Latest news with #KeystoneATS
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Swiss open to new US defence orders to tackle tariffs
Switzerland's defence minister Martin Pfister said he was 'open' to placing new arms orders with the US as a way to try to reduce tariffs. (EPA Images pic) GENEVA : Switzerland's defence minister Martin Pfister said Sunday he was 'open' to placing new arms orders with the US as a way to try to reduce Washington's whopping tariffs. The Swiss government is seeking more talks with the US after a last-gasp mission to the US capital failed to stop a 39% tariff blow that businesses described as a 'horror scenario'. 'Military purchases are important for relations with the US,' Pfister told Switzerland's domestic Keystone-ATS news agency. 'However, we must first find a path for discussion with the Americans' to try to move relations forward overall, he said. US President Donald Trump blindsided the Swiss when he announced that the wealthy Alpine nation would be hit by one of the highest tariffs among new duties on imports from dozens of economies that took effect on Thursday. The tariff jeopardises entire sectors of the export-heavy Swiss economy, notably watchmaking and industrial machinery, but also chocolate and cheese. Swiss businesses worry that competitors in other wealthy economies will have an edge, with the EU and Japan having negotiated a 15% tariff and Britain securing a rate of 10%. Switzerland has argued that the US enjoys a significant services trade surplus and that most US industrial goods enter Switzerland tariff-free. Pfister stressed that the government had decided not to call into question Switzerland's current contract to buy 36 new Lockheed Martin F-35A fighter jets. 'The issue of the fixed price remains to be resolved,' he added. Switzerland and the US are quibbling over the final price of the F-35As bought to replace the ageing Swiss fleet. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency wants Switzerland to assume additional costs, but Bern says it is sticking to the agreed price of just over six billion Swiss francs (US$7.4 billion). The F-35A combat aircraft – already used by the US Air Force and several European countries – was chosen in June 2021 instead of the Airbus Eurofighter, the F/A-18 Super Hornet by Boeing, and French firm Dassault's Rafale. Switzerland's long-standing position has been one of well-armed military neutrality and the landlocked European country has mandatory conscription for men.
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Moment village is buried, with 'many homes' destroyed when massive glacier crashes down Swiss mountain
A massive glacier collapse on Wednesday in southern Switzerland partially destroyed the small village of Blatten, which had been completely evacuated last week due to the impending danger, officials said. At around 3:30 pm local time, a huge collapse occurred on the Birch Glacier, emergency services in the Wallis region said. Many homes in Blatten, normally home to 300 people, were destroyed, Jonas Jeitziner, deputy information officer for the regional emergency management service, told Switzerland's Keystone-ATS domestic news agency. One person is currently missing, officials said. The glacier collapse had been expected for several days. Terrifying footage posted on YouTube showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountain slope and into the valley where the village is located. The debris reached the houses. Separate drone footage broadcast by Swiss national broadcaster SRF showed a vast plain of mud and soil completely covering part of the village and the river running through it. 'An unbelievable amount of material thundered down into the valley,' said Matthias Ebener, a spokesperson for local authorities in the southwestern canton of Valais. A significant increase in activity was observed on the glacier from Tuesday night and intensified during Wednesday. The Alps mountain range in Europe has seen its glaciers retreat in recent years due to warming that most scientists attribute to climate change. Swiss glaciers, severely impacted by climate change, melted as much in 2022 and 2023 as between 1960 and 1990, losing in total about 10 percent of their volume. The amount of snow covering Switzerland's glaciers at the end of winter this year was 13 percent below the 2010-2020 average, a group of glacier monitoring experts said earlier in May. It comes after hundreds were evacuated from the Alpine village in southern Switzerland amid fears of an imminent rockslide. Residents- and a herd of 52 cows - were evacuated by authorities in Tuesday as a precaution. Many feared they would never see their homes again as experts revealed 1.5 million cubic metres of had already tumbled down the mountainside. Last Monday, some 200,000 cubic metres of rock descended down the mountain face, with the situation having stabilised by the next day. Alban Brigger, a natural hazards engineer in Upper Valais, was even more stark in his warning last week - that the mountain is certain to collapse. He added however that this event could potentially happen over several, smaller landscapes, rather than a widescale collapse that would obliterate the hamlet and nearby roads. Residents were evacuated by authorities on Tuesday as a precaution, as scientists predict a further landslide of millions of cubic metres of rock within hours A firefighter blocks traffic on a road as a security measure against a possible rockfall in the direction of Blatten in the canton of Valais on May 19 In 2023, residents of the village of Brienz in eastern Switzerland were evacuated before a huge mass of rock slid down a mountainside, stopping just short of the settlement. Brienz was evacuated again last year because of the threat of a further rockslide. Swiss President Karin Keller-Sutter expressed her solidarity with the local population as emergency services warned people the area was hazardous and urged them to stay away, closing off the main road into the valley. 'It's terrible to lose your home,' Keller-Sutter said on X.
The Guardian
28-05-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
Swiss glacier collapse destroys parts of village
A massive glacier has collapsed in southern Switzerland, partly destroying the small village of Blatten, which had been evacuated recently because of the impending danger. At about 3.30pm (1330 GMT), a huge collapse occurred on the Birch glacier, emergency services in the Wallis region said. Numerous homes in Blatten, normally home to 300 people, were destroyed, Jonas Jeitziner, at the regional emergency management service, told Switzerland's Keystone-ATS domestic news agency. The glacier collapse had been expected for several days. Footage posted on YouTube shows a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountain and into the valley where the village is located. The debris reached the houses. There had been a significant increase in activity on the glacier on Tuesday night, which intensified on Wednesday. Glaciers have retreated in recent years in the Alps due to warming that most scientists attribute to the climate crisis. Swiss glaciers melted as much in 2022-23 as in 1960-90, losing about 10% of their total volume. Snow covering Switzerland's glaciers at the end of winter this year was 13% below the 2010-20 average, according to a glacier experts.
