Switzerland: village devastated by glacier collapse
The centuries-old Swiss village of Blatten has been devastated by a catastrophic glacier collapse. Prior concerns about the stability of the Birch Glacier had prompted authorities to evacuate all 300 residents and livestock.…
Switzerland: parliament rejects human rights decision
Swiss women, known as ‘climate seniors’, who won a historic ruling on climate change from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), feel shocked and betrayed by their own parliament's decision not to…
Ukraine: Biden, China not to attend peace summit
Joe Biden will not be at the Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland on 15 and 16 June; instead, vice-president Kamala Harris and national security advisor Jake Sullivan will attend. The decision comes despite…
USA / Russia: relations warming
Before talking in Geneva relations between the USA and Russia were at rock bottom. After talking, both presidents praised their talks but have made little concrete progress at the first such meeting since…
Switzerland: Geneva summit for Biden and Putin
US president Joe Biden and Russia's president Vladimir Putin will hold their first summit on 16 June in Geneva, setting the stage for a new chapter in their fraught relationship. The leaders will…
Switzerland: Davos - climate change
The World Economic Forum annual meeting of 3,000 of the world's richest and most powerful people took place this week in Davos. One of the speakers was Greta Thunberg, who opened a debate…
Switzerland: UN summit on extinction threats
Amid growing alarm over accelerating extinctions, a major two-week international conference opened in Geneva on 17 August. 183 member states aim to tighten rules on trade in elephant ivory and other endangered animal…
Facebook’s new currency
Facebook will launch a Swiss-based cryptocurrency and payment system, called Libra, which could ‘reinvent money’. It is a huge political gamble, but the rewards could be enormous. Facebook is asking its 2.5 billion…
Afghanistan: convert faces death if deported
It is illegal to be anything other than a Muslim in Afghanistan, a tribal society where leaving Islam is seen as a betrayal of the tribe. Christians who are discovered may be sent…
Switzerland: Congo aid conference
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) boycotted a UN donor conference in Geneva that was seeking to raise £1.2bn for the country. Over 13 million Congolese need humanitarian aid. It is a catastrophic…
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