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by Manlio Dinucci*
(15 March 2021) The United States has developed a new type of nuclear bomb, much smaller and more manageable. It will mass-produce and store them in the European Union, to "guarantee its security".
by Luca Beti
(15 March 2021) Switzerland has been supporting the «ProJoven» vocational training project in Honduras since 2013 to help integrate underprivileged young people in the workforce. The project continues to forge ahead, Covid-19 notwithstanding, and has proved surprisingly adaptable.
Blackout due to lack of maintenance?
by Jakob Wehrli
(February 2021) Without really being aware of it, we are gradually heading towards a blackout – in other words, a prolonged and large-scale power failure in Europe, with catastrophic con-sequences. In recent weeks, this issue has been in the headlines once again.
Against Corona, the FOPH relies on patent-protected medicines and ignores cheaper and, above all, much more effective alternatives
by Werner Vontobel
The Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) knows how to avoid infection with Corona. But as far as the treatment of the disease is concerned, it has learned nothing. It continues to maintain that the new virus can only be combated with a completely new – and thus patent-protected – drug. Of the many patent-protected candidates, however, only Remdesivir from the US pharmaceutical company Gilead remains. The nine "other important drugs" listed on the homepage are painkillers and anaesthetics for the late phase of the disease.
Germany
by Kurt Scherrer
(15 February 2021) For the first time, due to a lawsuit in Thuringia, a German district court has taken a position on the measures against covid-19 that have been adopted so far. At the centre of the proceedings, the Weimar District Court had to assess the legal basis of the measures imposed to combat covid-19 adopted in spring 2020 and thus their legality and proportionality. The judgement was eagerly awaited, as it was the first time that various officially decreed measures and restrictions, up to national directives of the German federal government, were subject to legal scrutiny following a citizen's complaint. It was therefore a matter for the court to assess the extent to which the decisions of the authorities were compatible with the freedoms and rights of citizens constitutionally guaranteed in a liberal and democratic constitutional state. The landmark judgment was published on 11 January 2021 and aroused a great deal of interest among the persons concerned because of its detailed justifications and unusually clear language. Is it any wonder that it has so far had little coverage in the major private and public media?
Czech Republic
(24 January 2021) According to the Czech Food Act, the supply to grocery shops of a certain size will have to consist of 55% of domestically produced food from 2022 onwards. By 2028, the share of these products is to be gradually increased to 73%.