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	<title>WorldCategory: switzerland &#124; World &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>WorldCategory: switzerland &#124; World &#124; TIME.com</title>
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		<title>As Europe Reels, Switzerland Builds New Barriers Against Immigrants</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/05/01/bachmann-on-switzerland/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/05/01/bachmann-on-switzerland/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 May 2013 07:00:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helena Bachmann</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[swiss parliament]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Switzerland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=84591</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Nestled in the heart of Europe, but with a mind-set that sets it apart from its neighbors, Switzerland has avoided much of the turbulence that roiled Europe over the past century — from wars to economic strife. But now its ability to remain neutral about the fate of the rest of the continent is under threat. Rising unemployment in the euro zone and the wider E.U., in stark contrast to Switzerland’s own prosperity, has pushed immigration to unsustainable levels — about 80,000 new immigrants from the E.U. every year, according to Swiss authorities. Last week, the seven-member Federal Council, which serves as Switzerland’s collective head of state, announced that starting on May 1 it would introduce quotas on long-term residence permits to make immigration “more acceptable to society and compatible with its needs.” Switzerland’s woes are rooted in its good fortunes. While the debt-ridden E.U. is still in the grips of a financial crisis, Switzerland — not a member of the 27-nation bloc — continues to enjoy economic growth and a high standard of living, repeatedly ranking in international surveys among the best places to live. A low 3.1% unemployment rate — compared with 11% in the E.U. and about 8% in the U.S. — along with high salaries and relatively generous social services, has attracted jobseekers from poorer countries, especially since a 1999 agreement with the E.U. gave citizens of member states unrestricted freedom to live and work in Switzerland. People from non-E.U. countries have always been, and continue to be, subjected to the quota system. (Under Switzerland’s decentralized system of government, cantons — equivalent to U.S. states — administer quotas and issue work permits.) (MORE: Why Rich Switzerland Is Livid About Rich-Executive Payouts) In recent years, however, the number of documented foreigners has grown to nearly a quarter of Switzerland’s 8 million population — one of the highest ratios in Europe and a higher one than in the U.S., where legal migrants constitute about 13% of its overall population. This spike has sparked widespread concerns about the impact of immigration on the welfare system, housing<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=84591&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>switzerland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/europe/switzerland-europe/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/rtr3dcoy.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Pedestrians at Paradeplatz square in Zurich, on Feb. 4, 2013.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">timeadmin</media:title>
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		<title>French Ministers Disclose Private Assets Amid Political Scandal</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/04/17/disclosure-of-ministers-assets-shatters-french-political-taboo/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/04/17/disclosure-of-ministers-assets-shatters-french-political-taboo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:26:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bruce Crumley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[corruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Democracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[France]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sweden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Swiss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[U.S.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conflict of interest]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservatives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial disclosure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[François Hollande]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[left]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wealth]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=82150</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The French have always had a difficult relationship with money — a love/hate affair that has left France’s rich and powerful as detested as they are envied by the rest of society. That tension came to the fore once more following the April 15 disclosure by French ministers of their personal wealth. That new obligation was denounced by critics as voyeuristic invasion in the private affairs of public officials, while backers praised it for shedding a little light on France’s opaque political class. The French public viewed it as both — and gobbled up details of their leaders’ holdings, even as a majority of people admitted their vote wouldn’t switch if preferred candidates turn out to be well-off. Monday’s publication of personal holdings by all 38 Cabinet members sparked as much excitement in France as it did head-scratching in countries where some form of financial disclosure by government officials is routine. The move was imposed by French President François Hollande in response to tanking public confidence in the political class after his former Budget Minister, Jérôme Cahuzac, admitted he repeatedly lied in denying he’d maintained a secret bank account in Switzerland. Public reaction to the resulting scandal sent Hollande’s approval rating down to 26%. (MORE: Swiss Account of Ex-Minister Further Darkens Hollande’s Political Fortunes) “The End of a Taboo,” trumpeted the April 16 headline of the left-leaning daily Libération. In airing conservative hostility to the measure as a cheap distraction from the Cahuzac scandal, by contrast, right-wing paper Le Figaro dismissed the wealth disclosures as “The Striptease of the Republic.” The less partisan newspaper Le Parisien opted for a more factually accurate (albeit wordier and less sensational) option, with its front-page reaction: “38 Ministers, 37 Houses, 29 Apartments, 40 Cars, 2 Boats and Three Bikes &#8230;” Indeed, the main takeaway from this parade of financial declarations — which are considered routine in Scandinavian countries and the U.S. — is if French pols are abusing their positions to fill their pockets, they’re doing a pretty cruddy job of it. Monday’s filings show<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=82150&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>France</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/europe/france/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">girondins33</media:title>
