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The Swiss Space Center at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology in Lausanna, or EPFL, announced Wednesday that it is planning to launch a satellite to remove debris from low-Earth orbit. The 11-million USD satellite, named CleanSpace One, is intended to actively intercept and deorbit defunct satellites that contribute to the growing cloud of LEO debris as they disintegrate and collide with one another. “It has become essential to be aware of the existence of [space] debris and the risks that are run by its proliferation,” said Claude Nicollier, astronaut and EPFL professor. Volker Gass, the director of the Swiss...

Switzerland is in the unfortunate position of being bullied and harassed by the U.S. government. The crux of the problem is that the United States arguably has the world's worst tax system for international activity, and this creates conflict with other nations, particularly ones that have good tax laws that attract investment. This has resulted in a number of different attacks against Swiss sovereignty. On the multilateral front, the Obama Administration is actively supporting the anti-tax competition project of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. On the unilateral front, the United States is imposing onerous laws on the entire...

It's now quite clear that Obama is playing chicken with Israel on Iranian nukes. That is why Leon Panetta came out with a statement this week accusing Israel of planning to attack Iran. If that statement is true, it's the worst kind of sabotage, undermining the advantages of surprise. If it's false, it is intended to place Israel at the focus of Iranian rage. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The goal of Obama's nuclear brinkmanship is to drive Israel into making dangerous territorial compromises. This is a Carteresque policy: blame the victim, and arm her enemy. Jimmy...

BRUSSELS—A six-point plan drafted by France and Germany has suggested corporate tax "coordination," an EU financial transactions tax and the redeployment of EU funds in troubled countries as ways to spur growth and jobs. Following Standard & Poor's recent downgrade of nine euro-countries, including France, in which the ratings agency warned that austerity and budget cuts are not the way out of recession, Paris and Berlin have teamed up once more and drafted a six-page paper called "Ways out of the crisis—strengthen growth now!" The paper—seen by EUobserver—is supposed to be discussed at the EU summits on 30 January and...

The Swiss government is preparing for a collapse of the euro, according to Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf. She told parliament that a work group was studying the imposition of capital controls and negative interest rates to protect Switzerland from the capital flight that a euro collapse would engender (Handelsblatt). A tidal wave of euros would drive up the Swiss franc, devastate Switzerland’s export economy, and devalue its vast wealth invested in other countries. Already in August, the Swiss National Bank instituted a currency peg and swore to defend it by acquiring “unlimited” amounts of euros, a risky strategy if...

SURRENDER COMPLETELY AND RECEIVE MY LOVE FOR YOU ! My surrender to you is eternal , for as My Sacrifice was a promise and a statement of My Love coming down through the Father ! It is Now time for You to SURRENDER wholeheartedly to Me . I need to see a heart opened forth right and true ; to discern My Presence ! That you make " ALL " Known to Me ~ free for release and in this surrender as you raise your hands and lower your defenses and pride I WILL COME ! And My SPIRIT ,...

BREAKING: Swiss selection makes Saab Gripen an export 'ace' Switzerland has reportedly made the first move to become the fifth country outside Sweden to acquire the Saab Gripen fighter. If export sales were dogfight kills, the Gripen would now be an ace. [Update: Counting the Gripen sale to the UK Empire Test Pilot School, Switzerland is actually the sixth export customer. The foreign air force operators are the Czech Republic, Hungary, South Africa and Thailand.] The news is still based on unnamed sources within the federal council, but the reports from both Swiss and French media (including the Dassault-owned Le...

RPT-Swiss opt for Saab's Gripen fighter jets - paper (Repeats to additional subscribers) ZURICH Nov 30 (Reuters) - Switzerland has chosen to replace its fighter jet fleet with Swedish defence and aerospace group Saab's JAS-39 Gripen, Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources close to the government. Neutral Switzerland has wrangled for the past three years over whether to replace its ageing Northrop F-5E/F Tiger fighters, purchased in 1976 and 1981, with up to 33 new aircraft. Saab shares were up 8.5 percent to 117.10 Swedish crowns by 1345 GMT after the newspaper report. The newspaper said the...

Despite not being a member of the European Union, Switzerland is under intense pressure from Brussels to raise taxes as companies flee high-tax EU welfare states in favor of more business-friendly Swiss cantons. And if the nation refuses to bow down soon, so-called “eurocrats” are threatening retaliation. The Swiss government has been in discussions with EU bosses for over a year regarding Switzerland’s non-compliance with the “EU Code of Conduct for Business Taxation.” The EU’s goal, according to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, is to eliminate what the supranational regime in Brussels calls “harmful tax practices” — low taxes which attract...

