Switzerland’s jet fuel reserves could soon run out; US company offers exorbitant salaries to Zurich AI specialists; and more news in our roundup on Wednesday.
Switzerland’s jet fuel reserves could soon run out
Ahead of the summer travel season, Swiss airports are faced with fuel shortages, exacerbated by the continued closure of the Strait of Ormuz and thus preventing the supply of oil from the Middle East.
It appears that Switzerland’s current mandatory kerosene stock reserve is sufficient for only 2.4 months.
This means that, in a worst-case scenario, shortages could arise at Swiss airports as early as mid-July – right in the middle of summer vacations.
It is not yet certain to what extent this situation will affect Switzerland’s airlines.
“As of today, operations are running smoothly, and our guests are able to travel as planned,” SWISS spokesperson Meike Fuhlrott told the media.
She conceded, however, that “the situation can change rapidly – as the past few weeks have shown.”
US company offers exorbitant salaries to Zurich Artificial Intelligence specialists
Anthropic, an AI safety and research company based in California, is seeking research scientists and engineers in Zurich – positions that come with an enviable (even by Swiss standards) annual salary ranging from 280,000 to 680,000 francs.
At the upper end of that range, that works out to over 56,000 francs per month.
“A veritable bidding war seems to have broken out for the brightest minds in the development of AI models,” said Swiss economics professor Michael Siegenthaler.
“I do not consider these salaries to be unrealistic.”
Anthropic will have a large pool of candidates to choose from: According to the 2026 AI Index Report, Switzerland recorded 110.5 AI researchers and developers per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025, placing it in the first place worldwide in terms of AI expert density.
Faced with the crack epidemic, Geneva considers providing cocaine to addicts
The canton is preparing an unprecedented trial: prescribing cocaine under medical supervision to reduce open-air drug scenes.
The project’s goal is to “get dependent individuals off the streets and provide them with therapeutic support,” according to Daniele Zullino, head of Addiction Psychiatry at the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG), the unit which oversees the trial.
Cocaine will be administered to crack-dependent individuals in the same facilities where the hospital already runs heroin-assisted treatment.
READ ALSO: What is Switzerland’s heroin distribution programme?
Homeopathic treatments will continue to be covered by basic health insurance
In order to cut the soaring cost of healthcare by eliminating treatments deemed unnecessary or ineffective, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) was planning to review homeopathic medicine.
However, Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider decided not to initiate this process.
The reason, according to the FOPH spokesperson is that “re-examining homeopathy based on criteria of efficacy, appropriateness, and cost-effectiveness would entail a considerable investment of time and money,” which counteract the money-saving efforts.
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