Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
It is not just the basil plant on my balcony that is affected by the lack of rains. The latest concern is river transport on the Rhine, a very important commercial artery for Switzerland. Basel has privileged access to the North Sea through this waterway. Many cargo ships, however, remain moored at the moment.
Enjoy the read!
The lack of rainfall has a major impact on the river freight transport on the Rhine, which connects Basel to the North Sea. River levels are at an all-time low. Germany has already introduced measures to ensure transport as far as possible, and problems are also manifesting themselves in Switzerland.
With low water levels, ships that can still navigate the waterway have to reduce cargo, driving up transportation costs and putting pressure on supply chains. News agency Keystone-SDA cites the example of a boat with petroleum products that docked in Basel on Monday with a load five times lower than normal.
At the moment, Switzerland’s inventory is not at risk. The shortages can be compensated to a certain extent by the companies’ reserves and the increase in domestic production, the Office for Economic Supply (FONES) points out. Essential goods can be transferred by rail and road, but this entails additional costs. Basel’s business associations are concerned and last week called for measures to be taken to deal with similar situations in the future, for example by expanding infrastructure and promoting technical innovations for ships.
Some German states have relaxed the Sunday ban on truck movement. However, an SRF expert puts the effectiveness of this measure into perspective: “Even if the trucks were large enough and allowed to drive all the time, you also need drivers, and finding them is anything but easy.”
Around the world, less money is being distributed as development aid and the consequences are being felt, Swiss aid organisations tell SRF.
According to the latest data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), its 38 member countries spent 23% less on development aid in 2025 than in the previous year. This corresponds to $40 billion less in funding. Switzerland also cut CHF110 million last year from its budget for development projects and expects to save another CHF321 million by 2028.
Less money means less aid for people in crisis areas and associations have to give up or downsize their projects. This is the case of Heks/Eper, a humanitarian organization of the Protestant Reformed Churches of Switzerland, and Helvetas, whose leaders were consulted by SRF.
Karolina Frischkopf of Heks/Eper says that the money saved in the United States and Europe causes misery and death in areas already in difficulty. The medical journal The Lancet calculated in an article published in May that, by 2030, “about 9.4 million people, including 2.5 million children under the age of five, will die as a result of these cuts by OECD countries.” Despite these figures, aid workers fear that the crisis in the humanitarian sector is set to worsen further.
If you thought that Switzerland had run out of ways to protect the privacy and assets of the super-rich, you were sorely mistaken. In the heart of the Brünig massif, a project worthy of a James Bond film is underway: the “Brünig Mega Safe”.
It is a gigantic system of artificial caves carved directly into the alpine rock, designed to offer (to those who can afford it) an indestructible refuge for the most precious of goods. Works of art, gold bars, vintage cars, wine: under the mountain there is room for everything. Thanks to the climate of geopolitical insecurity, it is a booming market, writes RTS.
Entrepreneur Thomas Gasser, creator of the project in Lungern, in the canton of Obwalden, understood this. From next year, about twenty vaults will be available, sold for a period of 99 years at a minimum price approaching CHF1 million.
“The advantage is that the customer owns it. It has its own parcel number in the land registry and can even be mortgaged,” explains the founder. Several people have already signed up.
Following the violent earthquake in Colombia, Swiss President Guy Parmelin expressed solidarity and said that Switzerland is ready to provide its support if necessary.
The 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurred on Monday at 07:34 local time. The epicenter was located near San José del Palmar, in the west of the country. It is estimated that at least 130 died and 570 have been injured and there is serious damage to hospitals, airports and roads in the departments of Chocó, Caldas, Risaralda and Valle del Cauca. At the moment, according to information available to the foreign ministry, no Swiss citizen is among the victims. Around 2,800 Swiss nationals are registered as residents of Colombia.
The foreign ministry is currently assessing whether and in what form Switzerland can provide assistance. This also includes the possibility of sending specialists, but no concrete indication has yet been provided.
“Our thoughts are with the Colombian people after the earthquake,” Parmelin said in English on X. The Swiss message is added to those of many other countries. Israel and the United States, allies of the new Colombian president Abelardo de la Espriella, were the first to offer their help.
Translated from Italian, sub-edited by Anand Chandrasekhar
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