A referendum aimed at rejecting changes to Swiss gun laws scheduled for 19 May 2019 could cause major disruption at airports in Zurich and Geneva if it succeeds, according to various newspapers. If the vote is successful it might eventually lead to the exclusion of Switzerland from the Schengen area. If this happened, immigration staff […]
Swiss chocolate consumption slides
In 2018, Switzerland’s population consumed around 87,000 tonnes of chocolate. However, average chocolate consumption dropped from 10.5 kg per person in 2017 to 10.3 kg in 2018, a decline of roughly 2%. This decline reflects last year’s longer hotter summer, according to the industry association Chocosuisse. The fall in consumption of Swiss chocolate in Switzerland […]
Three Swiss cities ranked in world’s top 10 most livable
Mercer’s 2019 livability ranking looks at 231 cities across the globe. Vienna comes top for the tenth year in a row, while Bagdad ranks last. Three Swiss cities are among the global top ten. Zurich is 2nd, Geneva 9th and Basel 10th. Bern, a fourth Swiss city, is not far behind in 14th place. No […]
Swiss unemployment lowest in 10 years
Switzerland’s unemployment rate, now 2.6%, hasn’t been so low for 10 years, according to the latest figures from Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). A weakening of the Swiss franc helped boost Switzerland’s economic growth, creating more jobs. The unemployment rate among young workers (15-24) dropped 0.7% to 2.4% as did unemployment among the […]
The Swiss town on the 2019 New York Times’ places-to-visit list
Every year the New York Times assembles a list of 52 recommended places to visit. This year it lists Vevey at number 49. 2019 is a big year for Vevey. It is the year of the Unesco-recognized Fête des Vignerons, an event held every 20 to 25 years. This spectacular wine festival, which began in […]
Question of the week: do we need a retirement age?
Reaching the official retirement age1 is an important milestone for many people. Some look forward to it while others dread it. Some dreading it would prefer to continue working either because they enjoy their work or would like the extra income. Some feel they are being systematically and unfairly labelled too old to work. A […]
FILM: MIA AND THE WHITE LION – about a girl and lion growing up together
28 December 2018. By Neptune MIA AND THE WHITE LION *** (vo English) As a fictional story, this may seem simplistic and somewhat contrived, but as a feat of filmmaking it is truly phenomenal. For French director Gilles de Maistre (of such documentaries as “Le Premier Cri” and “The Quest of Alain Ducasse”) took a […]
Question of the week: why are some experts universally trusted but not others?
Few unqualified to fly a plane would switch seats with the pilot, however, many with no background in climate science are comfortable making their own assessment of the impact humans are having on the climate. Why? For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Number of cases of tick-borne encephalitis rises sharply in Switzerland
In around 1% of cases tick-borne encephalitis can be deadly. It is a virus carried by ticks, which can cause brain swelling and neurological damage. The period between March and November is when most people get infected, according to the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). Ticks become active when the temperature reaches 7 […]
Swiss healthcare – French and Italian speakers more likely to run to hospital than German-speakers
A recent report by the Swiss Health Observatory (Obsan), presents the number of trips residents made to hospital accident and emergency departments (A&E) in 2016. The number of visits per 1,000 residents varies widely. The average across all of Switzerland was 197. However, in the canton of Appenzell-Innerhodden only 53 per 1,000 of the population […]
