GenevaLunch - Bern, Switzerland

German fighter jet that crashed in canton Bern flying lower than normal

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:44:29 +0100

romandie/ats, Fre - The German military Tornado that crashed near Lauterbrunnen Thursday, killing the 27-year-old pilot and injuring the 34-year-old officer with him, was flying lower than is normal for Swiss military jets, officials said at a press conference Friday afternoon. The cause of the crash remains unknown and a military as well as a penal invetigation have been opened. The surviving officer was well enough to be questioned. They were flying by sight rather than by instrument.

German Tornado fighter jet crashes near Lauterbrunnen

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:48:09 +0100

[Update, Friday, 12:56: the plane was headed towards Sion, according to romandie/ats. 24 Heures reports that the two German fliers managed to eject and were found on a glacier below the point of impact, where the survivor gave signs of life.]

RSR, Fre - A German fighter jet returning home after exercises in Corsica crashed in canton Bern near Lauterbrunnen Thursday, shortly after 15:00. One pilot was killed and another injured. The plane had refueled in the region and was apparently doing navigation exercises, where a set of objectives must be met. For reasons that are not clear, it crashed into a rock wall between Aebniflue and the Mittaghorn, close to Stechelberg.

Swisscom gets green light to buy Fastweb

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:13:33 +0100

romandie/ats, Fre - The Swiss competition commission, Comco, Thursday approved Swisscom's offer to buy Italy's second-largest fixed network company, Fastweb.

Post office breaks Swiss philately taboo with Federer stamp

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 06:26:24 +0100

Roger Federer stamp issued by La Poste in Switzerland 10 April 2007

Tribune de Geneve/sports, Fre and GenevaLunch - The Swiss postal service Tuesday unveiled its new collectors' stamp featuring tennis star Roger Federer, breaking its own taboo against images of living people on stamps. Swiss philately has long been a hobby around the world but the new Federer one-franc stamp is already at the top of the list of most popular La Poste online shop items because it is expected to be very popular with non-collectors, for simply sending mail.

Unemployment in Switzerland hits 4.5 year low

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 11:34:34 +0100

swissinfo - The unemployment rate in Switzerland hit a 4.5 year low in March, with 3% of the population unemployed. The government attributes the downward trend to the continuing strength of the economy.

Police and Justice hotly refutes Le Pen's comments on Swiss immigration

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 08:49:57 +0100

RSR, Fre - The Swiss Federal Justice and Police Department has refused to accept remarks made by right-wing French presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen, that his immigration policies are based on those of Switzerland. Spokesman Livio Zanolari told RSR that Le Pen and Christophe Blocher, minister for justice and police, "don't have the same goals or the same principles." Le Pen, contacted later, insists that his policies are identical to Switzerland's current policy of favouring some countries' (European Union) workers and allowing in only refugees that have identity papers.

CFF Swiss rail in the black again

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:40:15 +0100

swissinfo/Swiss Politics - The CFF national rail company posted 2006 results showing a net profit of nearly SFr260 million, a sharp change from the 2005 loss of SFr116m. The good results are due in part to improved operations. Reserves worth SFr130m were liquidated.

Swissinfo talked to some of the CFF staff, who came close to going on strike in November 2006 - it would have been the first strike in 90 years. The company's health might be better, but employees expressed unhappines

Government presents new rail plan, opens it to public comment

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 10:47:23 +0100

GenevaLunch - The federal government Wednesday morning presented the overall rail development plan up to 2030, known as ZEB, to the public. Key features for travellers are better east-west connections and shortened travel time, with 15 minutes cut off the trip from Lausanne to Bern and 15 minutes cut between Zurich and St Gallen. Geneva to St Gallen will therefore take 30 minutes less. The dates for the changes are not yet known.

European Union opens its Swiss Embassy in Bern

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 08:55:57 +0100

TSR, Fre - The European Union has, at last, opened an embassy in Bern. Swiss media are focusing mainly on the significance of the opening for the ongoing difficult tax discussions between the country and its surrounding neighbour. TSR touches on the fact that it has taken so long to open an embassy, suggesting the explanation lies in the fact that the EU has had a presence in Geneva (office for international organizations) and that the EU likely expected, for a long time, that Switzerland would become a member of it.

