Новости за 13.12.2018

The under-fire UNAIDS chief Michel Sidibe has offered to quit next June after an expert report into sexual harassment at the Geneva-based agency criticised his “defective leadership”.  The executive director announced his plans to leave next summer at a UNAIDS board meeting in Geneva on Thursday, agency spokesman Mahesh Mahalingham told AP. He took up the job in 2009.  This follows a scathing report by independent experts released last week, which blames UNAIDS leaders for a "vacuum of accountability" and a culture of impunity. Читать дальше...

An industrial zone in canton Valais has been chosen as the first European site to test a high-speed "hyperloop" transport system.  A test track is due to be built at Collombey-Muraz next year.  "EuroTube is entering into a partnership with the SBB to build a three-kilometre research facility and a test section for high-speed vacuum transport in Valais," EuroTube and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) said in a statement on Thursday.  Hyperloop experimental high-speed transportation systems involve... Читать дальше...

An industrial zone in canton Valais has been chosen as the first European site to test a high-speed "hyperloop" transport system.  A test track is due to be built at Collombey-Muraz next year.  "EuroTube is entering into a partnership with the SBB to build a three-kilometre research facility and a test section for high-speed vacuum transport in Valais," EuroTube and the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) said in a statement on Thursday.  Hyperloop experimental high-speed transportation systems involve... Читать дальше...

In comparison to cars, planes fill up their tank without having to pay any tax on their fuel. This was decided at the end of WWII and despite the fact that times have changed, the rules haven’t.

From the founding of Switzerland on the Rütli meadow to the apple pierced by the arrow fired by William Tell, many of the most iconic legends of the Swiss Confederation have one location in common: the wonderful scenery of Lake Lucerne. Throughout history, thousands of men and women have shaped Switzerland's territory and society. The stories of who they were, the battles, revolutionary ideas or quiet but significant changes have been handed down through generations, and now fill the pages of Swiss history books. Читать дальше...

Jalal last saw his youngest son was when the boy was a baby. Now Hamude is almost five. The asylum seeker from Syria is caught up in a complicated international case based on the Dublin accord, a regulation that Switzerland applies more strictly than any other country in Europe, according to critics.  Jalal has been living in limbo, unable to plan more than a few months in advance, since 2014. “I spent five years in a Syrian prison and now I have spent [almost] another five years in an open prison,”... Читать дальше...

Football, football and football, in particular the Swiss national squad is what the Swiss looked for, due to it's appearance - and at times questionable performance - at the 2018 World Cup.  Top spot went to Swiss star, Xherdan Shaqiri, who was in the spotlight for celebrating a victory over Serbia by making hand gestures of an Albanian national symbol, the double eagle. Second position went to Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic. Switzerland now has royalty, at least as far as sports are concerned... Читать дальше...

A French court has found seven activists, including two Swiss nationals, guilty of helping migrants enter France illegally from Italy last spring.  On Thursday, the Gap Criminal Court in southeast France handed two French defendants, who had previous convictions, 12-month sentences, of which four months are to be carried out behind bars.  The other five - two French nationals, one Italian, one Swiss and one Belgian-Swiss with no criminal records - were each given six-month suspended sentences. They have ten days to appeal. Читать дальше...

Few women sit on company boards in Switzerland - and the rate is low compared to other European countries. While parliament on Tuesday put off deciding about quotas, the business world has clear ideas about what should be done. The Senate on Tuesday threw out a revision of Swiss Company Law, that would have included the issue of female quotas for company boards. It has now gone back to committee stage to be revised. The most important duty of a company board is to oversee top management – and to have a 360-degree view of what should be done. Читать дальше...

A quadruple killer, dubbed the ‘Beast of Rupperswil’, will remain eligible for release from prison if he is no longer deemed a threat to society. An appeals court in Switzerland has rejected a plea from state prosecutors that the 35-year-old should never be set free again. The verdict on Thursday means the convicted murderer can be assessed for release after serving 20 years behind bars. According to the law, an accused may only be detained for life if two independent experts have declared him to be permanently untreatable by therapists. Читать дальше...

“It is really playing with a gigantic powder keg in the middle of three million civilians”. These were the words of Jan Egeland, the United Nation’s humanitarian advisor for Syria, on his final day in office last month after chairing his last meeting of the UN’s humanitarian task force.  He was talking about Idlib, the last Syrian city still in rebel hands. The buffer zone created around the city by Russia and Turkey was starting to fray: there had been artillery and air attacks, armed incursions, and tension was rising. Читать дальше...

The president of a parliamentary security committee has called for tougher monitoring of dangerous individuals, following the news that the Strasbourg Christmas market spent time in a Swiss jail. Werner Salzmann, the People’s Party (conservative right) politician who heads parliament’s Security Policy Committees (SPC), said that “it seems we are not doing enough” when it comes to European cooperation on tackling terrorism. He was reacting to the news that 29-year-old Chérif C., who killed three... Читать дальше...