Imagine all the people sharing all the world. When Lennon wrote the lyrics in 1971, the world population was 3.8 billion. In the coming days it will hit seven billion. swissinfo.ch spoke to demographics expert Philippe Wanner about the rise and rise of the global population and asked whether we […]
Major Step Forward for Waste Dumping Ban More than 170 countries have agreed to fast-track the implementation of a ban on the export of hazardous and toxic waste to developing countries, thanks to an Indonesia Swiss initiative. The agreement on the early entry into force of the proposal, which is […]
by Isobel Leybold-Johnson, swissinfo.ch Swiss newspapers have been mulling the consequences of Sunday’s parliamentary polls for the cabinet election in December – and have not made up their minds. A less powerful rightwing Swiss People’s Party – which suffered a big loss – might actually make it more eligible for […]
BY COLIN FREEMAN, TELEGRAPH. A populist party is on course to trample over the politics of politiness in Sunday’s election, writes Colin Freeman in Zurich As his two-legged party comrades like to point out, Zottel the goat represents everything that is good about the hard Right in Switzerland. The official […]
In recent weeks, the ICRC has visited thousands of newly arrested people. It has evacuated almost 50 wounded patients from Sirte and delivered medical supplies to Bani Walid. ICRC experts are now providing the transitional authorities with advice on managing mass graves and human remains. “Since late August, we have […]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has appointed Peter Maurer, secretary of state at the Swiss foreign ministry, as its new president. He will take over from July 2012 and replace Jakob Kellenberger who asked to retire after 12 years at the helm of the Swiss-run organisation, the […]
by CLARISSA ROHRBACH The Mahmud Mosque invites on the weekend Swiss of any belief to discover Islam at a lecture at the Zurich Volkshaus. Imam Sadaqat Ahmed explains why this enlightement is necessary. Tagblatt of the City of Zurich: Sadaqat Ahmed, what do you want to achieve with this function? […]
As politicians and diplomats strive for a return to normality in Libya, potential avenues for Swiss business are being sketched out. However, there is still a lot of work to be done before business with Libya can go back to how it was under Moammar Gaddafi’s rule or even expand. […]
By MD RASOOLDEEN | ARAB NEWS RIYADH: Shoura Council Chairman Abdullah Al-Asheikh has said a key Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting will review its role in Arab and Islamic countries in maintaining peace and security in the region. The 125th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union will be held in the Swiss capital […]
A petition in support of illegal immigrants or “sans papiers”, which has gathered 20,000 signatures, has been handed in to the federal authorities. The group behind the move – the sans papiers movement – is demanding an end to Switzerland’s “hypocrisy” over the issue. The text calls for the regularisation […]
Switzerland has signed an accord with the Republic of Guinea aimed at improving the system of repatriation of asylum seekers. Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga and Guinean Foreign Minister Edouard Gnakoye Lama signed the accord, one of the few struck with an African country. The government said it was a “new […]
by Alexander Kuenzle, swissinfo.ch Germans often wonder why they are considered arrogant in Switzerland, when they say all they want to do is to express themselves clearly. To help overcome misperceptions, the state-owned power company in canton Bern, BKW, has organised integration courses for the many Germans it has hired […]
by Armando Mombelli, swissinfo.ch Swiss senator Dick Marty’s reports into secret CIA prisons and more recently into alleged organ trafficking in Kosovo have caused a stir internationally. In an interview with swissinfo.ch as he prepares to step down from his parliamentary and Council of Europe roles, Marty says that he […]
GENEVA/DAMASCUS/BEIRUT (AFP) – More than 2,900 people have been killed in Syria since the start of a crackdown on anti-regime protests, the UN said on Thursday a day before its human rights body was to discuss the situation. “According to the detailed list of names of individuals we’ve been keeping, […]
by Susanne Schanda in Lucerne, swissinfo.ch A new book indicates that religion plays an important role in identity-building among adolescents with immigrant backgrounds in Switzerland. The authors of “Youth, Migration and Religion”, which was presented at a roundtable at Lucerne University, say public discourse on immigrants has changed in Switzerland […]
Swissinfo. Immigrants are less healthy than the average Swiss but many do not seek proper treatment using Switzerland’s health care system, a study has found. Around 3,000 immigrants from Turkey, Portugal, Serbia, Kosovo, Somalia and Sri Lanka were interviewed about the state of their health, their need for medical care […]
The Swiss government is hosting Indian President Pratibha Patil in the capital Bern for talks on boosting bilateral relations, including financial and research cooperation. During the two-day visit Patil will be received by the entire cabinet, including President and Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, and will travel to the Lake Geneva […]
Switzerland has donated 12,000 ballot boxes to Tunisia to help the North African country conduct constituent assembly elections later this month. The Tunisian elections will coincide with Switzerland’s parliamentary elections on October 23. These will be Tunisia’s first free elections since the fall of ousted president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali […]
The international press reported that in August the Netherlands paid to the World Health Organization one hundred million Euros taken from confiscated ‘Ghadaffi Funds’ Approximately two month later a visit to the Ministry of Health warehouse in Benghazi showed no sign of WHO medicines. Donations of medicines had reached from […]
by Matthew Allen, swissinfo.ch The global economy is set for a dose of normality in the second half of 2012, forming the springboard for a sustained recovery, a leading economist has predicted. But Switzerland will still have to endure a winter of hardship before the financial markets finally realise that […]