Switzerland

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) reported higher profits in the third quarter. During the busy summer period, 99% of its flights were carried out, despite strikes, difficult weather or staff shortages at partner companies.

The airline made an operating profit of CHF277.6 million during the three summer months, compared to CHF220.5 million the previous year.

From July to September, SWISS also increased sales by almost 11% to CHF1.5 billion, it announced on Thursday.

Sales for the first nine months of this year hit CHF4 billion - almost the same as in the year before the Covid-19 pandemic. The operating profit climbed massively to CHF615.9 million. Last year, Swiss had a surplus of CHF287.5 million; before the pandemic it was CHF490 million. ...

The Swiss government will ask parliament to release CHF90 million ($99.5 million) in additional funds for humanitarian aid destined for the Middle East, it said on Wednesday.

The funds will go mainly to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (CHF25 million), the International Committee of the Red Cross (CHF15 million), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (CHF15 million), the UN children’s agency Unicef (CHF10 million), the World Food Programme (CHF10 million) and various health organisations, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and Terre des Hommes Switzerland (CHF15 million).

The emergency humanitarian aid would be provided throughout the region. Parliament still has to give its approval.

The Swiss government has reiterated its "unequivocal condemnation" of the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas since October 7 and calls for the release of all hostages. At the same time, the protection of civilians and respect for international humanitarian law are essential for both parties, it said.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis called on Israel to declare a humanitarian truce to guarantee access to aid for the population. A call for a ceasefire, however, would contradict Israel's right to ensure its own security. Israel has the right to defend itself, he told reporters.

Switzerland has spoken of the need to respect international humanitarian law (IHL). Israel has so far paid great attention to this aspect, Cassis said. But strict compliance with IHL in a territory as densely populated as Gaza is difficult. If there are violations of IHL, it will be up to the courts and history to judge, he said. ...

The events surrounding Credit Suisse are to remain an isolated case. As a matter of principle, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) does not want to grant emergency liquidity to financial institutions without collateral.

The extraordinary liquidity assistance granted to Credit Suisse during the crisis should not become a regular monetary policy instrument of the SNB, SNB President Thomas Jordan said at an event on Wednesday.

Credit Suisse had prepared too little collateral for deposit with the SNB to receive extraordinary liquidity assistance on a massive scale, Jordan noted in his opening speech at the conference "The SNB and its Watchers" in Bern. However, the case of CS had also shown in an exemplary manner that customer deposits could now flow out much faster and more extensively than had been assumed in the previous regulation.

In March, the SNB provided CS with ELA+ liquidity assistance ("Emergency Liquidity Assistance") based on an emergency decree issued by the Federal Council. CS did not have to deposit any collateral for these loans; only an SNB bankruptcy privilege applied. It supplemented the traditional liquidity assistance (ELA) and the loans guaranteed by the federal government (Public Liquidity Backstop PLB). At its peak, the SNB provided Credit Suisse with 168 billion francs, Jordan said. ...

More than 10,000 people have signed up for a smoke-free November in Switzerland this year.

The campaign is designed to encourage smokers to quit - ideally for good - with the help of a motivating community.

The first month without smoking is the most difficult, according to a statement Wednesday. More than a quarter of people in Switzerland still smoke. In order to make it easier to quit, there is an exchange platform on the Internet and, among other things, a telephone consultation with health experts. Testimonials from participants are also accessible.

Free registration is via the website rauchfreiermonat.ch. The program is offered in German, French, Italian and English. ...

Switzerland is to exchange air passenger data with EU countries in the future. The Federal Council on Wednesday approved a negotiating mandate for an agreement.

Such an agreement will help improve the exchange of information in police cooperation, the Federal Council wrote in a statement. In addition, it should protect Switzerland as a business location and ensure internal security in the Schengen area.

Data that passengers provide when booking will be used: Names, contact details and itinerary. This information is an important tool in the fight against cross-border terrorism and organized crime, writes the Federal Council. Some 70 countries have already introduced such a system, including all EU member states. ...

Switzerland has launched legal cannabis experiments in various cities this year to assess the benefits of regulating the supply of the recreational drug. SWI swissinfo.ch visited the city of Basel, where cannabis is available in some pharmacies, to find out how the first pilot scheme is going.

“I’d like some Purple Gas, please,” says *Markus, flashing his ID at the man behind the counter of the Klybeck pharmacy in central Basel. The pony-tailed chemist nods and disappears into the back of his store. He returns to the counter and scans a small brightly coloured packet. “That’ll be CHF50 ($54), please.”

The “Swiss-certified cannabis” label on the packet gives the game away. Markus has just bought 5 grams of 12% THC weed for his personal use.

He is one of 370 adults taking part in Basel’s “Weed Care” scheme – a 2.5-year recreational pot smoking study. Its aim is to examine the impact of regulated cannabis supply on the health and consumption behaviour of users with a view to possible changes to the Swiss law. Basel was the first of seven Swiss cities to launch scientific studies this year. The results - especially on health risks, smoking habits and problematic consumption - will be closely scrutinised in the coming years.

The pilot projects have public support yet remain contentious. Could Switzerland’s cautious step-by-step scientific approach offer a new way forward for countries considering whether to allow recreational cannabis? ...

Switzerland will continue to offer special protection to Ukrainian refugees.

This was decided by the Federal Council at its meeting on Wednesday.

A sustainable stabilisation of the situation in Ukraine is not foreseeable, writes the Federal Council. The S protection status will therefore not be lifted before March 4, 2025.

Status S has been in effect since March 12, 2022, when the Federal Council activated it due to Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. It serves as temporary protection for the duration of a serious general threat. At the end of October 2023, about 66,000 people from Ukraine had an active S status in Switzerland. ...

Maria Wegelin has resigned as president of the Winterthur branch of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party.

Wegelin resigned from office after it became known that she had worked with two activists of the extreme right-wing “Junge Tat” in her failed House of Representatives election campaign.

On Tuesday she resigned as president at an extraordinary general meeting of the party. She is also giving up her office as a city parliamentarian, according to a statement.

The new interim president Marco Graf will lead the Swiss People’s Party Winterthur until the party’s annual general assembly in 2024, according to the statement.

At the end of September the SonntagsBlick made public that Wegelin had engaged two Junge Tat activists, who had criminal convictions, for her ultimately unsuccessful election campaign in social media. The Winterthur Homeowners’ Association then withdrew its support and called on Wegelin to distance herself from the Junge Tat. ...

The more often a man reaches for his mobile phone, the lower the quality of his sperm, according to a Swiss study.

Men who use their mobile phones more than 20 times a day have a fifth fewer sperm per millilitre than men who reach for their phones no more than five times a day, researchers from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute and the University of Geneva revealed on Wednesday.

They analysed the sperm of 2,886 men aged 18 to 22 who were recruited between 2005 and 2018, the two institutions announced.

This is the world’s largest study on the subject to date, said study co-author Martin Röösli. ...

Some 900 consignments were checked in Switzerland at the Zurich-Mülligen postal sorting centre as part of an international crackdown in illegal medicines.

Of these, 230 contained counterfeit or illegally imported medicines, Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, said in a press release on Tuesday.

More than half of them came from India and Eastern Europe and over 50% were erectile stimulants and a quarter were psychotropic drugs. The seized drugs have been reported to the cantons, which will initiate criminal proceedings.

The raid in Switzerland was part of the annual "Pangea XVI" week of action to combat the illegal online trade in medicines, in which 89 countries took part. In total, the international operation resulted in the seizure of around seven million dollars worth of illegal and counterfeit medicines. In addition, 1,300 websites were shut down. ...

While most are content with their financial future there are considerable differences depending on gender, level of education and income.

Three quarters of the Swiss population feel comfortable or even very comfortable with their financial situation, according to a Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) study published on Tuesday. The researchers define financial well-being as a state in which a person can meet financial obligations and feel secure about their financial future.

How comfortable a person feels with their financial situation depends on many very different factors. For example, women and divorced people have a significantly lower level of financial well-being. Homeowners also assess their situation better than tenants.

Higher education ensures greater well-being

The study also showed that financial well-being increases continuously with the level of education. Graduates of universities or universities of applied sciences therefore showed the highest level of well-being of over 80%. On the other hand, a clear discrepancy emerges among people with only a primary school diploma. Here, only slightly more than half felt comfortable with their own financial situation. ...

The Swiss government has signed a CHF300 million ($331 million) contract for the purchase of new long-range missiles for the Patriot ground-to-air defence system.

The purchase was announced by the Swiss army's procurement agency armasuisse on Tuesday. The agreement had been approved by parliament in its 2023 communication on the armed forces. The PAC-3 MSE guided missiles from the US manufacturer Lockheed Martin will be sent to Switzerland in 2028 and 2029.

For the Patriot missile system, which is scheduled to be delivered from 2026 onwards, the procurement of further PAC-2 GEM-T type ordnance, which was established last year, is already in progress.

The PAC-3 MSE (Missile Segment Enhancement), armasuisse explains in a statement, is the newest Patriot missile type and is mainly used for defence against approaching short-range warheads. In contrast, the PAC-2 GEM-T (Guidance Enhanced Missile, Tactical) is primarily intended for defence against aircraft, drones and cruise missiles. ...

One in four people on a conventional bicycle rides without lights at night or at dusk.

This rate is much lower among users of fast electric bikes (2%) and slow electric bikes (9%), the Accident Prevention Bureau announced on Tuesday.

Since 2022, it has been compulsory for electric bicycles to be ridden with their lights on, even during the day. The vast majority (91%) of fast e-bike users comply with this rule. On slow electric bikes, on the other hand, one person in four rides during the day with the lights off. When night falls, electric bikes generally have their lights on. This is the case for 98% of fast models and 91% of slow models. ...

The Swiss Fair Trading Commission considers advertising that refers to climate neutrality to be unfair. As long as there are no methods for actually measuring this promise, it cannot be used for advertising purposes.

Slogans such as "CO2 neutral", "climate neutral" or "climate positive" are therefore misleading, the Swiss Fair Trading Commission (Stiftung für Konsumentenschutz or SKS), said on Tuesday. If companies fail to adapt their advertising, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) must take action against them, concludes the foundation.

In two decisions concerning the cases of a heating oil company and a baby food manufacturer, the Commission found that advertising about climate neutrality was unfair. As long as there are no definitive and generally accepted methods for measuring sustainability or for guaranteeing implementation, such green marketing messages mislead consumers.

According to the Commission's recommendation, the heating oil company should no longer claim that its product is climate neutral before presenting full proof. On the production side, it should calculate the effects on the climate and prove without fail that they are fully offset - and this according to a widely accepted method. ...

After the record summer, there will probably only be small growth for the Swiss tourism sector in the winter. This is the conclusion reached by the BAK Economics research institute.

According to their study published on Tuesday, the experts expect only a slight increase in overnight stays of 0.4% - or 66,000 - to 17.5 million overnight stays for the 2023/24 winter season. Last summer the industry recorded a record season with 23.5 million overnight stays.

It is said that foreign guests in particular are likely to offset the expected decline in Swiss guests. Although BAK Economics expects a level in the future that is around 10% above the pre-crisis years, a decline in the number of Swiss guests can be expected next winter by 2.2% or by 208,000.

Meanwhile, demand from Europe is likely to remain positive - experts expect an increase in overnight stays of 2.2% (+115,000 guests).

The long-distance markets, however, present themselves inconsistently. Despite high growth rates, China remains well behind pre-crisis levels and India's otherwise dynamic growth is being dampened by visa problems. Nevertheless, BAK Economics is assuming overall strong growth in the long-distance markets of 5.4% (+159,000 guests). ...

Chocolate bars from the vending machine without change, bank card or payment app? Selecta wants to make it possible. The company is making its machines crypto-enabled and wants to offer another payment option in the future.

In order to be able to pay with Bitcoin & Co, the first smart machines have now been equipped with the Solana Pay payment infrastructure, Selecta announced on Tuesday.

You can already try out the first machines at the Solana Breakpoint conference, which is taking place in Amsterdam for blockchain and technology enthusiasts until November 3.

When asked by AWP, Selecta was unable to say exactly when the first crypto-enabled machine would actually be installed. It also depends on how the new payment method is received and accepted by potential buyers, said a spokeswoman.

“Our goal is to reach the next level for the consumer shopping experience,” explains Roland Ludwig, operational and technical director of Selecta. The introduction of cryptocurrencies as a payment option opens up a new dimension for shopping. ...

“Dynamic autumn weather” brought the onset of winter to the mountains until Tuesday morning. The passing cold front brought a lot of precipitation in the past 24 hours, as the weather service Meteonews recorded.

It rained the most in Mosogno TI in the Onsernone Valley. The rain there exceeded 100 litres per square meter in the morning. It also rained heavily in parts of southern Bünden, with 80 to almost 100 litres. This resulted in 96 litres in Soglio GR. The cold front joined a congestion situation in the south. There was widespread wind and rain.

On the Piz Corvatsch GR at 3,315 metres above sea level, 91 litres of precipitation fell - albeit in the form of snow. When the precipitation began, the snowfall line was around 2,500 meters, slightly higher in the south.

Over the course of the night it sank significantly, so that flakes fell down to 1300 meters, around Scuol GR. According to Meteonews, from an altitude of 2,500 metres above sea level there was half a metre or more of fresh snow.

As the morning progressed, the rain and snow showers moved east. Behind it, changeable weather set in. The snowfall limit was 1,700 metres. ...

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reported a narrow profit for the first nine months of 2023. However, there was a loss for the third quarter after the SNB had already reported a loss in the second quarter.

According to Tuesday's communiqué, the profit for the period January to September 2023 is CHF1.7 billion. After a high increase of CHF26.9 billion in the first quarter, losses of CHF13.2 billion and CHF11.9 billion occurred in the second and third quarters, respectively.

This is not entirely surprising. The economists at UBS, for example, had expected a loss of between CHF5 and 10 billion for the third quarter.

While the SNB achieved a plus of CHF7.0 billion on its foreign currency positions in the first nine months and also reported a valuation gain of CHF1.1 billion on its gold holdings, which remained unchanged in terms of volume, there was a loss on its Swiss franc positions. It totaled CHF6.1 billion francs. ...

Railway construction work next year will cause the temporary closure of various lines in Switzerland, resulting in major challenges for rail freight operators.

Sections of the Simplon line from canton Valais in southern Switzerland to Milan, Italy, are to be completely closed on the Italian side for up to three months next year, Swiss public radio SRF reported on Monday.

The situation will also be complicated in August for freight traffic on the Gotthard line: the marshalling yard in Chiasso will be rebuilt and at Bellinzona there will only be one track available at the same time. In addition, construction work is planned north of the Alps in summer.

A list from the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) reveals a total of 15 construction projects on the north-south axis, many involving “full closures”. “The operating situation in freight transport is and remains difficult,” says Andreas Windlinger from the FOT.

Construction is also underway in Germany along the entire Rhine-Alpine rail corridor. Switzerland has completed the New Railway Link through the Alps (NRLA) north-south rail link, but construction work is still ongoing abroad, said Windlinger. This will continue intensively, especially in Germany, until 2040, but the next three years will be particularly challenging. ...

A Swiss environmental group has criticised the creation of a new ice cave on the Rhône Glacier and urged the local authorities to investigate the matter.

