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Swiss Info

Thu, 7 Jan 2021 08:51:43 GMT
Swiss logistics firm to distribute Moderna Covid vaccine globally
Swiss company Kühne+Nagel has concluded a distribution and storage agreement for the Covid-19 vaccine developed by the American biotech firm. On Thursday, Kühne+Nagel announced that it will ensure the worldwide distribution of the Moderna vaccine...

Wed, 6 Jan 2021 17:22:30 GMT
Solothurn Film Festival set for ‘home edition’
The Solothurn Film Festival will take place online, the organisers have confirmed. They are putting a positive spin on the situation and are talking of a “democratisation of culture”. A programme of 170 films of all genres, lengths and languages...

Wed, 6 Jan 2021 15:44:00 GMT
Covid: Swiss government plans further restrictions
Restaurants and leisure venues in Switzerland look set to remain closed until March in a bid to halt an expected rise in Covid-19 infections. Interior Minister Alain Berset said the pandemic situation in Switzerland was serious despite restrictions ...

Wed, 6 Jan 2021 15:01:59 GMT
Switzerland hit by widespread malware campaign
Several security bodies in Switzerland have been targeted by emails that appear to come from official organisations such as banks or the police and contain a password for a zip file. When this file is opened, the computer becomes infected with a troj...

Wed, 6 Jan 2021 11:40:00 GMT
Retail sector set for dipping sales figures
Food retailers in Switzerland are bracing themselves for lower sales figures this year as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. Swiss bank Credit Suisse has forecast a 6% drop in sales for the food sector in 2021, following an exceptional 2020 which was ...

Wed, 6 Jan 2021 10:47:21 GMT
Zurich Airport introduces quick saliva tests for Covid-19
Passengers departing from Switzerland’s main airport of Zurich will from Thursday be able to test themselves for Covid-19 by saliva sample, rather than nasal swabs. The result should be available within around five hours, rather than 24 to 48 hours...

Wed, 6 Jan 2021 08:33:00 GMT
Abuse of young sportspeople is frequent, says survey
One in five young sportsmen and women in the western French-speaking part of Switzerland has suffered some form of violence, according to a survey by the University of Lausanne. While psychological abuse, including denigration, threats and punishmen...

Tue, 5 Jan 2021 15:40:44 GMT
Pandemic takes toll on winter sports operators 
The Jungfraubahn lift company, which carries people to the top destination in the Bernese Alps, recorded a drop of more than 65% in visitors last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Its visitors totalled only 362,800 people in 2020, compared wi...

Tue, 5 Jan 2021 14:39:00 GMT
More variant Covid-19 carriers detected in Switzerland
Some 28 people in seven Swiss cantons have tested positive for mutated strains of the Covid-19 virus. This is not enough to recommend tightened measures against the pandemic, but experts are concerned that a minority of cases have had no contact with...

Tue, 5 Jan 2021 12:33:00 GMT
Charity works overtime to support Covid-stricken mountain firms
A Swiss fund that supports small businesses in alpine regions bailed out 100 firms last year that were affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Schweizer Berghilfe (Swiss Mountain Aid) doled out an extra CHF2 million ($2.26 million) to support Covid-hit...

Tue, 5 Jan 2021 11:13:47 GMT
Swiss App aims to counter hate speech online 
Women’s organisation Alliance F has launched a first Swiss App to track and counter hate speech on the Internet with the help of a volunteer community. The platform, launched on Tuesday, uses technology developed by the Federal Institute of Techn...

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 17:33:00 GMT
Covid-19 drives new car sales down to historic low
The Swiss automobile industry registered its worst result in over 40 years, as the number of new cars hitting the road in 2020 fell by a quarter compared to the previous year. A total of 236,828 new cars were sold last year, the import association A...

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 16:06:00 GMT
Switzerland to pull plug on FM radio by 2023
The radio industry has reached an agreement on turning off its analogue FM transmitters, with the public broadcaster expected to make the definitive switch to digital in mid-2022. Private radio stations will follow suit by January 2023. The end of v...

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 12:57:00 GMT
Covid-19: school closures ‘could be an option’
Many pupils in Switzerland are returning to school after the holidays on Monday, unlike in some neighbouring countries, which have delayed return over fears of worsening outbreaks. Concerns are that more contact among friends and family over the Chr...

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 11:19:00 GMT
Record number of Swiss companies launched in 2020
The coronavirus pandemic failed to halt a decade-long steady growth in entrepreneurs, who last year founded more new companies than ever in Switzerland. A total of 46,842 new firms were added to the Swiss Commercial Register in 2020: an increase of ...

