SwissInfo

News that Switzerland is one of the favourites to win this year’s Eurovision Song Contest has got a country used to Eurovision disappointment thinking the unthinkable. However, victory would raise several tricky questions. “‘La Suisse nul points, Switzerland zero points’ – hardly any other event has hurt our national pride as much as the Eurovision Song Contest,” Swiss current affairs magazine Weltwoche lamented on Monday, three days before Nemo takes to the stage in Malmö, Sweden. “Before Luca Hänni... Читать дальше...

Pro-Palestinian activists occupied university buildings in Lausanne, Geneva and Zurich on Tuesday, widening the protest movement in the Alpine nation. The hall of the architecture building of the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) is currently occupied by around 50 protestors, EPFL spokesperson Emmanuel Barraud told the Keystone-ATS news agency on Tuesday. The participants are sitting on the floor. Tents and food have been brought in. Around midday on Tuesday, the students sent a request for talks with the EPFL management. Читать дальше...

TradeXBank, the former Swiss branch of Russia’s Sberbank, will be able to resume its dollar-denominated activities from the second half of this year following resolution with the Office of US Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a US Treasury agency. This move follows the removal of TradeXBank's predecessor, Sberbank (Switzerland) AG, from an OFAC sanctions list, the bank said in a statement on Monday. TradeXBank stressed this step “recognises the bank’s Swiss ownership structure and its efforts undertaken... Читать дальше...

The city of Geneva has presented an action plan regarding a series of controversial local statues and monuments of historical figures linked to racism, colonialism or slavery. Priority will be given to providing more information and context, rather than taking them down. “No statues or monuments will be removed, and no controversial sites will be renamed,” declared Geneva’s mayor, Alfonso Gomez, on Monday. The municipality has decided to give priority to more dialogue and information at the place where the memorial is located, he said. Читать дальше...

In the not-too-distant future, a small hopping robot could be making its way to the moon. Researchers from the federal technology institute ETH Zurich and the University of Bern want to use the invention to peer into underground volcanic tunnels, which could offer ideal locations for future moon bases. “SpaceHopper” has already proved itself in tests on Earth.

Brazilian foreign minister Mauro Vieira visited Solothurn recently where he met his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis. Vieira’s great-great-great-grandmother was Swiss and emigrated to Brazil. The location of the meeting was no coincidence: Mauro Vieira has roots in canton Solothurn. His ancestors came from the village of Erschwil, from where they emigrated to Brazil 200 years ago. Vieira’s great-great-great-grandmother, Agatha Jeker, made the long journey in 1819 when she was still a child. “She... Читать дальше...

A pro-Palestinian sit-in continues at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). On Monday evening, a group of students refused to agree to a deadline set by the rectorate, which now calls for the university building to be evacuated. On Monday, UNIL management and the student collective failed to agree on the terms of a meeting. The university wanted to hold talks with a restricted number of people at its headquarters, while the student collective insisted on negotiating in the Géopolis hall, which has been occupied since last Thursday. Читать дальше...

The Pontifical Swiss Guard received 34 new recruits at a swearing-in ceremony at the Vatican on Monday. Swiss President Viola Amherd was also in attendance. During the traditional oath taken in Italian, German and French, the guards swear to protect and defend the Pope and all his successors, at the risk of their lives. The official ceremony took place in the Courtyard of Saint Damas at the Apostolic Palace in Rome, in an austere but festive atmosphere, in the presence of their families. The guards... Читать дальше...

A Swiss research team has proposed using a swarm of small robots rather than a heavy rover for future missions to the moon or Mars. The advantage is obvious: if one fails, its “teammates” can take over and continue the mission according to plan. SWI swissinfo.ch visited the laboratory in Zurich. At first the robot lies on the floor like a lazy dog. Only when researcher Philip Arm presses a button on his remote control does “Dobby” get up and start moving independently towards a wooden pallet. This four-legged walking robot... Читать дальше...

UBS Group AG returned to profit after two loss-making quarters, with both wealth management and the investment bank adding to sustained progress in the integration of Credit Suisse after its emergency rescue last year. The Zurich-based bank said net income in the first quarter was $1.8 billion (CHF1.6 billion), compared with analysts’ estimates of $598 million. The key wealth management unit saw net new assets come in better than expected at $27 billion, while the combined investment bank reported... Читать дальше...