In 2016, a sleek new walkway was added to Geneva’s iconic 140 metre high jet of water, known as the Jet d’eau, Bill Harby met the team and got a look at the machinery that makes it all happen. Viewing Geneva’s famous landmark, the Jet d’eau, up close is now a breeze for all, including the disabled. A new wooden […]
Foreigners more likely to be working than Swiss
Statistics released today show that at the end of 2016 there were 5.0 million people working in Switzerland out of a population of 8.4 million, an activity rate of 58.4%, or 68.6% if those under 15 are excluded – the activity rate is the percentage of a population working full time. Of those not working […]
Switzerland scores well in exercise obesity study
Researchers at Stanford University gathered smartphone data on 68 million days of physical activity from 717,527 individuals around the world. Accelerometry features automatically detected and counted their steps. The study, focused on 46 countries and designed to gain insight into exercise levels and their relationship to obesity, combined daily step information with obesity metrics. An average Swiss […]
Avoiding long queues at Gotthard tunnel
20 Minutes. According to TCS (Touring Club Suisse), a queue of 10 km was reported on the northern side of the Gotthard road tunnel on Friday 14 July. Some waited 1 hour and 40 minutes. On the southern side of the tunnel queues stretched 3 km, leaving motorists waiting around 45 minutes. The long queue […]
Swiss Rail boss says ticket prices should stay stable
20 Minutes. Andreas Meyer, the head of Swiss Rail, told the newspaper Le Matin Dimanche that Swiss Rail ticket prices should remain stable in the future. He said prices could even go down in order to compete with road travel. “Car makers want to make road journeys cheaper…. This is why we are working to […]
Number of vacant homes rises again in Vaud
At 1 June 2017, 3,650 empty homes, of which 2,655 were for rent and 995 for sale, were on the market in Vaud. This brought the vacancy rate to 0.9%, a rise of 0.1% compared to the year before. This rise follows an increase of 0.1% in 2016 from a rate of 0.7% in 2015. […]
How much pocket money Swiss kids get varies hugely by linguistic region
A study requested by Credit Suisse and Pro Juventute shows how much pocket money habits vary across Switzerland. Of the 14,000 adults surveyed a clear majority said it was their job to teach their children how to deal with money. Parents in the lowest earning category (less than CHF 50,000 p.a.) placed greater emphasis on teaching their […]
Men in Switzerland doing more around the house
The average number of hours spent on domestic tasks by men in Switzerland rose by 10% between 2010 and 2016 according to a report by Switzerland’s federal statistical office. The 17.9 hours dedicated to domestic work by an average man every week was 36% less than that of an average woman. Men however were not […]
Tax to rise as Switzerland misses emissions target
Recently published emissions numbers for 2016 show that Switzerland has not met its 2016 target for reducing emissions. The 2016 target, set at 27% less than emissions in 1990, was missed by 2.2%. Because of this the government must raise the tax on emissions from CHF 84 to CHF 96 per tonne of CO2 equivalent […]
Cannabis cigarettes soon available at Coop
20 Minutes. Low-THC cannabis cigarettes will soon be available in the Swiss supermarket chain Coop. Products with less than 1% tétrahydrocannabinol (THC) are not illegal in Switzerland, however their rapid rise in popularity has created controversy. Selling such products in supermarkets is a significant step in the product’s evolution. Swiss cigarette manufacturer Heimat has come up with a […]
