Switzerland’s federal government wants to create a database containing the personal details of air passengers to counter terrorism and crime, reported RTS. However, the project has drawn serious criticism. After the terrorist attack in the US on 11 September 2001, America’s federal government demanded access to passenger data. Destination, name, passport number, birth date and […]
Trust in neighbours high in Switzerland, according to survey
A survey published this week shows high levels of trust and generosity towards neighbours in Switzerland. Published by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, an offshoot of Migros, the survey reported that three quarters of those surveyed felt very safe where they lived and practically no one reported being dissatisfied with their relationships with their neighbours. 67% […]
July 2022 Switzerland’s sunniest month on record
July 2022 broke a Swiss record. Never before has such a sunny month been recorded in Switzerland. Geneva was Switzerland’s sunniest city. There the sun shone for 373 hours, a Swiss record. The previous Swiss record dates back to July 1911, when the sun shone in Bern for 370 hours, reported the weather service Meteo […]
How important is the “CH” sticker on Swiss cars abroad?
The “CH” sticker that Swiss drivers must legally put on their vehicles before entering another country is required under the 1968 international convention on road traffic. Under the convention, any vehicle driven outside its home territory must display country initials made up of one to three latin characters. Most European plates incorporate the required identifying […]
FILM: BULLET TRAIN
5 August 2022. By Neptune I’m off to the Locarno film festival which goes from 3-13 August. BULLET TRAIN, the opening film shown on the their famous Piazza Grande, which holds up to 8000 spectators nightly under the stars, is also being released this week in the Suisse Romande. Starring Brad Pitt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson, […]
Question of the week: why do so many Swiss rental cars have AI plates?
In Switzerland, cars are registered in the canton where the car owner resides, so most cars in a given canton bear the plates of that canton. However, there is a notable exception. Cars with plates from Appenzell-Innerrhoden (AI), Switzerland’s least populated canton, seem to pop up in large numbers everywhere. Why? Most car owners are […]
Swiss inflation remains stable in July 2022
Figures published by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on 3 August 2022 show annual inflation running at 3.4% in July, the same rate as June. Switzerland’s consumer price index (CPI) remained stable in July 2022 compared with the previous month, and 3.4% higher compared with the same month of the previous year, said FSO. Over […]
9% of Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland now working
By the beginning of August 2022 there were 57,376 Ukrainian refugees registered in Switzerland. Of the 33,379 people of working age among this group, 3,130 (9.4%) were working. The most common fields of employment were hotel and restaurant work (23%), planning, consulting and IT (17%), agriculture (8%), teaching (8%) and the service sector (6%). The […]
Moving glacier leaves Italian building in Switzerland
Two thirds of an Italian building on the Alpine border between Italy and Switzerland is now in Switzerland, reported Le Matin. The incident has triggered three years of intensive transnational negotiations with no breakthrough. The Rifugio Guide del Cervino (pictured above) sits at 3,480 metres above sea level on the border of the ski domains […]
Switzerland breaks river temperature records
During July 2022, measurements taken at 11 points on a number Swiss rivers have broken temperature records, reported RTS. The water in the Aar river, which flows through Bern, reached 24 degrees at the point where it reaches the city, the highest recorded level since the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) began measuring river […]
