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S U B S C R I B E
Feature Stories
F1 Sauber looks to rebound
Friday, 24 May, 2013The Indy 500 isn’t the only big race this weekend. The Formula 1 teams are storming through the south of France for the Monaco Grand Prix—iit too is one of the most famous races in the world. The Swiss F1 team Sauber looks to rebound from a very disappointing start this season. The team has just five points and is in a dismal eighth place just ahead of the very bottom teams in F1. Joining us now is Swiss-German television SF’s Formula 1 commentator Michael Stauble:
Friday, 24 May, 2013The Indy 500 isn’t the only big race this weekend. The Formula 1 teams are storming through the south of France for the Monaco Grand Prix—iit too is one of the most famous races in the world. The Swiss F1 team Sauber looks to rebound from a very disappointing start this season. The team has just five points and is in a dismal eighth place just ahead of the very bottom teams in F1. Joining us now is Swiss-German television SF’s Formula 1 commentator Michael Stauble:
Could Swiss lose access to EU market?
Friday, 24 May, 2013Richard Jones is the European Union ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He talks to WRS’s Alex Helmick about the relationship between this country and the union. He also commented on what he saw as the biggest issues between the two entities— the EU’s single market approach. Switzerland is not in the EU but has unique access to its market—something that Ambassador Jones says could change soon:
Friday, 24 May, 2013Richard Jones is the European Union ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. He talks to WRS’s Alex Helmick about the relationship between this country and the union. He also commented on what he saw as the biggest issues between the two entities— the EU’s single market approach. Switzerland is not in the EU but has unique access to its market—something that Ambassador Jones says could change soon:
Talking with top Swiss woman in Indy car racing
Friday, 24 May, 2013Simona de Silvestro is the top woman in Indy car racing. The Swiss from Thun is currently at the top in points and has had three top 10 finishes this year. The Indy 500 runs this weekend and it’s de Slivestro’s fourth time at Indy. WRS’s Alex Helmick talks to to the KV Racing Technology driver:
Friday, 24 May, 2013Simona de Silvestro is the top woman in Indy car racing. The Swiss from Thun is currently at the top in points and has had three top 10 finishes this year. The Indy 500 runs this weekend and it’s de Slivestro’s fourth time at Indy. WRS’s Alex Helmick talks to to the KV Racing Technology driver:
Reshuffling of duties shuts Bern police stations
Friday, 24 May, 2013All but four of the canton of Bern’s police stations will be closed today and tomorrow, as officers are drafted, rested or put on reserve amid big events such as the Chinese premier’s visit, two major football matches and the Tanz Dich Frei public demonstration party. Some have questioned the message the move sends out to the public—but Bern’s police chief has support at a national level. WRS’s Catherine Allen spoke to Max Hofmann, the Secretary General of the Swiss federation of police employees:
Friday, 24 May, 2013All but four of the canton of Bern’s police stations will be closed today and tomorrow, as officers are drafted, rested or put on reserve amid big events such as the Chinese premier’s visit, two major football matches and the Tanz Dich Frei public demonstration party. Some have questioned the message the move sends out to the public—but Bern’s police chief has support at a national level. WRS’s Catherine Allen spoke to Max Hofmann, the Secretary General of the Swiss federation of police employees:
Swiss propose a first with law on freezing assets
Friday, 24 May, 2013The Swiss foreign ministry has proposed a unique law that would make it easier to freeze the assets taken by deposed foreign leaders, and return them to their countries of origin. The legislation, which is the first of its kind in the world, comes after nearly one billion francs linked to dictators in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria were frozen following the onset of the Arab Spring. Lawyers working on the recuperation of such assets say the old procedure was long and time-consuming, denying war-torn countries valuable assets until the process was completed. Rita Adam of the Foreign Ministry’s Directorate of International Law, which had formulated the new law, talks to WRS’s Dave Goodman:
