Sunday, November 12, 2023
Published: Sunday, Nov 12th 2023, 05:10
Back to Live Feed
Geneva's links to Hamas, shortages of housing containers and courses for e-bikes: this and more can be found in the Sunday newspapers. The headlines in unverified reports:
"SonntagsZeitung" / "Le Matin Dimanche":
A Geneva-based aid organization is said to have transferred CHF 1.5 million to Gaza and to be linked to Hamas. The president of the Secours Humanitaire (FSH) foundation visited the head of the Islamist organization Hamas in Istanbul in 2021, according to the SonntagsZeitung newspaper. The FSH's financial officer was on the radar of the US Office on Terrorism. The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs emphasized that it did not provide financial support to FSH. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland is investigating on suspicion of financing Hamas from Switzerland. It would not comment on whether the FSH is the focus of the investigation "for tactical reasons".
"NZZ am Sonntag":
The whistleblower in France's tax dispute with UBS has accused the state of manipulation. She was forced to cooperate by the authorities, Frenchwoman Stéphanie Gibaud told the "NZZ am Sonntag" newspaper. The authorities' fight against tax evasion was a masquerade, she said. The aim was to sweep its own scandals under the carpet, said Gibaud. She was referring to the budget minister at the time, who was felled by a UBS account. Gibaud provided the state with a client list that led to a billion-euro fine against UBS. She received 4,500 euros for this and now lives on social welfare, the newspaper wrote.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
Swiss municipalities are increasingly having to choose between containers for schools or for the asylum sector. "If we sell in the asylum sector, then we take capacity away from schools," said the head of market leader Condecta, Olivier Annaheim, to the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. At present, however, there is still sufficient capacity. Should the asylum quota increase, they could reach their limits. Condecta and competitor companies built 2,500 to 3,000 containers throughout Switzerland within a year. According to Annaheim, that is twice as many as in the previous year.
"SonntagsZeitung" / "Le Matin Dimanche":
The federal government is considering a compulsory course for e-bike riders. The Federal Roads Office (Astra) has commissioned a catalog "on the necessary driving aptitude, driving skills and driving ability", as the SonntagsZeitung wrote. Different rules could apply depending on age. Older people are particularly at risk on an e-bike, the newspaper wrote. Over 80-year-olds are five times more likely to have an accident than younger people. In addition, the risk of dying in a cycling accident is four times higher for senior citizens, said a spokeswoman for the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention.
"SonntagsZeitung": Price negotiations between pharmaceutical companies and the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) have become increasingly protracted in recent years. The victims are sick people who are in urgent need of medication, as the "SonntagsZeitung" wrote. The deadline for the inclusion of new medicines in the specialty list is 60 days. This year, it took an average of 306 days. Last year it was 134 days. The pharmaceutical industry identified the problem in the outdated system according to which new drugs are reimbursed. The FOPH blames the pharmaceutical industry. They submit applications with "considerable delay", it said.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
The business umbrella organization Economiesuisse has criticized the traffic concepts of Swiss cities. Online retailers and parcel couriers are being made scapegoats, wrote the "NZZ am Sonntag" based on a position paper by the association. According to the paper, administrations are designing "bogus solutions" on the drawing board with their logistics concepts. Economiesuisse received support from the Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE). A spokesperson for the ARE said that it was important to look at traffic as a whole. The Association of Towns and Cities countered that no concrete concept of this kind was planned. The cities wanted to work with the logistics sector, not against it.
"SonntagsBlick":
According to a new report, the IV expert institute PMEDA has rejected IV pensions more frequently than other experts. In 2022 and 2023, PMEDA certified full capacity for work in around 57% of cases, as SonntagsBlick wrote, citing the report. The report was compiled by the Federal Commission for Quality Assurance in Medical Assessment. According to the report, other experts certified full fitness for work in around 26 percent of cases. The PMEDA stated that the report was deficient in form and content. The alleged difference had not been seriously examined.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
According to Federal Councillor Albert Rösti, Switzerland needs regulation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). A kind of appeals body is also needed, as he said in an interview with the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper. The head of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) said that his department would submit an assessment to the Federal Council by the middle of next year. Rösti can imagine Switzerland adopting the rules of the European Union (EU). "But it is actually a global issue," said the SVP Federal Councillor. The United Nations could also play a role.
"SonntagsBlick":
The future President of the National Council's Foreign Affairs Committee has sharply criticized the trade unions' communication on the EU dossier. "It is unbearable to watch how the trade unions are leading the Federal Council around by the nose", said National Councillor Hans-Peter Portmann (FDP) in an interview with "SonntagsBlick". Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis had informed the party leaders and the social partners, i.e. employers and trade unions, in confidence about the status of the exploratory talks with the EU. The trade unions had gone public directly from the meetings before the Federal Council had communicated its decisions, said Portmann. The strategy of involving the social partners had failed.
"SonntagsBlick":
The chemical company Ems-Chemie has deleted negative entries on the Kununu employer review platform. At the same time, many positive feedbacks appeared, as "SonntagsBlick" wrote. A member of management told the newspaper that the HR department had asked managers to leave positive reviews. The company denied this. It was not aware of this. According to the newspaper, internal emails showed that Kununu does not delete a review immediately. Kununu stated that it first had to ensure that the statements in the entry were not true.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic