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Who turns down a long vacation Known for their work ethic, Swiss citizens appear to be leading the way on European austerity, rejecting a minimum six weeks paid holiday a year. HT Image Switzerland counted ballots Sunday for five national referendums, including one pushed by a union to raise the minimum holiday up from four weeks, which is the standard used in Germany, Italy, Russia and other European nations. Some of the nations 26 cantons states also held voting on local measures to deal with everything from demonstra
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tors to prostitutes. The Swiss heeded warnings from government and business that more vacation would raise labour costs and put the economy at risk. Swiss public broadcaster SSR said two-thirds of voters and all of the cantons had rejected the measure, which required majority approval of all federal and cantonal voters. In rejecting the initiative, citizens have kept a sense of reality, said Hans-Ulrich Bigler, director of the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts, which represents around 3,00,000 businesses. The referendum, he said in a statement, could have added 6 billion francs $6.52 billion a year in lab
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our costs to the Swiss economy, but the vot
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e clearly shows that the population continues to focus on individual freedom and responsibility of citizens. But one initiative aimed at limiting the number of second homes in resort towns squeaked through with just more than 50% of the nationwide vote, according to SSR. The surprise success of the re Zsga Islamic State video shows boys aged 10-13 yrs shooting hostages in Syria
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is pushing back against liberal calls for withdrawal timelines from Afghanistan, saying it s a mistake to set a deadline to end US military action and a defeat would be disastrous for the US. HT Image In a stern warning to critics of a continued troop presence in Afghanistan, Gates said the Islamic extremist Taliban and al-Qaida would perceive an early pullout as a victory over the United States as similar to the Soviet Union s humiliating withdrawal in 1989 after a 10-year war. The noti
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on of timelines and exit strategies and so on, frankly,
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I think would all be a strategic mistake. The reality is, failure in Afghanistan would be a huge setback for the United States, Gates said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CNN s State of the Union. Taliban and al-Qaida, as far as they re concerned, defeated one superpower. For them to be seen to defeat a second, I think, would have catastrophic consequences in terms of energizing the extremist movement, al-Qaida recruitment, operations, fundraising, and so on. I think it would be a huge setback for the United States. Gates pointed remarks came as President Barack Obama re-examines his administration s strategy in Afghanistan and as the Pentagon sits on a request for additional troops from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the US and NATO commander in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested Obama s decisions wil
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l come after the election in Afghanistan is sorted out. T