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Swiss Info

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 08:47:00 GMT
US charges Swiss hacker for data theft and leaks
The United States Justice Department has charged a Swiss hacker with computer intrusion and identity theft, a week after a house raid by the Swiss police. Till Kottmann, 21, has taken credit for helping to break into a US security-camera company’s...

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 13:04:00 GMT
Snow cover in the Alps declining, new study shows
Up to a month’s worth of snow has been lost at low and medium altitudes for the last 50 years, according to the first global analysis of snow trends across the mountain range. Between 1971 and 2019, the winter snow season shrunk by an average of 2...

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 12:54:00 GMT
Parliament approves multi-billion Swiss Covid aid package
Companies and individuals affected by the Covid-19 pandemic will be able to benefit from additional financial support of about CHF12 billion ($13 billion). On Thursday, both the House of Representatives and the Senate signed off on funds for emergen...

Thu, 18 Mar 2021 09:24:00 GMT
Data on AstraZeneca vaccine insufficient for Swiss approval
The medicines regulator Swissmedic says it has not yet received enough robust data from clinical trials to give the green light to the Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Swedish-British company. While the supervisory authority saw conclusive results ...

Wed, 17 Mar 2021 14:20:00 GMT
Swiss government under attack for Covid policy
Parliament has criticised the Swiss government’s Covid-19 policy, notably the restrictions for businesses and citizens. The main political groups in the House of Representatives aired their grievances during a special debate on Wednesday. The rig...

Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:17:42 GMT
Swiss refiner comes up with method to verify gold’s origin 
Metalor, one of the world’s biggest gold refiners, has developed a way to quickly confirm where gold had been mined, potentially stopping illegal gold from entering supply chains. The Swiss-based company announced that it has devised the method w...

Wed, 17 Mar 2021 11:02:00 GMT
Bitcoin Suisse bank license bid hits regulatory roadblock
Cryptocurrency firm Bitcoin Suisse has withdrawn its application for a banking license, in part because it failed to meet the anti-money laundering requirements of the Swiss financial regulator. “The application process has shown the need for furt...

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 16:39:00 GMT
Climate report sounds water alarm in Switzerland
At certain times and in certain regions, water will become so scarce or so warm in Switzerland that humans will have to curb their activities and nature will suffer, according to a government study. On the other hand, more rain will lead to more loca...

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 16:08:00 GMT
Age no barrier to ant career advancement
The division of labour in ant colonies has little to do with age but is apparently determined by random factors, scientists believe. Female ants either take care of the queen and larvae inside the nest or venture out in search of food. Researchers a...

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 11:15:52 GMT
Swiss saved much less money in second lockdown
Swiss households saved an average of CHF880 ($950) in the second lockdown, compared with around CHF3,000 in the first lockdown in spring 2020. “The forced pause in consumption with closed restaurants and shops led the average household to put asid...

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 10:23:00 GMT
Art collectors move online as pandemic shuts down fairs
Global sales of art and antiques fell by more than a fifth during 2020 to $50.1 billion (CHF46.5 billion). With the cancellation of many art shows, online sales doubled to $12.4 billion, making up a quarter of all sales, according to a report from Sw...

Tue, 16 Mar 2021 08:01:00 GMT
Glencore completes changing of the guard
Glencore’s top coal trader is to depart, completing a change of the old guard at the top of world’s most powerful commodity trader. Tor Peterson will leave the Swiss-based company later this year along with two of the candidates who lost out in ...

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 17:35:05 GMT
New Lonza site can now make Covid-19 vaccine ingredient
Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, has approved pharmaceutical company Lonza’s new site for making Moderna’s Covid-19 active substance. It issued the licence following a successful inspection of the production plant in Visp i...

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 16:43:09 GMT
Swiss focus on equal pay and gender equality in New York
At this year’s session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Switzerland is focusing on equal pay, women’s economic independence, sexual and reproductive health rights, and the fight against discrimination and violence. The main foc...

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 11:26:35 GMT
Hack on US security-camera company sparks Swiss police raid
Swiss authorities on Monday confirmed a police raid at the home of a Swiss hacker who took credit for helping to break into a US security-camera company’s online networks, part of what the hacker cited as an effort to raise awareness about the dang...

