Sunday, September 15, 2024
Published: Sunday, Sep 15th 2024, 05:20
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A Swiss pistol in Ukraine, the profiteer of the ESC in Basel and Russian propaganda with "Weltwoche": this and more can be found in the Sunday newspapers. The headlines in unverified reports:
"SonntagsZeitung" / "Le Matin Dimanche":
A Swiss-made submachine gun has turned up in Ukraine. The bodyguard of Russian President Vladimir Putin uses the MP9 type weapons, as the SonntagsZeitung newspaper reported. Russia purchased one hundred pistols in 2013 and 2014, the Swiss manufacturer confirmed. The federal government had approved the export at the time. A photo published by a Russian politician now shows a soldier in Ukraine with such a submachine gun. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) is not aware of the photo. It is unclear whether the weapon came from the stocks of the state personal protection service, the newspaper wrote.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
The European Broadcast Union and SRG will be the main beneficiaries of sponsorship money for the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel. The income from sponsorship will remain with the Union, as the "NZZ am Sonntag" wrote. The newspaper examined the "City Bid Book", the ESC rule book. According to the book, the income from a maximum of six national sponsors goes to SRG. The host city is only allowed to acquire local organizations as sponsors. Various privileges are disclosed in the document, the newspaper wrote. SRG employees would also have privileged access to volunteering programs, for example. Whether SRG will make use of this has been left open.
"SonntagsBlick" / "SonntagsZeitung":
According to the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Russia has used "Weltwoche" for its disinformation campaign. Thousands of bots scattered posts on social media which, according to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, "fit the Russian narrative", as "SonntagsBlick" wrote. The "SonntagsZeitung" also reported on this. The information came from right-wing extremist sites and blogs as well as from the media. The "Weltwoche" was on a list of 350 media outlets. "Like other media, we have no influence on who disseminates our texts and for what motives," said publisher and editor-in-chief Roger Köppel. The Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution clarified in a revision of its report that the media were explicitly not accused of spreading Russian propaganda.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot has not ruled out the closure of train stations in the long term. "It's not an issue in the short term," said Durcot in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. It is still too early to say which stations could be affected by changes, said Ducrot. "That will have to be decided by future generations." Public transport will also continue to be available from any closed stations. Stations that have recently been renovated or are still being renovated "will certainly remain open for the next 30 years", said the SBB boss. He called on politicians to focus on services for travelers rather than infrastructure.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
The industry association Swissmem has accused UBS of worsening credit conditions. 23 percent of the companies surveyed that belong to the association reported that the conditions or quality of services had deteriorated since the CS takeover, as the "NZZ am Sonntag" wrote on the basis of a survey conducted by the association. The proportion had more than doubled compared to last year's survey. UBS replied that it had not widened its margins. "The adjustment of credit conditions reflects the massive changes in the economic environment," said a UBS spokeswoman. According to the newspaper, UBS circles said that CS had tried to keep clients in line towards the end by dumping prices.
"SonntagsBlick":
The public prosecutor's office in Bern has dropped the proceedings against a dozen truck drivers in the environmental scandal surrounding the Blausee-Mitholz quarry. According to "SonntagsBlick", it was no longer possible to determine the pollutant content of the individual deliveries in the ruling of August 28. The accusation was that deposited press sludge had been illegally dumped above the Blausee and had led to environmental pollution. Only one defendant was convicted by summary penalty order, the newspaper wrote. In addition, the Federal Supreme Court had dismissed Blausee AG's appeal against the division of the proceedings into four parts.
"SonntagsZeitung":
In addition to smartphones, smartwatches are increasingly causing distractions in classrooms in German-speaking Switzerland. According to the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, schools are caught in a dilemma: on the one hand, the digitalization of lessons should be promoted, but on the other hand, the devices are disrupting lessons. Scandinavia has fallen behind in terms of digitalization. This is out of the question for local education departments, as an inquiry by the newspaper to all German-speaking Swiss cantons revealed. Compared to Scandinavia, digitalization in schools is not as advanced. Digital teaching is being introduced gradually in Swiss schools.
"SonntagsBlick":
The president of the right-wing conservative organization Pro Switzerland, Stephan Rietiker, has threatened the US ambassador in Bern, Scott Miller, with the arrest of US officials. He responded by e-mail to the US intention to send officials to inspect Swiss companies. The correspondence between Miller and Rietiker was made available to "SonntagsBlick". If Swiss parliamentarians were to travel to the USA to inspect US companies, they would probably be arrested and interrogated, wrote Rietiker. He added that Switzerland should perhaps consider doing the same. "I have not threatened and would never presume to threaten an ambassador," Rietiker told the newspaper. The US embassy would not comment on the exchange.
"SonntagsZeitung":
Weight loss and diabetes medications were sold outside of the official guidelines more frequently than previously known. In addition to the 130,000 people who purchased the medication via health insurance in 2023, there were a good 70,000 self-payers, as the SonntagsZeitung wrote. The newspaper relied on figures from the analysis company Iqvia and health insurer Helsana. It is not possible to tell from the figures how many purchases were lifestyle treatments. Susanne Maurer, head of the Adimed obesity center in Winterthur, estimated that half of self-paying patients probably fall into this category.
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