Geopolitics

Swiss border guards convicted over Syrian woman’s stillbirth

This content was published on May 9, 2021 Switzerland has convicted three more border guards over the miscarriage of a Syrian woman who was sent back to Italy in the summer of 2014. Judges ruled they should have shown moral courage and called an ambulance against the wishes of their superior. German-language weekly SonntagsZeitung reported on the convictions. The head of the three border…

Foreign Affairs

Poll finds most Swiss back framework deal with EU

This content was published on May 9, 2021 The survey conducted by the research institute gfs.bern found that 64% of 2,000 people questioned were in favour of a comprehensive deal with the EU. About a third were opposed (32%). “This shows the considerable potential of the institutional agreement at the ballot box, i.e. two thirds of voters,” says René Buholzer, director of the umbrella organisation…

Foreign Affairs

Climate activists block roads in Switzerland

This content was published on May 8, 2021 Climate activists block roads in Switzerland Climate activists aligned with the Extinction Rebellion (XR) environmental movement created traffic disruptions on Saturday across Switzerland. "I am terrified by the state's inaction in the ecological disaster," said a student in the Plainpalais district of Geneva, before his sign was confiscated by police Calling their demonstration a ''Rebellion Of One,'' activists set up single-person roadblocks in about a dozen cities–including Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich, Bern–and smaller towns such as Morat. The demonstrations come one month before citizens go to the polls to decide on a revised national CO2 law. It is impossible to determine how many people staged such single acts of protests, according to Keystone-SDA news agency. "As we are working in a decentralised way, each group is organising itself independently," an organiser in Zurich told the agency. Angry motorists In Geneva and Lausanne, several roads were blocked in the morning and afternoon by activists. Most of them were dislodged and fined by the police, sometimes after only a few minutes. In Lausanne, one activist lasted five minutes before being taken away in handcuffs. Angry drivers and passersby dislodged another activist in the same city before police arrived Among onlookers, reactions ranged from applause and support to annoyance and outright anger. "What do we care about the climate? There are all the cars waiting", a young woman in Geneva complained. Another contested the notion of "ecological catastrophe". Vulnerability By sitting alone on the pavement, each activist wanted to show the vulnerability of individuals to global warming. "Behind every activist there are emotions," said the one from Zurich. "Climate change did not go away with the pandemic" Switzerland’s climate activists want the government to tackle climate change more quickly and to convene a citizens assembly on climate and ecological justice. They want the Federal Council (executive body) to declare a climate emergency and make the country carbon neutral by 2025 rather than 2050. XR activists held protests in Britain last week and plan further actions in cities across 10 countries until June.

Foreign Affairs

No ‘status quo’ without Swiss-EU framework deal, EU envoy warns

This content was published on May 8, 2021 EU Ambassador Petros Mavromichalis warns there will be no new deals on access to the EU single market and that expiring agreements will not be renewed. “It is the chronicle of a death foretold,” he told French-language newspaper Le Temps in an interview published Saturday. Switzerland can certainly reject the institutional agreement, the ambassador points…

Foreign Affairs

Indian foreign minister: ‘Covid exposed fissures and weaknesses like a stress test’

This content was published on May 7, 2021 Subrahmanyam Jaishankar gives the Indian viewpoint on the pandemic and the consequences for international relations.

International Geneva

Swiss not swayed by US vaccine waiver announcement

This content was published on May 6, 2021 Switzerland will “evaluate” the new proposition, but “many questions remain open”, the economics ministry said.

Citizens of India line up for a nasal swab.

Foreign Affairs

Switzerland sends oxygen and body bags to India

This content was published on May 6, 2021 Switzerland is helping India confront its brutal second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with more than 13 tonnes of supplies.

Foreign Affairs

Parmelin visits the Vatican for Swiss Guard swearing in

This content was published on May 6, 2021 Switzerland’s President met Pope Francis in the Vatican on Thursday, in a visit that also included the swearing-in of 34 new Swiss Guards.

Foreign Affairs

Olympic athletes to get free shots from Pfizer and BioNTech

This content was published on May 6, 2021 The doses will be delivered this month so that Olympic delegations can receive two shots before arriving in Tokyo for the opening of the games on July 23. “We are inviting the athletes and participating delegations of the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games to lead by example and accept the vaccine where and when possible,” IOC President…

A surgical operating theatre in a hospital at Ariha, in the Syrian province of Idlib.

International Geneva

Report finds over 4,000 attacks against health workers since 2016

This content was published on May 5, 2021 Violence against health workers and facilities continues unabated, a new Swiss-UK funded report reveals.

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Swiss border guards convicted over Syrian woman’s stillbirth

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Poll finds most Swiss back framework deal with EU

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Climate activists block roads in Switzerland

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No ‘status quo’ without Swiss-EU framework deal, EU envoy warns

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Indian foreign minister: ‘Covid exposed fissures and weaknesses like a stress test’

More

Swiss not swayed by US vaccine waiver announcement

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Switzerland sends oxygen and body bags to India

More

Parmelin visits the Vatican for Swiss Guard swearing in

More

Olympic athletes to get free shots from Pfizer and BioNTech

More

Report finds over 4,000 attacks against health workers since 2016

Popular Stories

Most Discussed