GENEVA (AP) — Families in a tiny Swiss village were packing up Wednesday after authorities issued an evacuation order with a weekend deadline because of the threat of a possible rockslide from an Alpine mountainside overhead. Authorities in charge of the eastern village of Brienz said in a statement Tuesday that they analyzed the potential...
Tag: general news
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US laments ‘disappointing’ Swiss decision not to fully adopt latest EU sanctions against Russia
GENEVA (AP) — The United States is expressing disappointment over a decision by the Swiss government not to adopt all measures in the latest round of European Union sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine. Amb. Scott Miller, the top U.S. envoy in the Swiss capital, expressed hope that Bern will work to close...
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Advocacy groups suspend use of ‘suicide capsule’ pending Swiss criminal probe of woman’s death
Advocacy groups behind a so-called suicide capsule said Sunday they have suspended the process of taking applications to use it — which numbered over 370 last month — as a criminal investigation into its first use in Switzerland is completed. The president of Switzerland-based The Last Resort, Florian Willet, is being held in pretrial detention,...
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Swiss glaciers are receding again after 2 punishing years and despite a good start to 2024
GENEVA (AP) — The volume of Switzerland’s glaciers shrank again this summer, compounding the negative impact of climate change after a devastating two-year run that depleted the ice by more than 10%, scientific experts reported Tuesday. The cryosphere observation team at the Swiss Academy of Sciences reported that high temperatures in July and August, combined...
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Swiss police detain several people in connection with suspected death in a ‘suicide capsule’
GENEVA (AP) — Police in northern Switzerland said Tuesday that several people have been detained and a criminal case opened in connection with the suspected death of a person in a “suicide capsule.” The “Sarco” capsule, which has never been used before, is presumably designed to allow a person sitting in a reclining seat inside...
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Birds, bees and ballots: Swiss voters to decide on plan to bolster country’s fragile biodiversity
GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland, known for natural beauty like pristine lakes and majestic Alpine peaks, ranks among the world’s richest countries whose plant and animal life is under the greatest threat. Environmentalists were seeking better protections for the country’s biodiversity in a nationwide vote that culminated Sunday. The Swiss public broadcaster SSR, citing exit polls...
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Tourists helicoptered down from Swiss mountain resort after mudslide cuts off road access
GENEVA (AP) — Helicopter crews ferried down scores of tourists stranded atop of one of Switzerland’s most popular mountain resorts on Friday after a mudslide a day earlier cut off road access until next week. Teams from Air Zermatt rescue and helicopter service led the operation for what Swiss media said were about 2,200 tourists...
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Swiss court convicts 2 PetroSaudi executives in fallout from Malaysian fund scandal
GENEVA — Switzerland’s federal criminal court on Wednesday convicted two top managers of a Saudi oil company on charges including fraud and money laundering in a vast scam that swiped at least $1.8 billion from a Malaysian state-owned investment fund. PetroSaudi executive Tarek Obaid, a Saudi-Swiss dual national, received a seven-year sentence and British-Swiss associate...
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Storms in Switzerland cause flooding and a landslide that left at least 2 people dead
BERLIN — Storms in southern Switzerland caused a landslide that left two people dead and one missing, and a bridge over a small river collapsed, police said Sunday. Storms and heavy rain affected southern and western Switzerland on Saturday and overnight, with the worst-hit areas in the Italian-speaking Ticino canton (state), on the southern side...
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One person found dead and two missing in Switzerland floods
VIENNA (AP) — Rescuers in Switzerland have found the body of one of three people who had gone missing on Saturday after massive thunderstorms and rainfall in the southeast of the country caused a rockslide, Swiss authorities say. The other two are still missing. One woman was pulled out alive from the rubble earlier on...
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4 members of a billionaire family get prison in Switzerland for exploiting domestic workers
GENEVA (AP) — An Indian-born billionaire and three family members were sentenced to prison on Friday for exploiting domestic workers at their lakeside villa in Switzerland by seizing their passports, barring them from going out and making them work up to 18 hours a day. A Swiss court dismissed more serious charges of human trafficking...
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78 countries at Swiss conference agree Ukraine’s territorial integrity must be basis of any peace
OBBÜRGEN, Switzerland — Nearly 80 countries called Sunday for the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end Russia’s two-year war, though some key developing nations at a Swiss conference did not join in. The way forward for diplomacy remains unclear. The joint communique capped a two-day conference marked...
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