Switzerland

Hundreds of people took part in a solidary rally for Israel on Tuesday evening in Zurich.

The gathering, organised by the Jewish religious community of Zurich, took place in the old town, in tribute to the victims and hostages of the attacks committed by Hamas in Israel. It was supported by a broad alliance of Jewish organisations and other associations.

The bells of the Protestant Fraumünster church rang at 6:00 p.m., as a sign of solidarity with the Israelis. The gathering followed a quarter of an hour later on the square opposite the church. There were many Israeli flags there. Swiss flags were also waved, as were signs calling for an end to Hamas terrorism and the liberation of Gaza.

Speakers included Mario Fehr, the current president of the government of the Canton of Zurich, and Jacques Lande, the president of the Jewish Community of Zurich.

The canton's first wind farm was officially opened in Sainte-Croix, Vaud, on Tuesday after decades of opposition.

More than 100 guests attended a ceremony on the ridge in the Vaud Jura, where six wind turbines now stand.

The second-largest wind turbine in Switzerland after Mont-Crosin in the Bernese Jura (16 wind turbines) will go into operation in November. It will cover the annual electricity consumption of the 6100 households of Sainte-Croix and the local businesses.

The creation of the wind farm, however, was a pincer birth. It took a quarter of a century to bring this project to fruition. The first feasibility study was carried out in 1998. Fierce opposition to the wind turbines soon arose in the region. After a legal marathon, the Federal Court gave the green light for the realization of the project in April 2021. Construction work began six months later.

A survey found only five percent of the Swiss population consider making hands-free phone calls while driving to be very dangerous. And only 69% say they never get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol.

The Swiss Council for Accident Prevention (BFU) examined the danger assessment of the population with certain behaviors in traffic. It presented its findings on Tuesday. Generally it showed up that with an estimated high risk also the appropriate behavior accompanies.

Thus 95% of the drivers consider drugs at the wheel dangerous. Correspondingly, only one percent say they occasionally drive after smoking a joint.

When it comes to talking on the phone at the wheel, a majority takes a more relaxed view. 73% use hands-free phones at least occasionally. Only five percent see this as a danger. Although permitted, the BFU warns that using a hands-free phone increases the risk of an accident.

When it comes to bicycles or electric bikes, the view is even more relaxed: only one in two say they have never swung on a steel bike after two or three glasses. And only three quarters thought it was dangerous

In addition, the BFU asked about the level of knowledge of the population about drowning of small children. Children under the age of four usually drown silently. However, four out of five parents or caregivers of children in this age group assumed that toddlers fidget or scream. Eight percent of men and 22% of women knew about silent drowning.

A sample of 1,619 people aged 15 to 74 stratified by age and language participated in the BFU survey on traffic. 1601 people provided information on the topic of household and sports.

Every fourth doctor in Switzerland was over 60 years old in 2021. Of those under 45, 61% were women.

The medical profession worked in 17,233 medical practices and outpatient centres, the Federal Statistical Office said in its statistics on doctors on Tuesday. They shared 19,004 full-time positions. A total of 28.4% of these professionals were over 60 years old.

Among primary care providers, the proportion of older people was 25.5%, and in practices and centres for specialised medical services or with a mixed range of services, 29.8%. In 2021, 44.3% of the medical profession were women. Among doctors over 45, their share was 39%, while among those under 45 it was 60.7%.

Primary care practices and outpatient clinics employed 47.9% women. In specialist and mixed practices and centres, the proportion was 41.8% and 44% respectively.

Following the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan, Switzerland is paying additional money into a United Nations relief fund. The Swiss contribution now amounts to CHF3.8 million ($4.2 million).

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has already paid CHF1.5 million into the Afghan Humanitarian Fund, the foreign ministry said on Monday. The funds will now be increased.

The fund has been administered by the UN since 2014 and makes it possible to respond to natural disasters, it said.

According to the foreign ministry website, the budget for Swiss aid to the Afghan population in the current year amounts to about CHF30 million. Just under half of the money will go to the UN, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and international financial institutions such as the World Bank; 53% of the money goes to non-governmental organisations.

On Saturday morning several earthquakes shook the inhabitants of the Afghan border province of Herat near Iran. Within just a few hours, the earth shook nine times and more than a dozen villages were largely destroyed. The two most severe quakes had a magnitude of 6.3, according to the US earthquake observatory USGS.