"We ask you to clarify the facts and take the necessary measures,” said the Swiss Foundation for the Protection and Development of the Landscape in a letter sent to the Valais government and Cantonal Building Commission (CCC), which was shared with the media.

The creation of a second ice grotto on the glacier prompted the foundation to report the case to the commission. “We are not aware of any application for planning permission for this,” said the foundation's director, Raimund Rodewald. He called for the work to be stopped "immediately".

"The old cave has obviously collapsed, and everything has been left in place. What bothers me is that the operator is taking every liberty to do as he pleases and enjoy the site to the last drop," said Rodewald. We should at least have an "ethical attitude" towards these glaciers, which are dying mainly because of human activity, he added. ...

After a record warm September, Switzerland registered its second-hottest October since measurements began in 1864.

The first half of October was marked by extremely fine weather. For the whole month the average temperature across the country was 9.8° C, the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss) said on Monday.

This is 3.1° C above the monthly norm for the 1991-2020 period. The October record of 10.4° C dates to 2022.

In Lugano, canton Ticino, October was the warmest ever recorded - 2.8° C above the norm.

In several locations, when comparing temperature measurements over the past 100 years, October 2023 was only just below previous records. Compared to the pre-industrial period (1871-1900), October 2023 was 2.7° C warmer on average.

During the first 13 days of October, 38 locations across Switzerland registered temperature records. Many places experienced summer-like weather of over 25° C. Basel-Binningen recorded nine such days and Bern-Zollikofen five. Comprovasco, canton Ticino, measured the highest temperature at 29.4° C on October 8.

The first half of the month saw practically no precipitation. Rain and snow above 1,700 metres fell on October 14-15. ...

The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has launched a nationwide campaign to encourage particularly vulnerable people – the over-65s and anyone with a pre-existing illness - to get a Covid jab this autumn.

The most vulnerable are at increased risk of developing a severe form of the disease, and their immune protection is most likely to decrease, FOPH said in a statement on Monday. It also recommends the flu vaccination for people at risk.

The health office on Monday launched a targeted, national campaign “Vaccinate against flu and Covid-19” that runs until November 19. Information will be published in various magazines, on TV and cinema screens, and online.

“Since almost everyone has already been in contact with the coronavirus, our immune system has already encountered it. In people without risk factors, current variants generally only trigger mild forms of the disease,” the FOPH said.

However, vulnerable people are at increased risk of developing severe disease, and their immune protection is most likely to decline.

The Swiss population is critical of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in news production. This is shown by a representative survey by the Research Center for Public and Society at the University of Zurich.

As the FÖG announced on Monday when presenting the latest yearbook on the quality of Swiss media, only just under a third of the Swiss population would read articles that were written entirely by AI.

However, for texts written by media professionals without the use of AI, the willingness is 84%. “For the audience, the role of journalists in reporting is still central,” said FÖG research director Daniel Vogler when presenting the study to the media in Zurich.

Acceptance of AI is greater for news about weather, sports or stock prices than for news about politics, business or science. Over 80% of those surveyed want media content produced with AI to be declared accordingly.

Swiss private banks are also benefiting from the changes in the interest rate environment. Smaller institutions in particular were able to significantly improve their earnings in the first half of the year thanks to strong interest business, as a study by the consulting firm KPMG shows.

According to the half-year analysis by KPMG, there is a significant shift in the income structure of private banks in Switzerland away from commission business and towards interest business. This is particularly clear among small institutions: for these, the share of interest income in total income was 41% in the first half of 2023, after it was 24% in 2021.

The share of the traditionally more important commission business was also 41% compared to 58% in 2021.

In addition, according to the study, smaller private banks in particular benefited from an increase in trading income in the current year. This was primarily due to increased foreign exchange transactions as customers sought to benefit from higher US dollar interest rates, according to KPMG.

The medium-sized and large private banks also increased the share of interest income in their total income, but to a lesser extent than the small institutions. ...