In some parts of Switzerland welfare payments are effectively loans that must be repaid when the recipient’s financial situation improves. According to the Aargauer Zeitung, a welfare recipient in the commune of Klingnau in the canton of Aargau received a bill of 173,000 francs after he came into some money. A windfall of 173,000 francs […]
Archives for 2018
“Swissleaks” author arrested in Spain at Switzerland’s request
According to Tribune de Genève, Hervé Falciani was arrested in Madrid last week at Switzerland’s request. In 2008, Falciani a French-Italian who grew up in Monaco, took confidential information from the Geneva offices of HSBC, his employer, and fled to Lebanon where some claim he attempted to sell it. Later he shared the information with […]
Poverty in Switzerland – most don’t stay poor for long
In 2016, 7.5% of Switzerland’s population survived on a income below the poverty line, defined as CHF 3,981 a month for a couple with two young children, CHF 3,039 for a couple without children and CHF 2,247 for a single person. Among the 615,000 people encountering poverty in Switzerland in 2016, 140,000 were working. Over […]
International aid – Switzerland gives less but still 8th most generous
A club of countries known as the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) together gave US$ 147 billion in international aid in 2017, 0.6% less than in 2016. The figure includes money spent on refugees. In percentage of GDP terms, the most generous nations were Sweden (1.01%), Luxembourg (1.00%), Norway (0.99%), Denmark (0.72%) and the UK (0.70%). […]
FILM: DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT – bittersweet film about a severe alcoholic.
6 April 2018. DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT *** The multifaceted director Gus Van Sant (among his 48 works – “My Own Private Idaho”, “Good Will Hunting”, “Milk”) is back, this time with an intimate, bittersweet film about a severe alcoholic. Through a wild night of too many drinks with a reckless […]
62% of electricity consumed in Switzerland attributed to renewable sources
Last week the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) announced that 62% of the electricity consumed in Switzerland had been linked to renewable sources. It is difficult to know where the electricity from your plug came from. It is sometimes a bit like taking water from the sea and claiming it came from a particular […]
Heavy floods could hit Switzerland this year, says one insurance CEO
Heavy snow this winter means there is a lot of snow in high places ready to melt and flow from the mountains to the plains. According to the 20 Minutes, Ueli Winzenried, head of insurance at the GVB, the canton of Bern’s state buildings insurer, told the Bieler Tagblatt that he is very concerned that […]
New online app lets you see Swiss neighbourhoods 30 years ago
Swisstopo, Switzerland’s mapping agency, has launched a new online app that lets you see what your neighbourhood looked like around 30 years ago. Moving the slider left or right reveals before and after aerial photographs. Click here to go to the app. For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Forum Wallis – cutting edge music in a medieval Swiss Alpine town
Forum Wallis has established itself as a world leader in presenting new music in the medieval Swiss Alpine town of Leuk. Its 12th festival, from 17 to 21 May, it offers some 50 works from 25 countries. In all, the festival has presented 300 premieres since 2006, including Stockhausen’s rarely performed Helikopters + Strings Quartet […]
Switzerland experiences an exceptionally cold March this year
According to Swiss Meteo, north of the Alps, March 2018 was around one degree colder than average monthly temperatures between 1981 and 2010. South of the Alps it was one of the coldest in 30 years. March 2017 was Switzerland’s hottest March since 1864, registering an average temperature 3 degrees above the norm, an average […]