Friday, 24 May, 2013The Swiss foreign ministry has proposed a unique law that would make it easier to freeze the assets taken by deposed foreign leaders, and return them to their countries of origin. The legislation, which is the first of its kind in the world, comes after nearly one billion francs linked to dictators in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Syria were frozen following the onset of the Arab Spring. Lawyers working on the recuperation of such assets say the old procedure was long and time-consuming, denying war-torn countries valuable assets until the process was completed. Rita Adam of the Foreign Ministry’s Directorate of International Law, which had formulated the new law, talks to WRS’s Dave Goodman:
Chinese premier's visit highlights Swiss importance
Friday, 24 May, 2013The Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, is making an official visit to Switzerland later. He’s on his first foreign trip with his trade delegation since taking office earlier this year and will only visit here and Germany. This highlights Switzerland’s increasing importance to the Asian tiger. A free-trade agreement with China has been two years in the making. Reporter Morven McLean has been finding out more about the visit and Swiss-Chinese relations. She spoke with WRS’s Dave Goodman:
Friday, 24 May, 2013The Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, is making an official visit to Switzerland later. He’s on his first foreign trip with his trade delegation since taking office earlier this year and will only visit here and Germany. This highlights Switzerland’s increasing importance to the Asian tiger. A free-trade agreement with China has been two years in the making. Reporter Morven McLean has been finding out more about the visit and Swiss-Chinese relations. She spoke with WRS’s Dave Goodman:
Polar air blows in cold, rainy weekend
Thursday, 23 May, 2013The weekend weather is expected to take a turn toward the cold and rainy with temperatures on the plain in some places hitting the low single digits. So when will the weather get warm and stay that way? WRS’s Alex Helmick talks to Andre-Charles Le Testu, meteorologist from the nation’s forecaster MeteoSwiss:
Thursday, 23 May, 2013The weekend weather is expected to take a turn toward the cold and rainy with temperatures on the plain in some places hitting the low single digits. So when will the weather get warm and stay that way? WRS’s Alex Helmick talks to Andre-Charles Le Testu, meteorologist from the nation’s forecaster MeteoSwiss:
Second home permits up in the air
Thursday, 23 May, 2013Thousands of construction permits for second homes could be in jeopardy. The potential review of permits approved last year comes after the Federal Court backdated the Lex Weber law from January 1 of this year to last March. Permits issued after that are subject to individual appeal in communes where there is already a high percentage of second homes. Some cantons are specifically impacted—Bern, Graubünden, Vaud and Valais. WRS’s Alex Helmick talks to Jean-Michel Cina from the Valais cantonal government:
Thursday, 23 May, 2013Thousands of construction permits for second homes could be in jeopardy. The potential review of permits approved last year comes after the Federal Court backdated the Lex Weber law from January 1 of this year to last March. Permits issued after that are subject to individual appeal in communes where there is already a high percentage of second homes. Some cantons are specifically impacted—Bern, Graubünden, Vaud and Valais. WRS’s Alex Helmick talks to Jean-Michel Cina from the Valais cantonal government:
NGO trains Syrian rebel forces in humanitarian law
Thursday, 23 May, 2013As the Syrian conflict rages on, the death toll continues to rise, and was recently estimated to stand at over 80,000. An international conference scheduled to take place at the start of June in Geneva is the first glimmer of hope in a conflict tainted by a continuous stream of allegations of human rights abuses and fears of chemical weapons being deployed by government forces. Several NGOs, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, encourage parties to respect international humanitarian law. Geneva Call, an NGO involved in engaging non-state actors to comply with international humanitarian law, recently sent a team of experts to neighboring Turkey, to train rebel forces. Vicken Cherterian, a consultant with the organization, returned this week from the Syrian border and talks to WRS’s Dave Goodman:
