Tag Archives: Latest News

Zurich Airport is reportedly looking into pre-boarding tests Keystone German airline Lufthansa will introduce rapid tests before certain flights to detect Covid-19 in passengers. If the trial, set to start in October, is successful, it will be expanded to Lufthansa subsidiaries Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and Edelweiss. The tests are being developed by the Basel-based pharmaceutical company Roche, according to reports in the NZZ am Sonntag and...

A worker stacks goods at a warehouse belonging to the pharmaceutical industry service provider Alloga in Burgdorf, canton Bern, on March 4, 2020. © Keystone / Christian Beutler Government economists say the impact of the pandemic in Switzerland is slightly less severe than previously feared. This is partly thanks to the mix of industries in Switzerland and the decision to rapidly lift coronavirus restrictions, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs...

FINMA described the bank’s money laundering processes as “inadequate” and reprimanded it for a breach of its duty of due diligence in relation to anti-money laundering rules. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally The Swiss financial market regulator FINMA has reprimanded Bank Syz for breaching money laundering rules involving a business relationship with an Angolan client. “FINMA found that the bank did not make sufficient efforts to investigate the substantial growth in the...

The federal government will have more power to approve vaccines and treatments for Covid-19. Keystone / Peter Klaunzer Measures put in place by the federal government to help manage the coronavirus crisis can be officially extended thanks to a decision by parliament. On March 13, the federal government assumed some executive powers that allowed it to enact certain laws and measures to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. With the unanimous decision on Wednesday,...

The Blausee is one of the most popular mountain lakes in Switzerland Keystone Carcinogenic toxins have seeped into the groundwater at the Blausee in the Bernese Oberland, killing thousands of fish, say the owners of the lake’s fish farm. They point the finger at companies renovating the Lötschberg summit tunnel and the authorities. Groundwater measurements at the gravel works near Blausee had shown that the concentration of so-called PAHs (polycyclic aromatic...

Will UBS and Credit Suisse, here in Zurich’s Paradeplatz, become more than neighbours? Keystone Shares of Credit Suisse and UBS moved to the top of SMI stocks on Monday morning after a media report said the Swiss banks were planning a merger. The chairmen of UBS Group and Credit Suisse Group were exploring a potential merger to create one of Europe’s largest banks, wrote Inside Paradeplatz, citing unidentified people inside the two lenders. The project, nicknamed...

Swiss Tourism IndustryWith only three months to go before the start of the winter season, the de facto holiday ban for guests from certain high risk countries is causing huge concern for the Swiss tourism industry. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott - Click to enlarge Foreign visitors from Covid-19 high risk countries should be able to travel to Switzerland with negative corona tests and not have to go into quarantine, say tourism officials. Under Swiss regulations,...

Valcambi says it is cooperating with NGOs in Peru (picture shows an area in the Madre de Dios province) to improve the working conditions of artisanal miners. Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. The Swiss-based Valcambi refinery has rejected accusations about gold dealings with a controversial company in the United Arab Emirates. Chief executive Michael Mesaric said the claims by the non-governmental Swissaid organisation were unfounded. In a...

Mexico has recorded 634,023 coronavirus infections and 67,558 confirmed deaths, the world’s fourth highest death toll. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. People arriving in Switzerland from Belgium, Mexico and Luxembourg will no longer have to go into quarantine for ten days. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) on Monday updated its list of countries deemed to have a high risk of coronavirus infection and removed Belgium, Mexico,...

Human rights activists have called on Apple to cut ties with suppliers alleged to be using the forced labour of thousands of ethnic Uighurs in Chinese factories. Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. Campaigners are urging the Swiss government to renegotiate a six-year-old free trade agreement with China to try to improve human rights and labour conditions for its Uighur Muslim minority. On Monday, the Society for Threatened Peoples, the Swiss...