According to the Afghan broadcaster Tolonews, at least 2,400 people have died so far; the UN emergency relief agency OCHA spoke of more than 1,000 dead. Several aftershocks also shook the disaster region on Monday.

Some 28% of Swiss expect to have less money in their wallets in 2023 than in the previous year, according to a survey. The main culprits are rising health insurance premiums as well as rent and mortgage interest rates.

In households with a low gross monthly income of up to CHF4,000 ($4,400), 38% expect to have to tighten their belts, the comparison service Comparis reported on Tuesday. Among households with a gross monthly income of CHF4,000 to CHF8,000, 30% expect a financial deterioration this year.

Broken down by language region, Ticino in particular is expecting a tighter budget: 39% of respondents there said they would have to cut back a lot. In French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland, the figure was 19% each.

In addition, according to Comparis, an urban-rural divide became visible: a quarter of the rural population said they had to turn over every franc. In the city and agglomeration, it was 18% and 17% respectively. Clear gender difference

According to Comparis, there was also a clear difference between the sexes: 31% of women were convinced that they would have less money available in 2023 than last year. Among men, however, it was only 23%.

In order to save money, the respondents mainly refrained from unnecessary spending and impulse purchases. More conscious shopping with an eye for discounts and comparing prices was also the result. In addition, discounters gained in attractiveness. In Italian-speaking Switzerland, significantly more respondents (60%) said they would shop abroad if they were in a financial bind. The average for Switzerland as a whole was a quarter.

The survey was conducted by the market research institute Innofact on behalf of Comparis. In August 2023, 1,011 people from all over Switzerland were surveyed.

Two days after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has announced the creation of a taskforce on the Middle East.

In Switzerland pressure is mounting for Bern to ban Hamas, a militant Palestinian organisation, and classify it as a terrorist organisation. An evacuation flight will be operated on Tuesday between Zurich and Tel Aviv, but regular service will remain suspended until Saturday.

“Switzerland stands in solidarity with the people of Israel. And it condemns the terrorist attacks in the strongest possible terms,” Cassis said at a press briefing in Bern on Monday. He offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the attack.

On Monday he held talks with the Israeli ambassador to Switzerland and the representative of the Palestinian Authority in Switzerland. Swiss President Alain Berset also spoke to the Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Cassis said.

In view of the volatile situation, the government must be able to act quickly and in a coordinated manner, he said. This is the objective of the new taskforce headed by the head of the ministry’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) division, Maya Tissafi.

Hamas and Iran targeted

Switzerland is ready to provide diplomatic support to the parties and the states in the region to work towards de-escalation. It is committed to a two-state solution negotiated by both parties in accordance with international law, Cassis said. In his view, it is likely that Iran was behind the attack, as it was very well orchestrated.

Bern’s stance towards Hamas has nonetheless been criticised by many politicians and organisations in Switzerland. On Monday the Switzerland-Israel parliamentary group called on the government and parliament to reconsider their position and their relations with Hamas, and also with the Iranian regime.

“Our legal situation does not currently allow us to list terrorist organisations,” Cassis pointed out. This does not mean that we cannot act against terrorists, he added, referring to the procedure against al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, which are banned by law.

Financial support maintained

While the EU has announced that it is freezing its development aid to the Palestinians, Switzerland is maintaining its financial support for the time being. There is no indication that these funds are not being properly used,” Cassis said.

Switzerland funds the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as well as around 30 NGOs at present. As for the controversial aid to UNRWA, there is no alternative. Until now, Switzerland has supported the relief agency to the tune of around CHF20 million ($22 million) a year.

Repatriation on Tuesday

The first priority is to support the Swiss people on the ground, Cassis said. For the time being, he had no information about Swiss victims or hostages. Foreign ministry staff in both Tel Aviv and Ramallah are safe and the Swiss embassy in Tel Aviv and the representation office in Ramallah remain operational.

The airline SWISS will be repatriating Swiss nationals from Israel on Tuesday, it announced on Monday. A return evacuation flight between Zurich and Tel Aviv will be operated at the request of the foreign ministry. It was already fully booked on Monday. However, SWISS is cancelling all flights to and from Tel Aviv until Saturday October 14 inclusive.