Thursday, 23 May, 2013As the Syrian conflict rages on, the death toll continues to rise, and was recently estimated to stand at over 80,000. An international conference scheduled to take place at the start of June in Geneva is the first glimmer of hope in a conflict tainted by a continuous stream of allegations of human rights abuses and fears of chemical weapons being deployed by government forces. Several NGOs, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, encourage parties to respect international humanitarian law. Geneva Call, an NGO involved in engaging non-state actors to comply with international humanitarian law, recently sent a team of experts to neighboring Turkey, to train rebel forces. Vicken Cherterian, a consultant with the organization, returned this week from the Syrian border and talks to WRS’s Dave Goodman:
EU and Swiss play chess on info exchange
Thursday, 23 May, 2013EU leaders have concluded talks in Brussels aimed at tightening tax rules. The 27 want to tackle tax avoidance and to limit banking secrecy. They’re also pushing for global standards on exchanging bank account information. Luxemburg and Austria, famous for their banking secrecy, accepted the idea of authorities exchanging data on private income but they want to be sure that Switzerland doesn’t have an unfair advantage. Richard Werly, Brussels correspondent for the newspaper Le Temps talks to WRS’s Dave Goodman:
Thursday, 23 May, 2013EU leaders have concluded talks in Brussels aimed at tightening tax rules. The 27 want to tackle tax avoidance and to limit banking secrecy. They’re also pushing for global standards on exchanging bank account information. Luxemburg and Austria, famous for their banking secrecy, accepted the idea of authorities exchanging data on private income but they want to be sure that Switzerland doesn’t have an unfair advantage. Richard Werly, Brussels correspondent for the newspaper Le Temps talks to WRS’s Dave Goodman:
'Partnerships' key to offering universal healthcare
Thursday, 23 May, 2013Access to health services for all at an affordable price sounds like a utopian vision. But the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies believes we could make significant progress to achieving that goal through the use of trained volunteers. The idea is that community health workers have a better chance of reaching those parts of the population which generally fall through the net. The IFRC has issued a call to action on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. WRS’s Vincent Landon spoke to Matthias Schmale:
Thursday, 23 May, 2013Access to health services for all at an affordable price sounds like a utopian vision. But the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies believes we could make significant progress to achieving that goal through the use of trained volunteers. The idea is that community health workers have a better chance of reaching those parts of the population which generally fall through the net. The IFRC has issued a call to action on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly in Geneva. WRS’s Vincent Landon spoke to Matthias Schmale:
Former Serono honcho buys building for biotech spot
Wednesday, 22 May, 2013Swiss billionaires have bought the Merck Serono building in Geneva to create a new biotech center. The buyers include former Serono honcho Ernesto Bertarelli. It was last year when Merck decided to move Serono’s headquarters to Germany, eliminating hundreds of jobs and vacating the Murphy-Jahn building. Joining WRS’s Alex Helmick is RTS Geneva correspondent Jordan Davis:
Wednesday, 22 May, 2013Swiss billionaires have bought the Merck Serono building in Geneva to create a new biotech center. The buyers include former Serono honcho Ernesto Bertarelli. It was last year when Merck decided to move Serono’s headquarters to Germany, eliminating hundreds of jobs and vacating the Murphy-Jahn building. Joining WRS’s Alex Helmick is RTS Geneva correspondent Jordan Davis:
Taking the taboo out of teenage problems
Wednesday, 22 May, 2013Two groups aim to break the taboo of discussing puberty-related problems. Youth support group Pro Juventute and the Swiss Parents Association say parents are often reluctant to admit they have a problem with their adolescents. The two have launched a Facebook campaign and a 24-hour hotline offering advice to parents. WRS’s Gavin Blackburn spoke with Marianne Affolter from Pro Juventute:
Wednesday, 22 May, 2013Two groups aim to break the taboo of discussing puberty-related problems. Youth support group Pro Juventute and the Swiss Parents Association say parents are often reluctant to admit they have a problem with their adolescents. The two have launched a Facebook campaign and a 24-hour hotline offering advice to parents. WRS’s Gavin Blackburn spoke with Marianne Affolter from Pro Juventute:
