Switzerland

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Assisted Suicide Pioneer Makes His Choice
Assisted Suicide
Pioneer Makes His Choice
OBITUARY
Dec 1, 2025 9:01 AM CST

Assisted Suicide Pioneer Makes His Choice

Dignitas founder, right-to-die advocate Ludwig Minelli dies by assisted suicide at 92

(Newser) - Ludwig Minelli, founder of the Swiss assisted suicide group Dignitas, has died by assisted suicide just days shy of his 93rd birthday, according to the organization. The right-to-die advocate died at one of his own facilities on Saturday, People reports. A former journalist and lawyer, he established Dignitas in 1998...

Millionaire Inheritance Tax Flops in Switzerland

Proposal to tax inheritances over $62M couldn't get majority support anywhere

(Newser) - Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected a 50% inheritance tax on millionaires, with more than 78% voting no in a national referendum. The measure, aimed at assets over 50 million francs (about $62 million), was designed by the Young Socialists to fund climate initiatives, but it gained little traction outside the...

Swiss Voters Reject Requiring National Service for Women

Voters also decisively turn down inheritance tax

(Newser) - Swiss voters on Sunday decisively rejected a measure to require women to do national service in the military, civil protection teams, or other forms, as men must already. In a referendum, over 84% of voters rejected the "citizen service initiative," with none of the country's 26 cantons,...

Switzerland Finally Reaches Deal to Lower US Tariffs

US tax on Swiss imports will be cut from 39% to 15% under deal with Trump administration

(Newser) - Switzerland announced plans on Friday to invest $200 billion in the United States through 2028 as it finalized a hard-wrought deal to slash US tariffs on Swiss goods. Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said the Trump administration has agreed to cut US tariffs on most Swiss goods to 15%—the same...

Switzerland Wants Special Status for Its 'Fifth Language'

Nation is vying to have yodeling put on UN agency's 'intangible cultural heritage' list

(Newser) - Yodel-ay-hee ... what?! Those famed yodeling calls that for centuries have echoed through the Alps, and more recently have morphed into popular song and folk music, could soon reap a response, all the way from faraway Paris. Switzerland's government is looking for a shoutout from UN cultural agency UNESCO, based...

Switzerland Decides It's Time to Upgrade Civilian Bunkers

Citing global tension and war, nation invests in modernizing 370,000 shelters for new threats

(Newser) - Switzerland, long known for its neutrality in global conflicts, is making a major investment in its famous network of bunkers. The country is set to spend more than $1 billion over 15 years to overhaul and modernize public and private shelters, a move driven by security concerns and the war...

Swiss Glaciers Had an Enormously Bad Year

They shrank by 3%

(Newser) - Switzerland's glaciers have faced "enormous" melting this year with a 3% drop in total volume—the fourth-largest annual drop on record—due to the effects of global warming, top Swiss glaciologists reported Wednesday. The shrinkage this year means that ice mass in Switzerland, which is home to the...

Mom Said She Was on Vacation, Got Assisted Suicide Instead

Maureen Slough actually traveled to Switzerland to die; her family found out via WhatsApp

(Newser) - When Maureen Slough informed people in early July that she was going on vacation to Lithuania with a friend, daughter Megan Royal didn't think much of it—until soon after, when one of her mom's friends got in touch with her. Royal says he told her that Slough,...

Switzerland: We Promise Not to Arrest Putin

Geneva is seen as a possible location for a Putin-Zelensky summit

(Newser) - It's about as warm a welcome as Switzerland can muster for Vladimir Putin should he travel there for peace talks: We won't arrest you. The nation's foreign minister said the Swiss would grant immunity to Putin, who Politico notes has been the subject of an International Criminal...

Swatch Accused of 'Clear Racism' in Latest Ad

Swiss watchmaker says sorry after Asian model is seen pulling eyes back in ad campaign

(Newser) - Swiss watchmaker Swatch apologized Monday for an ad campaign that upset consumers in China and elsewhere and said it had "immediately removed all related materials worldwide," per the AP . In an image for the Swatch Essentials collection, an Asian male model is shown pulling the edges of his...

