A river dammed by a huge Swiss landslide is flowing again. That's a relief to authorities
A huge mass of rock, ice and mud from the Birch glacier thundered into the Lötschental valley in southern Switzerland on Wednesday, destroying much of the village. Buildings that weren't buried were submerged in a lake created by the small Lonza River, whose course was dammed by the mass of material.
Authorities worried that water pooling above the mass of rock and ice could lead to risks of its own. Still, the regional government in Valais canton (state) said that the Lonza has been flowing through the full length of the debris since Friday.
Geologist and regional official Raphaël Mayoraz said Saturday that the level of the lake has since gone down about 1 meter (3.3 feet).
'The speed at which this lake is emptying comes from the river eroding the deposit,' he said at a news conference. 'This erosion is relatively slow, but that's a good thing. If it is too fast, then there is instability in this channel, and that could lead to small slides of debris.'
'The Lonza appears to have found its way, but it too early to be able to give an all-clear,' said Matthias Bellwald, Blatten's mayor.
The outlet of a dam downstream at Ferden, which is normally used to generate electricity, was opened partially on Friday evening to allow water to flow further down the valley and regulate the volume of water behind the dam. Authorities are still leaving open the possibility of evacuations further downstream if required, though the risk to other villages appears very low.
Days before most of the glacier collapsed, authorities had ordered the evacuation of about 300 people, as well as livestock, from Blatten. Switzerland's president said on Friday that the government was looking for ways to help the evacuees.
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The Sun
9 hours ago
- The Sun
Family horror as suicide clinic ‘sends them WhatsApp saying their mum, 58, is dead and her ashes are in the post'
AN IRISH family was left devastated after allegedly receiving a text from a Swiss assisted dying clinic that their mum was dead and her ashes would be sent by post. Maureen Slough, a 58-year-old from Cavan, travelled to the Pegasos clinic on July 8 to seek an assisted death - without her family's knowledge - according to the Irish Independent. 2 Maureen reportedly told her family that she and a friend were going to Lithuania. "I was actually talking to her that morning and she was full of life," Maureen's partner Mick Lynch told the newspaper, speaking about the morning of her death. "She said after having her breakfast... she was going out to sit in the sun. Maybe she was heading off to that place. I still thought she was coming home." Her daughter, Megan Royal, then received a heartbreaking WhatsApp message, which allegedly said her mum had died listening to gospel music sung by Elvis Presley. The family is shocked that the clinic would accept an application for assisted dying from Maureen, who they say had long struggled with mental illness. She had also attempted suicide a year prior, after the deaths of her two sisters. Adding to their dismay, the family claims the clinic never informed them of her plans. Friends are reportedly horrified by the clinic's method of returning the ashes via parcel post. Her friend, Stephanie Daly, told the newspaper: "You get letters in the post, not people." Desperate for answers, the family found out Maureen had paid a reported £13,000 to the Pegasos Swiss Association to assist her death. Car bursts into flames in busy Glasgow street sparking rush hour chaos The Pegasos group is a non-profit voluntary assisted dying organisation. According to its website, the clinic believes it's "the human right of every rational adult of sound mind, regardless of state of health, to choose the manner and timing of their death". The group allegedly said it received a letter from Megan, stating she was aware of and accepted her mum's decision to die. The clinic also claims it verified the letter's authenticity through an email response from Megan, using an email address her mum provided. But Megan insists she never wrote the letter or verified any contact from the clinic, the report said. The family claims Maureen may have forged the letter and created a fake email address to verify it. Her brother Philip, a UK solicitor, claims Maureen provided the clinic with "letters of complaint to medical authorities in Éire in respect of bogus medical conditions" - which Pegasos then used as supporting documents for her application. Megan reportedly argues her mum's decision to go to the clinic was made in a state of grief, as a result of her sisters' deaths. She also cites her mum's difficult upbringing as a child. It is understood that in the past few weeks, the family has received handwritten goodbye letters from Maureen. The Pegasos group maintains that it carried out an extensive assessment of Maureen's mental health - including an independent psychiatric evaluation. They added that Maureen told the clinic she was in unbearable and unrelievable chronic pain and that they received supporting medical documentation from her pain-management consultant. Regarding the letter, the clinic claims Megan confirmed its authenticity via email and apologised for not being able to accompany her mum to Switzerland. The clinic claims the letter expressed that while Megan was unhappy with her mum's decision, she accepted it. Maureen's brother wants the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, along with Swiss authorities, to conduct an investigation. "I am working on the assumption that my sister created this email and the clinic's procedures were woefully inadequate in verification," he wrote. "The Pegasos clinic has faced numerous criticisms in the UK for their practices with British nationals, and the circumstances in which my sister took her life are highly questionable." When approached for comment by the Daily Mail, the Pegasos Swiss Association said it could not "share, confirm, nor deny the identities of our patients in public". It added: "When talking about voluntary assisted death in Switzerland, it is important to understand that all organisations are legally bound to do careful prior assessment. "Pegasos has always respected the applicable Swiss law without exception and continues to do so." Maureen's family's story is not unique. Other families have also slammed Pegasos, claiming they had no knowledge that their loved ones would undergo assisted deaths. In 2023, Pegasos reportedly vowed to contact a person's relatives beforehand after 47-year-old teacher Alistair Hamilton - who had no diagnosed illness - died, leaving his family shocked. However, in 2025, the organisation appeared to break this promise. Anne Canning, a 51-year-old British mum, who was battling depression after the sudden death of her son 19 months prior, ended her life at the clinic, ITV first reported. Her family were allegedly not informed of her decision - only finding out after they received goodbye letters she had written shortly before her death.
Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Telegraph
Switzerland scrambles after Trump makes it Europe's biggest loser
For more than 200 years, Switzerland's approach to foreign policy has been to stay neutral. Yet when it comes to Donald Trump, a man who demands loyalty, neutrality doesn't get you much. The peace-loving Alpine nation has found itself at the forefront of Trump's erratic trade war, with exports such as Swiss chocolate and watches now subject to US tariffs of 39pc. 'Basically, we are all shocked,' says Jan Atteslander from Economiesuisse, a business lobby organisation representing 100,000 businesses in the country. 'We are one of the most open economic partners of the US. We have no tariff and non-tariff barriers for US goods or services. We are number six for foreign direct [investment] in the US. 'In this context, to find early on Friday, at 3am, that you are among the four countries that have – by way out now – the highest import tariffs in the US across the board, it's really a shock.' The outcome could hardly be worse: Only Syria, Laos and Myanmar face steeper rates than Switzerland of up to 41pc. Even Taliban-run Afghanistan was handed a more favourable deal of 15pc. To add insult to injury, the announcement came on Switzerland's National Day. 'There are two days in the year – one is Christmas, and the other one is Aug 1 – where normal people are on holiday,' shrugs Atteslander. The tariff shock has left Bern scrambling. Karin Keller-Sutter, the Swiss president, and Guy Parmelin, the economy minister, are flying to the US on Tuesday for crisis talks. It comes after a disastrous last-ditch call between the Swiss leader and Trump late on Thursday. The unexpected tariff blow has unleashed anger and soul-searching in Switzerland, with the tabloid Blick declaring it the country's greatest defeat since a battle against France in 1515, which ushered in its policy of international neutrality. 'We're joining the Canadians in protest against the US,' says Nikolay Markov, an economist at Pictet Asset Management in Geneva. He argues that the Swiss shouldn't have been caught flat-footed. 'It shouldn't be surprising because Switzerland has a significant trade surplus with the US. That's one of the reasons why Switzerland is on the monitoring watch list of the US treasury,' he says. Switzerland sold £28.8bn more goods to the US last year than it bought, with £47.6bn-worth of items heading to America. Exports range from luxury watches to precision instruments such as pneumatic screwdrivers and micrometres to medicines and Nespresso pods. Its trade surplus with the world's largest economy grew by 56.1pc from 2023. Trump initially subjected Switzerland to import duties of 31pc on 'liberation day' on April 2. Most goods exports, apart from pharmaceuticals and gold, will be subject to the new tariff from Thursday unless Keller-Sutter can strike a better deal. The US president has demanded that Swiss drugmakers lower their prices, an issue that may well come up in negotiations. Swiss business leaders and politicians are, for now trying to keep cool heads, hoping that this will be another example of the phenomenon that traders refer to as 'Taco': Trump always chickens out. While the president likes to announce large headline rates, he tends to use them as a bludgeon to negotiate better deals rather than following through. The stakes are high. Markov says he initially expected tariffs to shave 0.2pc of the Swiss economy's growth. 'Now it's 1.8pc, so it implies no growth for Switzerland in the coming year. It really changes the economic outlook – potentially materially,' he says. Such a knock to growth would plunge Switzerland into a technical recession and leave many workers unemployed. Chocolatiers are among those bracing for the impact. 'It's quite a shock because with tariffs at that level, it will be hard to serve the US market,' says Roger Wehrli. He is the Bern-based chief executive of Chocosuisse and Biscosuisse, trade bodies representing chocolatiers and confectionery makers. 'Combined with the exchange rate changes, this leads to an increase of costs in certain US markets by around 55pc compared to the beginning of the year,' he says. He warns that Switzerland being singled out leaves it particularly vulnerable. 'The UK has only a tariff of 10pc, the European Union 15pc. So our companies will have a comparative disadvantage. This leads to the conclusion that if this tariff remains, a lot of companies will pull out of the US market,' Wehrli says. The 39pc rate is beyond even the worst-case scenarios companies had planned for, Wehrli says. He also fears the wider damage to the Swiss economy. 'When we look at this economy in general, we export around 15pc to the United States. I'm very much concerned. It will pose severe challenges to the labour market.' Atteslander at trade body Economiesuisse says: 'There are thousands of jobs at risk, but I can't really tell if it is really going to happen or not.' For now, companies like Swatch are temporarily able to rely on all of the stock they rushed into the US in the first half of the year. The watchmaker has enough sitting in US warehouses to last it for at least three to six months, according to its chief executive. Knife maker Victorinox, another Swiss brand, meanwhile, said it was looking to make its operations more efficient through automation and 'collaborative solutions with our distribution partners'. 'This is not the first big challenge these export companies have faced over the last 15 to 20 years,' says Atteslander. If 39pc tariffs do remain in place, companies could explore workarounds. One unlikely benefactor of Trump's trade offensive could be Slovenia, according to Markov, the economist in Geneva. 'Slovenia is a major trading partner and is part of the European Union and the eurozone, so they're subject to 15pc tariffs. Switzerland could, to some extent, bypass the 39pc tariffs by exporting to Slovenia for re-exports to the US.' Swiss pharmaceuticals have already invested billions into production facilities in the small central European nation. Other industries could follow. Ultimately, though, Swiss leaders will be hoping to avoid all that. The federal council – the country's governing cabinet – on Monday said Switzerland was prepared to make a 'more attractive offer' to Trump in an effort to negotiate lower tariffs.
BreakingNews.ie
12 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Swiss president rushes to US in last-ditch attempt to avoid Trump's 39% tariffs
Swiss president Karin Keller-Sutter and business minister Guy Parmelin flew to Washington on Tuesday, the government said, in a last-ditch effort to avoid the 39 per cent tariffs announced by president Donald Trump on exports to the United States. The US tariffs, hiked from the initial 31 per cent rate announced in April, have sent Switzerland reeling after they were announced on Friday. Advertisement The higher duty is due to take effect on Thursday. During their visit, Keller-Sutter and Parmelin will "facilitate meetings with the US authorities at short notice and hold talks with a view to improving the tariff situation for Switzerland", the government said. It did not comment on which parts of the US government they would meet in Washington or whether a meeting was scheduled with Trump. A person familiar with the Trump administration's thinking, said they were confident that a deal could be worked out with Switzerland if it responded quickly with a better offer. Advertisement "There was some kind of bad interaction, but that can blow over, if the Swiss come with a meaningful offer," the source said, referring to a phone call between Trump and Keller-Sutter on Thursday evening. "It is a large trade deficit, especially in per capita terms," the source added. Trump referred to the conversation with Keller-Sutter in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, adding he was concerned about the US trade deficit with Switzerland. "Look, I did something with Switzerland the other day," he said referring to his phone call with Keller-Sutter. "The woman was nice, but she didn't want to listen, and they paid essentially no tariffs," he told the broadcaster. Advertisement "And I said, we have a $41 billion deficit with you, madam... and you want to pay 1 per cent tariffs. I said, you're not going to pay 1 per cent, we lose, because I view deficit as loss." The Swiss government held an emergency meeting on Monday to decide its response to the tariff hike, and said it was ready to make a "more attractive offer" to the United States. It was also ready to pursue negotiations beyond the August 7th deadline. Bern gave no details of what extra incentives could be offered to secure a better deal, but it did say it was not considering any countermeasures against the US. Advertisement Parmelin has previously said that Switzerland buying more US liquefied natural gas (LNG) was under consideration, while further investment by Switzerland in the United States could also be an option. The aim of Keller-Sutter and Parmelin's trip was to present "a more attractive offer to the United States in a bid to lower the level of reciprocal tariffs for Swiss exports, taking US concerns into account," the government said on Tuesday. Some Swiss business leaders, including Nick Hayek, chief executive of watchmaker Swatch Group, had called on Keller-Sutter to visit Washington to do a deal with Trump directly. A trade barrier of 39 per cent would be a major blow for the export-orientated Swiss economy by reducing access to its biggest overseas market for its watches, machinery and chocolate, economists have warned. Advertisement Hans Gersbach, an economist at KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH, a University in Zurich, said the Swiss delegation would have to make a substantial offer to win a reprieve from the 39 per cent tariff, with the visit representing a last-ditch effort to negotiate down the import duty. "Something marginal won't be enough – it has to be a significant number, which Trump can present to his supporters as a victory for his negotiations," said Gersbach. "It's crucial Keller-Sutter and Parmelin meet Trump and speak with him directly. He is the decision-maker," added Gersbach, who thought there was reasonable chance of success. The Swiss government knew how serious the situation is, and was putting all its efforts into getting a deal, he said. "A 39 per cent tariff on Switzerland, especially with the EU agreeing a rate of 15 per cent, would be an immediate shock to the Swiss economy," said Gersbach.
