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Swiss Info

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 07:12:00 GMT
Swiss Solidarity has sent CHF30 million in aid to Ukraine
Six months on from the Russian invasion, the Swiss Solidarity charity has financed 54 projects to the tune of CHF30 million ($31.1 million) to help people affected in and around Ukraine. The total numbers of those in Ukraine who have received some f...

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 15:07:00 GMT
Switzerland calls for return of Crimea to Ukraine
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has again called for Russia to end hostilities and withdraw from Ukraine, including the Crimea territory it has occupied for eight years. In a video address on the Crimea Platform, Cassis condemned Russia’s in...

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 11:08:00 GMT
Switzerland banks on hydropower reserve to combat energy crunch
The Swiss Federal Electricity Commission (Elcom) has laid out plans to hold back hydropower reserves to help compensate for anticipated energy shortages this winter. Elcom wants hydropower operators to hold back up to 666 gigawatt hours of electrici...

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 10:04:00 GMT
Zurich airport bounces back to profit after pandemic
Switzerland’s busiest airport has posted a CHF55 million ($57 million) net profit for the first six months of the year as post-pandemic air travel picks up. By comparison, Zurich airport made a CHF45 million loss in the corresponding period of 202...

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 09:55:00 GMT
Water quality in Swiss rivers and lakes improves
Swimmable “practically everywhere”, but in some places still too many chemical traces: a national study of Swiss water paints a largely positive picture. Thanks to measures taken over the past decades, notably in waste-water treatment, only a mi...

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 09:39:00 GMT
Novartis job cuts to heavily impact management roles
Of the 1,400 job cuts announced by the pharma giant in Switzerland, up to half of them will involve staff in leadership positions, the company said on Monday. For these executive roles, the consultation process has been finalised, and the first indi...

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 16:20:00 GMT
Photos show Swiss glaciers shrinking by half
Switzerland’s glaciers lost half of their volume between 1931 and 2016, according to analysis of historical national survey photographs. Researchers at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow an...

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:24:00 GMT
Suspected ATM thief charged with possessing explosives
A Dutch national has been charged by federal prosecutors for going equipped to blow up cash machines in Switzerland. The 51-year-old was stopped by customs officers last November whilst driving a stolen car into Switzerland from the Netherlands via ...

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 12:05:00 GMT
Swiss minister urges calm over energy shortage fears
The threat of energy shortages in Switzerland this winter should not be over-dramatised, Economics Minister Guy Parmelin has said in response to growing calls at the weekend for government action. A number of business groups and left-leaning politic...

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 08:57:00 GMT
Ukrainian refugees still welcome in many private Swiss homes
Six months after the Russian invasion, the commitment of Swiss citizens who took in Ukrainian refugees is proving more persistent than expected, a media report says. Quoting an estimate by the inter-cantonal social services body, Tamedia publication...

Sun, 21 Aug 2022 16:45:00 GMT
Petition for vaccine against monkeypox gains force
A petition calling for Switzerland to take more action against monkeypox, including vaccinating against the disease, has gathered more than 5,500 signatures, Swiss public television SRF reported on Sunday. Switzerland has recorded almost 400 cases o...

Sun, 21 Aug 2022 13:52:00 GMT
Demand grows for morning-after pill
The demand for the morning-after pill has doubled in Switzerland within four years, figures seen by the SonntagsZeitung show. In 2021, pharmacies sold more than 105,000 of the emergency birth control contraception, compared with 52,000 pills in 2017...

Sun, 21 Aug 2022 11:42:00 GMT
Blood shortage forces Swiss to consider their options
Several European countries have relaxed their blood donation restrictions, but Switzerland still lags behind, reports Swiss public broadcaster, RTS. Change may be ahead, however. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in a blood shortage in many countri...

Sun, 21 Aug 2022 09:34:00 GMT
Concerns raised over looming energy shortage
Leading voices from business and politics have called on the Swiss government – and in particular economy minister Guy Parmelin – to do more about possible energy and gas shortages over the winter. The energy shortage is “imminent”, Roger No...

Sat, 20 Aug 2022 15:06:00 GMT
Another diphtheria case reported
A teenager has been diagnosed with a form of diphtheria at a centre for asylum seekers in canton Neuchâtel – the latest in a series of diphtheria cases in Switzerland this August. Medical tests were undertaken on the adolescent in the Boudry asyl...

Sat, 20 Aug 2022 10:34:00 GMT
Swiss prepare for energy shortage ‘extreme scenarios’
The Swiss government and cantons are aiming to be prepared for “extreme scenarios” in the face of possible energy shortages this winter, a top cantonal security official says. For example, a power grid shutdown or blackout would have far-reachin...

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 16:25:49 GMT
Swiss and German virologists raise hopes of nasal coronavirus vaccine
Swiss and German virologists working on a nasal vaccine for Covid-19 say such a technique could be much more effective against the virus, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reports on Friday. The ideal 100% immunity is almost impossible to achieve with vi...

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 15:51:21 GMT
Swiss Abroad community grows and evolves
Some 788,000 Swiss nationals were registered with Swiss representations abroad in 2021, a number that has grown in recent years, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). If the Swiss abroad community were a canton, it would be Switzerland...

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 14:56:11 GMT
Developer invests CH170 million in new Swiss tourist resort
The Andermatt Swiss Alps (ASA) company, majority owned by Egyptian financier Samih Sawiris, is to build a new 1,800-bed Alpine resort in the Sedrun region in southeast Switzerland. The complex in an undeveloped area of Dieni village will include 13 ...

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 10:56:48 GMT
Swiss mountain canton offers payout to be featured in films
The southwestern Swiss canton of Valais has become the first to pay producers to film its landscapes and villages. Valais is ready to pay up to CHF100,000 ($104,000) per project, Swiss public broadcaster RTS reports on Friday. The Valais Film Commis...

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 09:09:53 GMT
Swiss hearing aid giant Sonova acquires Chinese HYSOUND group
The Stäfa-based multinational has acquired one of the largest chains of audiological care clinics in China. Announcing the acquisition on Friday, Sonova said it would allow the Swiss firm to expand its footprint in China, as HYSOUND has around 200...

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 07:17:45 GMT
Geneva International Motor Show cancels 2023 event
For the fourth consecutive year, organisers of the Geneva International Motor Show have decided to shelve the event owing to external factors. The announcement to cancel the event, scheduled for February 14-19 at the Geneva Palexpo Centre, was made...

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 16:37:00 GMT
Complaint filed over attack on Swiss journalist in Ukraine
A civil rights group has filed a criminal complaint in Switzerland over the alleged attack of a Swiss journalist by Russian troops in Ukraine. The Ukrainian NGO Truth Hounds said on Thursday that it has submitted evidence of a war crime with the Swi...

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 13:54:00 GMT
Red tape frustrates efforts to hire Ukrainian refugees
Swiss companies have urged the authorities to help them hire more Ukrainian refugees by granting more flexible work permits and offering language courses. Some 60,000 Ukrainians have been awarded special S status permits giving them refuge from the ...

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 11:31:00 GMT
Swiss climate ambitions need huge coordinated effort, say scientists
Switzerland’s target of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is a massive undertaking that will require coordinated action by politicians, industry and the public, according to the Swiss Academy of Sciences. The body representing all scienc...

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 09:19:02 GMT
Cannabis trial: Basel pharmacies to charge black-market prices
The first Swiss project on the legal sale of cannabis in pharmacies will start on September 15 in canton Basel City. Hemp users over 18 can now register to take part, with the number of participants limited to 370. Six cannabinoid products – four ...

Thu, 18 Aug 2022 07:17:13 GMT
Giant megalodon shark could eat prey the size of killer whales
The megalodon, a giant shark that roamed the oceans millions of years ago, is famous for its teeth the size of a human fist. Otherwise, however, little fossil evidence exists. Scientists in Zurich have now helped create a 3D computer model of its ent...

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 15:23:00 GMT
Swiss join EU to put Ukraine’s ex-president on sanctions list
Switzerland has adopted European Union sanctions against the former Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, and his son Olkesandr. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said the pair was put on a list of travel and financial sanctions to...

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 13:08:00 GMT
Government set sights on gas and oil-fired power plants
The Swiss government wants to use gas and fossil fuel power plants to counter potential energy shortages during the coming winter months. The aim is to produce more than 300 megawatts and complement the supply of electricity through hydropower, the ...

Wed, 17 Aug 2022 10:26:00 GMT
Swiss football clubs play key role for social integration
Football clubs are an important pillar for integration into Swiss society, also for immigrants, according to a new study. However, immigrant women are less likely to join teams and it is more difficult for them to take over official positions in a c...



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