Launch of the controversial ‘suicide capsule’ cancelled

Sarco, the world’s first ‘death pod’ was scheduled for its inaugural use in Switzerland on July 17th, but this did not happen.
 
The first voluntary death, through asphyxiation by nitrogen, could not take place as planned, the capsule’s designer, assisted dying group The Last Resort, said on Monday.

“The anticipated death of person X (an American woman in her 50s) has been definitively postponed,” The Last Resort said.

This decision “follows growing concerns about the deterioration of her mental health,” the association explained.

Under Swiss law, only people deemed to be mentally capable of discernment and sound judgment are allowed to resort to assisted death services.
 
READ ALSO: What you should know about assisted dying in Switzerland 

SWISS airline suspends its flights to Beirut

As a result of growing tensions between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah group, as well as a threat of escalating violence in the area, the national airline has ceased its service the Lebanon’s capital for security reasons.

The flights will remain suspended until August 5th at the earliest.

Two of SWISS’ ‘sister’ airlines — Lufthansa and Eurowings — are also grounding their Beirut-ground flights for the time being.

SBB has stopped more German trains than before on Swiss border

By now, it is a well-known fact Swiss national rail company, SBB; is fed up with chronically late German trains.

To prevent DeutscheBahn’s (DB) tardiness from affecting the punctuality of onward connections in Switzerland, the SBB routinely stops the errant DB trains at the border, shifting passengers onto the waiting Swiss trains.

Now new data reveals that this tardiness is getting worse.

From January to March of this year, the SBB had to stop 11 percent of all German trains on the route from Munich to Zurich — a higher number than during the whole of 2023, when the proportion was only 2 percent.

On the route from Freiburg to Basel, that rate is 12.4 percent.

“Our railway is too slow for Switzerland, ” German newspaper, Bild, reported on Monday.

Heatwave reminder

The heatwave warning is in effect for today and Wednesday for  the Lake Geneva region (cantons of Geneva and Vaud), as well as for Valais and Ticino.

Maximum temperatures there are expected to reach 32C, with regional variations between 30 and 35C, according to the official government weather service, MétéoSwiss.
 
READ ALSO: Heatwave to hit southern Switzerland with temperatures to rise to 35C

If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at [email protected]