by Samuel Jaberg in Madagascar, swissinfo.ch Each year, 200,000 hectares of forest vanish in Madagascar as trees are cut down to provide wood for heating and charcoal for cooking. One Swiss organisation is trying to turn the tide, backing the production of solar cookers as a more eco-friendly alternative to […]
SWISSINFO, AP BERN, Switzerland: Switzerland has ordered an independent investigation to uncover why Swiss officials ignored up to 10,000 asylum requests submitted by Iraqi refugees. Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga says the asylum applications were lodged with Switzerland’s embassies in Syria and Egypt between 2006 and 2008. Sommaruga told reporters […]
by Jessica Dacey, swissinfo.ch and agencies Once seen as the safest country in Europe, Switzerland has succumbed to the continent’s average levels of street violence, burglaries and assault. A report presented by the cantonal justice and police directors on Tuesday showed a rise in criminal activity since 2004, when the […]
by Susan Vogel-Misicka, swissinfo.ch War, natural disasters, migration, personal conflicts: the reasons why families and friends are torn apart are myriad. The tracing services department of the Swiss Red Cross helps people living in Switzerland to find missing loved ones all over the world. Each year, the Bern-based office handles […]
The term “Swiss Guard” is used to refer to a historical organization of elite Swiss mercenaries which were hired out to various European powers. The original Swiss Guard had a number of units, some of which went on to become quite famous, playing critical roles in European history. Today, only […]
Source: Swissinfo.ch Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga is determined to speed up the asylum procedure “massively”, despite criticism from the political left. In an interview with the Tages-Anzeiger and Bund newspapers on Saturday, Sommaruga, herself a member of the centre-left Social Democratic Party, spoke of reforms lasting many years. “Our asylum […]
A surgical team from the Swiss-run International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has arrived in the Libyan capital Tripoli, a spokesman has confirmed. The four-strong delegation was able to evacuate 17 people left without care in a hospital in the south of the city. ICRC spokesman Steven Anderson told […]
IOM – International Organization for Migration – Press Briefing Note Friday 26 August 2011 Spokesperson: Jemini Pandya Second IOM-Chartered Boat Leaves for Tripoli as First Group of Migrants Are Safely Evacuated – A second IOM-chartered boat is today leaving the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi for Tripoli where it will […]
by Pierre-Francois Besson, swissinfo.ch Gold, a safe haven just like the Swiss franc, is breaking records and should continue on its upwards spiral, expert Frédéric Panizzutti tells swissinfo.ch. Panizzutti, vice president at Geneva-based gold trading group MKS Finance, says gold’s advantage is that it can be exchanged all over the […]
by Frédéric Burnand in Geneva, swissinfo.ch In the first in-depth report of its kind, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has looked at the dangers facing medical staff in conflict zones. The report’s lead author, Robin Coupland, has spent seven years working as a war surgeon, and tells […]
by Clare O’Dea, swissinfo.ch Some of the most vulnerable members of society, frail and dependent old people, suffer physical and emotional abuse in their own homes – and the problem is growing. As life expectancy continues to rise, so do the numbers of people needing daily care and at risk […]
by Mohamed Cherif, swissinfo.ch Libyan Human Rights Solidarity, which is based in Geneva, is working in conflict-torn Libya to promote human rights and rebuild institutions. The non-governmental organisation’s secretary general, Khaled Saleh, spoke to swissinfo.ch shortly after his return from the rebel-held eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, where he also […]
by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch Pressure by the international community can have a moral, supportive role but external factors cannot bring about change to the Syrian crisis, says a Swiss expert. Mohammad Reza-Djalili, a political scientist who specialises in the Middle East, says the five-month crisis has entered a crucial new […]
I could have added it to my earlier article about the Swiss boy’s journey to Islam, as it was a short journey onward to Ahmadiyyat: the True Islam. The first issue of the Holy Quran in German translation that I read was from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission in Switzerland. The address […]
I was asked to tell my story how I became a Muslim at the age of 15. Actually from my point of view it is quite a simple story, but let me try to be a bit specific. I was born into a Christian Protestant family. My father liked to attend the […]
by Simon Bradley, swissinfo.ch Geneva needs to diversify its tourism offer to compensate for an over-reliance on holidaymakers from the Gulf states, say tourism experts. Some 1.8 million people attended the Fêtes de Genève festival that ended on Sunday, but the figures were down from two million last year, most […]
Source: Swissinfo Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said on Friday she is optimistic about finding additional temporary accommodation for asylum seekers. “There is agreement and goodwill both from the federal authorities and the cantons to achieve solutions. But we need time,” she told journalists. She added that it is not always […]
Six percent of the 15- to 25-year old attend a weekly religious service. Young persons in Switzerland remain faithful to the country’s churches, but seldom actually attend a church. 58 percent of the Youth of Switzerland belief in a higher power. Although 73 percent officially belong to a Christian religious […]
TAGESANZEIGER, Zurich. Muslim parents, who did not send their daughters to swimming lessons, have to pay a fine of 1400 Swiss Francs. According to the Basel court swimming lessons are in the public interest. Parents who refuse participation of their children in the mandatory swimming lessons at school have been […]
The Taliban in Pakistan have clearly demonstrated they are currently detaining two Swiss citizens kidnapped in July, say specialists. According to the Geneva Center for Training and Analysis of Terrorism, pictures taken of the hostages’ passports and broadcast by the Al Arabyia television network earlier this week are formal proof. […]