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Swiss Info

Fri, 26 Aug 2022 08:25:21 GMT
Media poll shows shift to the right ahead of 2023 federal elections
Centre-right political parties are making slight gains in Switzerland, while the Greens are losing a bit of ground, according to a new media poll ahead of the 2023 federal elections. If the federal election were held today, there would be a slight s...

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 15:20:03 GMT
Space telescope detects carbon dioxide on an exoplanet
Researchers behind the James Webb Space Telescope have detected CO2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b, a planet located outside the solar system. This is the first time that carbon dioxide has been clearly detected on a planet outside the solar system. ...

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 12:06:36 GMT
Swiss panoramic train to debut in December
The GoldenPass Express (GPX) panoramic train, which will link Montreux to Interlaken without any station changes, will make its debut on December 11. The train will link three popular tourist destinations: Montreux, Gstaad and Interlaken, Montreux ...

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 11:34:19 GMT
Switzerland’s population grows by 0.8% due to immigration
Switzerland's permanent resident population reached 8,738,800 at the end of 2021, which is 0.8% more than in 2020. This is within the average rate of annual population growth over the last five years, according to figures released by the Federal Sta...

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 09:44:59 GMT
UBS bank will donate CHF40 million to top Swiss university
The elite Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) will receive CHF40 million from Switzerland’s biggest bank to promote entrepreneurship and build infrastructure. The money (around $41.5 million) will be invested over a period of 10...

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 07:33:01 GMT
Novartis plans to spin off generics division Sandoz
Swiss pharma firm Novartis has said it plans to spin off its generics and biosimilars division Sandoz into a separate entity to allow both companies to pursue their own growth strategies. The decision was in the best interest of shareholders, said N...

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 15:30:11 GMT
Switzerland aims to reduce winter gas consumption by 15%
The Swiss government has set a voluntary reduction target for the winter to safeguard against potential gas shortages in Europe. On Wednesday, the Federal Council announced that it wants demand for gas to be reduced by 15% from October 2022 to the ...

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 13:28:27 GMT
Swiss government to procure monkeypox vaccine and antivirals
The government has decided to purchase 100,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine, as well as 1,000 units of a treatment for the infectious disease. The decision on a centralised procurement was made by Federal Council on Wednesday. The monkeypox vacci...

Wed, 24 Aug 2022 09:37:57 GMT
Switzerland expects up to 120,000 Ukrainian refugees this year
Between 85,000 and 120,000 refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine could be living in Switzerland by the end of the year. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) shared its projection via Twitter on Wednesday. However, this forecast is still uncertain...

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...



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