The first suicide in the controversial death capsule, dubbed “Sarco”, is set to take place in the next few weeks, reported SRF. Philip Nitschke, the Australian inventor of the device, has chosen Switzerland to launch the use of his invention. The pod, which creates an airtight space, fills with nitrogen upon the push of a […]
The QR code scam costing parkers dearly
This week, Vaud Police warned a scam using QR codes has been discovered. The scam is simple and effective. Criminals cover the original QR code on parking ticket distributers with another which directs the user to a fake website resembling the original one. From there the user is asked to enter payment details, and the […]
Switzerland faces England on Saturday in Euro quarter final
At 6pm on Saturday 6 July 2024, Switzerland’s football team will face England’s in the quarter finals of the Euro 2024. The game will be played in Dusseldorf, Germany. England are the favourites, with one estimate giving them a 43% chance of victory compared to a 25% chance of Switzerland prevailing. In an interview on […]
Swiss smoking rate declines but remains high
In 2022, 24% of Switzerland’s population smoked, according to data published on 2 July 2024 by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). This percentage is down 3 percentage points from the rate in 2017 when the survey was last done. The smoking rate has fallen most significantly among people with tertiary education. The proportion of heavy […]
Famous Swiss Post bus horn turns 100
Swiss Post buses are equipped with horns to warn on coming vehicles as they navigate tight corners on Switzerland’s mountain roads. The horns sound out the first few notes of the Andante of the overture to Gioacchino Rossini’s opera William Tell. These notes were first heard on Swiss roads 100 years ago. In 1919, when […]
Swiss life expectancy reaches an all time high
This week, Unisanté published calculations showing Swiss life expectancy of 84 years for 2023, the highest level ever reached. Life expectancy at birth was 82.2 for men and 85.6 for women, said Unisanté, referencing its calculations based on Federal Statistical Office (FSO) data. These figures are higher than they were in 2019, before the Covid-19 […]
Switzerland makes progress on gender gap
Every year, the World Economic Forum (WEF) compares the economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment of men and women across the world. The latest report, published on 14 June 2024, shows a shrinking gap between Swiss men and women. This year, Switzerland scored 0.785 and ranked 20th, up from […]
Switzerland’s low incarceration rate comes with Europe’s second highest prison suicide rate
A study published this week highlights Switzerland’s high prison suicide rate (20.2 per 10,000), which is second only to Latvia’s (21.7 to 10,000) in Europe. The average prison suicide rate across the 45 European countries in the survey was 7.1 per 10,000. The rate across Swiss prisons was 20.2 per 10,000, nearly three times the […]
Gambling addiction rising fast in Switzerland
With the arrival of the internet, gambling was transformed. It became easier to access and market gambling products. Data published this week show how this continues lure an increasing number of people in Switzerland to bet, which is pushing up the number of people with a gambling addiction. According to the report by an organisation […]
Swiss canton bans sexist advertisement
Authorities in the canton of Vaud recently banned an advert they consider sexist, reported RTS. A study last year found half of advertising in Switzerland used discriminatory generalisations. The offending advert used a picture of a naked man walking in the mountains to advertise insurance. A Vaud government body tasked with combatting sexist advertising issued […]