Switzerland News in English - Expat Guide to Switzerland

September 24, 2020

Sudan says US deal on embassy attacks reparations ‘close’

Sudan’s foreign minister said Thursday that a compensation agreement for the families of victims of two 1998 attacks on US embassies in Africa is within sight. “We are very close to getting that signed and done with,” Omar Qamareddin told…

September 24, 2020

Posthumous award for Turkish lawyer who died on hunger strike

A Turkish lawyer who died after a lengthy hunger strike in jail, and her still-imprisoned lawyer sister were on Thursday awarded a major human rights prize. “The jury has chosen to remind the world the martyrdom suffered by Turkish lawyers…

September 24, 2020

Switzerland scolds bank over Angolan client’s assets, transactions

Switzerland’s financial regulators on Thursday reprimanded a boutique private bank for breaching money-laundering rules following a probe into large assets held by an Angolan customer. FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, opened an investigation in February against Geneva-based Banque…

September 24, 2020

We agree with the EU on one point – we must get out of this dead end

Non-governmental organisations, journalists and observers are today witnesses to a crisis of solidarity. This is the result of years of obstruction and containment policies towards asylum seekers, and the total denial of their basic human dignity. The fires on the…

September 24, 2020

Locarno Film Festival director quits over ‘strategic’ differences

Lili Hinstin has left the Locarno Film Festival – Switzerland’s most prestigious film event – after two years as festival director. “Having acknowledged their diverging strategic views, the Locarno Film Festival and Lili Hinstin have decided by mutual consent to…

September 24, 2020

Advantage Swiss prosecutors vs Federer climate activists

Swiss environmental activists who invaded a bank to play tennis dressed as Roger Federer were sentenced on appeal Thursday, overturning a judgement that the climate crisis justified their actions. The case is a symbolic one that could set the tone…

September 24, 2020

Tennis climate activists go a set down at Swiss court

Twelve climate activists who staged tennis matches inside a Credit Suisse bank in Lausanne, some dressed as Roger Federer, to highlight alleged environmental abuses have been convicted on appeal for trespassing. An appeals court in Renens, near Lausanne, reversed a January…

September 24, 2020

Switzerland wants gold segregation by customs for more transparency

The world’s gold refining hub wants international customs to differentiate between mined and bank gold to help improve supply chain transparency and traceability. On Thursday, the Alpine nation submitted a proposal to the World Customs Organization (WCO) to amend…

September 24, 2020

Study: no corona infection clusters in canton Zurich schools pre-summer

There was no clustering of Covid-19 infections in schools in canton Zurich before the summer break, an antibody study has found. The results come at a time of increasing debate over the role of children in spreading the virus. The…