Switzerland Today
Greetings from Lausanne!
Summer’s here, a heatwave is sweeping parts of Europe and the pandemic is over… well not quite. New figures show that coronavirus infections have been rising in several European countries, such as Portugal, Britain and France. It is thought that the increase is probably down to the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants.
Switzerland lifted all remaining Covid-19 pandemic restrictions as of April 1, and life on the streets seems to have returned to normal. However, after three months of falling infections, new coronavirus infections have started picking up again slowly.
News that Covid-19 infections are spreading in Europe, even causing havoc at the Tour de Suisse cycling race this week, is a sign that we are not out of the woods and that the pandemic should still be taken seriously.
In the news: Swiss-EU relations, Covid-19 at the Tour de Suisse, and Cern ends cooperation with Russia and Belarus.
- The Swiss government has decidedExternal link to “step up” exploratory talks with the European Union to resolve the political impasse over bilateral accords and unresolved institutional issuesExternal link between Brussels and Bern. It said “respective positions remain far apart and further clarifications are needed”.
- Multiple cases of Covid-19 have caused chaos at the Tour de Suisse cycling race (photo above) in Switzerland, forcing three teams and numerous riders to pull out. European countries are experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases driven by the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected to attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano in July, according to media reports.
- Credit Suisse is subject to legal proceedings in Geneva. Following the death of former client adviser Patrice Lescaudron in 2020, cantonal prosecutors have opened proceedings against the bank for money laundering. Prosecutor Yves Bertossa has identified $60 million which he believes were laundered by Lescaudron through the bank.
- The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Cern), located on the French-Swiss border near Geneva, has decidedExternal link to end all cooperation agreements with Russia and Belarus when they expire in 2024 over their roles in the war in Ukraine.
- An attempt to mediate a dispute between crop science company Syngenta and a group of NGOs over the sale of an insecticide in India has acrimoniously collapsed.
Heatwave alerts as Switzerland braces for scorching weekend.
Cantons have been issuing warnings about rising temperatures, the potential health consequences and the dangers of fires, as the thermometer could hit 37C degrees (98.6F) on Sunday.
Temperatures have been rising all week and are set to pass the 30C degree mark in many parts of the country today. According to SRF Meteo, the absolute Swiss record for June dates back to June 27, 1947, with 36.9C in Basel.
A “level 3”warning has been issued for areas below 600 metres in canton Ticino, as well as many parts of canton Valais, western Switzerland and in Basel, according to MeteoSwiss. This corresponds to a “considerable danger”. For the central Plateau region, danger level 2, or “moderate danger”, applies.
The city of Zurich describes the heatwave is an “exceptional climatic situation” and warns about potential health problems, especially for older people. The authorities are offering free telephone advice and home visits.
Animals are also suffering in the June heat, according to the Swiss Farmers’ Union. Many farmers are letting their cows stay in their cool stalls during the day and only go out to pasture at night.
The dry weather is not yet a major problem for crops, the union says, as there was sufficient rain in May and early June. Overall, farmers are satisfied with the weather this year and predict a good harvest.
The hot weather is expected to subside after Sunday but persist through to next Tuesday.
What has the recent WTO ministerial conference in Geneva achieved?
After tough “rollercoaster” talks that ended in the early hours of Friday, the Geneva-based World Trade Organization (WTO) announced that it had struck deals on a partial patent waiver for Covid-19 vaccines, and made agreements in several other fields of global contention, after a tense six-day ministerial meetingExternal link.
The package of trade agreements approved by the WTO’s 164 members included commitments on fish and pledges on health and food security.
The deal on a partial IP waiver to allow developing countries to produce and export Covid-19 vaccines has divided the WTO for nearly two years. It faced opposition from several nations with big pharmaceutical producers such as Switzerland and the UK, but finally passed.
The final deal has drawn criticism from campaign groups that say it barely expands on an existing exemption in WTO rules and is too narrow by not covering therapeutics and diagnostics.
“Put simply, it is a technocratic fudge aimed at saving reputations, not lives,” said Max Lawson, co-chair of the People’s Vaccine Alliance.
Summing up at the closing press conference, WTO Director-General Nzogi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed a new sense ofcooperation at a time when the world faces crises like Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Swiss officials have not made any specific comments on the deals, but an economics ministry press releaseExternal link said, “in view of the current challenges facing the multilateral trading system, this result should be considered a success”.
Overall, many observers said the deals should help the credibility of the Geneva-based multilateral trade body, which was weakened by former US President Donald Trump’s crippling of its ability to intervene in trade disputes.
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