Swiss Info
Fri, 27 May 2022 07:26:14 GMTSwiss to destroy more than 620,000 doses of expired Covid vaccine
Around 620,000 doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine stored in Switzerland have expired. Of these, 200,000 are in cantonal refrigerators and 420,500 are being held by the army. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) confirmed a report by Swiss p...
Thu, 26 May 2022 14:59:00 GMTWEF gathering wraps with no major security incident
The first meeting of the World Economic Forum to take place in springtime ended on Thursday in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos the way it began – with talk about the war in Ukraine. In a speech, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russia had alrea...
Thu, 26 May 2022 10:51:00 GMTEnd 'beauty cult' to cut food waste, says WWF
About 40% of all the food produced in the world is never consumed, says the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). In Switzerland, 330kg of food per person goes in the bin every year, according to the Swiss arm of the environmental charity. The 40% of uneaten f...
Wed, 25 May 2022 16:05:00 GMTSwiss move to confiscate assets of ally of ex-Ukrainian leader
The Swiss government is looking to seize over CHF100 million ($104 million) in assets from an associate of former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich. The “administrative confiscation proceedings” concern assets of Yuriy Ivanyushchenko and his...
Wed, 25 May 2022 13:43:00 GMTSwiss draw up targets for UN Security Council term
If Switzerland is successfully voted onto the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term, the government wants to focus its diplomatic efforts on peace and climate change. On Wednesday the executive published a list of four priorities if Sw...
Wed, 25 May 2022 10:33:00 GMTWorst winter in a decade for Swiss bee colonies
Over a fifth of bee colonies in Switzerland did not survive the winter of 2021-2022, the national umbrella organisation for beekeepers reported on Wednesday. The 1,384 beekeepers surveyed by apisuisse reported total colony losses of 21.4% over the w...
Wed, 25 May 2022 09:07:00 GMTSecond case of monkeypox reported in Switzerland
The number of confirmed cases of the monkeypox virus in Switzerland has risen to two. The second case was detected in a person in Geneva, who was contaminated during a trip abroad. The infected person is currently in isolation and “his general con...
Wed, 25 May 2022 07:51:00 GMTFinance minister rules out state support to cope with inflation
Swiss Finance Minister Ueli Maurer has spoken out against government support for consumers affected by higher energy prices. “Petrol prices are affordable in wealthy Switzerland,” he told the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper on Wednesday. The governmen...
Tue, 24 May 2022 13:57:00 GMTParliamentary body critical of Swiss pandemic preparedness
The Swiss government’s reaction to the arrival of Covid-19 in spring 2020 was too passive, a parliamentary audit committee has said. But it concluded that the handling of the first pandemic wave was generally “satisfactory”. “The government ...
Tue, 24 May 2022 07:33:48 GMTRussian diplomat in Switzerland resigns over invasion of Ukraine
A Russian diplomat at the country’s permanent mission at the United Nations in Geneva has said he is leaving his post because of his disagreement with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. He hopes the Swiss government will help him. “I went to the mi...
Mon, 23 May 2022 10:38:00 GMTWEF: Ukraine president calls for sanctions and reconstruction offers
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for “maximum” sanctions against Russia in a speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. He also urged “all countries” to come forward with offers for reconstruction in Ukraine. In a vi...
Mon, 23 May 2022 07:55:00 GMTSwitzerland and Germany seek to conclude gas solidarity deal
Swiss and German ministers have agreed to negotiate a solidarity agreement to help each other with gas supply issues in an emergency. The announcement was made on the side lines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting taking place in Davos. “We ...
Sun, 22 May 2022 17:23:00 GMTSwiss open World Health Assembly with conflict healthcare plea
Switzerland’s Health Minister Alain Berset has opened the 75th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva with a call for healthcare access to be guaranteed in conflicts, as the war in Ukraine unfolds. The WHA is the top decision-making body of the wor...
Sun, 22 May 2022 12:35:00 GMTMonkeypox medication not authorised in Switzerland
The antiviral drug tecovirimat and the latest generation smallpox vaccine – which both help against monkeypox and are authorised in the European Union – are not available in Switzerland, the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper has reported. The news comes ...
Sun, 22 May 2022 10:28:00 GMTMore hot days ahead, warns weather expert
A top meteorologist has told the SonntagsZeitung that new summer heat records are “very likely” in Switzerland. This might cost the country hundreds of millions of Swiss francs in productivity in the long-run, the newspapers warns. “The chance...
