GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland will see presentations by two notable religious leaders in April, some of the highlights of several conferences, talks and debates centred around religion. The Dalai Lama, Tibetan religious leader who has a strong interest in science will be in Bern, Fribourg and Lausanne 13-16 April, attending the Forum Fribourg. He will [...]
Int’l Day of Mine Awareness: Swiss one of 10 biggest spenders
April 5, 2013 by
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland spent CHF17.3 million in 2012 to rid the world of anti-personnel mines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war, the government said Friday 5 April, to mark International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. The country is one of the 10 largest financial contributors in the world [...]
Cern’s space station experiment adds to dark matter arguments
April 4, 2013 by
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Cern’s Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) has just delivered its first measurements from the International Space Station and while they don’t provide a clear signal for dark matter in space, it appears likely they soon will be able to do so. The AMS is the first experiment of its type to measure to [...]
Arms sales world treaty passes strongly – but debate over what it means
April 3, 2013 by
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Three countries voted against it – Iran, North Korea and Syria – but with 154 countries backing it, the new international treaty to regulate the estimated $70-80 billion in world arms trade passed in the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday 2 April. There was widespread rejoicing that the long-debated treaty is finally [...]
In Swiss media today: Red Cross museum’s tobacco dilemma, ski lift safety
February 25, 2013 by
Heavy snow in Ticino delays trains GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The death of a girl in Italy Friday after a 12-metre fall from a ski-lift and an accident involving two small children in France: the safety of ski-lifts is the subject of a report by TSR public television. The video shows some of the improvements made [...]
Letter shows US pressure on Global Fund for compulsory licensing, generics
February 14, 2013 by
By William New from Intellectual Property Watch / Republished with permission A 2011 letter from the top Republican on the United States Senate Finance Committee condemned efforts by the Global Fund to train public health officials on the use of flexibilities to the patent system contained in international trade rules. The letter, which also attacked the [...]
Syrian rebels given Geneva Conventions training in Alps
January 23, 2013 by
Rebels accused by human rights group of destroying religious buildings GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A group of 15 Syrian rebel leaders were brought to Switzerland by the Foreign Affairs Department in November for Geneva Conventions training, RTS (Swiss public broadcasting) has learned. The group’s week-long courses, shrouded in secrecy for security reasons, took place in Glion [...]
Global mercury convention adopted in Geneva
January 19, 2013 by
10 year push gets treaty: reduced production, storage solutions to dangerous metal GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Delegates from 140 countries extended their negotiations until late Friday, but finally agreed to a convention that will reduce emissions of mercury, a heavy metal that is highly toxic. The final agreement’s main aim is reduction in manufacturing products and [...]
Syrian peace talks to take place in Geneva Friday
January 9, 2013 by
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Three-way Syrian peace talks will take place Friday 11 January in Geneva, Russia announced Wednesday. Russia will be represented by Vice-minister Mikhail Bogdanov, the United States by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and international emissary Lakhdar Brahimi will make up the third diplomat; the three parties met in Geneva in December. [...]
Less than one-third of world’s workers insured against job loss
November 14, 2012 by
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Seventy percent of the world’s workers do not have unemployment insurance, new figures from the ILO (International Labour Organization) in Geneva show, and the figure rises to 86 percent if those who haven’t paid in long enough to receive benefits are included. Only 72 countries out of 198 have unemployment insurance, with [...]