Despite not being a member of the European Union, Switzerland is under intense pressure from Brussels to raise taxes as companies flee high-tax EU welfare states in favor of more business-friendly Swiss cantons. And if the nation refuses to bow down soon, so-called “eurocrats” are threatening retaliation. The Swiss government has been in discussions with EU bosses for over a year regarding Switzerland’s non-compliance with the “EU Code of Conduct for Business Taxation.” The EU’s goal, according to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, is to eliminate what the supranational regime in Brussels calls “harmful tax practices” — low taxes which attract...

Ordinary measures are not warranted anymore for I have overcome for you and in Me you reside in the heavenlies. So cast off your flesh when it distracts you from My Will of virtue and Righteousness and "Remain" in "MY" Loyalty for I AM all you need to KNOW! John 15:9 (AMP) 9I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [[a]continue in His love with Me]. Acts 17:28 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his...

LISTEN TO "MY" SPIRIT ROAR FOR YOU \o/\o/\o/ ! ! ! Listen to "MY" spirit roar for you my children to do and to walk in MY fullness and not your own for it is in MY righteousness you are saved and walk even now . So go in MY all for you and Listen to the whisper of "MY" spirit for soon it shall become a roar as it did for Daniel in the lions den and I shall quench all the firery darts of the enemy for you as well , for you are MY CHOSEN called and...

Somebody forgot to tell Panama about the eurozone crisis. While the rest of the world is slowing, its economy is set to expand by 10 per cent this year and 7.5 per cent next. And those are real figures, as Finance Minister Frank de Lima told beyondbrics. In the nominal terms most people use, those numbers hit the teens. Few countries, perhaps none, can match that. The canal is responsible for most of this growth. Indeed, since the country took it over in 1999, Panama’s economy has tripled in size. That remarkable performance is because Panama runs the canal more...

Top boffins at the Large Hadron Collider – mightiest particle-punisher and largest machine of any kind ever assembled by humanity – say that they may have uncovered a vital clue explaining one of the greatest mysteries of physics: namely, how is it that matter itself can exist? This is a mystery because the so-called Standard Model of physics calls for ordinary matter and antimatter to decay in very similar ways. Theory also says that equal amounts of antimatter and regular-type matter (such as that making up the Sun, the Earth, all the life upon it including us etc) should have...

(CNN) -- Muslims in Switzerland are responding with shock and outrage after a pig carcass and severed swine heads were discovered buried at the site of a proposed mosque. Police in the town of Grenchen uncovered the pigs Friday after they received an anonymous message claiming that someone had buried the body parts and spilled 120 liters of blood from the animals in an effort to desecrate the ground to halt the construction of the mosque. Pork and pork byproducts are haram, or forbidden, in Islam. The unsigned flier, written in German, says "This operation was done (conducted) to protest...

As Belgium becomes the latest European nation to agree to switch off nuclear power, operator Electrabel warned Monday of high costs, environmental fallout and increased dependency on foreign suppliers. ... A front-page cartoon in the Flemish daily De Standaard on Monday showed four pairs of eyes in the dark with one of the blacked out faces saying, "I think Electrabel is trying to make a message heard." ... Italy and Switzerland meanwhile have put nuclear power plans on ice, while Germany switched off several reactors in the wake of the Japanese disaster and has since passed legislation to phase out...

Students, who are members of the Basij militia, a part of the Iran Revolutionary Guard, attend a gathering in support of anti-Wall Street demonstrators in front of the U.S. interest section of the Swiss embassy in Tehran October 22, 2011. A group of Iranian demonstrators chant slogans in a gathering to show their support of US Wall Street protestors, as one of them holds Muslims holy book, Quran, at right, in front of the Swiss Embassy in Tehran, which handles US interests in Iran, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. (AP photo/Vahid Salemi)

SNIPPET: "They are believed to have supported "terrorist groups that operate in the Algerian area of the Maghreb, specifically al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb" (AQIM), a Spanish ministry statement claimed. The group, aged 36 to 49, is also suspected of linking up with Islamist support groups in Italy, France, and Switzerland."

I Am going to move My sphere of authority into place now upon My Foundation and "TRUTH" shall be its Robe ! Zechariah 4:9 9The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this house; his hands shall also finish it. Then you shall know (recognize and understand) that the Lord of hosts has sent me [His messenger] to you. The unction of My Spirit is something to be followed not ignored ! My blessings flow through My Spirit and Guiding counselor of My very Heart ! So understand this ; To reject My Spirit is to deny Me ,...

