World Radio Switzerland

Fewer deaths on the road

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:14:57 UT

The downward trend in the number of deaths on Swiss roads is continuing. The federal statistics office says the number of serious injuries also declined.

Last year, 349 people lost their lives in accidents, eight fewer than in 2008.

However, the news is not so good for people on motorbikes. Over the past decade, the number of motorcyclists killed on the roads has doubled.

Officials also say alcohol-related deaths on the roads has remained stable after the rate was halved between 2004 and 2006. They say it’s because tougher restrictions were introduced on blood alcohol limits.

Switzerland’s record on road accidents is very good compared with the European Union, where in 2008, there were 78 road deaths per million inhabitants—Swiss figures stood at only 47.

Drugs campaigner faces new charges

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:06:15 UT

Bernard Rappaz, the convicted cannabis dealer, is facing new charges for crimes committed between 2002 and 2006.

The cantonal prosecutor for Valais says the charges include money laundering, falsifying documents and violation of drug laws.

He’s also facing charges involving the old age and disability pension plans and accident insurance.

Rappaz is back under house arrest after being sent home from prison where his health deteriorated due to his hunger strike.

He was protesting his five year prison sentence for possession of over 51 tons of marijuana.

His property has been cordoned off and his house arrest will continue until the Federal Court decides on whether to suspend his sentence.

Boat seized in lake death case

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:56:06 UT

Police in Bern have seized a boat in their investigation into the death of a woman on Lake Biel earlier this month.

The police aren’t releasing any more details except to say that they haven’t yet made any arrests.

The boat was moored on Lake Biel.

On July 11, a speedboat ran over a woman on the lake, killing her.

The boat, which had three passengers in addition to the driver, did not stop.

This is not the first boat that police have examined in their investigation.

Parents pay price over swim ban

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:52:42 UT

Five families have been fined in the canton of Basel City for refusing to let their children attend compulsory swimming lessons.

The Muslim parents of at least six kids concerned would not give their permission due to religious reasons.

Education authorities in the canton said this is the first time such an action has been taken.

The new Education Act came into force a year ago, regulating the rights and obligations of parents, including fines of up to 1,000 francs for those who forbid their children to attend compulsory courses.

Human rights breached says court

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:38:20 UT

Switzerland has been condemned by the European Court of Human Rights in a case involving asylum rights.

The Court unanimously found that the separation of two pairs of asylum seekers from Ethiopia breached Article eight of the Convention.

Switzerland will pay the plaintiffs approximately 12,000 euros in moral damages and costs.

The Ethiopian applicants, who applied for asylum in 1994 and 1998, had been directed to the cantons of Bern and St Gallen, while their companions were in canton Vaud.

In 2003 and 2004, the two women had married their partners, but the Federal Office for Migration didn’t give them permission to live in Vaud until 2008.

Oldest African elephant in captivity dies

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:43:58 UT

Ruaha, thought to be the oldest African elephant living in captivity, has died at the Basel Zoo.

At 59 years old, she is believed to have died from natural causes,

She was found dead by a guard at the zoo earlier today and officials said she was surrounded by a group of elephants touching her body with their trunks.

Ruaha arrived when she was a year old, in 1952. She was named after the Tanzanian plain where she came from.

Alcohol consumption down, binge drinking up

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:40:11 UT

The average per person consumption of alcohol is down, but officials are concerned that binge drinking is on the rise.

In 2009, each person in the country drank an average of 37.9 liters of wine and 57.3 liters of beer. Those amounts are slightly down, less than a liter in each case, from the previous year.

But government officials say despite a general downward trend in consumption, alcohol abuse and its social consequences, are some of their biggest public health concerns. They say binge drinking is on the rise, mostly among young people.

The Swiss Alcohol Board says it’s for this reason that the Federal Council is proposing changes to the Alcohol Act, including prohibiting the free distribution of alcohol and requiring licensed premises to provide at least three non-alcoholic beverages at a price lower than the cheapest alcoholic drink.

—Jackie Campo, World Radio Switzerland

Elton John to play exclusive in Geneva

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:34:16 UT

Elton John is to play an exclusive one-off gig in Geneva with virtuoso percussionist Ray Cooper.

The duo plan to reinvent the songs of Elton John on December 19, 2010 at the Geneva Arena.

