Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
The initial shock has given way to many questions following the shooting at a rave party in Aarau on Sunday morning. Cantonal police have finally released the initial findings of their investigation. It appears to have been neither a terrorist attack nor a settling of scores but rather the act of a man acting alone in a fit of murderous rage.
This information provides some answers, but it still does not explain why young people gathered for a festive occasion were targeted.
According to cantonal police, the man arrested carried out the shooting that left one person dead and six injured on on Sunday morning in Aarau. Police provided an update on the investigation this afternoon.
Investigators say the gunman acted alone when he fired around 40 shots at revellers at a rave in Aarau. The 43-year-old Swiss man, who lives in canton Jura, is believed to have acted in a fit of murderous rage. The attack claimed one life and left six people injured, two of whom remain in hospital.
The perpetrator handed himself in to police and admitted to the offences. During questioning, he said he had been suffering from health problems for some time and referred to “mental health issues”.
The suspect’s motives remain unknown at this stage. “We have no evidence of ideological or extremist motives,” said prosecutor Christoph Rüedi. Investigators seized three firearms from his vehicle: a pistol and two assault rifles. According to the authorities, their purchase had been authorised by canton Jura around 20 years ago.
US President Donald Trump’s policy on medicine prices is depriving Switzerland of a promising treatment for pancreatic cancer. Other medicines could face the same fate.
This offers a glimmer of hope for patients, but not in Switzerland. Launched last week in the United States, it doubles the average survival time for people with pancreatic cancer. However, it is not expected to be available in Switzerland for at least two years, according to reports in Tamedia newspapers today. The reason: the US president’s healthcare policy.
Swiss patients are also likely to miss out on other treatments, such as Moderna’s forthcoming vaccine against skin cancer or a new Roche drug for breast cancer. Trump is increasingly pressuring pharmaceutical companies to offer their lowest prices in the US, even though medicines are traditionally most expensive there. Some companies are therefore choosing not to market certain new treatments in Switzerland.
“It’s going to be a turbulent time,” warned Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan in an interview with Bloomberg TV. He believes the number of new medicines launched in Switzerland will fall and expects an outcry from patients. Paradoxically, patients might therefore call for higher medicine prices in Switzerland to encourage companies to market their products there.
E-voting is making a comeback in canton Neuchâtel for the votes on November 29. The government decided today to grant the canton general authorisation to resume trials.
Neuchâtel joins the small group of cantons conducting e-voting trials. Swiss citizens living abroad from Neuchâtel and some voters living in the canton will be able to use e-voting for the November 29 votes. The canton was one of the first three to introduce e-voting in 2005, before the federal government suspended trials in 2019.
Canton Neuchâtel uses the Swiss Post e-voting system. For the November vote, 32,366 voters living in Switzerland and around 7,200 Swiss citizens living abroad will be authorised to vote electronically.
The cantons of Lucerne, Basel City, St Gallen, Graubünden and Thurgau are also conducting e-voting trials with sections of their electorates. However, canton Basel City has decided not to take part in the trials scheduled for the remainder of 2026 following a technical incident during the votes on March 8.
There has been a new twist in the case surrounding outgoing Ticino cantonal president Claudio Zali. The Ticino Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened new criminal proceedings against him over allegations of sexual abuse.
Zali is accused of sexual abuse as part of an investigation into incidents dating back several years. The Ticino Public Prosecutor’s Office yesterday confirmed a report revealed by Swiss public broadcaster RSI. The Lega politician has been questioned as a suspect and denies any responsibility for the allegations against him.
The Ticino government is now asking Zali to step down with immediate effect in order to preserve his credibility and that of the institutions. However, he has said he will remain in office until his scheduled departure. The cantonal government has therefore stripped him of his territorial affairs portfolio. Zali has already announced his resignation, which is due to take effect in a few days.
Zali has been under fire since the publication of an audio recording in which he can be heard encouraging a female friend to hit a woman who was harassing her, just as he claimed to have done himself. The person who released the recording was subsequently found dead in Lake Lugano. Zali is also the subject of another criminal investigation relating to his involvement in the case of a friend’s son, who was arrested for taking part in a punitive attack against a teenager.
Translated from French, sub-edited by Alexandra MV Andrist/ts
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