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Swiss Info

Sat, 14 May 2022 13:07:00 GMT
Swiss families ride for better bicycle paths
Several thousand people in Switzerland have called for safe bicycle routes as part of international family bike ride events. The week-end of protests began in Basel on Saturday followed by similar activities in seven other Swiss cities and towns as ...

Sat, 14 May 2022 10:06:00 GMT
Swiss seek cooperation with US on cyber security defence
Defence Minister Viola Amherd has held talks with United States government representatives on international security cooperation. Amherd said the Russian invasions of Ukraine made it clear that Switzerland should seek closer cooperation, including t...

Fri, 13 May 2022 14:17:00 GMT
No liability for monitoring social media comments, Swiss court rules
Social media account holders are not legally responsible for monitoring comments that others make on their posts, a Swiss court has decided. The verdict came during a test case against former rightwing parliamentarian Yvan Perrin, whose Facebook pos...

Fri, 13 May 2022 10:44:00 GMT
Switzerland consumes nearly three planets’ worth of natural resources
Switzerland has already consumed its fair share of the planet’s natural resources for the entire year, according to an NGO that compares the performance of numerous countries. From May 13, Switzerland is taking more biocapacity than planet Earth c...

Fri, 13 May 2022 10:41:00 GMT
Switzerland gives green light to Moderna's Covid vaccine for 6-11 year olds
The Swiss medical regulator Swissmedic has approved Moderna’s Spikevax Covid-19 vaccine for use by children aged 6 to 11 years. The approval is for the vaccine’s two-dose series of 50 micrograms per dose, Moderna added. These are administered at...

Fri, 13 May 2022 08:12:00 GMT
Former UBS banker loses appeal over selling data to Germany
The Swiss Federal Court has dismissed an appeal by a former UBS banker who had been convicted of industrial espionage and other charges for passing secret bank data about wealthy clients to the German tax authorities. The former employee was sentenc...

Fri, 13 May 2022 07:21:00 GMT
Switzerland releases CHF3 billion of frozen Russian assets
The Swiss government has confirmed that CHF6.3 billion ($6.33 billion) worth of Russian assets remain frozen under sanctions to punish Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. This represents a drop from early April as CHF3.4 billion in provisionally blocked as...

Thu, 12 May 2022 15:06:00 GMT
Swiss marmots communicate in regional dialects
Swiss-German speakers are known to converse in distinctive regional dialects, but the phenomenon has now been found to extend to marmots – a rodent commonly found in alpine regions. A study of different marmot groups in cantons Bern and Graubünde...

Thu, 12 May 2022 13:28:00 GMT
Financier demands Swiss re-open Magnitsky fraud probe
Swiss prosecutors should re-examine a money laundering case linked to the death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, says the British-US financier Bill Browder who brought the original complaint. Browder accuses the Swiss Attorney General of turning ...

Thu, 12 May 2022 11:56:00 GMT
Swiss remain divided over 5G rollout
Swiss opinion over the expansion of the 5G telecommunications network is still split down the middle, according to the latest survey on the subject. The Swiss government is convinced that the new technology poses minimal health risks and is committe...

Thu, 12 May 2022 10:01:00 GMT
Absurdist pop pioneer Yello wins Swiss music prize
The Swiss electronic duo Yello - Dieter Meier and Boris Blank - will receive the Grand Prix Music 2022, presented by the Federal Office of Culture and worth CHF100,000 ($100,400). The pioneering band, best known for their 1985 hit Oh Yeah (which fea...

Thu, 12 May 2022 07:38:00 GMT
Swiss universities receive hundreds of requests from Ukrainian refugees 
Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees who have fled the war-torn country have contacted Swiss universities to attend classes. The University of Zurich confirmed to the Keystone-SDA News Agency on Wednesday that “several hundred” Ukrainian refugees had...

Wed, 11 May 2022 15:49:00 GMT
Swiss seek migration deal with Georgia
Switzerland and Georgia have agreed a declaration of intent for a partnership on migration. On a visit to Tbilisi, Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding to govern various aspects of the planned cooper...

Wed, 11 May 2022 13:46:00 GMT
Panel to judge looted Nazi art makes headway
Plans for an independent commission to judge looted Nazi art have won initial backing from the Swiss parliament. The House of Representatives unanimously agreed to call on the government to set up a panel, which issues recommendations in cases of cu...

Wed, 11 May 2022 08:45:45 GMT
EU asks for written responses from Switzerland to advance talks
The European Union has asked Switzerland to send written responses to a series of open questions as talks seem unable to resolve the current political impasse and to advance negotiations on individual agreements. According to Swiss public broadcaste...

