On 7 March 2021, Swiss will vote on whether to accept laws to allow the issuance of electronic IDs. Switzerland’s government has come up with a plan to improve online identification via an e-ID. The aim is to create a secure reliable form of electronic ID that can be used online. To this end it […]
Swiss to vote on face covering ban
On 7 March 2021, Swiss voters will vote on whether to ban face coverings in public. Discussions on the ban are typically focused on the burka. However, the burka is a specific blue head covering found mainly in Afghanistan, which is not seen in Switzerland. The term burqa is sometimes conflated with niqab, a full […]
Swiss to vote on trade deal with Indonesia
On 7 March 2021, Swiss voters will vote on whether to accept a new trade deal with Indonesia. The deal agreed by the Swiss and Indonesian governments aims to improve trade with South East Asia’s largest economy by cutting tariffs in both directions. However, the deal has opponents who have successfully called a referendum against […]
Swiss parliament demands cabinet reopen restaurants and theatres
A recent parliamentary vote on whether to issue a formal request to the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, to reopen restaurants on 22 March 2021, found a majority of 97 to 90, according to Le Matin. The main parties supporting the demand were the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) and the PLR (FDP). The Socialist and Green […]
Nearly three quarters of Swiss university students have side jobs, finds study
A study published by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office found that 73% of students in tertiary education did paid work alongside their studies. The study, which took place in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic, also looked at how students spend their time, where they live and how they finance their studies. Roughly three-quarters (73%) of students […]
Low-income households had lower Covid-19 rates but suffered worse economically
The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was unequal, hitting low-income households far harder than those on high incomes, according to a study published by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich. Infection rates rise with incomeMore people in the higher income range reported being infected with Covid-19 than those in lower income groups. […]
Swiss lakes at risk to climate change
Climate change could leave some Swiss lakes with higher amounts of algae and toxic cyanobacteria, according to a recent study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag). A simulation done by scientists at Eawag shows that as climate change alters water temperature, ice cover and mixing of many Swiss lakes could […]
Record fall in Swiss hotel occupancy in 2020
In 2020, the number of overnight stays in Swiss hotels fell by 40% to 23.7 million, a fall of 15.8 million nights compared to 2019. The fall, driven by Covid-19, is the largest fall in overnight stays in Switzerland since the end of the 1950s, according to Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office. Plummeting hotel stays were […]
Acts of antisemitism rise in Switzerland in 2020
Every year, organisations that fight against antisemitism publish statistics on antisemitism in Switzerland. During 2020, CICAD, a non-profit organisation covering French-speaking Switzerland, reported a significant rise in cases, which rose to a total of 147, 144 of which were considered concerning. This represents a rise of 41% compared to 2019 when 100 significant antisemitic acts […]
Last weekend’s coldest Swiss temperature disqualified
Last weekend, at 4am on Saturday a thermometer at Switzerland’s Glattalp weather station 1,900m above sea level plunged to -44 degrees Celsius, the coldest temperature ever recorded in Switzerland. However, the record was disqualified because the thermometer was not in the open air at 2 metres from the ground. Instead it was buried under snow. […]