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		<title>Swiss Account of Ex-Minister Further Darkens Hollande&#8217;s Political Fortunes</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/04/03/swiss-account-of-ex-minister-further-darkens-hollandes-political-fortunes/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/04/03/swiss-account-of-ex-minister-further-darkens-hollandes-political-fortunes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:04:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bruce Crumley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[corruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[France]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Swiss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[austerity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Elysée]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[François Hollande]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[investigation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Le Pen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Front]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nicolas Sarkozy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scandal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Swiss accounts]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=79330</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The troubling political outlook for French President François Hollande darkened further April 2, after his former austerity-enforcing Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac admitted to possessing a secret Swiss bank account whose existence he previously denied. The avowal not only delivers a blow to Hollande’s campaign pledge to return transparency and accountability to government. It also undermines the President’s attempts to convince public opinion to accept deficit-reduction efforts he said were being exacted from all sections and actors of French society. Cahuzac resigned his cabinet position March 19 just hours after French prosecutors launched an official inquiry into suspicions of tax fraud. Despite that, the former amateur boxer never flinched from earlier, insistent denials of wrongdoing—and even launched slander proceedings against online Mediapart.fr publication that first broke the allegations. That position of innocence became harder to maintain after an audio recording Mediapart produced of someone fretting about the ability to keep his Swiss account secret from potential inquiry was verified by vocal testing to be that of Cahuzac. By March 26 he’d become sufficiently sure the truth would come out that Cahuzac wrote a letter to the two investigative magistrates overseeing the case to request an interview—a session of mea culpa Cahuzac revealed  on his web site Tuesday afternoon. (MORE: Amid the Depardieu Tax Debacle, France’s Budget Minister Accused of Dodging Taxes) “I met the two judges today,” Cahuzac wrote April 2. “I confirmed to them the existence of the account, and informed them that I’ve already given instructions necessary for all assets deposed in the count—which has not been added to for around 12 years—(worth) around €600,000 euros ($768,000) be repatriated to my Paris bank…Thinking I could avoid confronting a past I considered long gone was an unspeakable error. I will now face this reality in complete transparency.” He’ll have little choice. The result of his avowal to judges led to Cahuzac’s immediate placement under investigation —a step under France’s legal system akin to indictment. The crimes of tax evasion and money laundering involved carry potential prison terms in case of<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=79330&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>France</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/europe/france/</primary_category_link>
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			<media:title type="html">girondins33</media:title>
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		<title>A New Lease on Life for the Mysterious Lost Bank Accounts of Switzerland</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/03/21/a-new-lease-on-life-for-the-mysterious-lost-bank-accounts-of-switzerland/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/03/21/a-new-lease-on-life-for-the-mysterious-lost-bank-accounts-of-switzerland/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:58:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helena Bachmann / Geneva</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[switzerland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=76961</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the most enduring myths associated with Swiss banks is the money of &#8220;unknown&#8221; origin that has been hidden in their coffers for generations. Because of a number of laws enacted in the past 15 years, Switzerland’s financial institutions are now tightly regulated, but at least one mystery still remains: who owns hundreds of millions of dollars&#8217; worth of unclaimed assets languishing in the nation’s banks — and how long will they be kept there? Earlier this month, Switzerland’s parliament set a 62-year deadline for the recovery of unclaimed assets, which are roughly estimated at anywhere from $100 million to $600 million. This means that the banks must keep inactive accounts for six decades after the last contact with the customer, and then turn the assets over to the Swiss government. The new time limit is longer