Around 28,000 Swiss nationals are officially registered in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Some 430 people with links to Switzerland are registered in the Travel Admin app.

Travel to Israel remains inadvisable, said the foreign ministry. As a result, Swiss travel agencies must cancel their holiday offers until further notice and work to repatriate tourists.

The airline SWISS will fly Swiss citizens home from Israel on Tuesday.

The flight is taking place at the request of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), according to an official statement published on Monday.

The special flight from Tel Aviv to Zurich is primarily aimed at Swiss nationals on the ground, the FDFA added.

Swiss has scheduled an Airbus A321 aircraft with 219 seats for the evacuation flight, the airline said. According to the statement, the flight can only be booked via a special hotline.

With the exception of this special flight, Swiss extended the interruption of air traffic to Israel on Monday. Up to and including Saturday (October 14), all planned flights to and from Tel Aviv are canceled, Swiss announced.

The Swiss government currently advises against any travel to Israel.

Switzerland has exchanged information on millions of financial accounts with 104 countries or received information from abroad in the current year.

However, the Federal Tax Administration (FTA) cannot provide any information on the total amount of assets involved.

New on the list of countries with which Switzerland cooperates within the framework of the automatic exchange of information (AEOI) are Kazakhstan, the Maldives and Oman, as the FTA announced on Monday.

There was no exchange with Russia. As a result of the attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the exchange was suspended in September 2022.

Switzerland exchanged information with 78 countries. It obtained information from 25 others but did not provide any, according to the FTA. Either the requirements in terms of confidentiality and data security were not met by these countries, or they voluntarily did not want to accept any information.

There are currently around 9,000 reporting financial institutions registered with the FTA. For example, banks, trusts and insurance companies collected data and transmitted it to Bern.Switzerland sent information on around 3.6 million financial accounts abroad and received information on 2.9 million accounts from partner countries.

The legal basis for implementing the AEOI came into force in Switzerland on January 1, 2017. Thanks to the exchange of information, tax authorities in the cantons can check whether taxpayers have correctly declared their financial accounts abroad.

Train manufacturer Stadler Rail has received another order from Austria.

The Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) have ordered 16 new battery-powered trains. However, the order may reach a significantly higher volume.

ÖBB will use the new "Cityjet" battery-powered multiple units for the Kamptalbahn in Lower Austria, Stadler announced Monday. Operation of these trains is possible on both electrified and non-electrified lines. The trains are expected to be put into service starting in 2028.

This order is worth 194 million euros (CHF185 million). Meanwhile, the framework agreement signed by ÖBB with Stadler allows for an order of up to 120 battery-powered multiple units. The total volume of the order could thus rise to €1.3 billion.

Watch industry subcontractors are beginning to feel the effects of the global economic slowdown, according to Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA.

Fiscal year 2024 is likely to be more demanding, and negotiations with watch brands on component price increases are shaping up to be tough.

"With Europe and the USA slowing down, and China not recovering as expected, visibility for business is diminishing," François Billig, Managing Director of Jura-based micromechanics specialist Acrotec, a key supplier to the watch industry, told the news agency.

Switzerland's export-oriented timepiece industry depends on the health of its main markets: China, Europe and the US. While this sector, like the luxury goods industry as a whole, has managed to shrug off the consequences of the rising cost of living and the war in Ukraine over the past two years, wealthy customers are beginning to be more selective when it comes to shopping in the boutiques of the big-name brands in Paris, London, New York or Shanghai.

Watch exports, a key industry indicator, may be heading for a new record in 2023, but the second half of the year has been less dynamic than the start of the year, leading the brand names to start taking a somewhat cautious approach when it comes to ordering components from their suppliers - companies that are often smaller and less resistant to economic ups and downs than the well-known brands such as Rolex, Swatch, Cartier, Audemars Piguet or Patek Philippe.

Small signs

"One of our relatively large watchmaking customers has requested relissage. This means that this customer wants his orders for components for 2024 to overflow a little into 2025," says Pierre Dubois, General Manager of Dubois Dépraz, a subcontractor serving high-end watchmakers.

"There are small signs, but no major downturns yet," stresses Pierre Dubois, while indicating that further requests for "re-smoothing" could arise in 2024 if the economic downturn were to worsen.

Notwithstanding this impending slowdown, Dubois Dépraz expects to close 2023 with double-digit percentage sales growth. "If all goes well between now and the end of this year, we should reach the record level of 2019, or even slightly exceed it," confides the executive.

