Public transport is now free in Geneva, as a way to combat a spike in ozone pollution. This is the first initiative of its kind in the Swiss city which began on Wednesday 13 August.
“High temperatures and low cloud cover mean ozone pollutants accumulate and take longer to be dispersed”, Canton of Geneva’s Environment Office said to Reuters.
Temperatures reached 37 degress (98.6°F) Celsius on 12 August, alerting the government to issue a heat warning.
The canton’s anti-smog monitoring system recorded concentrations of the pollutant above 180 micrograms per cubic metre over 24 hours.
This harmful gas can cause problems breathing and can trigger headaches and asthma attacks, according to the World Health Organization.
The scheme is aimed at encouraging residents to switch from private cars to buses, trams, trains, and boats, aiming to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from the transportation sector.
Passengers do not need tickets, and ticket inspections will be suspended until pollution levels improve.
Authorities have also imposed restrictions on vehicle use, prohibiting the most polluting cars from the city centre between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
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Switzerland said on Wednesday (25 February) it would make a one-off payment of 50,000 Swiss francs ($56,000) to each severely injured survivor and to the bereaved families of those killed in the New Year bar fire at the ski resort of Crans-Montana.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has described the second round of indirect nuclear talks with the United States as a "good start" as negotiations concluded on Tuesday (17 February) at the Omani consulate in Geneva.
SOCAR’s Carbamide plant in Sumgayit has been recognised by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a Global Lighthouse site, marking Azerbaijan’s first inclusion in the Forum’s flagship Industry 4.0 network.
"When the rules no longer protect you, you must protect yourself,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in Davos on Tuesday (20 January), a speech that resonated at home and heightened tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump, who later withdrew Canada’s invitation to the Board of Peace.
Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a hardline cleric with strong backing from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His rise signals continuity in Tehran's anti-Western policies.
Global oil prices surpassed $119 a barrel on Monday (9 March, 2026), an almost four year high, as the Middle East conflict rumbled on.
Trump says the United States "don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won," targeting his criticism at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Israel continues to fire missles at strategic sites in Iran and Gulf regions report more strikes from Iran.
Iran named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father Ali Khamenei as supreme leader on Monday (9 March), signaling that hardliners remain firmly in charge, as the week-old U.S.-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.
Entry and exit across the state border between Azerbaijan and Iran for all types of cargo vehicles, including those in transit, will resume on 9 March, according to a statement by the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan.
U.S. President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke by phone on Sunday as tensions between Washington and Westminster deepened over the conflict involving Iran. The call came less than a day after Trump criticised Britain’s response to U.S. strikes on Iranian targets.
Norwegian police are searching for a suspect after an explosion at the U.S. embassy in Oslo on 8 March caused minor damage but no injuries, in what authorities say may have been a deliberate attack linked to the Middle East crisis.
An explosion damaged a synagogue in the Belgian city of Liège early on Monday (9 March) in what authorities said was an antisemitic attack that caused damage but no injuries.
The Group of Seven (G7) finance ministers will meet on Monday to discuss a global rise in oil prices and a joint release of oil from emergency reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency, the Financial Times reports.
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 9th of March, covering the latest developments you need to know.
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