Switzerland joins European work conditions survey and comes out near top

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 10:25:41 +0100

GenevaLunch - Switzerland has for the first time participated in a European-wide survey of work conditions and the results show that it is one of the best places to work. The results of the detailed survey of 31 countries undertaken every five years by the European Foundation for the improvement of conditions at work were presented in Bern Tuesday by SECO, the Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

Among the findings, 91% of Swiss said they were satisfied or very satisfied with conditions at work and 88% said they could easily or very easily balance their work and home lives. Switzerland ranks fourth in this area behind Norway, Denmark and Great Britain. These are key figures, according to Thomas Daum, head of the Swiss company owners' group, the Patronat, because productivity depends heavily on the satisfaction of employees.

Poverty in Switzerland declining - but it's partly a question of counting

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 09:06:03 +0100

Le Temps, FRe - The number of poor people in Switzerland has suddenly fallen dramatically, thanks in small part to an improved economy and in large part to a change in the method for counting them. The two main changes: the federal government has balanced out often significant differences among cantons for health insurance premiums and housing costs and it has redrawn the line for the poverty threshold.

The poverty line for individuals is SFr2,200 and for families with two children, SFr4,600. Using the new method for calculating, the government says there are now 125,000 "working poor," people with fulltime work who fall below the poverty line, or 4.2% of the population. Under the old system this was 7.4%.

Social security boss says Nestlé must find Brabeck replacement

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 06:49:15 +0100

24 Heures, page link not available, Fre - Ulrich Grete, president of the AVS and AI, Switzerland's social security system, has broken a taboo to tell Cash TV he will vote against Peter Brabeck as president of the board of Nestlé. Of the AVS's SFr4 million in funds, 35% are invested in shares, the bulk of them in Swiss companies. As a rule, the AVS, one of the largest investors in Swiss companies, keeps its vote private.

Nestlé's annual general meeting 19 April promises a heated debate, with Grete following in the shoes of Ethos, the shareholders' rights group.

Euro 2008 security details unveiled

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:57:52 +0100

TSR and other sources, Fre - Samuel Schmid, minister for sports and the military, Friday morning unveiled some details of the Euro 2008 football matches. The country expects 1-3.2 million visitors. Concerns about possible hooliganism and terrorism lie behind a programme that aims to balance strong security and hospitality.

Police checks will be stepped up, as will patrols, not just around stadiums but also in areas where crowds gather, such as shopping centres and train stations. The massive security job will be shared by the government, organizations such as the Swiss Football Association which will have responsibility for players, and the army, which could contribute as many as 15,000 soldiers. Schmid noted that the soldiers will not have any direct contact with supporters.

Fewer men considered fit for Swiss army

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:01:32 +0100

TDG (direct page link not available), Fre - Only 64% of recruits are healthy enough to make it into the Swiss army, with 25% unable to qualify even for community service. Geneva and Zurich provide recruits that are among the least healthy candidates for Switzerland's militia. Army officers cite the following as main reasons for failing the health test: 20% have orthopedic problems, 6% asthma and 3% are seriously overweight. Poor eyesight and hearing are also among the reasons for failing the test.

Women do better: 80% of the candidates passed the test. Their numbers are rising, but are significantly smaller, with 198 candidates in 2006, versus 37,400 men. Men are required to do military service. The army's women are volunteers.

"Cabinet ministers should not sing"

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 07:16:34 +0100

swissinfo - "Cabinet ministers should not sing," Urs Altermatt, professor of history at Fribourg University, told the Mittelland Zeitung newspaper. His solemn remark is part of the political flak hitting Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey after the announcement that she will sing an Edith Piaf song on Les Coups de Coeur, a TSR (French-language television) programme. The song has been recorded and will part of the 19 May programme.

Setting aside snide remarks about tunefulness (apparently, the president has a good voice) and ministers singing for their supper, some Swiss politicians are saying that government leaders should not detract from the importance of political content by crossing over to entertainment. Calmy-Rey has snapped back that it's also important to reach out to the public.