Margins, however, are likely to suffer from higher staffing levels and inflation. The complications specialist has hired around 100 people in the last 18 months, bringing the workforce to 425.

"Our company has never had so many employees." Before the pandemic, the Vallée de Joux-based company employed between 380 and 390 people. By 2021, however, these numbers had fallen to 330, due to the drop in business at the height of the global health crisis.

Acrotec, which in addition to watchmaking also supplies the medical, aerospace and automotive industries worldwide, and has over 2,800 employees, anticipates a "decent" increase in sales of under 10% for 2023. The 500 million revenue mark should thus be passed once again.

Swiss travel agencies are canceling their vacation offers in Israel until further notice. Already booked trips can be canceled free of charge.

The escalation in Israel also has an impact on the Swiss travel industry. After the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) issued a travel warning, travel agencies are working to repatriate tourists. Flights canceled

A spokeswoman of Hotelplan Suisse writes on request of the news agency AWP that they are in contact with customers who are in Israel. All those affected are well and the company is currently working on an early return. For this purpose, the company is in contact with various airlines.

According to the information, Swiss has canceled all its flights to and from Israel up to and including (today) Monday. Decisions about the upcoming flight program will be made soon, according to the airline's website.

Tui Suisse also says that it is in contact with local customers to organize their return journey. In principle, it is also recommended to "refrain from existing travel plans," as a spokeswoman said in response to a query.

Swiss employees are exposed to great psychological stress. Employers also feel this. It also often happens in SMEs that employees are absent due to mental illnesses.

Losses from work due to mental illnesses increased by 20% in Switzerland last year, according to a study by the insurer Axa. More than 30% of employees feel emotionally exhausted, according to a communiqué on Monday.

In addition to health, socio-political and social stress factors, the current labor shortage also played a role that should not be underestimated in the stress at work. It is said that if vacancies in a company cannot be filled, the pressure on existing employees increases significantly. The consequences of overload are often stress-related absences from work.

As the study results of this year's AXA labor market study show, the proportion of SMEs that were significantly affected by failures due to mental illnesses in 2022 rose from 21 to 26% compared to the previous year, while the proportion of those not affected at all fell from 41 to 36% is. This means that last year only a little more than a third of the SMEs surveyed were not affected by psychologically-related failures. More employees absent

According to the report, the proportion of those surveyed who are of the opinion that the frequency of absences due to psychological problems has increased in the last five years has also increased: almost a quarter of SMEs (24% versus 17% in the previous year) have more or significant absences increased, a little more than half rate the absences as constant.

For the Axa study, the Sotomo research institute surveyed 301 Swiss SMEs with five or more employees from German- and French-speaking Switzerland. The data was collected from February 21 to March 1, 2023 via the AmPuls company panel.

The presence of the palm borer moth has been confirmed in Ticino, southern Switzerland. The pest, which originated in South America and is already present in several regions of southern Europe, poses a serious threat to many species of palm tree.

While the palm borer moth (Paysandisia archon) is a threat to exotic ornamental palms, which are themselves highly problematic invasive species, it is also a threat to the European fan palm (Chamaerops humilis), a species that is important to Mediterranean ecosystems, the Ticino department of land said on Monday.

The damage caused to the plants is due to the activity of the larvae, which dig tunnels in the heart of the palm tree, feeding on it and weakening the attacked individuals until they die.

The presence of the moth has so far been confirmed in the Locarno region and in Lugano. The species affected are the widespread and invasive windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei), the Mexican blue palm (Brahea armata), the European fan palm and the Canary Island palm (Phoenix canariensis).

However, experience from other affected areas suggests the possibility that all palm species adapted to the environmental conditions in Ticino are affected, with the exception of dwarf palms of the genus Chamaedorea.

The relatively high number of palms attacked in Brissago suggests that the moth has already been present for several years. Its arrival is probably due to the importation of infected trees.

Eliminating infested trees

Given the current state of knowledge, the best strategy seems to be to monitor the possible presence of the insect and its damage to palms. When this is confirmed, the most effective measure for slowing its spread is to eliminate the affected trees.

It is suggested that palm trees be felled as soon as the first symptoms appear. The apical part of the trunk (around 60cm from the top of the palm) should then be separated from the leaves and placed in a hermetically sealed bag to prevent the larvae or adult moths escaping, advises the department of land.