Mon, 4 Jan 2021 08:18:00 GMT
Swiss authorities accused of dragging feet over Covid vaccinations
Switzerland has been criticised for its “hesitant” vaccine purchase strategy and slow vaccine rollout. “Switzerland has been playing too tactically and has only ordered from potential manufacturers a fraction of the vaccine it really needs,”...

Sun, 3 Jan 2021 17:24:00 GMT
South African Covid variant reported in southern Switzerland
Health officials in Italian-speaking Switzerland have reported their first case of the South African mutation of the coronavirus. Switzerland has documented at least three cases of the South African variant and ten cases of the variant from Britain, ...

Sun, 3 Jan 2021 14:38:00 GMT
OECD should focus on climate crisis and inequality, says Hildebrand
Former Swiss National Bank Chairman Philipp Hildebrand, who has been nominated to lead the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), says the Paris-based organisation can play a key role in the area of green investment. In his fi...

Sun, 3 Jan 2021 10:40:00 GMT
Swiss minister outlines initiative to stop violence against women
Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter has announced a new national initiative to better protect women against sexual and domestic violence. “I want a roadmap to prevent violence against women that shows where the federal government and the cantons ...

Sat, 2 Jan 2021 13:15:00 GMT
European chub named Fish of the Year
The European chub, or squalius cephalus, has been crowned Switzerland’s Fish of the Year for 2021. The Swiss Fishing Federation said on Saturday that it had chosen the freshwater fish species as “encouraging proof of the resilience of nature”....

Fri, 1 Jan 2021 12:39:00 GMT
Swiss president: ‘We must not give up’
After a difficult year dominated by the coronavirus pandemic, Switzerland’s new president, Guy Parmelin, has called for national unity to help overcome the many uncertainties ahead. “Our country, like so many others, has had a dark year. The hea...

Fri, 1 Jan 2021 10:24:00 GMT
Switzerland’s New Year's revelries muted by Covid-19
The Swiss said goodbye to 2020 in a quieter, more intimate fashion. Measures taken to contain the pandemic curtailed celebrations, with official events and fireworks cancelled and large gatherings banned. This New Year’s Eve was celebrated like no...

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 15:45:00 GMT
Government calls for swift decision on Crypto export licences
The Swiss government has instructed the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to examine and approve the suspended export applications for encryption devices and modules in connection with the Crypto spying affair, provided the relevant requi...

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 11:00:00 GMT
Swiss government photo for 2021 emphasises cohesion
The Federal Council photo for 2021 shows the seven cabinet members and the Federal Chancellor as a unit. The parliament building in Bern can be seen in the background. “It is important to me that in these difficult times we take a new look at seem...

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 16:02:00 GMT
Ticino architect Luigi Snozzi dies
Luigi Snozzi, considered the leader of the so-called new Ticino school of architecture, has died aged 88 in Minusio, southern Switzerland. Snozzi died on Tuesday at the Casa Rea old people’s home in Minusio, according to Swiss public radio, RSI. T...

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 13:03:22 GMT
Swiss continue search for absconded British tourists
Swiss cantons are still trying to identify tourists from the UK and South Africa who are staying in their resorts or who fled to escape Covid quarantine. Canton Valais, home to many popular ski resorts such as Verbier and Zermatt, is struggling. At ...

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 11:58:51 GMT
Swiss government decides against further Covid restrictions
The government says the epidemiological situation in Switzerland remains worrying, but it believes the measures taken on December 18 are appropriate and do not need to be tightened. In a statement on Wednesday it said would continue to monitor devel...

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 10:26:42 GMT
Swiss Air Force finally on call around the clock
The Swiss Air Force will be on standby 24/7 from Thursday, when two F/A-18 fighter jets will be ready to take off, fully armed, within 15 minutes. The pilots spent nearly a month practising night-time aerial manoeuvres in Britain. Calls for greater ...

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 14:45:05 GMT
Covid taskforce: ‘Switzerland must get out of the risk zone’
The Swiss government’s Covid-19 scientific taskforce has called for an immediate reduction in the “sad” number of cases and for widespread testing of the population. “With 80 deaths a day, we rank seventh in the world. It is essential to get...

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 07:39:50 GMT
Swiss want more digital services from the state
Digitalisation is increasing pressure on state authorities, with almost three-quarters of Swiss expecting more digital services from the authorities, according to a survey by consultants Deloitte. Whether it’s paying parking fines or obtaining mot...



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