Switzerland's Greens fail in a long-shot bid to enter the national government

BERLIN (AP) — Switzerland’s environmentalist Greens failed in a long-shot bid to enter the national government Wednesday as lawmakers elected a new center-left minister to the Alpine country’s executive Federal Council.

Parliament met in Bern to elect the seven-member governing council following a September election that saw the country’s strongest political force, the nationalist Swiss People’s Party, rebound from losses four years earlier and two environmentally minded parties lose ground.