The resulting material should be disposed of at the cantonal incinerator in Giubiasco. This measure should make it possible to protect non-invasive ornamental palm species for as long as possible, bearing in mind that there are currently no effective biological or synthetic plant protection products approved for use in Switzerland.

Discoveries of affected plants should be reported to the email address of the Invasive Alien Organisms Working Group, dt-spaas.neobiota@ti.ch, specifying the location of the discovery, the number of affected plants and attaching photographs.

Some regions of Switzerland experienced a summer’s day on Sunday. Shortly after noon the measuring station in Fahy, canton Jura, recorded temperatures above 25°C, said SRF Meteo.

On Sunday and Monday the highs in the lowlands were between 22°C and 26°C. That is significantly higher than the average at this time of year. The October norm for Bern is 14°C, according to SRF Meteo. In the south, too, it was record-breakingly warm with temperatures of up to 30°C.

Temperature records had already been broken in Switzerland in the first week of October. In Lucerne, for example, the mercury hit 27°C on October 3. The previous high was 26.6°C. The measuring stations in Bern and Wädenswil, canton Zurich, also registered records.

Last year, Switzerland experienced the latest summer day since measurements began. In Chur in eastern Switzerland 25.4°c was recorded on October 30.

Some 143,470 birds were counted migrating through Switzerland at the weekend. A particularly large number of starlings were sighted, but there were also rarities such as ospreys and red-throated pipits.

Around 4,000 twitchers were on the lookout for migratory birds at 51 locations across the country, the bird protection organisation BirdLife Switzerland announced on Monday. The event took place as part of the international migratory bird days EuroBirdwatch. Throughout Europe, birdwatchers counted a total of around 3.5 million migratory birds.

The record number of bird species counted in Switzerland was set by the starling: 36,813 individuals were counted. Also well represented were the chaffinch (36,186) and the wood pigeon (29,705). Most birds were observed in Ettingen, canton Basel Country, where 7,430 individuals were counted.

BirdLife Switzerland said the event was organised by bird conservation organisations from all over Europe to draw attention to the dangers facing migratory birds. Despite all the joy about the fascinating spectacle of nature, it should not be forgotten that migratory bird populations in Europe and especially in Switzerland continue to decline, it said.

After several severe earthquakes in Afghanistan with more than 2,000 dead, Switzerland has announced possible aid for the crisis-stricken country.

The foreign ministry told the Keystone-SDA news agency on Sunday that the government’s Humanitarian Aid was following the situation closely and examining a possible response.

The agency did not provide more detailed information. The foreign ministry reportedly had no knowledge of any Swiss citizens affected by the earthquake.

According to Afghan data and the US earthquake service (USGS), Saturday’s earthquake had a magnitude of 6.3. The centre of the quake was 40 kilometres northwest of Herat, the largest city in western Afghanistan. The authorities later reported eight aftershocks with a magnitude between 4.3 and 6.3. Another aftershock with a magnitude of 4.2 also hit the area on Sunday, according to USGS data.

More than 1,300 houses collapsed due to the quakes in the region around the city of Herat, according to authorities. More than 2,000 people died in 13 villages and several thousand others were injured. Search and rescue operations continued on Sunday.

Afghanistan is already in a humanitarian crisis because many foreign aid organisations left the country after the radical Islamic Taliban took power in the summer of 2021. At that time, Switzerland also temporarily closed the cooperation office of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) in Kabul and withdrew its staff.

The Hamas attack on Saturday also took Swiss nationals in Israel by surprise. They should be aware of what’s going on and what to do, says the Swiss foreign ministry.

Several thousand Swiss nationals remain in Israel, according to the foreign ministry. The permanent Swiss population in Israel comprises about 28,000 people, Swiss Ambassador in Tel Aviv Urs Bucher told SRF News.

“There are also a certain number of non-Swiss family members. At the moment, a few hundred businesspeople and tourists are estimated to be passing through,” he said. Of those, 240 have already reported to the foreign ministry via the “Travel Admin” app. So far, there have not been any reports of Swiss coming to harm, he added.

