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Swiss Info

Tue, 9 Mar 2021 13:18:00 GMT
UN calls Swiss burka ban ‘restriction of fundamental freedoms’
The United Nations has condemned the recent Swiss vote to outlaw face-covering headgear – otherwise known as the burka ban – as discriminatory and “regrettable”. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the politi...

Tue, 9 Mar 2021 11:21:00 GMT
Swiss-based pharma group to produce Sputnik vaccine in Italy
The Lugano-headquartered Adienne pharma company has agreed to produce the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in its northern Italy plant, the Italian-Russian chamber of commerce has said. If the agreement between the Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth...

Tue, 9 Mar 2021 11:16:00 GMT
More Swiss weapons exported despite general trade malaise
Exports of Swiss armaments and munitions increased in value by nearly a quarter last year, bucking the trend of a slowdown in international trade across all industry sectors. Swiss companies exported war material worth CHF901.2 million ($965 million...

Mon, 8 Mar 2021 17:51:00 GMT
Zurich snowman set to explode live on television
Zurich’s Sechseläuten spring parade has been cancelled owing to Covid-19 for the second year in a row, but the burning of the Böögg will this year go ahead – without spectators but with live television coverage. The Böögg is a snowman-like ...

Mon, 8 Mar 2021 17:02:25 GMT
Swiss initiative supports women peacebuilders
The Swiss foreign ministry has chosen International Women’s Day to launch the “Swiss Women in Peace Processes” (SWiPP) network. The 15 Swiss women who will be part of the first iteration of the network come from various professional background...

Mon, 8 Mar 2021 14:14:42 GMT
Most Swiss support coronavirus measures
A majority of Swiss people questioned in a survey agreed with the measures taken by the government against Covid-19. In French-speaking Switzerland the proportion of those who disapprove of the measures is significantly higher than in the German-spea...

Mon, 8 Mar 2021 13:49:00 GMT
Covid-19 has forced Swiss events sector onto ‘edge of a precipice’
The Swiss events sector contracted by almost two-thirds last year due to the cancellation of over 17,000 projects as a result of the pandemic, a survey has revealed. It also caused almost 4,500 job losses. As in many other countries, the people runn...

Mon, 8 Mar 2021 11:05:00 GMT
Swiss army looks at how to attract more women
A defence ministry report has outlined measures to encourage the integration in the Swiss army of more women, who currently hold 0.9% of military roles. To mark International Women’s Day on Monday, the ministry published a long-awaited report enti...

Mon, 8 Mar 2021 11:04:08 GMT
Switzerland suspends development aid to Myanmar
Switzerland has suspended development aid for Myanmar, the foreign ministry has confirmed. Only emergency aid is being maintained, amid an intensified crackdown by the country’s military on massive protests against last month’s coup. “All paym...

Mon, 8 Mar 2021 08:52:00 GMT
Jailed Swiss-Belarus citizen on hunger strike in Minsk
Natallia Hersche, a Swiss-Belarus dual national who was jailed after participating in anti-government protests in Minsk last September, has been on hunger strike in prison for almost two weeks, it was confirmed on Sunday. Hersche has reportedly been...

Sun, 7 Mar 2021 18:34:50 GMT
Low-paid workers in Geneva to receive extra financial support
Voters in canton Geneva have decided to grant additional financial support to low-income earners hit hard by the Covid crisis. Nearly 69% of voters on Sunday came out in favour of a parliamentary proposal, rejecting a challenge by the right-wing Swi...

Sun, 7 Mar 2021 12:27:00 GMT
Zurich police to disclose nationality of crime suspects
Voters in canton Zurich have approved the mandatory disclosure of the nationality of suspected offenders. More than 55% of voters came out in favour of the proposal on Sunday according to the authorities. In the run-up to the ballot, supporters mai...

Sat, 6 Mar 2021 16:44:00 GMT
Anti-government protests continue over Covid policy
Several thousand people have taken to streets in south-eastern Switzerland to protest against the government’s policy to contain the Covid pandemic. Police said about 4,000 demonstrators walked peacefully through the town of Chur on Saturday carry...

Sat, 6 Mar 2021 15:26:00 GMT
Monumental ‘Eye’ watches over Geneva
A flag the size of a ten-storey building has been raised in the Swiss city of Geneva to warn of the negative impact of global climate change. The work of art consists of 13,250 of portraits from 190 countries around the world and carries the message...

Sat, 6 Mar 2021 14:34:25 GMT
Promoter of Klee paintings and Klee museum dies
Alexander Klee, one of the promoters of the renowned Paul Klee museum in the Swiss capital, Bern, has died aged 80. Alexander, a grandson of the painter Paul Klee, was himself a painter, graphic designer and press photographer. He had lived in Switz...

