Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

the countdown is on: it’s eight days to the Urknall (Big Bang) in Lucerne, marking this year's launch of one of the major carnivals in Switzerland. Revelers in other regions and cities of the country - Basel, Bern and Ticino - will have to wait a bit longer for the “crazy days”.

But first, here's some of the top news stories of the day.

© Keystone/Peter Klaunzer

In the news: Sacred objects, confiscated archaeological artefacts and a presidential visit to southern Africa.

• The Swiss president, Alain Berset, has held talks with Botswana focusing on bilateral relations with the southern African country. He signed a declaration of intent on cooperation in the health sector and then travelled to Mozambique.
• Switzerland has returned to Peru a 2,500-year-old stone head confiscated as part of criminal proceedings. The sculpture, which weighs some 200kg, is a significant archaeological piece of cultural property, according to the Federal Office of Culture.
• The Museum of Ethnography in the city of Geneva has restituted two sacred objects – a mask and a rattle – acquired without consent nearly 200 years ago to their original nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy in North America. A ceremony took place on Tuesday in the presence of a delegation from the Haudenosaunee.

© Keystone/Ennio Leanza

Zurich to choose new parliament and government.

Voters in Switzerland’s most populous canton will go the polls this weekend to elect a new parliament and government.

The ballot in Zurich is said to be of particular interest because it is the first cantonal election this year and comes eight months ahead of general elections for the national parliament in October.

Opinion polls found left-leaning parties losing ground at the expense of the centre-right and centrist groups. The right-wing People’s Party is predicted to remain the largest group in parliament.

Most of the seven incumbent government members – from five different parties and an independent – are likely to keep their posts. But the head of the education department might be anxiously awaiting final results on Sunday.

Thomas Kern/swissinfo,ch

Exclusive interview with Putin critic.

In a wide-ranging interview with swissinfo, a prominent Russian journalist and critic of President Putin talks about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the impact it is having on his life.

Alexei Venediktov visited Switzerland last week and didn’t mince his words when asked about Switzerland’s policy towards Russia and the western sanctions.

He says Switzerland can no longer act as mediator in the conflict as it has given up its traditional neutrality with its stance.

Venediktov is a former editor-in-chief of the Echo of Moscow radio station, one of the last independent media outlets before it was banned a year ago.

The English version of the full interview is still to be published in English on our website, but you can already read the original text in French and translations in various other swissinfo languages.