Voting, education and Swiss radio

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Here are the stories we’re following the week of June 8, 2015.

Inheritance tax, genetic testing and paying for public broadcasting

Next weekend, Swiss voters will go the polls for the long-awaited June 14 votes. Due to the parliamentary elections in October, this will be the second and final set of votes this year. swissinfo.ch’s dossier has tracked the development of the four key issues in play:  a proposal to introduce a nationwide inheritance tax to fund old-age pensions; a constitutional amendment to allow genetic screening of IVF embryos; a reform of the funding system for public radio and television; and an initiative to harmonise criteria among cantons for awarding student grants.

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Parliament summer session: week two

The House of Representatives will discuss the freezing and restitution of illicitly acquired assets of politically exposed persons (PEPs). The law is designed to be applied in cases where leading political figures enrich themselves through corruption or other criminal means and deposit these illicitly acquired assets in Swiss banks. The Senate will debate plans to grant the Swiss intelligence service greater powers to prevent terrorist attacks and spying activities.

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When the Swiss go shopping

On Monday, consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers will release a report on the shopping preferences of Swiss consumers. The report is part of PwC’s 2015 Total RetailExternal link survey of shopping and consumer behaviours across the world.

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What did Switzerland’s Cold War radio stations say about Swissness? 

The Swiss Shortwave service and Swiss Radio International broadcast as an independent voice from the heart of Europe throughout the Second World War, the cold war, and up to 2004. Now researchers are going through these archives to see (and hear) how Switzerland presented itself to the world. swissinfo.ch finds out more. 

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Éducation/Bildung/educazione

Developing coordinated strategies for education and training across Switzerland can be challenging due to marked linguistic and cultural variations. On Thursday, the University of Zurich will host a public event on this topic – “The Science of Education in Switzerland in the Context of Linguistic and Cultural Diversity” – with representatives from the French-, German- and Italian-speaking regions of the country. 

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Debate at the International Labour Conference

On Thursday at the 104^th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, a debate will address climate change in the context of the world of work. The list of participants includes French President François Hollande and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kailash Satyarthi.

What you may have missed last week:

Podcast: A group of American carpenters travels to Switzerland, but not for the usual sights.