Switzerland Today
Greetings from Zurich!
World Press Freedom Day isn’t just a catchy slogan. Denying fair and open scrutiny of the facts is a disservice to society. And as SWI swissinfo.ch’s own journalists can attest, repression of the media can prove far more sinister. Read on to find out more.
In the meantime, we bring you a round-up of today’s main news.
In the news: two Red Cross workers shot are shot dead in Sudan, the shape of discrimination in Switzerland and how medieval squirrels spread leprosy.
- Two drivers for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been shot dead in Sudan, an attack that left three others injured.
- Swiss pilots reported an increase in the number of laser and GPS spoofing attacks last year.
- Basel hospital has found breath tests to be just as effective as taking blood when monitoring certain ailments, such as diabetes, in patients.
- Researchers believe squirrels may have helped spread leprosy in the Middle Ages, a conclusion they drew after studying the bones of the animals.
- A large-scale solar energy plant has been granted planning permission in the Bernese Oberland.
- Almost one in three people felt they had been the victim of discrimination between 2016 and 202, according to a report on racism.
Defending freedom of the press
Switzerland is one of the safest places to ply your trade as a journalist. But depending on where else you live in the world reporters can have a rougher time.
SWI swissinfo.ch covers events all over the world and our own journalists have also suffered at the hands of less savoury administrations.
To mark World Press Freedom Day, we’ve brought you first-hand accounts of how difficult it can be to inform readers of events.
For example, SWI swissinfo.ch journalist Elena Servettaz recounts how she has lost her job and been threatened both personally and through her family for daring to criticise Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Other journalists have encountered press restrictions in China, Tunisia and Mexico – but also in Switzerland. Here, intimidation is financial rather than physically threatening. Powerful actors sometimes try to use the law courts to bury stories under legal costs and potential fines.
This is one of the reasons that the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) today reported that press freedom is declining in Switzerland.
Ironically, Switzerland climbs three places into the top 10 best behaving countries in this year’s RSF comparison study. But that has got more to do with other countries losing ground than Switzerland gaining in credibility.
June 9 vote indications
Voters have indicated support for three out of the four big popular initiative votes this summer. Proposed reforms of healthcare costs and energy infrastructure have so far grabbed the public’s imagination.
The same cannot be said for the “stop compulsory vaccination” initiative, which is struggling to gather support, according to a poll of voting intentions from our parent company SRG.
The people reading this newsletter – Swiss citizens living abroad – appear in most cases even more definite in your views.
Some two-thirds of Swiss Abroad say they will vote for a Social Democrat-backed initiative to cap health costs at 10% of incomes. That’s a far higher proportion than your voting compatriots living in Switzerland.
A second healthcare cost control initiative, supported by the Centre Party, has majority approval at this stage, according to the poll, but with slightly less enthusiasm.
Some 75% of all voters say they are in favour of a proposal to generate more renewable energy – as are 70% of Swiss Abroad poll respondents.
But an initiative demanding protection against compulsory vaccination orders has some work to persuade the public by June 9.
You can read more information on the June 9 votes by clicking on this link.
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