Switzerland's Environment Minister Doris Leuthard is to step down from the seven-member Swiss government, known as the Federal Council, at the end of the year.
Doris Leuthard, who took over as president of the Swiss confederation on January 1st, spoke of cohesion in her New Year address, saying the Swiss people should stick together, whatever their differences.
The federal government is backing a 2.8-billion-franc proposal to build a second tube for the Gotthard road tunnel under the Alps before renovating the existing facility, which opened in 1980.
The federal government is now scrambling to find alternative forms of financing for road works after Swiss voters rejected a proposed hike in the motorway tax.
For the first time in 17 years, the Swiss parliament has decided to raise the price for the mandatory annual sticker - or vignette - that allows motorists access to the nation's motorways.
<p>Introducing... is The Local's new column giving the lowdown on a top Swiss personality. This week Lyssandra Sears looks at the woman who was recently voted Switzerland’s favourite politician and once got wellied at the Mountain Cheese Olympics.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: DE;" lang="DE"><span style="font-size: small;">All Swiss households bar the very poorest must soon pay for a TV and radio license </span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: DE;" lang="DE"><span style="font-size: small;">even if they claim not to own a television or radio</span></span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: DE;" lang="DE"><span style="font-size: small;">, the country's parliament decided on Tuesday.</span></span></p>
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<p>Swiss government minister Doris Leuthard has apologized for likening Germans campaigning against noise pollution from Zürich airport to Taliban terrorists. </p>