Fans will be able to hear new orchestrations of such Elton John classics as Nikita, Must Be The Hardest Word or Tiny Dancer.

Hunger strike hemp convict back home

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:30:34 UT

Bernard Rappaz has returned to his farm in Valais.

He’s been sent there, under house arrest, in order to recuperate from his prolonged hunger strike.

Rappaz was in prison in Valais when he began his hunger strike in protest of his five-year sentence for growing hemp. When his health deteriorated, he was sent to a hospital in Geneva, and then to one in Bern – both of which refused to force feed him.

He agreed to stop his hunger strike if he was allowed to go home to regain his health. Officials say he will be under 24-hour surveillance.

Online love hunt a growing trend

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:04:31 UT

Six out of ten people in Switzerland say the internet is an ideal way to meet potential mates.

That’s according to an online dating survey conducted by Marketagent.com for Parship.CH.

But where people go on the web for dates seems to depend on their age.

Younger people, up to age 30, include online social networks or chat rooms in their cyber ramblings, while 64 percent of those over 30 say they prefer online dating sites.

The survey, based on 1,000 people’s responses aged 14 to 69, also found that for 75 percent of respondents, the opinions of relatives is important or very important.

Boom in illegal drug sales online

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:00:54 UT

The illegal import of drugs via the Internet has experienced a boom in the first half of this year.

Swissmedic, or the Swiss Institute for Drug Control, says nearly 1,000 suspected items containing potentially dangerous products were seized by Swiss customs.

That’s up by 75 percent over the same period last year.

A third of the products seized were for erectile dysfunction. Another quarter promised weight loss and about a sixth promised hair growth.

Nearly half of the shipments came from India.

According to Swissmedic, many of these drugs with dubious or even dangerous effects are still getting through the border.

The institute says the vast majority of orders for the year, that’s around 50,000, will reach recipients.

Adobe to buy Basel tech company

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:55:57 UT

Adobe Systems, the American technology company, says it plans to buy Day Software, a Basel-based web content management firm.

Adobe said the move was designed to bolster its worldwide web presence.

Started in 1993, Day has 146 staff. Since 2000 it has traded on the SIX stock exchange.

Its clients include global giants like McDonald’s and Hyatt.

Adobe currently has more than 8,000 staff around the world and an annual turnover of about $3 billion.

More cantons join in fire ban

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:53:36 UT

The cantons of Vaud, Jura and Geneva have imposed an immediate ban on campfires and fireworks anywhere across their cantons, amid a continuing drought.

The ban is to stay in place as long as the drought persists, however authorities say fireworks will be allowed in designated areas for National Day on Sunday.

On Monday, Fribourg lifted its ban on campfires but it remains in place in Valais.

Meteosuisse says the risk of forest fires applies to the entire Southern Alps.

Stressed out doctors get help

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:00:00 UT

The Federation of Swiss Physicians is to introduce a support network in the autumn for physicians facing stressful situations at work.

The network comes after a pilot program, ReMed, launched in 2007, revealed the need.

During the pilot phase, doctors from all cantons visited a website for aid as well as a help-line in French, German and Italian.

Daniel Herren from the Federation says when doctors make the wrong decisions about care, it affects lives.

The Federation says the network is geared towards physicians, their families and others affected by doctors’ decisions.

Plans for a full rollout are in the works for late October.

Gun suicides highest in central Switzerland

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:13:35 UT

Central Switzerland has a bigger problem with suicides committed by firearms than in the rest of the country. That’s the finding of a study by the University of Zurich, published in the journal, European Psychiatry.

The study says suicides using a firearm are generally more common in cantons with the most guns in circulation. Those cantons include Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri, where a third of people who kill themselves use a firearm. And 57 percent of households in these cantons have a gun or a rifle.

By contrast, in cantons where the number of households with firearms was lower, like in Geneva or Basel-City, there were fewer suicides involving guns, between 15 to 24 per cent. The cantons of Valais and Jura were below average, at 21.1 percent and 22.4 percent respectively.

The study is based on statistics from 1998 to 2007. During this time, there were over 13 thousand suicides in the country, including 3169 with a firearm.

The researchers say the army, police and hunting and gun clubs should carry out campaigns to help prevent suicides.

—Catherine Allen, World Radio Switzerland