Earlier in January 2023, the newspaper Schweiz am Wochenende alleged repeated communication took place between a member of Switzerland’s interior ministry and the media group Ringier during the Covid pandemic. Since then accusations have been directed at Alain Berset, the minister in charge of the department, reported RTS. The information allegedly shared allowed the newspaper […]
Government creates plan to stem resignations in healthcare
After the heavy workload of the Covid pandemic, the backlog of operations it created and a general shortage of qualified personnel, the challenges of working in Swiss hospitals is becoming too much for some staff, leading them to resign. Aware of this, on 25 January 2023, the Federal Council presented a plan to improve working […]
Unclaimed Swiss pensions reach 5.6 billion in 2022
When workers in Switzerland change employers they typically take their salary-based pensions with them. However, if they leave the country without making any pension transfer arrangements, after six months, their pension money ends up with the Substitute Occupational Benefit Institution, a kind of backstop holding place for forgotten pensions. At the the end of 2022, […]
Retirement at 68.2 to cover Swiss pension shortfall, says UBS
Swiss resident’s are regularly reminded of the large financial gap is Switzerland’s state pension system. Despite this, several attempts at reform have failed to gain sufficient support. Those that have still leave a large shortfall. On 24 January 2023, UBS published four additional reform scenarios. Only the fourth, with a life expectancy adjusted retirement age […]
Swiss government aims to cut 2 billion from 2024 budget
Like many governments across the world, Switzerland’s federal government is spending more than it collects. Extraordinary spending on Covid and refugees has pushed Switzerland’s finances into the red, a situation Karin Keller-Sutter, the current finance minister, hopes to eliminate by 2024. During its meeting on 25 January 2023, the Federal Council made preliminary decisions to […]
Switzerland has too many pigs, leading to animal welfare concerns
After slaughtering and freezing 12,000 pigs, Switzerland still has 50,000 more pigs than it can digest, reported RTS. With Swiss pig farms so full, vets are concerned animal welfare may be compromised. During the Covid pandemic when movements across national borders were restricted, Swiss farmers increased the number of pigs. When restrictions eased and imports […]
Dual nationality continues to rise in Switzerland
On 26 January 2023, data on dual nationality in Switzerland were published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Between 2010 and 2021 the number of Swiss citizens over 15 years old with another nationality rose from 13.8% to 19.5%, a rise of 5.7 percentage points. The number of Swiss citizens with another nationality has risen […]
FILM: TAR **** simply brilliant
27 January 2023. By Neptune TAR **** One expects excellence when Cate Blanchett is in a film, and this one certainly does not disappoint. She has already garnered quite a few awards for it and will most probably end up with another Oscar. In her career she has accumulated 2 Oscars, 3 BAFTAS and 4 […]
Swiss fact: Ritalin was invented in Switzerland
The drug Ritalin sometimes given to people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy was first formulated in Switzerland. In 1944, Leandro Panizzon synthesized methylphenidate in Basel while working for CIBA (now Novartis). He tested the drug on himself and his wife Marguerite, nicknamed Rita. Rita played tennis and the drug improved her performance […]