Tue, 10 May 2022 16:30:00 GMT
Swiss pledges more aid for victims of Syria conflict
Switzerland has announced it will contribute another CHF60 million ($60.5 million) in humanitarian aid to Syria and its neighbouring countries in the Middle East. The money is destined for projects to protect the civilian populations, give people ea...

Tue, 10 May 2022 12:52:00 GMT
Swiss parliament to tighten media curbs
The Swiss parliament has agreed in principle to boost the right of individuals to block potentially damaging publications. The House of Representatives on Tuesday followed the Senate in approving a reform of the code of civil procedure. It foresees...

Tue, 10 May 2022 10:26:00 GMT
Reported economic crime on the rise
Courts in Switzerland dealt with 68 major cases of white-collar crime last year causing losses of CHF567 million ($571 million), according to a new survey by a leading consultancy firm. That’s a 30% increase in the number of cases compared with 20...

Tue, 10 May 2022 08:14:49 GMT
Swiss art collector’s Warhol sells for record $195 million
Andy Warhol’s 1964 “Shot Sage Blue Marilyn” has become the most expensive painting from the 20th century ever auctioned. The iconic work previously belonged in the collection of Swiss art dealers Thomas and Doris Ammann. The painting, one of a...

Mon, 9 May 2022 15:19:00 GMT
Support grows for proposed Swiss army budget hike
Swiss military spending should increase from CHF5.6 billion ($5.7 billion) a year to around CHF7 billion, according to one of Switzerland’s parliamentary chambers. The House of Representatives on Monday voted to increase the budget to at least one...

Mon, 9 May 2022 10:05:19 GMT
EU ambassador: Switzerland won’t get ‘special treatment’
Switzerland won’t receive any preferential treatment over European Union member states warned the EU ambassador to Switzerland, Petros Mavromichalis. “The single market is a key strength of the EU. We would weaken the internal market if we allow...

Sun, 8 May 2022 12:18:00 GMT
Stop organic farming to help future food crisis, says Syngenta boss
Erik Fyrwald, the CEO of the Swiss agrochemicals group Syngenta, has called for an end to organic farming to avoid a worsening food crisis. The president of the Swiss Small Farmers’ Association meanwhile dismissed his arguments as “grotesque”. ...

Sun, 8 May 2022 10:14:00 GMT
Ex-banker avoids deportation to Russia due to war in Ukraine
The former Russian banker Oleg Schigajew, who has been fighting extradition from Switzerland to Russia on embezzlement charges, can stay in the Alpine country as legal proceedings against him have been stopped. On Sunday, the NZZ am Sonntag confirme...

Sat, 7 May 2022 10:52:00 GMT
EU commissioner warns against Swiss ‘no’ vote on European border agency
The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, has warned of the negative consequences if Swiss citizens vote against raising Switzerland’s contribution to Frontex, the European border agency. A nationwide vote is planned on the issue ...

Sat, 7 May 2022 10:00:00 GMT
Swiss parliamentarians refuse to overhaul banking secrecy laws
Despite earlier criticism from a United Nations expert and campaign groups, a Swiss parliamentary committee on Friday blocked an attempt to overhaul strict Swiss banking secrecy rules. An addition to Article 47 of Switzerland’s Banking Act makes i...

Sat, 7 May 2022 09:05:00 GMT
Half a tonne of cocaine seized at Swiss Nespresso factory
Swiss police have seized more than 500kg of cocaine concealed in a container shipped from Brazil to the Nespresso factory in the town of Romont in western Switzerland. The drugs were discovered by workers unloading bags of coffee beans on May 2 and ...

Fri, 6 May 2022 14:18:00 GMT
Swiss cantons call for federal crisis taskforce
The Swiss government should set up a crisis management team to help deal with emergencies like the coronavirus pandemic, say cantons. The recommendation arises from a cantonal assessment of the response to the pandemic over the last two years. The r...

Fri, 6 May 2022 11:09:00 GMT
Ceremony marks new Swiss embassy to Holy See
The new Swiss embassy to the Vatican at the Holy See has been inaugurated and will start operating in the coming months. Since 2014, Swiss diplomatic links with the Vatican have been conducted through the Swiss ambassador in Slovenia. On Friday, Swi...

Thu, 5 May 2022 13:31:00 GMT
New Swiss stamp smells like campfire
Swiss Post has issued a special postage stamp to commemorate the national Guide and Scout Movement. With a face value of CHF1.10 ($1.10), the stamp smells of smoke and marks the National Jamboree that only takes place every 14 years, Swiss Post said...

Thu, 5 May 2022 11:12:00 GMT
Easy procedures lead to rise in reported cyberattacks
Switzerland’s competence centre for cybersecurity says attacks on computer systems more than doubled last year compared with 2020. The sharp increase to 21,712 cases from 10,833 might be due to simplified reporting procedures, the National Cyber S...



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