Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

In unconnected news, relations with Brussels and a “prolonged erection” feature in Friday’s briefing from Switzerland.

Keystone / Julian Stratenschulte

In the news:  A smart cat flap, dangerous erectile stimulants, and exploratory talks between Bern and Brussels.

• A smart cat flap developed by students at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich can block a cat’s attempt to arrive home carrying prey. It does this through the use of a sophisticated night-vision system with a motion detector, infrared camera and infrared lighting. A specially developed algorithm automatically checks whether the cat has anything in its mouth; if live or dead prey is detected, the cat and its prey remain locked out.
• Swissmedic has once again warned against buying erectile stimulants online after a man had to be hospitalised with a persistent, unwanted erection. He had taken a product unauthorised in Switzerland made by an unknown source abroad. By taking two tablets, the patient received many times the maximum recommended dose of active substance for erectile dysfunction, resulting in a “prolonged erection, leg spasms and back pain”. According to SwissmedicExternal link, it’s not unusual for illegal erectile stimulants to contain excessive amounts of the active substance.
• Exploratory talks between Switzerland and the European Union are “moving forwards” but they have not yet reached the point where they can be used for actual negotiations, State Secretary Livia Leu said after a ninth round of talks in Brussels.

Kai Reusser / swissinfo.ch

Despite covering only 0.008% of the Earth’s surface, Switzerland regularly makes international headlines.

This is due not only to the 800,000 Swiss who live abroad, but also to the country’s close economic ties around the world and the many international organisations based in Geneva.

Today we have packaged together five of our recent international Swiss stories involving Russia, the United States, Australia, Nigeria and China. The topics range from deciding the fate of looted colonial art to trying to become Swiss having been born in Switzerland but adopted abroad as a baby.

RTS-SWI

Who put the “wit” in Switzerland? In the seventh of an eight-part weekly series on the Swiss identity, we take a light-hearted look at the famed Swiss sense of humour.

What makes the Swiss laugh? Do they like laughing are themselves? Welcome to an introduction to the “great Swiss comedians of the 20th century”, as well as former cabinet ministers Hans-Rudolf Merz and Johann Schneider-Ammann, both of whom went viral (for very different reasons) regarding laughter.

Schneider-Ammann’s clip – in which he extols on the benefits of laughter but in the manner of a doctor telling a patient he has a terminal disease – makes you wonder what his advisers were thinking. On the other hand, the sight of 70-year-old Merz getting the giggles in parliamentExternal link when discussing a tax on dried meat gets me every time!