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Swiss Info

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 09:00:00 GMT
Novartis seals deal to license high-priced cancer drug
Swiss pharma giant Novartis has finalised a deal with the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool to allow generic production of its patented drug nilotinib to treat chronic myeloid leukemia. The deal, which was formally signed on the sidelines of the Wo...

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 07:55:57 GMT
Swiss women cut their hair in solidarity with Iranians
About 20 public names from French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland have cut a lock of their hair as part of a symbolic gesture, expressing support for the struggle of Iranian women against oppression. Since Tuesday a video has been circulating on s...

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 07:22:16 GMT
Swiss president arrives in Ukraine
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, who also holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, arrived in Ukraine on Thursday morning. In a tweet he said he wanted to get an idea of the war situation, the humanitarian situation and the preparatory work fo...

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 06:43:15 GMT
Swiss prosecutors appeal acquittals of Blatter and Platini
Swiss federal prosecutors have filed an appeal to overturn the acquittals of former FIFA President Sepp Blatter and former UEFA President Michel Platini on corruption charges, they said on Thursday. Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court had cleared...

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 15:40:00 GMT
Switzerland replaces Russia as chair of ballistic missile body
Switzerland has taken over from Russia as chair of an international body that sets guidelines for the export of ballistic missiles and military drones. The 35 member states of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) are currently taking part in...

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 15:14:00 GMT
Switzerland sets out power contingency plans for winter
The Swiss government has put forward plans to create reserve power plants aimed at shoring up the country’s energy supplies during the winter. The proposal to create a network of reserve plants was presented on Wednesday for a period of public con...

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 13:42:00 GMT
Switzerland tops up migrant integration funding
The Swiss government has committed a further CHF250 million ($251 million) for language courses and apprenticeship places aimed at foreigners who are resident in the Alpine state. The credit line will cover the period 2024 to 2027 with half of the f...

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 10:38:00 GMT
Nestlé to buy coffee brand from Starbucks
Swiss food manufacturing company Nestlé has announced it will buy the Starbucks subsidiary company ‘Seattle’s Best Coffee’ amid flagging sales of its other coffee brands. The takeover of the United States coffee retailer for an undisclosed su...

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 08:03:22 GMT
Proposed Swiss nuclear waste site gets German backing
The site selected near the border for storing Swiss nuclear waste has been deemed suitable by an expert group from Germany. The arguments of the Swiss National Co-operative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste (Nagra) in favour of the northern Lä...

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 07:17:44 GMT
Switzerland reduces environment footprint but still unsustainable
The Alpine nation’s environmental impact per capita decreased by a quarter between 2000 and 2018, according to a study. The study was commissioned by the Federal Office for the Environment and released on Tuesday. It took into account Switzerland...

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 15:50:59 GMT
Lafarge pleads guilty to US charge of supporting Islamic State
French cement maker Lafarge, which became part of Swiss-listed Holcim in 2015, has pleaded guilty to a US charge that it made payments to groups designated as terrorists by the United States, including Islamic State. The admission in Brooklyn federa...

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 15:22:19 GMT
Green Party decides against targeting cabinet seat
The Green Party says it won’t make a move for the seat in Switzerland’s seven-person cabinet being made vacant by Finance Minister Ueli Maurer. It said it doesn't want to waste time playing a “rigged game”. When Maurer, from the right-wing S...

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 12:44:04 GMT
Swiss consider wider EU sanctions on Iran over Amini death
Switzerland is considering whether to adopt the strengthened European Union sanctions against Iran following Tehran’s crackdown against demonstrators outraged by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The economics ministry said i...

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 12:17:57 GMT
SWISS expands capacity for summer flight schedule
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is planning to expand its flight schedule next summer to offer 85% of its pre-pandemic capacity. To this end, it is now busy recruiting flight attendants. In the summer timetable, which runs from March 26 to Oct...

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 10:24:08 GMT
Fourth Swiss restaurant awarded three Michelin stars
Switzerland now has four restaurants with three Michelin stars: Memories, in eastern Switzerland, has joined the exclusive club alongside Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville in Crissier, the Cheval Blanc in Basel and Schloss Schauenstein in Fürstenau....

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 09:45:50 GMT
Barry Callebaut to start chocolate production in Morocco
The Zurich-based chocolate manufacturer has acquired a production unit in Casablanca to expand its business in North Africa. On Tuesday, Barry Callebaut announced the signing of an agreement with a distributor and manufacturer of confectionery base...

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 09:26:44 GMT
Almost half of children in Switzerland experience domestic violence
Almost 50% of all children in Switzerland experience physical or psychological violence at home, according to an annual survey conducted by the University of Fribourg on behalf of Child Protection Switzerland. Smacking on the bottom was the most com...

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 08:20:23 GMT
Used cars pricier due to supply chain bottlenecks
The price of used cars in Switzerland has risen by 28% since 2020. The reason for this increase is “on the one hand, the longer waiting times for new cars and, on the other hand, the fewer trade-in offers”, online comparison service Comparis sa...

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 07:54:06 GMT
Sharp rise in human trafficking victims in Switzerland
The number of victims of human trafficking in Switzerland increased by 50% between 2019 and 2021. In 2021, the Swiss platform against human trafficking identified 207 new victims of trafficking compared to 142 in 2019. The overwhelming majority (81...

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 17:09:00 GMT
Swiss author wins German language book award
Swiss author Kim de l'Horizon has claimed the prestigious German Book Prize 2022 with the novel Blutbuch (Blood Book). The jury, which announced the winner of the best German language novel on Monday, said it was inspired by the “innovative power...

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 15:57:00 GMT
Geneva taxi drivers strike in protest of Uber
Dozens of taxi drivers staged a strike in Geneva to protest a decision by the authorities to allow the ride-hailing company to resume business in the Swiss city. The strike follows months of dispute and failed negotiations over the conditions of Ube...

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 15:20:00 GMT
Anarchist pensioner cleared of firework attack on Turkish consulate
A 72-year-old woman, accused of hurling fireworks at the Turkish consulate in Zurich, has had her conviction and prison sentence overturned on appeal. The appeals court found that there was insufficient evidence to convict left-wing extremist Andrea...

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 08:06:40 GMT
Pilot strike at Eurowings affects Zurich Airport
Pilots from Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings have started a three-day strike. As a result, most Eurowings flights to and from Zurich are cancelled. At Zurich Airport a total of six rotations – flights to and from Zurich – will not take place on Mo...

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 07:01:56 GMT
Credit Suisse pays $495 million to settle legacy case
Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $495 million (CHF496 million) to settle a case brought against it in the United States, the latest pay-out related to past blunders that have battered the Swiss bank’s reputation. Credit Suisse said it would make th...

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 15:55:36 GMT
Bringing Russian war crimes to justice may take decades, says lawyer
There have been many accusations of Russian war crimes since the start of the Ukraine war, but documenting and punishing them will take time, says Philip Grant, director of Swiss NGO TRIAL International. The current situation should allow Switzerlan...

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 14:20:56 GMT
SWISS pilots vote for possible strike
SWISS International Air Lines (SWISS) pilots on Sunday voted to go on strike over working conditions if management does not come up with a better offer by next week. More than 93% of participating pilots voted for the possible strike, on a turnout o...

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 12:10:14 GMT
Shipping family now Switzerland’s richest, say papers
The Aponte family in Geneva has become the richest in Switzerland, thanks to the pandemic, according to two Sunday newspapers. This family owns the Mediterranean Shipping company (MSC), which has the largest fleet of container ships in the world, wr...

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 10:27:56 GMT
Swiss recession unlikely, says leading economist
Swiss growth will slow this winter, but a recession is unlikely, says Jan-Egbert Sturm, director of the Swiss Economic Institute (KOF) at Federal Institute ETH Zurich. “The foreseeable recession in Germany and also in other large European countrie...

Sat, 15 Oct 2022 16:32:34 GMT
Swiss anti-EU groups join forces
Three anti-EU associations merged in Bern on Saturday to form Pro Suisse, the successor to the Action for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland (ASIN). In addition to ASIN, the employers' association against membership of the European Union (EU) an...

Sat, 15 Oct 2022 15:33:09 GMT
Record-breaking local speciality presented at food fair
The southeastern Swiss canton of Graubünden on Saturday presented to a food fair what it says is the world’s longest capun, a traditional speciality made of meat and dough wrapped in chard leaves. This 17-metre long capun was transported to the O...



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