva fair
By ARAB NEWS MAKKAH: A member of the applied sciences faculty at Umm Al-Qura University has won a gold medal for her innovation at the 40th International Exhibition of Inventions […]