Swiss vote on capping immigration 'to save environment' | ||
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Geneva (AFP) - Swiss voters Sunday will decide whether to dramatically cut immigration numbers in the name of saving the environment, in a referendum that opponents have labelled xenophobic and disastrous for the economy. Most voters have already cast their ballots by mail, and initial results should be available shortly after polls close at noon (1100 GMT). Surveys have shown the so-called Ecopop initiative gaining momentum in recent weeks but still indicate it is doomed to fail. In the latest opinion poll, 56 percent said they would nix the proposal which maintains that the current influx of foreigners is swelling the Alpine nation's population and shrinking its idyllic landscapes and green spaces. Supporters however stress that surveys often underestimate backing for populist initiatives and insist the country could be in for a surprise. It would not be the first time. Last February, the approval of an initiative demanding quotas for immigration from the European Union caught many off guard and threw non-member Switzerland's relations with the bloc into turmoil. - 'Already too crowded' - Foreign nationals already make up nearly a quarter of Switzerland's eight million inhabitants, official statistics show. According to Ecopop, immigration is adding 1.1-1.4 percent annually to the Swiss population, putting the country on track to house up to 12 million people by 2050. "It's already getting too crowded here," Anita Messere of the Ecopop committee said, arguing that the inhabitable plains of the mountainous country were being covered in concrete at a rate of more than one metre (yard) per second. The campaign wants to cap immigration growth at 0.2 percent, or an addition of around 16,000 people annually, which it says would allow the number of inhabitants to increase to just 8.5 million by the middle of the century. It also wants to help rein in over-population beyond Switzerland's borders, calling for 10 percent of the country's development aid budget to go to family planning initiatives abroad. The government, all political parties, employers and unions have rejected the initiative, slammed by some as xenophobic and by others as a threat to Switzerland's economy which depends heavily on immigrant labour. Christian Luescher, a parliamentarian for the Liberal Party and co-chair of the committee opposing Ecopop, described the initiative as "absolutely absurd". "It aims to drastically, linearly and arbitrarily reduce immigration to Switzerland, with absolutely no consideration for the needs of the economy," he told AFP, warning it would "impoverish our country". - Tax hikes for rich foreigners? - The Swiss will also vote Sunday in two other national referenda as part of their famed direct democratic system. Polls hint voters are also likely to reject a bid to scrap special tax breaks for rich foreigners living but not working in Switzerland, who today can choose to be levied on their spending rather than income. Switzerland counts 5,729 millionaires and billionaires with foreign passports, who together pay around one billion Swiss francs ($1.04 billion, 830 million euros) in taxes annually. That is a far cry from what they would have paid had they been levied at the same percentages as average Swiss taxpayers, say the left-leaning parties and unions behind the initiative. "This system is morally indefensible," Geneva-based student Roger Gulke told AFP. But backers of the system insist wealthy foreigners contribute substantially to Swiss tax coffers and inject huge sums directly into the local economy, warning many will leave the country if they face higher taxation. "You'd have to be completely crazy to wave goodbye to this godsend to our economy," Luescher said. The third issue on the table is a call to force Switzerland's central bank to increase its gold reserves and it also appears destined to fail, according to polls. But fear of a surprise win has stirred up global gold markets, with economists warning it would wreak havoc on trading worldwide. The initiative would oblige the Swiss National Bank to boost its gold reserves to at least 20 percent of its holdings, nearly three times more than today's level of seven percent. Analysts have warned the bank would be forced to buy around 10 percent of the annual global gold production through 2019 to meet that requirement. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Pope wraps up challenging Turkey visit | ||
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Istanbul (AFP) - Pope Francis on Sunday was attending a divine liturgy led by Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, wrapping up his first visit to Turkey where he has sought to reach out both to Muslims and other Christian confessions. Francis's attendance at the divine liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of St. George on the banks of the Golden Horn in Istanbul was the latest sign of the warming ties between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches under his papacy. The visit of the pope to Istanbul -- once the capital of the Christian Byzantine world and formerly known as Constantinople -- has been heavily loaded with symbolism. On Saturday, the pope during a visit to the Sultan Ahmet mosque -- better known abroad as the Blue Mosque -- turned towards Mecca and stood in two minutes of reflection next to a top Islamic cleric. Later in the day, he bowed his head and asked Bartholomew to kiss him on his brow, in a remarkable sign of humility towards Bartholomew, the "first among equals" of the Orthodox Church. The pope and Bartholomew have in the last months worked hard for a rapprochement between the eastern and western churches which have been split since the schism of 1054. Their meeting is the latest positive step in a reconciliation process that began in 1964 with the famous embrace between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras, the first such meeting since the 15th century. The pope is due to sign a common declaration with Bartholomew -- whose official title is Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch -- before returning to Rome in the afternoon. Bartholomew, who commands considerable respect beyond the Orthodox Church, holds an office that dates back to the early days of the Byzantine Empire, over a millennium before the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The patriarchate in Istanbul remains his "headquarters", and the patriarch himself must under Turkish law be a citizen of the country.
- 'A beautiful moment' -
Turkey's own Christian community is tiny -- just 80,000 in a country of some 75 million Muslims -- but also extremely mixed, consisting of Armenians, Greek Orthodox, Franco-Levantines, Syriac Orthodox and Chaldeans. Of these only the small Franco-Levantine and Chaldean communities regard the pope as the head of their churches. The trip has been marked by crowds far thinner than on Francis's previous visits abroad but also the heaviest security, which extended to positioning snipers on the balconies of mosque minarets. The pope has at times looked fatigued during a crammed three day programme in Ankara and Istanbul but was often seen breaking into a smile at the sight of an old acquaintance. The visit has been seen as a chance to build bridges between faiths amid the rampage by Islamic State (IS) jihadists in Iraq and Syria and concerns over the persecution of Christian minorities in the Middle East. After talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Friday, the pope called for dialogue between faiths to end the Islamist extremism. However Erdogan had appeared to highlight the differences between the Muslim and Christian worlds, sounding the alarm against "rising Islamophobia". A Vatican official described Francis's gesture in the Blue Mosque as a "silent adoration", using a term for religious reverence, making clear he did not perform a prayer. "It was a beautiful moment of inter-religious dialogue," added Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi. The pope clasped his hands in front of his chest while Istanbul Mufti Rahmi Yaran performed an Islamic prayer with his hands in front and palms facing up. The trip has been less controversial than the last by a pontiff to mainly Muslim Turkey -- the visit by Pope Francis' predecessor Benedict XVI in 2006 which was overshadowed by remarks he had previously made deemed to be anti-Islamic. Lombardi described the atmosphere this time as more "cordial and serene" than during Benedict's visit. Papal visits to Turkey are still a rarity -- Francis will be just the fourth pope to visit the country after Benedict in 2006, John Paul II in 1979 and Paul VI in 1967. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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South African family killed in Taliban attack on Kabul | ||
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Kabul (AFP) - The latest Taliban strike in Kabul killed a South African father and his two children, Afghan officials said Sunday, as the city police chief resigned after at least nine militant attacks in two weeks. As the US-led NATO war against the Taliban nears its end, the insurgents have targeted foreign compounds, embassy vehicles, US troops and a female Afghan member of parliament. General Zahir Zahir stepped down shortly after he confirmed that three South Africans -- a father and his two children -- and an Afghan citizen were killed in a Taliban attack on a foreign compound on Saturday evening. Partnership in Academics and Development (PAD), a small US-based education aid group, posted a message on its website, saying three of its staff had been killed in the attack. "The attack... by multiple gunmen included one who detonated a personal explosive device killing three and injuring other staff members," the website said. "In the midst of this unprovoked attack, Partnership in Academics and Development remains committed to providing educational resources for Afghan citizens as they become part of the international community." Zahir said the organisation's local head, his son and his daughter were all killed. "The attackers first shot dead the director as they entered the building," Zahir said at a press conference, giving no further details about the victims' age. NATO troop numbers peaked at 130,000 in 2010 but have fallen rapidly since then. Their combat mission ends altogether on December 31. Fears are growing that the declining international presence is already fuelling the Islamist insurgency. The mission will be replaced by a 12,500-strong force supporting the Afghan army and police, who have taken over responsibility for thwarting the Taliban. Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanakzai told AFP that Zahir had resigned later Sunday. "General Zahir Zahir told the interior ministry he no longer wanted to continue his job. The minister has accepted his resignation," Stanakzai told AFP. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed on Twitter that the compound hit on Saturday was that of a secret Christian missionary group and that a meeting of Australian visitors had been hit. In the latest attack, gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed the building apparently looking for foreigners. A neighbouring building was engulfed in flames as security forces took three hours to hunt down the militants. Saturday's attack came two days after the Taliban struck at another foreign guesthouse, wounding a guard, and a suicide bomber targeted a British embassy vehicle in a blast that killed six people. Afghan soldiers and police have endured soaring casualties on the battlefield, with more than 4,600 killed this year as they take on the Taliban with less assistance from the US military. President Ashraf Ghani, who came to power in September, has vowed to bring peace to Afghanistan after decades of conflict, saying he is open to talks with the Taliban who ruled Kabul from 1996 to 2001. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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