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 11:25:44 GMT
Swiss candy sales not so sweet
The Covid-19 pandemic has left a bitter taste in the Swiss candy sector. Sales last year dropped by 12% to CHF321 million ($345 million), announced umbrella association Biscosuisse on Monday. The slump in industry sales was more than double the volu...

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 10:52:00 GMT
Federal Railways posts record losses
Covid-19 has had a major impact on the Swiss Federal Railways, which reports a third fewer customers on trains and in stations in 2020 and a loss of CHF617 million ($663 million). “[The Federal Railways] looks back on an extremely challenging ye...

Mon, 15 Mar 2021 08:40:42 GMT
Covid-19 test offensive starts in Switzerland
Rapid Covid tests are now free for everyone in Switzerland, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. The government says this is an important step towards further relaxation of the coronavirus measures. As of Monday the government, which has...

Sun, 14 Mar 2021 17:34:17 GMT
Swiss vaccination plan on ‘shaky ground’
Media reports over the weekend indicate that vaccinating everyone who wants to by the summer in Switzerland relies on meeting ambitious vaccine approval and delivery targets in spring. Swiss authorities are facing mounting criticism over the speed a...

Sun, 14 Mar 2021 15:01:38 GMT
Film festival in Geneva showcases youth migrant struggles in top honours
The International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva handed out several awards on Sunday to films that not only push cinematic boundaries but bring to light stories of youth struggles and injustice. The Grand Prize of Geneva for a cre...

Sun, 14 Mar 2021 12:51:54 GMT
Switzerland responsible for $13 billion in losses to tax evasion globally
Switzerland benefits from tax abuse by companies and individuals to the tune of around $12.8 billion (CHF11.9 billion) according to a new global ranking. However, it also loses out on $5.7 billion in revenue. According to an analysis by the Tax Just...

Sat, 13 Mar 2021 18:09:07 GMT
Study finds link between climate change and river flow worldwide
An international team led by the Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich analysed data from 7,250 water measuring stations around the world to find that changes in river flow in the last 40 years could only be the result of climate change. River ...

Sat, 13 Mar 2021 12:10:00 GMT
Swiss researchers develop method to extract “black gold” from fungi
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) have developed a simple method to extract natural melanin from mushrooms also known as "black gold". This unlocks new opportunities to create new materials and ...

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 15:38:00 GMT
Swiss watch exports will not return to pre-Covid levels until 2023
Exports of Swiss watches are unlikely to return to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels over the next couple of years according to estimates by the Vontobel private bank. The forecast is not all doom and gloom though. After taking a hit in 2020, Swiss w...

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 14:10:00 GMT
Government plans further easing of Covid measures but with caveats
The government has begun consultations on the second phase of reopening, which includes outdoor dining, despite the “precarious” coronavirus situation. A final decision will be made on March 19. At its meeting Friday, the Federal Council (govern...

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 13:13:00 GMT
Charity supports over a million Swiss residents affected by pandemic
Humanitarian charity Swiss Solidarity has spent CHF40 million ($43 million) in donations on people in Switzerland left in need due to the coronavirus pandemic. In total, 1.7 million people have been supported, the organisation said on Friday. It has...

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 12:45:00 GMT
Swiss private bank Rahn+Bodmer settles US tax evasion charge
Zurich’s oldest private bank has agreed to pay $22 million (CHF20 million) in penalties to defer prosecution charges by the United States tax authorities. “This venerated banking institution knowingly offered banking services that assisted its ...

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 10:59:00 GMT
Zurich airport in the red due to Covid-19
Switzerland’s largest international airport posted a loss in 2020, hit hard by an historic slump in traffic due to the pandemic. Flughafen Zürich AG, which operates Zurich airport, said in a statement on Friday that consolidated loss for the 2020...

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 10:07:00 GMT
Swiss firm Lonza to help produce anti-Covid nasal spray in the US
As part of its agreement with American company Altimmune, Lonza will allocate a dedicated manufacturing facility for AdCOVID nasal spray vaccine near Houston, Texas. On Friday, Altimmune announced the specific role the Swiss company will play in t...

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 08:56:51 GMT
Women account for 70% of side effects from Covid vaccines in Switzerland
Of the 597 cases of adverse reactions to Covid-19 vaccines reported in Switzerland, 68.7% concerned women. On Thursday the Swiss medicines regulator Swissmedic released data on side effects of Covid-19 vaccines as of March 8. While women were clear...



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