The Swiss representations in Israel remained open over the weekend, the department said. It has also strengthened its teams and is closely monitoring the situation. Immediately after the attacks, the embassy in Tel Aviv inquired about the situation with liaison people, for example near the Gaza Strip or compatriots in the north and south, Bucher said.

These field offices served as a kind of “antennae that then helped us to talk to our compatriots and give the right advice when needed”.

“The foreign ministry helpline as well as the Swiss Embassy in Tel Aviv and the representation office in Ramallah are operational and are answering the enquiries of Swiss citizens this weekend as well,” says David Grichting, director of the foreign ministry’s Consular Division.

The foreign ministry currently advises against all travel to Israel that is not of an urgent nature.

For people on the ground, it has three recommendations: they should follow the advice of the local authorities closely, read the foreign ministry’s travel advice and latest information, and stay in touch with tour operators. “In case of emergency, the foreign ministry’s hotline is available around the clock by phone and email.”

Here’s how those affected can leave the country: “The foreign ministry is not currently planning any special flights,” Grichting says. However, some airlines, including El Al and Ryanair, offer flights that make it possible to leave the country. However, many of these flights are probably already fully booked, he said.

SWISS has announced a flight for Tuesday, according to the foreign ministry helpline. It will send a message to all those registered with the Swiss embassy in Tel Aviv and on the “Travel Admin” app, should the foreign ministry learn of special flights organised by partner countries from which Swiss nationals can benefit, Grichting added.

Switzerland is strengthening security measures at the Israeli embassy in Bern and the Israeli consulate in Geneva in light of Saturday’s attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel's retaliatory bombardments, the Federal Office of Police (FEDPOL) confirmed on Sunday.

The federal police have asked the cantonal police forces to make the necessary adjustments, a FEDPOL spokesperson told the Keystone-ATS news agency. However, FEDPOL refuses to reveal any details to avoid compromising the security and effectiveness of the measures.

Security has been tightened in France, Germany and Britain around synagogues, Jewish schools and memorials.

In Switzerland, the protection of religious institutions is in principle the responsibility of the cantonal police. Some institutions, such as schools and synagogues, receive financial support for protection measures. In 2023, 19 organisations received such financial support, according to FEDPOL.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) has launched a Renzo Piano-designed museum and visitor attraction, the Science Gateway, near Geneva.

The new centre was opened in the presence of Federal President Alain Berset on Saturday.

“May this portal to science become a place of gentle transition to a future-oriented career choice,” said Berset at the opening.

Science is the key to a sustainable future, said Italian physicist and CERN General Director Fabiola Giannotti. In the future, CERN will be able to receive up to half a million visitors a year instead of 125,000.

The building consists of large walk-through tubes that are connected to a glass bridge over a street. They are a reminder of the nearby Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest particle collider, a 27-kilometre underground ring-shaped accelerator, located north of Geneva to explore fundamental physics. “The building is like a spaceship about to land,” said the Italian architect Renzo Piano.

The LHC is one of the main attractions of the 8,000m2 Science Gateway, which has a series of hands-on interactive exhibits, such as exploring the properties of magnets.

The leader of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's party, David Arakhamia, has criticised Switzerland for its position on weapons exports.

Switzerland is doing itself a “disservice,” he said in an interview published in the CH-Media group of newspapers on Saturday.

“The Swiss live by the paradigm of neutrality. I understand that they think that way and I agree that they do not sell arms directly to Ukraine,” said Arakhamia.

But depriving customers of the freedom to dispose of the goods they buy will harm Swiss industry, he says.

“If Switzerland continues along this path, it will end up losing its arms market completely," said Arkhamia, who is close to the Ukrainian president. “That would be the end of the Swiss arms industry.”

Since Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine has become one of the centres of the global arms trade. “We are aware of all the major contracts concluded in each country," said Arakhamia.

Previously, all traders would ask whether a potential deal complied with international arms trade rules, i.e. strict US re-export rules. “Today, everyone asks if (the weapons in question) have Swiss components,” said Arakhamia. “People don't want to buy this kind of thing, they don't want to pay for something that they can't then give to whoever they want.” More Swiss investment in Ukraine

Swiss politicians should think about the future of the arms factories in their cantons, says the Ukrainian. “Is it really in Switzerland's interest for a factory to close down or for hundreds of people to be made redundant?”

“Neutrality helped the Swiss people after the Second World War, but I don't think it still works in today's world,” he said.