than allowed in most other countries, which liquidate dormant accounts after five to 30 years. And while the deadline is part of larger reforms of the banking sector, it is born out of the scandal that erupted in the 1990s over the dormant World War II accounts stashed in Swiss banks by Jews fleeing Nazi persecution. Because many of these clients perished at the hands of the Nazis, the details of their funds are not known. But an independent international commission established in 1996 to investigate the dormant assets identified at that time 53,886 wartime accounts probably belonging to European Jews. The difficulties Holocaust survivors or their heirs experienced while trying to retrieve their assets sparked international outrage and prompted a 1995 class-action suit against Swiss banks filed by Jewish organizations representing 300,000 Holocaust families. Stories of some bankers stonewalling clients by demanding documents that had often been lost in the war, led to tensions between the U.S. and Switzerland, and even to threats of boycotts of Swiss companies and products. (MORE: Vienna Philharmonic Reveals Nazi Past) The class-action lawsuit culminated in 2000 with a global settlement of $1.25 billion, administered by a special tribunal. Many of the victims stepped forward after the<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=76961&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>switzerland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/europe/switzerland-europe/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/140916297.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">Swiss National Bank News Conference</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">timecontributor9</media:title>
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		<title>Why Two Mass Shootings Will Not Change Swiss Gun Culture</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/03/04/why-two-mass-shootings-will-not-change-swiss-gun-culture/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/03/04/why-two-mass-shootings-will-not-change-swiss-gun-culture/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Mar 2013 09:00:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helena Bachmann / Geneva</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guns]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=72218</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last week&#8217;s shooting at a wood-processing plant in Menznau, Switzerland, which left four people — including the shooter — dead and six others injured, is fueling a recurring debate about the country’s gun policy, one of the most liberal in the world. The issue is even more pertinent these days because the tragedy at the Menznau factory, where an employee armed with a Sphinx AT380 weapon opened fire on his co-workers in the company’s cafeteria, came only weeks after another shooter killed three people and wounded two others in the southern Swiss village of Daillon in early January. Over the weekend, authorities reported that the suspect in the Menznau shooting, who arrived in Switzerland as an asylum seeker from Kosovo in 1991 and became a naturalized Swiss citizen, used his brother’s gun in the rampage. (The perpetrator, whose name was not released, reportedly suffered from psychological problems, and arms permits cannot be issued to people with a history of mental illness.) However, unlike the current emotional debate surrounding gun control in the U.S., the Swiss approach is more dispassionate and pragmatic. Given Switzerland’s long history of what the Swiss proudly call “responsible gun ownership” and a low crime rate, very few voices are calling for drastic measures like an outright ban on privately owned firearms. Instead, the majority of anti-gun activists are urging better control over who buys firearms and for what purpose. (MORE: The Swiss Difference: A Gun Culture That Works) “Ideally, we would like to reduce the number of guns to 1 million within the next seven years,” says Josef Lang, a Green Party parliamentarian who is a member of the anti-gun coalition. “But that would require a national campaign like the one the government launched to fight AIDS, and there is no political will to do that.” One of the reasons there is not more of a push to introduce more restrictive laws is the country’s deeply ingrained gun culture, which is based on an old belief that enemies could invade tiny Switzerland quickly, so every man<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=72218&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
	<primary_category>switzerland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/europe/switzerland-europe/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/517765966.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">SWITZERLAND-CRIME-SHOOTING</media:title>
		</media:content>

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			<media:title type="html">timecontributor7</media:title>
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		<title>Amid the Depardieu Tax Debacle, France&#8217;s Budget Minister Accused of Dodging Taxes</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2013/01/09/amid-the-depardieu-tax-debacle-frances-budget-minister-accused-of-dodging-taxes/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2013/01/09/amid-the-depardieu-tax-debacle-frances-budget-minister-accused-of-dodging-taxes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:14:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bruce Crumley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Borders]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[corruption]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[France]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debt crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[financial crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[François Hollande]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gerard Depardieu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[income tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nicolas Sarkozy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[taxes]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=62884</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Though it may not have the same celebrity appeal as the Gérard Depardieu exile controversy, France now faces