World Radio Switzerland

Rich foreigners flee Zurich's new tax regime

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:45:02 UT

Topics: tax

Thieves escape after armed jewel heist

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:37:44 UT

A group of burglars is on still on the run following an armed robbery of a jeweler in the Canton of Geneva yesterday.

The family of a worker who opens the business was taken hostage.

Thieves also held up 30 employees on their way to work at the business in Chêne-Bourg before making off with precious metals and jewelery.

Police say the family is now safe.

Swiss Gruyère wows Wisconsin judges

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:43:45 UT

A Swiss cheese maker has taken top prize at the 2010 World Championship Cheese Contest in the United States.

Cedric Fragniere’s creamy Gruyère with a light hint of herbs beat off competition from 2,300 entries from 20 countries at the event in Wisconsin.

The runner up was also Swiss: Andeer Sennerei’s hard cheese took second spot.

Parliament votes to ban violent video games

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 10:59:50 UT

Switzerland could become the first European country to outlaw violent video games.

Yesterday the Senate voted for the ban, following the lead of the House of Representatives.

Parliament has now asked the Federal Cabinet to draft a law prohibiting the production, importation, sale and distribution of violent games.

The Cabinet, however, is not convinced.

Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf says she understands the reasons behind the votes, but says she trusts the cantons and the industry to attend to problems.

Electronic Arts spokesperson Tiffany Steckler says it shows a poor understanding of the industry and people who enjoy gaming.

Bern, Minsk tighten rules on Chernobyl kids

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:19:17 UT

Children affected by the Chernobyl disaster in Belarus will still be welcomed in Switzerland, but under stricter rules.

Like other countries, Switzerland has long allowed youngsters to come here for holidays to be in a healthier environment.

However Minsk wanted to clarify rules with host countries after some youngsters refused to return to Belarus.

Under the revised agreement the children from Eastern Europe will not be allowed to be adopted.

Money-laundering insider: Illicit money flowing out of Switzerland

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:55:05 UT

Topics: banks

Libya: Swiss not taking things seriously

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:37:43 UT

The Libyan Foreign Minister says Switzerland isn’t taking the diplomatic crisis between the two countries seriously.

Mousa Kousa told the newspaper La Liberté that Tripoli doesn’t think Bern has any desire to find solutions to the ongoing disputes.

He also questioned why Tripoli has to deal with Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey and not President Doris Leuthard.

Kousa asked, “What has Switzerland got to hide?”

He’s also rejected the idea of a pardon for Swiss prisoner Max Göldi, saying he was tried and sentenced.

Nestlé ends Indonesia deal for the apes

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:41:16 UT

Nestlé, the world’s biggest food producer, has terminated its contract with one of Indonesia’s biggest palm oil producers after protests by Greenpeace.

Demonstrators accused Sinas Mar of destroying tropical rainforests to make way for palm oil plantations and linked Nestlé’s KitKat bars with the destruction of orangutan habitats.

The Vevey, Switzerland-based food giant says it has found an alternative supplier and that it is committed to using only certified palm oil in its products by 2015.

Greenpeace has dismissed the move, saying the decision amounts to little more than “window dressing.”

The environmental campaign group says cutting just one connection isn’t enough—that Nestlé’s complex supply chain means they’ll still be using palm oil from other suppliers or trading companies.

Trade to Libya tanks by 80 percent

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:50:45 UT

Exports to Libya have dropped by over 80 percent in February compared to the same time last year.

Although trade going towards Libya increased in January, there was a dramatic fall in February.

And it isn’t likely to pick up any time soon—Libya slapped a “total” embargo on Switzerland the first week in March.

Switzerland normally sells machinery, pharmaceutical products and even watches to Libya, but it is one of the Confederation’s smaller trade partners.

Deportation flights suspended after asylum seeker dies

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:55:17 UT

Foreign exports grow, but not to EU

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:37:13 UT

Switzerland’s exports are benefiting from the international economic recovery.

The country exported 14.85 billion francs worth of goods last month.

That’s an increase of 3.3 percent over the same period last year, according to the Federal Customs Administration.

The growth was seen in the Asian and North American markets where the economies are rebounding.

The Customs Administration says exports to European Union countries have stagnated, confirming that recovery there is more sluggish.

Record breaking year for cheese

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:34:44 UT

Each Swiss person ate an average of 21.4 kilos of cheese last year—the largest ever amount.

Mozzarella, Gruyere and Swiss raclette are eaten the most according to the Swiss Farmers Union.

But overall people are consuming fewer Swiss cheeses in favour of cheeses from abroad.

The SFU say that’s down to changes in the dairy market after Switzerland opened its doors to the EU and formally removed barriers to cheese trade.

Sales keeping time as Baselworld 2010 opens

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:49:54 UT

Topics: swiss watches

Strong franc equals cheap summer travel

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:35:35 UT

Swiss tourists traveling in European countries are set to benefit from the strong franc this summer.

The Swiss franc has climbed to 1.44 against the euro.

A spokesperson for the M-Travel group said according to where you go, summer holidays will be between 5 and 15 percent cheaper than last year.

And eating out, going on excursions or even hiring a parasol in the Eurozone will effectively cost us less than even a few months ago.

Swiss tourism, of course, could suffer from the reverse equation.

Libya welcomes compensation for Gaddafi

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 08:27:18 UT

“A step forward”—that’s how the compensation deal from Cantonal authorities in Geneva has been described by a top Libyan official.

Yesterday the Geneva cantonal government admitted responsibility to Hannibal Gadaffi and agreed to pay damages after photos of him being arrested were published in the Tribune de Genève newspaper in June 2008.

Libya’s public security Minister Abdel Fattah Younes al Abidi welcomed the deal.

However he still called on Switzerland to scrap the ban on the construction of minarets and remove the list of Libyan officials banned from getting Schengen visas.

And the EU commissioner in charge of the Schengen treaty is asking Switzerland to make some concessions towards Libya in the matter.