Sunday, January 07, 2023
Published: Sunday, Jan 7th 2024, 05:00
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Increasing left-wing extremist violence, blackened procurement costs for vaccine doses and melting mountain peaks: this and more can be found in the Sunday newspapers. The headlines in unverified reports:
"NZZ am Sonntag":
The Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) has warned of increasing left-wing extremist violence in its latest situation report. Swiss left-wing extremists are increasingly showing solidarity with violent German groups, as the "NZZ am Sonntag" wrote. The German group Hammerbande had injured 13 alleged and actual neo-Nazis, some of them critically. They smashed their skulls and ankles with hammers. The leader, Lina E., became a figure of identification in Switzerland. Information events about the Hammer Gang were held in Bern, Zurich, Winterthur and La-Chaux-de-Fonds NE. In Solothurn, left-wing extremists took a photo in solidarity with the group.
"SonntagsBlick":
The procurement costs for vaccines during the coronavirus pandemic remain hidden. The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has refused to fully disclose vaccine contracts. The FOPH assured partner countries such as France and Sweden of confidentiality, wrote "SonntagsBlick". According to the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner, Adrian Lobsinger, the contracts published in redacted form to date are not compatible with the Public Information Act. In November, he ordered the authorities to disclose the procurement costs in particular. The FOPH disagreed in six identical rulings on December 22. It would be possible to challenge the rulings before the Federal Administrative Court. According to the newspaper, the vaccines probably cost taxpayers well over a billion francs.
"SonntagsZeitung":
Glaciated Swiss mountain peaks have lost from one meter to 29 meters in height over the last 60 years. Almost all of the two dozen or so snow-covered peaks in Switzerland have lost height, according to an analysis by the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. The reason is climate change. The Parrot peak in the Monte Rosa massif on the border with Italy shrank the most. Only the Mönch gained eleven meters in altitude. Storms and high levels of precipitation pile up snow on the peaks in the Bernese Oberland, as the warden of the Mönchsjoch hut said. How much ice the peaks lose each year is largely unexplored, according to the newspaper.
"SonntagsZeitung":
The conservative parties have shown themselves to be divided in the winter session. The three bourgeois parties, SVP, FDP and Center, only united against the left in just over a quarter of the votes, as the "SonntagsZeitung" wrote. In the first session of the new parliamentary term, the liberal parties supported the SP more often. The SVP has moved to the right, the FDP explained. The SVP's success rate decreased. Before the elections, it stood at 60 percent. In the winter session, the SVP won 47% of votes. Compared to the other parties, it lost the most votes. SVP parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi (ZG) stood out as the biggest opposition politician.
"SonntagsBlick":
The Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA) will set up an outpost in Afghanistan this summer. Switzerland is planning to re-establish a permanent presence in the Afghan capital Kabul with a humanitarian office, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs told SonntagsBlick. The office will not provide consular services. The new office is to be established at the former location. Before the Taliban came to power, there was a "green zone" for Western embassies and bases there. The security situation remains complex, according to the spokesperson of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
"SonntagsBlick":
The Vatican has refused to open an archive in Bern that is important for historians at the University of Zurich. The archives of the nunciature in Bern are inviolable, Cardinal Pietro Parolin told "SonntagsBlick". The archive is central, said historians Monika Dommann and Marietta Meier. They want to use it to find out which cases of abuse were reported and how the proceedings progressed. They hope that the archive will enable them to trace the correspondence between Bern and Rome. They want to submit a new request to the apostolic nunciature in Bern. They also want to approach the Vatican again.
"SonntagsZeitung":
The amount of waste exported has risen from 254,000 tons ten years ago to a good 827,000 tons of waste in 2022. The exports are mainly mineral construction waste, as the Federal Office for the Environment told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. According to the Environmental Protection Act, construction waste should remain in Switzerland. Exports are permitted in exceptional cases. The materials can be fully recycled. However, a spokesperson for Baustoffrecycling Schweiz said that exporting abroad would be cheaper. He warned of the damage to the environment. According to the newspaper, there is hardly any control over what happens to the waste abroad.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
Last year, the federal government supported 91 children's and youth organizations with around eight million francs. This also included trade unions, as the "NZZ am Sonntag" wrote. Unia Youth, the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions, Travail Suisse, Syndicom and other trade unions, among others, received almost 300,000 francs last year. In the last five years, they have received around 1.5 million francs. The subsidies met with criticism from the right-wing camp. The unions justified the subsidies with various offers for young learners. According to the responsible Federal Social Insurance Office, trade unions offer programs in the field of political education.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
The Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) does not support the current version of the Swiss negotiating mandate with the European Union. The President of the SGB, Pierre-Yves Maillard, has once again made the position of the trade unions regarding the negotiating mandate clear: "Those who believe that the trade unions will give in in the end are mistaken," said Maillard in an interview with the "NZZ am Sonntag". They are miles away from reaching an agreement. The SGB would not hear any demands from employers and the Federal Council. "We only ever hear how important an agreement is," he said.
"Le Matin Dimanche":
According to the President of the European Commission of the Cantons, Jacques Gerber, no "foreign judge" will rule in a dispute between Switzerland and the European Union (EU). This argument is being exploited by opponents of an agreement with the EU, said Gerber, a member of the Jura FDP government, in an interview with "Le Matin Dimanche". In the event of a disagreement, an arbitration tribunal consisting of half EU and half Swiss judges would come into play. The European Court of Justice may only intervene at the request of the latter. According to the announcement, the European Commission will take a position on Switzerland's negotiating mandate with the EU on February 2.
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