The decision was taken this morning to cancel the last race of this year’s Patrouille des Glaciers, the iconic Swiss ski race between Zermatt and Verbier that takes place every two years. The ski mountaineering race organised by the Swiss Army, in which military and civilian teams compete, consists of four races. This year, the […]
Migration crisis: 2,000 soldiers to cover Switzerland’s borders
Tribune de Genève. In the event of a large increase in migrants flowing to Switzerland, around 2,000 soldiers must be ready to help border control staff, said Switzerland’s federal council, or cabinet, on Wednesday. The federal council has asked the Swiss department of defense to prepare for such an event. Last Thursday, Bern, the cantons, towns and communes […]
SMI struggles upward as the global stock recovery continues
22 April 2016 – Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The SMI continued its struggling upward trend this week and is expected to finish slightly higher on Friday, in-line with global equity markets. Stocks held on to early gains despite concerns that the European Central Bank (ECB) and People’s Bank of China […]
Solar impulse back in the air and bound for the US
Born in Switzerland and now heading from Hawaii to California, Solar Impulse 2 took off early this morning from Kalaeloa in Hawaii, as it continues its round-the-world flight. In silence, the 100% solar-powered aircraft took off across the Pacific at 6:15am Hawaii time (UTC-10) bound for California. The plane belonging to Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, […]
Champion Swiss freerider dies in avalanche
20 Minutes. The Swiss freeride champion Estelle Balet, lost her life after getting caught in an avalanche during filming at Orsières in Valais, Switzerland. She was 21. Estelle Balet won first place in the recent Freeride World Championship held at Verbier on 2 April 2016. On Tuesday, she was being filmed in the Swiss Alps […]
Ticks active again in Switzerland
Le Matin. Tick season has started early this year. When the temperature reaches 7 degrees disease-carrying ticks spring back into action. Ticks spread nasty diseases such as Lyme disease and Tick-borne encephalitis. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Lyme disease, a bacterial infection, is common in Europe, where around 35,000 cases were reported in […]
Roche sees its first cancer immunotherapy winning U.S. nod soon
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Roche Holding AG said its most advanced experimental drug to harness the immune system in the fight against cancer may win U.S. regulatory approval this year, becoming the first such treatment to help the roughly 430,000 people diagnosed annually with bladder cancer. The medicine, called atezolizumab, may generate around $3 […]
SNB could increase scope of negative interest rates
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank could reduce the amount of leeway it grants banks on its negative deposit rate in a bid to prevent an already “significantly overvalued” franc from strengthening, President Thomas Jordan said. Still, reducing the threshold — currently 20 times an institution’s minimum reserves — isn’t an imminent […]
Rising tiger numbers are nothing to cheer about
When the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Global Tiger Forum (GTF) roared the news last week that “for the first time in 100 years, tiger numbers are growing”, the media, including the New York Times, splashed the headline around the world. Few journalists checked out the headline or the facts. After all, WWF said so. Yet, as science writer […]
Paleo 2016 music festival tickets soon on sale
The Paléo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland boasts an amazing variety of artists every year. Held in fields just above Nyon, it is the annual rock festival of the region. What started as a small and eclectic get-together by the lake in 1976, has become one of Europe’s leading open-air music festivals. Over 230,000 music lovers attended last […]