Fri, 5 Mar 2021 14:50:01 GMT
Nuclear withdrawal was thanks to women, says former energy minister
Having four women in Switzerland’s seven-person government played a key role in the decision to phase out nuclear energy ten years ago, according to Doris Leuthard, who was energy minister at the time of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima on March 1...

Fri, 5 Mar 2021 14:45:00 GMT
Swiss government wants to keep control of weapons exports
The Swiss government has rejected calls to allow voters and cantons to set conditions for weapons exports. A people’s initiative collected enough signatures in 2019 to force a nationwide vote on the issue. It proposes enshrining rules for war mate...

Fri, 5 Mar 2021 13:56:14 GMT
Swiss plan free coronavirus tests for population
Switzerland has unveiled a CHF1 billion ($1.08 billion) plan to offer free coronavirus tests for its entire population as part of measures to ease the country’s exit from Covid-19 restrictions. Under the proposals each person would be given five s...

Fri, 5 Mar 2021 12:24:00 GMT
Gender equality continues to make progress in Swiss workforce
The proportion of women in Swiss company boardrooms and management ranks continues to rise, according to an annual survey of the largest employers in both private and public sectors. The share of management positions held by women increased from 10%...

Fri, 5 Mar 2021 10:53:04 GMT
Chappatte’s Covid cartoon wins top award
Political cartoonist Patrick Chappatte has won the Swiss Cartoon of the Year 2020 for Planet Coronavirus. It’s the third time the cartoonist from Geneva has received the honour. Planet Coronavirus was published in the German news magazine Der Spie...

Fri, 5 Mar 2021 08:25:21 GMT
Swiss ambassador to oversee WTO complaints body
Didier Chambovey, Swiss ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), has been appointed by the member states as head of the body responsible for arbitrating complaints. Chambovey will have to chair the meetings of this committee, which is at th...

Thu, 4 Mar 2021 17:18:00 GMT
Swiss hospitality schools top global ranking
Eight of the ten best hotel schools in the world are located in Switzerland, according to the annual Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) university ranking by subject. A total of 29 Swiss programmes landed in the top ten in 2021, compared to 26 in 2020, makin...

Thu, 4 Mar 2021 15:50:00 GMT
Swiss film wins grand jury prize at Berlin film festival
The feature film La Mif (The fam) by Geneva-based director Frédéric Baillif has been awarded the top prize in the youth category at the 2021 Berlinale, the Swiss Films Foundation announced on Thursday. La Mif tells the story of seven adolescent gi...

Thu, 4 Mar 2021 13:15:15 GMT
Novartis to help produce CureVac Covid-19 vaccine
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has signed an initial deal to produce the mRNA molecules for the Covid-19 vaccine developed by German biotech firm CureVac. On Thursday, Novartis said its plant in Kundl, Austria, would start production of the Cur...

Thu, 4 Mar 2021 12:50:00 GMT
Jump in Swiss unemployment rate highest among young people
The unemployment rate for women aged 15 to 24 jumped from 7.2% to 8% between 2019 and 2020, the biggest increase among all population and age groups in the labour force, the Federal Statistical Office said on Thursday. In general, youth suffered the...

Thu, 4 Mar 2021 11:10:54 GMT
Counterfeit goods seizures skyrocket in pandemic
The boom in online trade and tighter border controls during the health crisis have led to a major increase in the number of counterfeit goods seized by federal customs. On Thursday, the Federal Customs Administration reported that it had confiscated...

Thu, 4 Mar 2021 08:54:18 GMT
SWISS reports unprecedented slump after difficult corona year
The pandemic and associated travel restrictions have dealt a blow to SWISS International Air Lines. It has posted its first negative operating result in 15 years. In its annual results released on Thursday, SWISS, which is part of the Lufthansa grou...

Wed, 3 Mar 2021 16:16:00 GMT
Minute’s silence and church bells announced for Covid victims
Everyone in Switzerland has been invited to observe a minute’s silence on Friday for the more than 9,000 people who have died in connection with Covid-19. Afterwards, church bells will ring across the country. The national minute’s silence will ...

Wed, 3 Mar 2021 14:06:00 GMT
Former Venezuelan minister denied Swiss residency
A court in Switzerland has rejected giving a residency permit to a former vice-president of Venezuela, Nervis Villalobos Cárdenas, and his family. The presence of the former energy minister under Hugo Chávez was deemed a threat to public security ...

Wed, 3 Mar 2021 13:07:53 GMT
Switzerland and China want to expand financial market cooperation
Finance Minister Ueli Maurer held a virtual meeting with Liu He, one of China’s four Vice-Premiers, on Wednesday to discuss reinforcing and expanding cooperation in the financial market sector. The two ministers discussed prospects for deepening b...



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