Switzerland’s longest dam was opened last week. In addition to being Switzerland’s longest it is also Europe’s highest. Situated in the Alpine region of the canton of Glarus the dam is only the tip of a technological iceberg, the visible part of a vast network of tunnels, pumps and underground turbines. The video below shows […]
Some Swiss schools ban mobile phones in the playground
24 Heures. Several schools in central Switzerland have banned the use of mobile phones during school breaks. A number of schools in the cantons Zug, Nidwalden and Luzern introduced the ban at the beginning of the school year, according to 20 Minuten. Peter Hörler, director of schools in the canton of Zug, told the newspaper Zentralschweiz am […]
Swiss central bank keeps rates on hold as Brexit fallout clouds outlook
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank maintained its ultra-loose negative interest-rate policy and pledged to intervene in currency markets if needed, saying the Brexit vote has clouded its view of the global economy. Switzerland’s central bank, which for years has been combating an overvalued currency, left its deposit rate at a […]
Swiss to vote on state pension increases
On 25 September 2016, Swiss will vote on a plan to increase state pensions. Vote initiator, Switzerland’s Socialist Party, wants basic state pensions to go up by 10 percent. It argues that because costs have gone up, and returns on savings have declined, an increase is required to make up the difference. In Switzerland, everyone is entitled to an […]
Richemont, Hermes slump as gloom deepens for luxury-goods makers
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The crisis in the global luxury-goods industry deepened after Hermes International SCA abandoned a long-standing forecast and Richemont predicted a profit plunge that Chairman Johann Rupert deemed unacceptable. Richemont, the maker of Cartier jewelry, said first-half operating profit will probably decline about 45 percent and warned it may have […]
Seven years of inaction on SNB rates day won’t end this week
Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Anyone feeling let down that the European Central Bank didn’t do much last week might just want to skip the Swiss rate decision on Thursday to avoid more disappointment. While the Swiss National Bank may be infamous for some seismic policy changes in the last few years, those bombshells […]
Deadline for overseas US voter registration fast approaching
The US presidential election is on 8 November 2016. Overseas voters from some US states have only until 8 October to register. A full list of state registration dates can be found here. Most recent polls put Democratic contender Hillary Clinton in the lead, however a 12 September poll by the Los Angeles Times shows Clinton […]
Swiss startup doubles solar panel efficiency
Because roof space is limited, the amount of the sun’s energy that can be extracted per square metre matters. Plants typically extract 5% of the sun’s energy, and most roof solar panels on the market extract between 14% and 22%, although figures vary. Last October, the website Mashable reported that SolarCity, whose chairman is Elon Musk, had […]
Swiss home vacancy rate climbs to 15-year high
Switzerland has around 4.4 million homes. In 2000, 52,608 (1.49%) of them were vacant. By 2003, this number had dropped to 33,039, a vacancy rate of 0.91%. After fluctuating between this level and 1.07%, the rate started to climb in 2014 to its current rate of 1.30%, its highest level in 15 years. Before home hunters […]
Switzerland’s summer to continue until mid next week
20 Minutes. Summer temperatures are set to continue in Switzerland. Today the temperature in Locarno in Ticino reached 30 degrees. Roger Perret from Meteonews said “It is extraordinarily hot for this time of the year.” Summer weather conditions look set to prevail across nearly all of Switzerland for most of next week. Meteonews, Meteoblue and Meteo Swiss all […]