Swiss Driver Draws Breathtaking $110K Fine

But he can afford it

(Newser) - The driver was clocked going 17mph over the speed limit on a street in the Swiss city of Lausanne, and now he's facing more than $110,000 in fines as a result. But he can afford it. Why the eye-popping penalty? Because the speedster, a repeat offender, is one...

Swiss Leader Rushes to US for Last-Minute Talks

Trump's 39% tariff could shake country's export-heavy economy

(Newser) - Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter is making a dash to Washington, hoping to avert a 39% tariff on Swiss goods that's rattled her country's export-heavy economy. The surprise levy, one of the highest globally, was announced by President Trump and threw a wrench into negotiations where Swiss officials...

Will 6th Time Be the Charm to Tackle Plastic Pollution?

Global summit in Geneva aims to tackle waste, chemicals, recycling costs

(Newser) - As the world drowns in hundreds of trillions of pieces of plastic, representatives from more than 170 countries converge in Geneva this week, aiming to finally strike a deal to tackle the escalating crisis that threatens both the planet and human health. Despite a 2022 agreement to create a...

After 'Disastrous' Phone Call, Trump Hit Swiss With Big Tariff

Critics call leader's call with president the country's biggest defeat since 1515

(Newser) - Switzerland is reeling after President Trump slapped a surprise 39% tariff on its exports, rattling markets and sparking political fallout. The move hit Swiss luxury goods, machinery, and pharmaceuticals—sectors that depend heavily on access to the US market, the Guardian reports. The tariffs, announced early Friday local time,...

Pacing Pooch Shows Rescuers Where Fallen Master Is

'Imagine if the dog wasn't there,' Swiss rescuer says of Chihuahua

(Newser) - Rescuers on Tuesday hailed a furry Chihuahua as a "four-legged hero" whose pacing atop an Alpine rock helped a helicopter crew find its owner, who had fallen into a crevasse on a Swiss glacier nearby. The man, who was not identified, was exploring the Fee Glacier in southern Switzerland...

Tipping Point Arrives Early for Switzerland's Glaciers

Winter ice is gone, and they will be shrinking from now until October

(Newser) - Switzerland's glaciers have hit their annual "glacier loss day"—when winter's snow and ice are gone—weeks earlier than usual, according to Glacier Monitoring in Switzerland. The 2024 tipping point arrived on July 4, the second-earliest date on record, raising concerns among scientists about the...

This Year 'Doesn't Look Good' for Switzerland's Glaciers

Warming has disrupted the process through which glaciers generate new ice

(Newser) - Climate change appears to be making some of Switzerland's vaunted glaciers look like Swiss cheese: full of holes. Matthias Huss of the glacier monitoring group GLAMOS offered a glimpse of the Rhone Glacier—which feeds the eponymous river that flows through Switzerland and France to the Mediterranean—with the...

Euthanasia Pod Advocate Is Dead at 47

Florian Willet was present during first use of Sarco pod

(Newser) - A euthanasia advocate who helped introduce a controversial "suicide pod" in Switzerland has died after a turbulent year marked by legal troubles and mental health struggles. Florian Willet, 47, was known for his involvement with The Last Resort, a right-to-die group affiliated with Exit International, the group that...

Top 10 Countries for Life Expectancy

Monaco has world's highest life expectancy, at 88.6 years on average, per Visual Capitalist rankings

(Newser) - Life expectancy in the United States is an average of 78.6 years , but that doesn't hold a candle to how long people can expect to live in some other nations. Using data from the UN's World Population Prospects portal, Visual Capitalist looked at life expectancy at birth...

'Worst Nightmare' Comes True for Swiss Village

Most of Blatten was buried in glacier collapse

(Newser) - A Swiss mountain village was partially flattened by a massive deluge of ice, rock, and mud on Wednesday, and while the mayor of Blatten says the village still has a future, it's not clear whether residents will ever be able to return. Wooden buildings were destroyed and large parts...

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