NewsBite

Switzerland

November

Campaigners in Parliament Square in favour of the proposed bill to legalise assisted dying in London.

UK votes to proceed with historic bill legalise assisted dying

The landmark bill has passed the first stage of Parliament - but will be subject to further discussion and amendments before it can come into law.

  • Updated
  • Ailbhe Rea

This Swiss Alps hotel is so luxurious, you needn’t leave. But you will

At its door, The Chedi has a ski hill for winter visitors, and some of the world’s twistiest, most challenging roads for cyclists and car enthusiasts.

  • Tony Davis

October

Ukrainian servicemen fire towards Russian positions in Kherson region at the weekend.

Ukraine and Russia in talks about halting strikes on energy plants

An agreement would mark the most significant de-escalation of the war since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

  • Max Seddon, Christopher Miller and Andrew England
The Geneva skyline with the Jet d’Eau fountain in the centre.

A tour of the weird places the global elite hide wealth

A new book explores the ‘special zones’ created to bring in money and industry.

  • Jordan Weissmann
Included in a stay at the Penthouse suite at 7132 Hotel is complimentary helicopter pick-up from anywhere in Switzerland.

This sleekly designed Swiss Alps hotel is guaranteed to refresh you

At 7132 Hotel in Vals, Switzerland, healing thermal waters bubble below while star architecture rises above.

  • Ryan Stuart
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German police check a tramway arriving from France at the German-French border in Kehl, Germany.

Germany ‘reopens old wounds’ with border checks

There are fears for the future of Schengen and the freedom of movement it symbolises – regarded by EU citizens as one of the greatest accomplishments of European unity.

  • Guy Chazan, Laura Dubois and Raphael Minder
Pavel Durov is the founder of Telegram and was arrested by French authorities as part of an investigation into criminal activity on the messaging app.

The Telegram billionaire, the yoga instructor and a very messy split

For almost a decade, Irina Bolgar and Pavel Durov enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle, funded by the messaging app. After his arrest, the dream is unravelling.

  • Adam Satariano and Paul Mozur

September

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov in 2017. He has historically been wary of getting close to governments.

How France embraced Telegram’s Pavel Durov — before turning on him

Accustomed to mixing with the nation’s elite, the tech billionaire says he was surprised to be targeted by its legal system.

  • Adrienne Klasa

August

Patrick Mahony (left) and Tarek Obaid.

‘Obscenely greedy’ oil execs jailed over vast 1MDB fraud

A Swiss court found the former PetroSaudi executives responsible for embezzling $2.6 billion in what the court heard was the “fraud of the century”.

  • Jamey Keaten
Electric vehicles bound for shipment to Europe at the Port of Taicang, in China.

Shouldn’t the world thank China for producing too much stuff?

If trade policy were about consumers, the US and EU would thank China for its cheap EVs, batteries and solar panels and its contribution to lowering carbon emissions.

  • Gary Hufbauer

July

LVMH, which owns Tiffany, joined a growing list of brands reporting losses in China.

Luxury brands hit hard in China slowdown fear worse to come

Executives at European luxury brands including LVMH, Burberry and Hugo Boss may hope this is a blip, but it’s not clear how China will turn things around.

  • Kit Rees and Verena Sepp
The first time GraphCast was used in real life at the ECMWF, was to predict the movements of Hurricane Lee to the east of the United States in September last year.

Inside Google’s plans to revolutionise the weather forecast

Traditional methods have involved “physical models” run on supercomputers. GraphCast can be run on a laptop, and come up with a forecast in minutes.

  • Lauren Shirreff

June

The under-the-radar watch brands worth your time

Can’t get your hands on a Rolex, Patek Philippe or Audemars Piguet? Try one of these lesser-known timepieces as your next must-have.

  • Bani McSpedden
US Vice President Kamala Harris and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky during the peace summit, in Obbürgen near Lucerne,

Ukraine peace summit seeks consensus on Russia rebuke

China’s absence from the meeting and the attendance of lower-level diplomats from the BRICS states cast a shadow over efforts to win over the Global South.

  • Updated
  • Thomas Escritt and Sabine Siebold

April

This image from video provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation shows the surface of the moon as the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft prepared for landing in August last year.  India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole.

China set to launch high-stakes mission to moon’s ‘hidden’ side

China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia.

  • Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo
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Watches & Wonders 24: How the latest timepieces measure up

Geneva has just hosted the biggest watch fair in years. We look at the blitz of new releases it unleashed.

  • Bani McSpedden

March

David Cameron and Lex Greensill in Saudi Arabia in January 2020.

Lex Greensill sues UK government over ‘misuse of private information’

The details of the Australian businessman’s claim against the UK’s Department for Business and Trade have not yet been made public.

  • Rafe Uddin and Cynthia O’Murchu
Former Macquarie star commodities trader Nick O’Kane has agreed terms to join Mercuria as the Swiss trading house seeks to expand its gas and power business.

Ex-Macquarie star agrees terms to join Swiss house Mercuria

Nick O’Kane, who earned more than Jamie Dimon last year, stepped down last month as head of Macquarie’s global commodities and markets division.

  • Archie Hunter and Nour Al Ali

January

Inflation is set to decline less sharply than it did last year.

IMF warns central banks off early rate cuts

Investor expectations of looser monetary policy could fuel another flare-up of inflation, IMF top official Gita Gopinath says.

  • Sam Fleming and Martin Arnold
A screen with an AI-generated artwork at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Banking watchdog warns on AI as leaders gather in Davos

Pablo Hernandez de Cos said financial regulation should be a “blueprint” for policymakers ahead of the AI-focused summit in Switzerland.

  • Laura Noonan, Madhumita Murgia and Sam Fleming

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/switzerland-fp2