Lord Kinnock's daughter-in-law Helle Thorning-Schmidt is to become Denmark’s first woman prime minister after winning a knife-edge victory in the country’s general election. As the first votes came in on Thursday night, her centre-left coalition, which was the strong favourite to win, at one point fell behind the government, but pulled ahead by the end of the night to win 89 of the country’s seats next to the 86 seats won by the coalition led by Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen. Addressing victorious Social Democratic Party members last night, Ms Thorning-Schmidt, 44, said: “Today is the day things change in...

Snow fell in the Swiss Alps overnight on Sunday to levels unseen for the month of September, Swiss weather agency Meteosuisse reported on Monday. In the ski resort of St Moritz, in the southeast canton of Grison, a total of 45 centimetres (nearly 18 inches) of snow was recorded on Monday morning... the snow line to 800 metres (2,600 feet).

Watch the short video clip, with subtitles, at the link. '"Love thy neighbor,' THAT is the pillar!"

he United States is drafting legal documents that seek to force nearly a dozen Swiss banks and international banks with Swiss branches to disclose the identities of American clients evading billions of dollars in taxes, sources briefed on the matter said. The drafting of the documents -- grand jury subpoenas and broad requests known as John Doe summonses -- is a fresh U.S. shot across the bow at Switzerland and its battered tradition of bank secrecy. The Alpine country, a noted tax haven that is the global capital of offshore private banking, has been under attack from U.S. Justice Department...

Zurich launched the biggest offensive yet in the world's escalating currency wars on Tuesday. It has joined countries such as Japan and Brazil in deciding to take action and defend itself against the risks to its domestic economy of an overvalued currency. The last time it adopted such tactics was in 1978 but, as with conventional warfare, much has changed since then. The nature of the enemy is different. So too is the style of combat. Switzerland, in trying to force down the value of its currency, is taking on the unpredictable but mighty forces being unleashed by a disintegrating...

“A Kosovar stabs a Swiss man.” “A Kosovar kills the head of social services.” These are not newspaper headlines but instead the latest set of newspaper ads the Swiss People’s Party is running ahead of the general elections in October. They feature recent crimes committed by Kosovars with an image of their ubiquitous campaign poster “stop massive immigration” showing people trampling the Swiss flag. It is causing an uproar in many quarters including the Swiss Conference of Bishops. Critics say the Swiss People’s Party is trying to get votes by demonizing Kosovars. WRS’s Dave Goodman talks to Ulrich Schlüer, a...

BASEL, August 25, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Kindergarten children in Basel, Switzerland will be presented this year with fabric models of human genitalia in a “sex box” to teach them that “contacting body parts can be pleasurable.” The kit for teachers to give sex-education lessons to primary school children uses models and recommends having children massage each other or to rub themselves with warm sand bags, accompanied by soft music, according to The Local, a Swiss newspaper in English. “Children should be encouraged to develop and experience their sexuality in a pleasurable way,” Daniel Schneider, a deputy kindergarten rector for Basel...

Three accused eco-terrorists went on trial under heavy security in Switzerland's highest criminal court Tuesday for an alleged plot to blow up an IBM nanotech research center near Zurich. The trial in the Federal Criminal Court for an Italian couple and Swiss man living in Italy opened after a one-hour delay because of the extraordinary security taken by Swiss police, who cordoned off the area with metal barriers. The three defendants — 35-year-old Costantino Alfonso Ragusa, his 29-year-old wife Silvia Ragusa Guerini and their 26-year-old Swiss friend Luca "Billy" Cristos Bernasconi — had been detained after being arrested last year...

Suicidal Swiss man crashes plane into mother's house A Swiss man rang his mother from the cockpit of a rented plane to say he was about to 'drop in' – then crashed the aircraft into her house. 6:16PM BST 18 Jul 2011 Suicidal Konrad Schmidt, 47, launched the kamikaze attack on estranged mother Rosemary after terrifying neighbours with three low-altitude fly-pasts. He then flew the twin-engined light aircraft directly through her first floor bedroom window. Mrs Schmidt, 69, miraculously survived because she was in the basement of her home in the village of Oberhallau at the time on Sunday afternoon....

<p>The Swiss Parliament is expected later this year to discuss the creation of a gold franc — a parallel currency to the official Swiss franc, likely triggering a broader debate about the role of the precious metal in the Alpine nation.</p>

Pilatus 'to sign record aircraft deal with India' (AFP) – 46 minutes ago GENEVA — Switzerland's Pilatus Aircraft is about to sign a record deal to supply 75 of its successful PC-7 trainer planes to the Indian Air Force for 850 million francs ($1 billion), a press report said Saturday. The daily Le Temps, which described the contract as the biggest in the company's history, said it could eventually be extended to as many as 200 of the single-engined turboprop. Pilatus declined to comment on the report that the trainer had been selected as the winner of offers invited by...

Fury at suicide on BBCA DESPERATELY ill man will be shown on TV choking and begging for water before he dies in a suicide clinic. The harrowing scenes to be screened by BBC2 on Monday are set to spark outrage. Millionaire hotelier Peter Smedley, 71, was filmed swallowing a lethal dose of the barbiturate Nembutal - helped down with a praline chocolate. He gasps for breath. Within a minute his face turns red and he chokes as he pleads for water. The documentary Choosing To Die shows an "escort" at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland holding on to Peter as...

Okay, so France wasn’t the first nation to ban burkas. In Turkey, a Muslim-majority nation, we’ve seen similar bans before. Of late: Citizens of canton Ticino may be the first in Switzerland to vote on a proposal to ban women from wearing burkas in public. A committee there has gathered the 10,000 petition signatures required to launch an initiative that could forbid the wearing of burkas and other veils that hide the face. For the record, I support the separation of mosque and state and therefore burka bans for numerous reasons. To support safety efforts is hardly Islamophobic either: The...

Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of Swedish furnishings giant IKEA, has promised more transparency over the firm's business affairs, saying that it has nothing to hide after a slew of allegations in recent years. "We have nothing to hide. There is no pretension to hide anything. We are going to go through everything and show that we follow each country's laws and regulations," Ingvar Kamprad, the 85-year-old billionaire who founded IKEA in 1943, told the Expressen daily. "We will make ourselves more transparent," he said. Kamprad's comments came a few months after a documentary aired on Swedish public television, SVT, alleged...

GENEVA (AP) -- Google is threatening to wipe photographs of streets and houses in Switzerland from its online maps unless the country's supreme court overturns a ruling requiring an absolute guarantee of anonymity for people captured on the popular Street View service. Shutting down Street View in an entire country would be the Internet search giant's most severe response yet to complaints it is violating people's privacy. The Mountain View, California-based company said Wednesday it will ask the Swiss Federal Tribunal to throw out a lower court decision that obliged it to ensure all faces and vehicle license plates are...

An air traffic controller has been found stabbed to death at the EuroAirport outside Mulhouse, France, near the Swiss and German borders. Police say the 34-year-old was found in a pool of blood in an office in the control tower that is accessible only with an identity badge. Prosecutors have opened a murder investigation, French reports say. The victim, a married father of one who has not been named, was a senior official at the airport. A spokesman for the civil aviation authority, the DGAC, said the victim, who had worked at the airport since leaving education in 1998, was...

My children you have done well to pursue My vigil for I am seeking after righteousness , virtue and truth , not from man but from Vessels filled with this drink for I am their Melchizedek and Lord . So come to Me that I may feed your soul and allow you to drink Me in for "I AM THAT I AM" your Eternal Sustainer and Guiding Light, The Lord of Hosts to all that will have Me as their wine, and drink in only me for I Am their complete inheritance . The name Melchizedek means king of righteousness...

Did you know that the EU has ensured that there has been no war between its members for last 60 years?

Researchers in Switzerland have created flying robot quadrocopters capable of responding fast enough to juggle and bounce a ball back and forth with one another. Here’s something you don’t see every day. Researchers in Switzerland have designed small, remote control “quadrocopters” capable of seeing and reacting fast enough to bounce a ball back and forth.Equipped with a tennis racket on top of them, the duo bounces the ball around a netted-off section of a Swiss building. Both units are controlled by humans, but could theoretically be programmed as well. Unfortunately, no program is fast enough to play pong in real...

In its latest FX Pulse, Morgan Stanley looks at the idea of save-haven currencies, the three most note-worthy typically being The Swiss Franc (CHF), the Yen (JPY), and yes, today's huge winner, the Dollar (USD). The firm looked at 18 outbreaks of war since 1990. What it found, specifically, was that the dollar does best at the onset of a crisis. Following that, however, the Swiss Franc outperforms. The full note: In the full sample, the return versus USD on the announcement day was negative for both the safe haven CHF and JPY, as well as the higher-beta currencies such...

Switzerland, which has the highest rate of suicide by firearms in Europe, has voted to let their citizens keep army-issue weapons at home. A referendum, launched by a coalition of non-governmental groups, religious authorities and centre-left parties, pushed to have the weapons stored in armouries instead. The initiative also aimed to abolish the practice of allowing those on military service to keep their government-issue assault rifles even after they leave the army. But the coalition failed to secure the votes of both a majority of the population and cantons. Final results showed that 20 out of 26 cantons were against...