He said he hoped Switzerland would invest more in Ukraine. In his view, Switzerland has always been a specialist in the financial markets and provides valuable assistance to Ukraine in the field of mine clearance. “But it could concentrate its efforts even more in the area of investment. Arms companies could, for example, open joint ventures in Ukraine,” he said.

Switzerland's foreign ministry has condemned attacks on Israel after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Saturday launched the biggest assault on the country in years.

“We demand an immediate end to the use of violence," said the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) on Saturday morning on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Bern joins a number of other countries that have condemned the attacks including Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

The protection of civilians is essential, the FDFA stressed.

Since Saturday morning, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets from the Gaza Strip, killing at least one person in Israel and ending a truce that had generally been respected since the end of a 5-day war between Israel and Gaza in May.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared that the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas had unleashed "a war against the State of Israel". In response to this military offensive, the Israeli army said on Saturday morning that it had begun carrying out air strikes on the Gaza Strip. In a brief statement, it confirmed that several "dozens (of its) fighter jets (were) currently striking a number of Hamas targets" in the territory.

Several people were hospitalised and hundreds were evacuated on Friday evening from buildings in Zurich’s Hardbrücke district due to a chemical accident.

Six people were taken to hospital for medical examinations, it was reported on Friday.

Toxic gases escaped from a drum in front of a building after a chemical reaction, Zurich emergency services said in a press release on Friday evening. A warning to the population was then issued by the authorities, asking them to close windows and doors and turn off air conditioning.

At the scene of the accident, firefighters in chemical protective gear placed the drum in another container, before eliminating it in a special waste treatment centre, the press release said. The order to evacuate buildings and a road blockade were lifted late on Friday evening.

All six people taken to hospital had mild symptoms. Several other people went to the hospital emergency unit on their own.

A major rescue operation was deployed including police officers, firefighters and health services, the press release added. Public transport and private traffic were both affected during the emergency intervention.

An increasing number of people in German-speaking Switzerland are refusing to pay their taxes and flooding the administration with letters of complaint, report Swiss public broadcasters RTS and SRF.

This phenomenon has been on the increase since the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to an SRF survey, around 10,000 "state objectors" ("Staatsverweigerer" in German) are active in Switzerland. At the heart of their ideology is a distrust of the state, seen as too powerful an entity that enriches itself at the expense of its citizens.

"The idea is to attack the state, to paralyse it," Dirk Baier, Director of the Institute for Delinquency and Crime Prevention at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences told RTS on Friday.

"What characterises state objectors is the way in which they justify their actions," he said. "For example, one of the narratives is to say that the state is a business. So you actively oppose the state and justify it all in a conspiratorial way by saying that the state is too powerful, that some people want to get rich off the community."

“Terrorism with paper"

As far as the administration is concerned, the actions of state objectors are causing a significant increase in their workload. Baier describes it as "paper terrorism".

Debt collection offices are the first to be affected by this phenomenon, explains Thomas Winkler, President of the Association of Debt Collection Officials in canton Zurich. "Most of our 57 debt collection agencies have already had dealings with such people."

Thomas Winkler adds that State objectors "are very happy to lodge complaints". "Of course, these are unfounded”, he says, but it also takes up a lot of civil servants’ time.

According to Baier, since the Covid-19 pandemic, people who share the ideas of state objectors have strengthened their networking through discussion groups and workshops.

In French-speaking Switzerland, the phenomenon is less visible. However, some debt collection offices in canton Vaud have already been confronted with such practices.

The number of candidates standing for election to the National Council on October 22 has reached a new record this year.

The average age is the highest it has been for over 30 years, and the proportion of women is stable, according to figures published by the Federal Statistical Office.

No fewer than 5,924 candidates are standing for election to the House of Representatives in the 20 cantons with proportional representation systems, 27% more than in 2019. Of these, 40.8% are women, compared with 40.3% four years ago (and 32.5% in 1991).

More surprisingly, although ten candidates are only 18 years old, the average age of the contenders is the highest since at least 1991: 43.6 years, compared with 41.75 in 2019 and 40.59 in 2015, according to the FSO. Overall, the candidates are younger on the left and among the Greens, as well as among women.

The Centre and Green parties are fielding the highest number of candidates, with 1,104 and 839 respectively. Between them, these two parties account for almost a third of all candidates.