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Zurich, Switzerland | AFP | Two children who received Zolgensma, a gene therapy produced by Swiss drugmaker Novartis to treat spinal muscular atrophy, have died from liver failure, the company said Friday. Health authorities in Russia and Kazakhstan, where the deaths occurred, have been notified along with those in all countries where the treatment is used, Novartis said in an e-mailed statement. The children died five to six weeks after receiving infusions of Zolgensma and […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The thick layer of ice that has covered a Swiss mountain pass for centuries will have melted away completely within a few weeks, a ski resort said Thursday. Following a dry winter, the summer heatwaves hitting Europe have been catastrophic for the Alpine glaciers, which have been melting at an accelerated rate. The pass between Scex Rouge and Tsanfleuron has been iced over since at least the Roman era. But as […]
by Agnès Pedrero Agence France-Pressec ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) — A deadly virus has swept through Zurich’s zoo, killing three Asian elephants in a month and leaving experts stumped as to how to stop its spread. The zoo overlooking Switzerland’s largest city now has only five of the majestic creatures roaming its 11,000-square-metre (118,400-square-foot) elephant enclosure. Two-year-old bull Umesh was the first to fall victim to the Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) at the end of June, […]
by Nicolas CAMUT Agence France Presse Way up in the snowy Alps, the border between Switzerland and Italy has shifted due to a melting glacier, putting the location of an Italian mountain lodge in dispute. The borderline runs along a drainage divide — the point at which meltwater will run down either side of the mountain towards one country or the other. But the Theodul Glacier’s retreat means the watershed has crept towards the […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Swiss health officials on Saturday reported the country’s first case of monkeypox in a person living in the canton of Bern but who was exposed while abroad. Bern’s health authority said the patient had been treated as a walk-in case and was now isolating at home. Everyone who had come into contact with him had been informed, it added in a statement. “As far as we know, the person concerned […]
by Nathalie OLOF-ORS Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – Airlines may find themselves swept up in unprecedented turbulence — with air travel shunned over climate concerns, plagued by pandemic shutdowns and soaring oil prices — but for private jet operators, business is booming. The appeal of private jets has taken off since the start of the pandemic, amid fear of catching Covid-19 and as widespread cancellations and stringent measures have turned flying commercial into a […]
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) – Two subsidiaries of Swiss mining company Solway Investment Group hid reports of pollution in an indigenous area of northeastern Guatemala, an international consortium of media companies said Sunday. The “Mining Secrets” investigation — in which 65 journalists from 15 countries participated — also accused Solway subsidiaries Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN) and PRONICO of intimidation and influence peddling. The investigation run by the Forbidden Stories NGO “reveals the strategies that Solway […]
by Nathalie OLOF-ORS Agence France Presse ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) — The “Suisse Secrets” data leak claiming to reveal how Credit Suisse handled billions of dollars in dirty money has renewed pressure on Switzerland’s financial sector, which has spent years trying to clean up its image. Switzerland’s second largest bank was rocked Sunday by a vast investigation by dozens of media organisations into leaked data they said showed Credit Suisse held more than $8 billion […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — President Ignazio Cassis has tested positive for Covid-19, the government said on Thursday — the same day Switzerland lifted almost all remaining coronavirus restrictions despite high case numbers. Wednesday’s “test came back positive and the president went into self-isolation this morning as soon as he learned of the test result,” a government statement said. “Mr Cassis has no symptoms and is in good health.” The former cantonal doctor, aged 60, who […]
by Nina LARSON Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – The Swiss voted on Sunday to tighten their notoriously lax tobacco laws by banning virtually all advertising of the hazardous products. Nearly 57 percent of voters and 16 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons backed the near-total tobacco advertising ban, final results showed. “We are extremely happy. The people understood that health is more important than economic interests,” Stefanie De Borba of the Swiss League against Cancer, told […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – Glaciers are retreating faster globally due to climate change but they melt more quickly when they flow into a lake than when they end on land, with consequences for water supplies, a new study found on Thursday. The Swiss-funded study is the first large-scale, detailed analysis of the phenomenon in mountain glaciers and could help forecast major water shortages and huge flood waves. It examined all 319 glaciers in the eastern […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Switzerland on Tuesday authorized booster shots of Covid-19 vaccines for the over-65s, as it urged those with no protection at all to get immunized. The Swissmedic regulatory authority said the booster would be one shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, or a half-dose of Moderna. “People at especially high risk can receive a booster dose of a vaccine in order to remain adequately protected against severe episodes of Covid-19,” the agency said. […]
