Switzerland

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Swiss Vote to Expel Foreign Criminals

53% vote in favor of referendum

(Newser) - The Swiss have voted narrowly in favor of automatically deporting foreign nationals guilty of crimes including murder, drug dealing, and social security fraud. Around 53% of voters backed the referendum, instigated by the right-wing Swiss People's Party, which proposed expelling foreign criminals after they had served their sentences in Swiss...

Monks Seek to Recruit High-Flying Execs

Ad campaign offers stressed bankers a different life

(Newser) - Unlike most ads in Switzerland's leading "executive search" magazine, a prominent one that appeared over the weekend was most notable for what it promised candidates they wouldn't get. Bankers-turned-monks will enjoy a life "free of personal material riches and a couple relationship," read the ad from the...

Swiss Finish World's Longest Tunnel

Train will connect Switzerland to Italy

(Newser) - Switzerland is expected to break through the last few inches of rock to complete the world’s largest tunnel today. The 35.4-mile Gotthard Base rail burrows under the Gotthard massif on the route connecting Switzerland to Italy, the AP reports. The trains running through the tunnel will one day...

Women Take Control of Swiss Government

Ruling council gains female majority for first time

(Newser) - Women in Switzerland, who weren't allowed to vote or run for office just 40 years ago, now control the country's government. Women gained a four-person majority in the country's ruling seven-member Federal Council with the election of Social Democrat Simonetta Sommaruga, who defeated a candidate from a right-wing party, the...

Now in Swiss Vending Machines: Pregnancy Tests

It's supposed to promote privacy

(Newser) - Privacy is cherished in Switzerland, so it only follows that the country should ... start selling pregnancy tests in vending machines? Apparently. The move, which will bring the product to 3,000 machines at the end of this month, is part of an effort to ensure that young people can purchase...

Speeding Swede Faces $1M Fine

Driver was going 180mph on Swiss road

(Newser) - A 37-year-old Swedish driver won't be forgetting his trip to Switzerland in a hurry. The man faces a record-breaking $1 million maximum fine after being caught driving his Mercedes SLS AMG at 180 miles per hour, over 100 miles per hour over the limit. The Swiss determine speeding fines by...

Unpublished Kafka Story Discovered

Israeli judge orders secret archives opened

(Newser) - Kafka fans may have some reading to do. A team of lawyers and scholars have found a previously unpublished piece believed to have been authored by the late, great Franz Kafka. The discovery came after months of wrangling over the contents of ten locked vaults in Israel and Switzerland. An...

US Not Giving Up on Nailing Polanski

Rape of a 13-year-old 'is not a technicality'

(Newser) - The US is "deeply disappointed" by the Swiss decision to free film director Roman Polanski, and authorities are considering what action to take, said a Justice Department official. Polanksi, 76, was freed after 9 months under house arrest when the Swiss Justice Ministry refused to comply with America's "...

'Rat' Polanski Deserves a Boycott

 'Rat' Polanski 
 Deserves 
 a Boycott  
Eugene Robinson
Jul 12, 2010 1:54 PM CDT

'Rat' Polanski Deserves a Boycott

Confessed rapist 'has never shown remorse'

(Newser) - The Swiss government's decision to free Roman Polanski on a technicality is bad enough; the fact that a lawyer for the filmmaker and confessed rapist called the move "a great relief after the pain suffered by Roman Polanski and his family" is "the definitive textbook example of unmitigated...

Swiss Free Polanski, Refuse to Extradite

US didn't make case for extradition on 33-year-old charges, say Swiss

(Newser) - It's over: The Swiss government declared Roman Polanski a free man today after rejecting a US request to extradite him on a charge of having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl. The Swiss blamed US authorities for failing to provide confidential testimony about Polanski's sentencing procedure in 1977-1978. The...

Switzerland Shocks Spain 1-0
 Switzerland Shocks Spain 1-0 
World Cup
Jun 16, 2010 12:27 PM CDT

Switzerland Shocks Spain 1-0

It's only their second loss in 50 games

(Newser) - Switzerland stunned the world today in South Africa, toppling Spain, one of the top two teams in the world and the current European champion, 1-0. Gelson Fernandes bundled the ball into the net in the 52nd minute in one of Switzerland's few attacks, ending Spain's 12-match winning streak and handing...

Runaway Elephant Goes Swimming, Shopping

Footloose pachyderm tours downtown Zurich

(Newser) - An escaped elephant went on a tour of downtown Zurich yesterday evening, spending an hour on the loose before police apprehended her. Sabu, a 26-year-old female from the Swiss national circus, cooled off in Lake Zurich before roaming the streets of the business district and doing a little window-shopping on...

Polanski Sexually Abused Me in 1982: Actress

Charlotte Lewis, 42, says filmmaker 'forced himself' on her in 1982

(Newser) - A British actress says Roman Polanski, who is currently under house arrest after raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977, "forced himself" on her in 1982 during the filming of Pirates. Polanski "sexually abused me in the worst possible way when I was 16 years old," Charlotte Lewis...

Polanski Breaks Silence, Blasts Prosecutors

Director breaks silence to accuse LA DA of courting publicity

(Newser) - Filmmaker Roman Polanski, breaking a months-long silence, said today the US is demanding his extradition from Switzerland largely to serve him "on a platter to the media." Polanski, who is under house arrest in his Swiss home, laid out his case against extradition on an online magazine run...

Armed Gang Pulls Off Heist at Swiss Casino

Men storm Basel casino, make off with hundreds of thousands

(Newser) - An armed gang of masked men raided a Swiss casino packed with about 600 guests early today and made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars. Prosecutors in Basel described a scene like an action-film heist: About 10 men dressed in black and speaking French stormed the Grand Casino shortly...

Polanski Files New Appeal
 Polanski Files New Appeal 
Mar 19, 2010 5:23 AM CDT

Polanski Files New Appeal

Lawyers allege judicial misconduct in 1977 case

(Newser) - Roman Polanski's lawyers filed a new appeal yesterday, alleging judicial misconduct in the director's 1977 case. Polanski's team says that a prosecutor from the case gave secret testimony on the matter earlier this year. They are now asking for the transcripts of the testimony to be unsealed. They are also...

US Aide 'Sorry' for Dig at 'Senseless' Gadhafi

He apologizes for making light of anti-Swiss jihad speech

(Newser) - A State Department spokesman has apologized for making light of Moammar Gadhafi's call for a jihad against the Swiss and his rambling UN speech. Libya had threatened to take action against American business interests last month after PJ Crowley said the leader's anti-Swiss speech was like his UN address: "...

Polanski Wife: I'm No Longer Carefree

Seigner says house arrest has upended family

(Newser) - Roman Polanski's wife says his imprisonment and house arrest has crushed her spirit and terrified the couple's two children. "I am no longer such a carefree person," Emmanuelle Seigner told Polish magazine Viva. "I am no longer the same Emmanuelle." Seigner and the children no longer...

Switzerland to Vote on Lawyers for Animals

Public prosecutors would specialize in abuse cases

(Newser) - Swiss voters will go to the polls on Sunday to vote on a referendum that would provide lawyers for animals. If they approve it, and the Swiss government follows suit, every state in Switzerland would appoint a special attorney to pursue abuse cases, Der Spiegel reports. Farmers, hunters, and pet...

Swiss Offer Small Condoms —for 12-Year-Olds

They complained regulars were too large

(Newser) - Switzerland is now offering extra-small condoms for 12- to 14-year-olds to encourage safe sex. The move comes after a government study turned up two nuggets: more teens are having sex, and many go without protection because regular condoms are too large. The Hotshot is 1.7 inches wide, compared to...

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