Swiss voters have rejected proposed tighter controls on gun ownership, final results show. Twenty of the 26 cantons and 56.3% of voters rejected the plan, meaning the current system allowing army-issue weapons to be kept at home will remain. There are an estimated two to three million guns circulating in Switzerland. No-one knows the exact number because there is no national firearms register, our correspondent adds.

Swiss vote to keep army guns at home by Hui Min Neo Hui Min NeoGENEVA (AFP) – Switzerland, which has the highest rate of suicide by firearms in Europe, voted Sunday to hold fast to its long-standing tradition of letting citizens keep army-issue weapons at home.A referendum, launched by a coalition of non-governmental groups, religious authorities and centre-left parties, sought to get the weapons stored in armouries instead.The initiative also wanted to abolish the practice of allowing those on military service to keep their government-issue assault rifles even after they leave the army.Just two hours after polls closed, 22 out...

'I can confirm that Switzerland has frozen possible assets of the former Egyptian president with immediate effect,' spokesman Lars Knuchel said soon after Mr Mubarak bowed to 18 days of mass protests. 'As a result of this measure any assets are frozen for three years.' He did not say how much money was involved or where it was. Assets belonging to Mr Mubarak's associates would also be targeted so as to limit the chance of state funds being plundered, the ministry said.

Fox News Reports Switzerland has frozen the assets of Mubarak.

President George W. Bush has canceled an event in the famously neutral country Switzerland because of expected protests to his presence there. Bush was supposed to give the keynote address at a Jewish group's charity gala on Feb. 12 in Geneva. Leftist groups had planned to protest the visit, according to news agencies. But several human rights groups had also filed criminal complaints against Bush, demanding that he be taken into custody if he stepped on Swiss soil and investigated for allegations of ordering torture.

Bush cancels Switzerland visit under threat of protests, efforts to arrest him By Bridget Johnson - 02/05/11 09:59 AM ET President George W. Bush has canceled an event in the famously neutral country Switzerland because of expected protests to his presence there. Bush was supposed to give the keynote address at a Jewish group's charity gala on Feb. 12 in Geneva. Leftist groups had planned to protest the visit, according to news agencies. But several human rights groups had also filed criminal complaints against Bush, demanding that he be taken into custody if he stepped on Swiss soil and investigated...

George W. Bush to Pass on Switzerland Trip Share posted at 8:45 pm on February 5, 2011 by Jazz Shaw regular view Previous signs of “Miss me yet?� may have sprung up around various points in the United States, but in certain portions of Europe the 43rd president is still not getting a warm reception. After agreeing to assist in a charity event for a Jewish group in Switzerland, warning signs indicated that some left wing groups were preparing a decidedly hostile welcome for Bush and the trip had to be canceled. President George W. Bush has canceled an...

  Feb 1, 2011 - 08:20 Entrenched views prevail in Swiss gun debate Image Caption: Window shopping outside a Zurich gun shop (Keystone) by Clare O'Dea, swissinfo.ch Ahead of the vote on banning army-issue firearms from households, indignation is the order of the day in the comments from swissinfo.ch's international readers. The February 13 vote has sparked the most interest from United States-based readers, probably the country where the debate has the most resonance. After a controversial ban on privately held firearms in Belgium, the issue is also a sore point there. The views of contributors to swissinfo.ch feedback may...

Former Swiss banker Rudolf Elmer on Monday gave WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange data on about 2,000 clients that he contends may have evaded taxes, published reports said. At a press conference in London, Elmer told reporters about 40 politicians and “pillars of society” were among the individuals he gave Assange information on, the reports said. Elmer told The Observer newspaper during the weekend that the individuals named in the data include “business people, politicians, people who have made their living in the arts and multinational conglomerates — from both sides of the Atlantic.” Elmer once headed the Cayman Islands office...

A Swiss bank that used its Cayman Islands’ branch to engage in what a US federal judge has branded “predatory lending practices” is being investigated by the US authorities. Senior officials of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second largest bank, are facing claims that they pocketed millions of dollars by dishing out loans that were impossible to repay. On Tuesday, 15 September, 31 of the bank’s officials received subpoenas demanding that they hand over internal documents that explain why they loaned $375 million to the now bankrupt Yellowstone Club in 2005. The Yellowstone Club, founded by American tycoon Tim Blixseth, was once...