World English News » Switzerland

Nuclear power tax receives criticism

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:52:36 +0000

The Swiss government’s plan to institute a nuclear power tax is receiving criticism. The tax would be to fund renewable energy.

swissinfo.com writes, “A similar “climate cent” tax already exists in Switzerland, with a SFr0.015 per litre charge on petrol and diesel imports in place since 2005, generating around SFr100 million ($98.9 million) for projects reducing carbon emissions.”

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Child’s death raises questions about car seats

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:14:45 +0000

[swissinfo.ch]– A tragic accident in which a child died after unbuckling a car seat and falling into the road has highlighted the limitations of such safety devices.

Days after the incident the Swiss government tightened rules governing car seats, approving plans to make them compulsory for children up to to 12 years old. They are presently only required for children aged up to seven.

The Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) said the death of the three-year-old in Zurich was a “really sad situation” but was the result of a highly unusual sequence of events.

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Swiss step up fight to end death penalty

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:36:46 +0000

[swissinfo.ch]– With the current wind of change blowing through the United States, the death penalty will be abolished there in the next 20 years, says a former US death row inmate.

Joaquín José Martinez was in Switzerland on Friday as part of a series of initiatives for the World Day Against the Death Penalty, which takes place on Saturday.

Switzerland, which abolished capital punishment in 1942, is marking the event. It will host the fourth World Congress against the Death Penalty from February 24-26, 2010 in Geneva.

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Swiss deny Polanski release on bail

admin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:09:40 +0000

[Mail & Guardian]– Swiss authorities denied a request to release film director Roman Polanski on bail after he was arrested in September after fleeing sentencing for having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, a government spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“In our view, there is still a very high risk that he will flee and that a release on bail or other measures after a release cannot guarantee Polanski’s presence in the extradition procedure,” Justice Ministry spokesperson Folco Galli said.

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Rita Molnár

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Polanski arrest shocks his Swiss neighbours

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:36:13 +0000

[swissinfo.ch]– Roman Polanski’s arrest has shocked and disappointed many in Switzerland, particularly in Gstaad, where the Oscar-winning director has holidayed for years.

Well after he became a fugitive, the French-Polish filmmaker would come to the upmarket resort town to ski and live what locals say was largely a normal life.

He hit the slopes with friends Jack Nicholson and Gunter Sachs. He mingled with townsfolk and eventually bought a modest chalet there.

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HuBar

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France rushes to Polanski’s defense

admin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:05:32 +0000

[Detroit News]– Was Roman Polanski “thrown to the lions because of ancient history?” That’s what the French culture minister says – though not everyone in France agrees.

The French government has rushed to the filmmaker’s defense since he was arrested this weekend in Switzerland on a U.S. warrant in connection with his guilty plea to having having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

Government ministers and France’s cultural world have lauded Polanski as a great artist, a family man and a survivor of countless hardships who deserves peace at age 76.

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Marie-Angélique

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Roman Polanski arrested in Switzerland

admin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:09:57 +0000

[Guardian]– The Oscar-winning film director Roman Polanski has been taken into custody in Switzerland in relation to a US arrest warrant, issued more than 30 years ago, for having sex with an underage girl.

The 76-year-old was detained by police at Zurich airport as he flew in from France to collect a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich film festival yesterday.

The Swiss justice ministry said it had been aware for some years that the US authorities were seeking Polanski’s arrest after he pleaded guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977.

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Rita Molná

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Switzerland apologises to Libya

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:22:23 +0000

Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz has apologised in Tripoli for the arrest in 2008 of one of the sons of the Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi.

Two Swiss businessmen currently detained in Libya would be released “soon”, according to a finance ministry statement.

“We are apologising for what happened to Hannibal Gaddafi and the two sides agreed to form a committee to discuss the matter,” Merz was quoted by Reuters news agency at a press conference in the Libyan capital.

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