Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

Dreaming of a White Christmas in a Winter Wonderland? Slim chance of that, at least in lower-lying areas of Switzerland at the end of this week. And too bad for the penguins, snow leopards and ice bears.

But you can count on the latest news and stories from Switzerland on Tuesday.

In the news: Awards for architects and tourism villages, Swiss scientists and crumbling homes in Ireland.

• Andermatt and Murten/Morat belong to the “best tourism villages” in the world, according to the UN World Tourism Organization. The two Swiss winners now benefit from worldwide media campaigns. The accolade recognises rural destinations that are embracing tourism as a driver of development, while preserving and promoting community-based values and products.
• Xu Tiantian from China has won the Swiss Architectural Award 2022 by a Swiss foundation in Ticino. This is the eighth time that the prize, worth CHF100,00 ($107,380) has been awarded to an architect under the age of 50 whose work demonstrates sensitivity to the landscape and the environment.
• Scientists from Switzerland have identified the cause of cracks in thousands of houses in County Donegal, in northwestern Ireland. The culprit is the mineral pyrrhotite – and not the excessively high amount of mica (silicate mineral) – according to the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.
• Covid-19 was the third leading cause of death in Switzerland in 2021, as in 2020. Only cardiovascular diseases and cancer contributed more to mortality. The rate has thus returned to the usual level of around 70,000 deaths a year, according to the Federal Statistics Office. Men accounted for the majority of Covid deaths.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Swiss-based Chinese dissidents speak out

The protests against the Chinese government and its Covid policy have spread to Chinese communities abroad. Some dissidents in Switzerland for the first time voiced their opposition publicly and explained their reasons in an article on swissinfo.ch.

We spoke to participants in a recent vigil in the city of Zurich to show their solidarity for the protesters in China. It wasn’t easy for the Chinese expats to take a stand and overcome their fears of being tracked down by embassy officials in Switzerland. They are concerned that their relatives in China might become the target of police harassment.

The dissidents also believe they notice signs of surveillance in online chat groups but in a difficult situation like this it helps to see that they are not alone, they say.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Messi’s links with Switzerland

Switzerland might not have made it far in the football World Cup in Qatar, but we somehow unexpectedly contributed to Messi’s phenomenal achievement with Argentina. At least indirectly, as readers of the Blick newspaper are told.

Young Lionel came to Switzerland 20 years ago to take part in an international U14 tournament with his Spanish club Barcelona. The Swiss newspaper spoke to the organiser of the 2003 event who says Messi’s talent and skills were already obvious at the time. The paper also published a rare picture of the teenage footballer on the Swiss pitch in the village of Thayngen.

The second Swiss contribution to Messi’s coronation as champion is the ribbon for the gold medal for Argentina’s Number 10 (and all the other players and referees of Sunday’s final). The red straps were produced by a small company from central Switzerland,Blick revealed.