Sat, 21 May 2022 15:29:00 GMTSwiss confirm first case of monkeypox
Switzerland has detected its first case of monkeypox in canton Bern, health officials said on Saturday evening. The case has been confirmed by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) in a tweet. "Currently, an accumulation of monkeypox infection...
Sat, 21 May 2022 14:14:00 GMTSwiss elected chair of top European research universities group
University of Geneva Rector Yves Flückiger has been elected chair of the League of European Research Universities (LERU). The move comes at a time of uncertainty over Switzerland's future in the European research funding programme Horizon Europe. "...
Sat, 21 May 2022 11:29:00 GMTDolphins use coral ‘clinics’ for skincare
Dolphins are rubbing up against certain types of coral to help alleviate skin conditions, research by a Swiss and German team suggests. The findings, published in the iScience journal this week, have shown that these corals have medicinal properties...
Fri, 20 May 2022 15:18:00 GMTSwiss households braced for 20% electricity price hike
Electricity prices are expected to leap by as much as 20% for many Swiss households and businesses this year, according to a survey of power providers. The ongoing war in Ukraine is expected to heap further pressure on costs, said the Swiss Associat...
Fri, 20 May 2022 14:29:00 GMTRefugee ‘crypto millionaire’ faces Swiss money laundering probe
Swiss prosecutors have launched a money laundering investigation against a refugee who claims to have made millions from cryptocurrency trading. Dadvan Yousuf, 22, generated media headlines last year with his rags-to-riches story since fleeing to Sw...
Fri, 20 May 2022 12:59:00 GMTSwiss financial firms close down Moscow offices
Zurich Insurance Group and Julius Bär bank have announced plans to abandon their Moscow offices amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Zurich said on Friday that it would sell its Russian subsidiary in a management buyout. “Under its new owners, the bu...
Fri, 20 May 2022 12:32:00 GMTUyghurs in focus as UN human rights chief visits China
Michelle Bachelet will become the first United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit China since 2005 during a six-day official mission that starts on May 23. Bachelet will visit Guangzhou, Kashgar and Urumqi, the capital city of the X...
Fri, 20 May 2022 11:21:00 GMTSwiss doctors adopt tighter assisted suicide guidelines
New regulations for doctors dealing with euthanasia cases have been criticised as too harsh and difficult to implement by assisted suicide organisations. The guidelines agreed yesterday by the Swiss Medical Association notably state that “assisted...
Thu, 19 May 2022 14:15:00 GMTUS ambassador praises Swiss efforts to freeze Russian money
The US ambassador to Switzerland has praised the “immense progress” made by Switzerland in the search for Russian funds in Swiss banks. The United States is very pleased with the efforts Switzerland has made so far to find the funds of Russians ...
Thu, 19 May 2022 09:41:00 GMTSwiss to re-open Ukraine embassy
Switzerland is re-opening its embassy in Kyiv, with five staff members set to return to the Ukrainian capital, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. The embassy was closed at the end of February, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to fears o...
Thu, 19 May 2022 09:26:55 GMTSwiss plan to let spy agency snoop on security risk financial flows
The Swiss government has proposed letting its spy agency penetrate the country’s famous banking secrecy to snoop on financial transactions that it suspects are funding terrorism, espionage or violent extremism. Unveiling a draft amendment of the i...
Thu, 19 May 2022 08:58:00 GMTGovernment wants to buy fighter jets without public vote
The Swiss government wants to finalise the purchase of new US-built fighter jets before March 2023, without waiting for a possible public vote on the issue. The seven-member body said on Wednesday that the “deteriorating security situation” call...
Wed, 18 May 2022 16:34:00 GMTGermany’s Scholz and NATO’s Stoltenberg to attend Davos WEF meeting
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will be among the leaders at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, which starts on Sunday after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 50 heads...
Wed, 18 May 2022 14:55:00 GMTSwiss government presents plans to boost gas reserves
The Swiss government has outlined its plans to boost gas storage capacity in neighbouring countries to secure supplies ahead of winter. Gas makes up roughly 15% of Switzerland’s final energy consumption and is mostly used for heating and cooking. ...
Wed, 18 May 2022 14:40:00 GMTComplicity in crimes against humanity: court upholds charge against Lafarge
A Paris appeals court has confirmed that the cement firm Lafarge must face charges of complicity in crimes against humanity over alleged payoffs to Islamic State group and other jihadist groups during Syria's civil war. Lafarge is now part of the Swi...