Switzerland blocks Syrian assets
Switzerland has blocked 27 million francs (€21.9 million) worth of assets linked to the Syrian regime, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said on Sunday.
Day: July 4, 2011
Sweden
Swedes in Ethiopia may stand trial on Tuesday
The two Swedish reporters being held in custody in Ethiopia may face a court on Tuesday, but according to the Foreign Ministry it is not yet known what they are charged with.
Switzerland
Climbers killed by falling stone in Swiss Alps
Two climbers, one French and the other Swiss, died on Sunday in separate accidents in the Swiss Alps, police said.
France
Climbers killed by falling stone in Swiss Alps
Two climbers, one French and the other Swiss, died on Sunday in separate accidents in the Swiss Alps, police said.
France
Frenchwoman to sue DSK for attempted rape
A French woman will bring legal action this week for attempted rape against former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, her lawyer said Monday in an interview published online.
Germany
Bundeswehr begins new era as conscription ends
Germany’s armed forces has officially ended conscription, heralding a new era for the now all-volunteer Bundeswehr.
Switzerland
Swiss hostages moved to Pakistan badlands
A Swiss couple kidnapped on holiday in Pakistan have been smuggled into the tribal belt on the Afghan border, a notorious haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda, a local official said Monday.
Sweden
Almedalen political week kicks off in Sweden
Sweden’s annual political week, the so-called “Almedalen Week” (Almedalsveckan), started on Sunday and will go on until for eight days, on the Baltic Island of Gotland. Contributor Oliver Gee talks to representatives from the two largest political parties; the Social Democrats and the Moderates, to find out more.
Sweden
Suspected EHEC seeds tracked to Sweden
A consignment of fenugreek seeds, from the batch believed to be the source of the EHEC infection in Germany and France, has been tracked to Sweden, according to the Swedish National Food Administration (Livsmedelsverket).
Germany
Lonely Star State: Texan Germans dwindling
Countless German immigrants moved to Texas in the 1800s, forming their own unique culture. With their language now near extinction, Moises Mendoza spoke to some of the last speakers and a professor trying to preserve it.
France
Thousands of French minors on Facebook
Although Facebook is restricted to people 13 and up, almost one in five French children aged 8 to 12 are members, a study has found.
Germany
Youth hostel arises in former Nazi holiday resort on Baltic Sea
The Prora beach resort on the German island of Rügen in the Baltic Sea was supposed to be a vacation spot for Nazis and their families. Now, following years of neglect, part of the massive complex has been turned into a youth hostel.
Sweden
‘Set Dawit Isaak free’
After 3571 days of imprisonment without official charge or trial, a formal legal request has finally been put before the Supreme Court of Eritrea: Show us Dawit Isaak! Tell us where he is, let us see him with our own eyes, let him be examined by a doctor and let him have contact with his family. Then let him defend himself and examine if it is right that the authorities continue to imprison him, in strict isolation, without access to the outside world. That is at the heart of the request - about seventy pages long - which has now been filed with Eritrea's Supreme Court.
France
More French opting for summer staycations
A new poll has found that 45 percent of French people are not travelling during their summer vacations this year. Most of those staying at home say they need to save money.
Germany
Otto von Habsburg, heir to Austria’s last emperor, dies at 98
Otto von Habsburg, the eldest son of Austria's last emperor who became a champion of Europe's enlargement as a Bavarian politician, died Monday in Germany at the age of 98.
Sweden
Traffic fatalities up by 28 percent in Sweden
Through the first half of the year, 147 people have died in road accidents, according to the National Transport Administration (Trafikverket). This represents a 28 percent increase when compared to the same period in 2010.
Switzerland
Chinese sweetmaker confirms Nestle talks
Chinese sweetmaker Hsu Fu Chi confirmed on Monday that it was in acquisition talks with Swiss food giant Nestle, in what could be one of the biggest takeovers of a Chinese company by a foreign competitor.
Sweden
Saab’s property deal approved by EIB
On Monday the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced its approval of Saab’s property sale, which will give the company the much needed cash-injection the it sought to acquire through the sale.
France
Strauss-Kahn release stuns France
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's release from house arrest has stunned French politicians, the public and press, who wonder whether he can emerge clean from a sex crime case and return to the
presidential race.