another roiling scandal over alleged cross-border tax evasion — this one focusing on Socialist Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac. French justice officials announced on Jan. 8 that they’re launching an inquiry into claims Cahuzac hid money in a secret Swiss account as a tax dodge for nearly 20 years. Cahuzac — whose current job makes him France’s top tax enforcer — energetically denies the allegations, and had previously requested an official investigation he claimed would prove the charges false. That may well be borne out over time. But coming as it does amid swirling headlines of Depardieu’s flight from France to protest rising income taxes, the mere suspicion of a government official having illicitly stashed income away is creating new troubles for beleaguered French President François Hollande in dealing with France&#8217;s financial crisis. (MORE: France’s 75% Income Tax on the Rich Overturned as Unconstitutional) Paris prosecutors said on Tuesday they’d initiated a preliminary investigation for tax evasion based on allegations Cahuzac used a Swiss account to hide money from French finance authorities. The claim was first made in December by French news site Mediapart. Its report cited an audio recording provided by a rival politician, in which Cahuzac is said to discuss the secret account with his financial adviser. The story also maintains funds held in Switzerland were transferred to an even more discreet bank in Singapore in 2010, just before Cahuzac became head of France’s parliamentary finance commission. Cahuzac denies both the accusation and authenticity of the recording, and has said he’s suing Mediapart for slander. His repeated calls for an inquiry he predicts will clear him have now been fulfilled. Contrary to most French legal investigations that endeavor to substantiate responsibility for crimes, the preliminary procedure announced on Tuesday only seeks evidence to establish whether any offense was committed as alleged — not determine guilt. Still, pressure is growing on Hollande to replace Cahuzac. Some opposition politicians have issued reminders of Hollande’s<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=62884&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>France</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/europe/france/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/int-jerome-0109.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">image: France&#039;s newly appointed Junior Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac attends a handover ceremony in Paris, May 17, 2012.</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">girondins33</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>The Swiss Difference: A Gun Culture That Works</title>
		<link>http://world.time.com/2012/12/20/the-swiss-difference-a-gun-culture-that-works/</link>
		<comments>http://world.time.com/2012/12/20/the-swiss-difference-a-gun-culture-that-works/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Dec 2012 05:08:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helena Bachmann / Geneva</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[switzerland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gun control]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Newtown]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://world.time.com/?p=60493</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Even as the gun-control debate rises again in the U.S. in the aftermath of the horrific school shooting in Newtown, Conn., the gun-loving Swiss are not about to lay down their arms. Guns are ubiquitous in this neutral nation, with sharpshooting considered a fun and wholesome recreational activity for people of all ages. Even though Switzerland has not been involved in an armed conflict since a standoff between Catholics and Protestants in 1847, the Swiss are very serious not only about their right to own weapons but also to carry them around in public. Because of this general acceptance and even pride in gun ownership, nobody bats an eye at the sight of a civilian riding a bus, bike or motorcycle to the shooting range, with a rifle slung across the shoulder. (MORE: The World&#8217;s Best &#8212; and Worst &#8212; Places to Live) “We will never change our attitude about the responsible use of weapons by law-abiding citizens,” says Hermann Suter, vice president of Pro-Tell, the country’s gun lobby, named after legendary apple shooter William Tell, who used a crossbow to target enemies long before firearms were invented. Switzerland trails behind only the U.S, Yemen and Serbia in the number of guns per capita; between 2.3 million and 4.5 million military and private firearms are estimated to be in circulation in a country of only 8 million people. Yet, despite the prevalence of guns, the violent-crime rate is low: government figures show about 0.5 gun homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2010. By comparison, the U.S rate in the same year was about 5 firearm killings per 100,000 people, according to a 2011 U.N. report. Unlike some other heavily armed nations, Switzerland’s gun ownership is deeply rooted in a sense of patriotic duty and national identity. Weapons are kept at home because of the long-held belief that enemies could invade tiny Switzerland quickly, so every soldier had to be able to fight his way to his regiment&#8217;s assembly point. (Switzerland was at risk of being invaded by Germany during World War II but<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=world.time.com&#038;blog=19871253&#038;post=60493&#038;subd=timeglobalspin&#038;ref=&#038;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
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	<primary_category>switzerland</primary_category><primary_category_link>http://world.time.com/category/europe/switzerland-europe/</primary_category_link><featured_image>http://timeglobalspin.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/int-switzerland-guns-1218.jpg?w=240</featured_image>
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			<media:title type="html">image: Swiss marksmen shoot with their rifles at targets over 300 metres away in a field during the &#039;Eidgenoessisches Feldschiessen&#039; (annual shooting skills exercise) on the Aeschlenalp near Bern, June 6, 2009.</media:title>
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