Switzerland Today
Greetings from Lausanne!
Here are the latest news and stories from Switzerland on Monday.
In the news: FIFA reformer/former IOC official dies, Covid super-spreaders and shortages of workers.
- Swiss lawyer François Carrard (photo above), the former director general of the International Olympic Committee, who helped oversee reforms at the Olympic body, FIFA and other international sports federations, died in Lausanne on Sunday aged 83.
- Every one in 10-20 people who are infected with the new Omicron variant will become a “super-spreader” of the new coronavirus. This is much more common than for earlier variants such as Alpha (1 out of 1,000 infected) or Delta (1 out of 30), new Swiss research has found.
- Switzerland has seen an increase in cyberattacks over the past year. According to the American-Israeli IT security specialist Check Point Software, the number of attempted attacks against Swiss firms rose by 65% compared with 2020. This amounted to 738 attempts per week.
- By 2025, there could be a shortage of 365,000 workers in Switzerland. The number of new people moving to the Alpine country for work will not compensate for those retiring. This figure could rise even further in the years ahead, according to an article in BlickExternal link.
US and Russian negotiators face off in Geneva over Ukraine.
Senior US and Russian officials have held tough talks in Geneva as part of a flurry of diplomatic activity in Europe this week aimed at lowering tensions over a Russian military build-up on the border with Ukraine.
The talks between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Deputy US Secretary of State Wendy Sherman (photo above) began on Monday at the US diplomatic mission in Geneva.
“The talks promise to be long and substantial,” the Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva tweeted. Sherman said “the U.S. will listen to Russia’s concerns and share our own” in an earlier tweet from Geneva, adding that no discussions on European security would be held without the presence of other allies. Discussions will move to meetings in Brussels and Vienna later this week.
With Russia and the West apparently making incompatible demands it is hard to imagine any major immediate breakthroughs. In the run-up to the meeting the US called on Moscow to de-escalate in Ukraine, and Russia said it would make “no concessions”.
Controversy over Adelboden World Cup ski races and Covid-19 measures.
Bern Health Minister Pierre Alain Schnegg has defended giving the green light for World Cup ski races to be held in Adelboden last weekend, attended by thousands of fans.
“Everyone must learn to take responsibility,” he told the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper. At some point it is also important to return to normal, he added.
Outdoor events are allowed with over 300 people in Switzerland if they follow the 3G rule (can prove that they have been vaccinated, recovered or tested for Covid).
On Saturday, athletes, spectators and people online expressed surpriseExternal link at the situation in Swiss mountain resort where over 12,000 fans watched the races outside and cheered the victory of Marco Odermatt in the giant slalom. There were reportsExternal link of party-like scenes in the finish area and many people not wearing masks. The organisers had urged spectators to wear masks.
Sandro Detig (photo above) has had a very different Christmas and New Year.
Instead of spending the holidays with his family and friends in Lenzburg, canton Aargau, the 28-year-old Swiss has been alone in a six-metre-long boat, rowingExternal link across the Atlantic Ocean for charity.
“As I expected, I’m getting along well,” he told the Aargauer ZeitungExternal link paper after one month at sea.
He is taking part in the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic ChallengeExternal link – a 3,000-mile race from the Spanish Canary Island of La Gomera to the Caribbean island of Antigua. He expects to take 60-70 days.
“I currently row about twelve hours a day, divided into four blocks. At night there is plenty of sleep, always around eight to nine hours,” he explains.
The rest of the time he is busy cleaning, cooking, washing up, route planning and on social media. He keeps in touch with people via Whatsapp and using a satellite phone.
Donations towards his personal challenge will be split between the organisations Swiss Transplant and Cystic Fibrosis Switzerland.
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