There is a reason why the Swiss excel at digging tunnels: they have been doing it for a very long time. In 1680, tunnels were dug into the Vaud Alps near Bex to get at salt buried there more than 200 million years earlier, le Sel des Alpes. According to legend, a young shepherd noticed […]
Archives for 2019
Illegal nitrite found in tuna sold in Switzerland
Fresh tuna has is a nice red colour, however it quickly turns brown when exposed to the air. Tuna is easier to sell red than brown so those involved in the trade are faced with a temptation to reverse the discolouration. In 2017, an estimated CHF 200 million was made tricking retailers and consumers in […]
Swiss federal government against tax funded paternity leave
Recently, Switzerland’s Federal Council voiced its opposition to an initiative to create universal paid leave for the fathers of newborns, according to the newspaper Le Matin. The initiative, which aims to introduce 20 days of paid paternity leave and which collected the required number of signatures to go ahead in 2017, has encountered further resistance in Bern. […]
Parts of Switzerland shaken by earthquake
If you live near Montreux you might have felt an earthquake yesterday at 10:48 am when one measuring 4.2 struck. The quake was widely felt in the region and the police received a number of calls from concerned residents. Many would have heard a loud bang. The quake’s epicentre was around 15 km from Montreux in […]
Assura to refund 30 million francs to policyholders
Switzerland’s third largest health insurer had a good year in 2018, according to recently published financial statements. Instead of holding onto all of the CHF 61.9 million profit it made last year, the not-for-profit company plans to return some of the money to policyholders between now and the end of the year. Around half of […]
FILM: ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD – the star attraction in Cannes this year
24 May 2019. By Neptune In this second week of the Cannes Festival, films and events have risen to a crescendo of talents, duds, glitter and a strong presence of women auteurs this year. With a few great works and some that did not deserve to be in the various lineups, there is too much […]
Lausanne to restrict child care places to working parents
Finding day care for young children can be difficult in Switzerland. In Lausanne it has been difficult for many years. The challenge doesn’t disappear when children go to school either. In Switzerland, schools close at lunchtime and children are the responsibility of parents, a system that works when one parent works and the other stays […]
60,000 imprisoned in Switzerland with no criminal trial
Up until 1981, the Swiss authorities imprisoned thousands of people who were not tried for any crime, under a procedure known as administrative detention. 60,000 were imprisoned, often for years at a time, in this way according to a recent estimate published by RTS. Referred to as a kind of compulsory welfare, people, including men, […]
Only 38% of young Swiss men fertile, according to research
Research by the University of Geneva (UNIGE) found that only 38% of the men it studied in Switzerland had sperm above the standard the World Health Organisation (WHO) considers men to be fertile. The study, which analyzed sperm from 2,523 men between the ages of 18 and 22 who were conceived and born in Switzerland, […]
Voters in Bern narrowly reject proposed welfare cuts
A referendum aimed at cutting welfare expenses in the canton of Bern was narrowly rejected by 52.6% of voters on Sunday. The initiative, supported by a majority of the canton’s parliament aimed to reduce the canton’s welfare spending, which has risen 54% over the last 10 years despite a decline in the number receiving it. […]
