Switzerland elects female president BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Swiss politicians elected Interior Minister Ruth Dreifuss Wednesday as the country's president for 1999, making her the first woman ever to lead the Swiss government. Her election came nearly 30 years after Swiss women won the right to vote. Dreifuss' religion - she also is the first Jewish president - has never been an issue, even though the government has reported an increase in anti-Semitism in Switzerland. The rise is attributed to pressure from international Jewish organizations to compensate the heirs of Holocaust victims who left assets in Swiss banks. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557544848-6a2> *** Also: Swiss agree to change name of wine, see full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557547886-1a9> Conservation group buys forest land MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - A conservation group struck a $76.2 million deal with a paper company to buy 296,000 acres of forest and wilderness land that stretch across three Northeast states. The Conservation Fund called it the "largest public-private, multi-state partnership in U.S. history." The deal, announced Wednesday, had been in discussions for a year. The land in northern Vermont, New Hampshire and New York was sold by the Champion International paper company. It includes rich forests, mountains and untouched rivers. Conservation and paper company officials said the goal was to preserve the rural way of life of the forested region. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2557544707-0b2>