France
Paris, Berlin planned to exploit Brown-Blair feud: diary
Britain's intelligence chiefs warned prime minister Tony Blair that Germany and France planned to exploit his feud with then finance minister Gordon Brown, his former media chief said Monday.
France
Attention shifts to Strauss-Kahn’s accuser
Attention in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sex case has shifted to the accuser, a New York hotel maid who now faces mounting credibility problems, as the ex-IMF chief enjoyed freedom from strict bail
conditions.
France
Strauss-Kahn conspiracy theories resurface
Resurgent conspiracy theories over the Dominique Strauss-Kahn sex assault case angered the French government on Monday, as speculation rose that he may return to the presidential race if
cleared.
Sweden
Swedish research proves Sigmund Freud right
Sigmund Freud's theory that people can intentionally learn to forget certain memories is proven accurate more than 100 years later, after researchers from a Swedish university make headway in the study of the mind.
Germany
Berlin woman dies at Roskilde Festival
Danish police on Monday were investigating the death of a woman from Berlin, who plunged naked to her death from a tower at the Roskilde music festival.
Sweden
One killed in Swedish house explosion
Police are still working to determine the cause of a powerful explosion in a residential building in southeastern Sweden on Friday, where at least one person died and more explosives have been found.
Switzerland
Scientology losing Swiss support: experts
The Church of Scientology is rapidly losing support in Switzerland, and the number of members is declining, religious experts say.
Switzerland
Pakistan mounts search for Swiss hostages
Pakistan has launched a search operation and engaged tribal elders to help secure the release of a Swiss couple abducted in the insurgency-hit southwest, officials said Saturday.
Switzerland
E-ticketing planned for Swiss transport
Passengers on Swiss trains, buses and boats will have access to an electronic ticketing system in 2017, allowing them to be billed once a month with tailored prices, reports said.
Germany
UK intel: Berlin and Paris wanted to exploit Blair-Brown feud
Britain's intelligence chiefs warned prime minister Tony Blair that Germany and France planned to exploit his feud with then finance minister Gordon Brown, his former media chief said Monday.
Sweden
Alfa Laval wins big with brewery deal
Alfa Laval, the Swedish heating giant, snapped up a major deal with a South American beer brewery, an order valued at 135 million kronor ($21 million).
Germany
VW secures majority stake in MAN trucks
Volkswagen, the biggest European automaker, said on Monday that it now holds a majority of the heavy truck maker MAN, a key step towards the creation of a third European truck giant.
Switzerland
Prisoners escape after locking in jailer
Three men detained for robbery broke out of a Swiss jail on Sunday after two of them attacked their jailer and locked him up in a cell, local police said.
Germany
Westerwelle calls for closer Turkey ties to EU
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is calling for deeper integration with Turkey, arguing that the country deserves greater support as it makes a bid to join the European Union.
Germany
Coalition agrees to tax cuts in 2013
After weeks of disagreement, Germany’s center-right government has agreed on cuts to taxes and social security contributions, although full details are to become known later this year.
Sweden
Swedes want return to state-run schools: report
A majority of the Swedish population, approximately 56 percent, prefer a nationalized school system, according to a recent survey by research company Novus.
Sweden
Sommestad to be new face of Sweden’s Social Democrat women
Former Environment Minister Lena Sommestad is expected to succeed Nalin Pekgul as leader of the Social Democratic Women in Sweden (S-Kvinnor) party after receiving unanimous nomination by the party’s election committee.
Germany
Members of French women’s football team pose naked
With France set to face defending champions and hosts Germany at the women's World Cup on Tuesday, members of the French squad have posed naked for pictures to draw attention to their sport.
Sweden
Government to appoint ‘future commission’
In the autumn the government will appoint a commission with the purpose to address the central challenges that Sweden will face in the future, the four government alliance party leaders Fredrik Reinfeldt, Jan Björklund, Maud Olofsson and Göran Hägglund wrote on Monday in daily Dagens Nyheter (DN).
Sweden
Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson in Almedalen
The American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson arrived on the Baltic island of Gotland on Sunday, to take part in the annual “political” week in the Almedalen park, in Visby.
Sweden
Swedish reporters held in custody in Ethiopia
Two Swedish journalists have been taken into custody by the Ethiopian army while reporting from the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, an area pronounced off limits for journalists.