Sunday, November 5, 2023
Published: Sunday, Nov 5th 2023, 04:32
Updated At: Monday, Nov 6th 2023, 00:53
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A bang at the Interreligious Association of Switzerland, the Federal Council wants to get to grips with the SRG budget and nuclear power plant operators are examining longer operating times: this and more can be found in the Sunday newspapers. The headlines in unverified reports:
"NZZ am Sonntag":
A scandal at the Interreligious Working Group Switzerland: as the "NZZ am Sonntag" writes, the Jewish representatives are resigning with immediate effect and in protest. The association comprises 70 religious communities and aims to promote exchange between them. The reason for the row is President Rifa'at Lenzin. The chief mediator between the Swiss religions is also a member of the controversial Swiss-Palestinian Association, which repeatedly makes one-sided anti-Israeli statements. The association's president is Geri Müller, who invited Hamas to the Federal Parliament in 2012. Because the Islamic scholar Lenzin is not prepared to withdraw from the controversial association, their only option is to leave, says Jonathan Kreutner from the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG). There is no basis for a trusting dialog.
"NZZ am Sonntag" / "Le Matin Dimanche":
The Federal Council wants to cut the SRG's budget in order to take the wind out of the sails of the halving initiative. This is according to research by the "NZZ am Sonntag". On Wednesday, the national government will comment for the first time on the "200 francs is enough!" initiative, which aims to reduce the Serafe levy from the current 335 to 200 francs. As two parliamentary sources independently told the newspaper, the Federal Council is likely to recommend rejecting the initiative, but at the same time decide to reduce the media levy. From the current CHF 335 to CHF 300. The Federal Council also apparently wants to make further concessions to companies. In future, only 15 to 20 percent of companies will have to pay a fee; small and medium-sized enterprises would be exempt entirely. Le Matin Dimanche" also reports on this.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
Because the expansion of renewable energies is not progressing, the operators of Swiss nuclear power plants are preparing to keep their plants running for longer. According to "NZZ am Sonntag", the electricity companies Alpiq and Axpo have already decided that their nuclear power plants will no longer operate for 50 years, but for 60 years. "We are now also evaluating what a service life of more than 60 years would mean in terms of safety and economics," said Michael Wider, Deputy CEO of Alpiq and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gösgen nuclear power plant. In this way, Alpiq wants to anticipate possible developments.
"SonntagsBlick":
The electronic patient dossier (EPD) is still mostly fed with data on the patient's own initiative. To do this, medical reports, X-ray images and medication lists have to be requested from the service providers and then stored online. Sending the documents represents an expense for the staff, which some practices charge to the compulsory health insurance (OKP). In this case, those who have not yet used up their deductible pay for their electronic patient dossier themselves. According to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), it is not permissible for service providers to charge for requests for documents for the EPR, as SonntagsBlick writes. FMH President Yvonne Gilli defends the procedure: "Services for maintaining the electronic patient dossier are additional services which, in the FMH's view, represent an additional expense."
"SonntagsZeitung":
Seven weeks ago, a study reported over 1000 victims of abuse in the Catholic Church. Following a letter from Bernese priest Nicolas Betticher, the Pope ordered an investigation into three bishops and an abbot in Switzerland. As a result, Betticher received death threats, as he told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. And: "I found a coffin made of cardboard outside my door, full of black crosses. And someone has painted satanic symbols on the door of our Brother Klaus parish church here in Bern." Nevertheless, the former vicar general now sees an opportunity for a special court in Switzerland, appointed by the Pope. But for this to happen, the Federal Council would have to appear in Rome, he demanded in the newspaper.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
After corona, now the flu: the Swiss Federal Commission for Vaccination Issues (Ekif) would like to vaccinate as many young people as possible against the flu in order to protect particularly vulnerable older and sick people, as the NZZ am Sonntag writes. According to the minutes of a meeting, Ekif President Christoph Berger said that "new strategies" should be evaluated with regard to the flu vaccination. For example, "a broad vaccination of schoolchildren would reduce deaths among people 65+". And further: "This makes a focus on younger people / children and contact persons more attractive." Berger confirmed such discussions on request. According to studies, a higher vaccination rate among children would reduce the number of flu deaths.
"SonntagsZeitung":
Anouar Gharbi, an activist from western Switzerland, has been conspicuous for decades for his closeness to Hamas. Pictures from summer 2021 show him together with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyya in Istanbul. At that time, the USA had already classified Haniyya as a terrorist, as the SonntagsZeitung newspaper writes. Gharbi has been active in Switzerland for almost 30 years and conspicuously often adopts the Hamas position. His involvement began in the mid-1990s with the establishment of the Palestinian Relief Society. From 2003 to 2022, the US Treasury Department's Office of Terrorism and Investigations placed the association and the "Association de Secours Palestinien" linked to Gharbi on its list of sanctioned groups. In mid-October, it became known that the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) was investigating suspected financing of Hamas from Switzerland. The OAG did not provide any information on whether groups associated with Gharbi were also under investigation "for tactical reasons".
"SonntagsZeitung":
Instead of going shopping in the city, people prefer to spend their time with family and friends. According to the SonntagsZeitung, this is the result of a study by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, which surveyed 1,500 Swiss Germans. This trend is likely to continue and put further pressure on the retail sector, according to the newspaper. Time is a key factor: as the perceived stress increases, people are resetting their priorities and increasingly cutting back on shopping. The budget also plays an increasingly important role. Many people also find shopping "boring", as they stated in the survey. This desire is unlikely to return any time soon: Almost a fifth of all respondents want to reduce their shopping time even further in future.
"Le Matin Dimanche":
The Swiss have been ripped off by a duo of Chinese fraudsters. The duo have been seducing European investors for months in order to persuade them to buy shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange, as "Le Matin Dimanche" writes. A group of around twenty victims of the China Internet Investment operation, including one from Vaud and one from Ticino, contacted Tamedia's research desk, the newspaper writes. Their losses are said to total over two million euros. The fraud is based on the manipulation of shares in smaller listed companies.
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