by Rachid Khechana in Doha, swissinfo.ch Switzerland is preparing to open an embassy in Qatar, a country it sees as an increasingly important player in the region. Ambassador Martin Aeschbacher tells swissinfo.ch that the small Gulf kingdom “is on the rise” economically. Aeschbacher says relations with Gulf states are growing […]
by Samuel Jaberg, swissinfo.ch Fifty years ago French and Algerian representatives signed a series of peace accords in the French town of Evian, ending Algeria’s brutal eight-year war of independence. By offering its good offices under a policy of active neutrality, which helped resolve the conflict, historian Marc Perrenoud tells […]
A group of Swiss Muslims has published recommendations for integration in response to a nationwide vote which banned the construction of minarets in Switzerland. The 2009 initiative to ban construction […]
by Stefania Summermatter, swissinfo.ch Some fled from a country torn by war. Others were following the dream of a better future: a job, a home, a family. At the end […]
A coach crash in Valais, southern Switzerland, on Tuesday night has left 28 people dead – 22 of them children. The dead and injured were among a Belgian school group […]
The Roman Catholic bishop of Chur, Vitus Huonder, has defended a pastoral letter in which he reminded church-goers that divorced Catholics who remarry cannot receive communion. “The ten commandments were […]
By ASSOCIATED PRESS ARABNEWS GENEVA: The United Nations said on Thursday that it was readying food stocks for 1.5 million people in Syria as part of a 90-day emergency contingency plan to help civilians deprived of basic supplies after nearly a year of conflict. “More needs to be done,” John […]
by Thomas Stephens, swissinfo.ch Life for aspiring Swiss in Zurich could get harder on March 11, when voters decide on whether to accept a new – and tightened – naturalisation […]
by Alexander Thoele, swissinfo.ch St Gallen may become the first Swiss city to introduce a novel banking scheme in which retired care volunteers “deposit” hours worked looking after elderly people. […]
by Fatiha Temmouri, Valley of the Kings, swissinfo.ch A Swiss team has uncovered a mummy in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings – the first of its kind since the exhumation […]
by Armando Mombelli, swissinfo.ch On March 3, 2002, the Swiss population narrowly voted to join the United Nations – a historic decision. It came after more than half a century of refusing to be part of the body, out of fears linked above all to safeguarding Switzerland’s cherished neutrality. “The […]
Toblerone, Switzerland’s most famous chocolate, turns 100. In 1908 Theodor Tobler invented a nougat-cocoa speciality, which became Switzerland’s most successful chocolate. Last year Toblerone produced about as many individual Toblerone […]
PST GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) — The United Nations has urged FIFA to allow Islamic women to wear a hijab headscarf while playing soccer. The U.N. says Wilfried Lemke, sports adviser […]
The defence ministry has defended itself against accusations that it has not provided enough accommodation for asylum seekers. Many places were inadequate for the purpose, the ministry said in a […]
by hugo born NZZ Neue Zuercher Zeitung on Wednesday the 22th February 2012 The following text was written by Ruedi Schmid. (please bear with us: It is a Google translation from German). The phenomenon is a concern people have always had: If God would reveal himself, the eternal dispute would […]
The Council of Europe’s human rights chief has called for an overhaul of Swiss anti-discrimination law and policy. Intolerance and racism are “dangerously on the rise”, the commissioner for human […]
by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch An initiative to create a democratically elected body representing Switzerland’s 400,000 Muslims, a so-called “Swiss umma”, is steadily gaining ground. The organisers say the parliament could […]
Source:Spiegel International Scientists warn that the amount of space debris orbiting the planet has reached a dangerously high level. But a new miniature satellite has been designed to clean up […]
The cabinet has earmarked SFr11.35 billion ($12.4 billion) for international cooperation and development aid for the next four years. At a joint presentation with the foreign ministry on Wednesday, Economics […]
by Isabelle Eichenberger, swissinfo.ch The number of Serbian asylum seekers, generally Roma, has peaked in Switzerland in recent months. This “winter tourism” can be explained by the worsening quality of […]