In 1941, George de Mestral, while hunting in the Jura, with his son and dogs, noticed how the plant burdock stuck with microscopic hooks to his trousers and to the ears of one of his dogs. Fifteen years later the strong-willed Vaud handy man had turned his observation into something that would become a household name. He carried […]
Swiss government agrees to help mothers hoping to work more
In Switzerland, mothers are far more likely to have paid work than they were 30 years ago. In 2021, 82% had paid employment compared to 60% in 1991. Over this period, Switzerland has moved from one of the lowest European rates of working mums to one of the highest. However, a sizeable employment gap remains […]
Practically no gender pay inequality, shows Swiss study
A study done by the University of St. Gallen on behalf of the Swiss Employers’ Association published this week found there was practically no pay inequality between men and women in Switzerland, reported RTS. The study looked at analysis done on 461 companies in Switzerland using a federal government framework. According to the results 99.3% […]
Switzerland moves close to changing definition of rape
This week, after much political back and forth, Switzerland’s federal government moved close to updating the nation’s laws on sex crimes, including rape. While the need to update the definition of rape, which is central to the legal revision, is uncontested, the details of the changes have proved controversial. Broadly, much of the debate has […]
Swiss fact: 44 Swiss municipalities have changed their official language since 1950
Language is a complicated matter in Switzerland. The nation has four official languages and numerous other languages and dialects. On top of this some Swiss have had to cope with shifting language borders. Between 1860 and 2000, 83 municipalities, known as communes (in French), Einwohnergemeinde1 (in German), comuni (in Italian) and vischnancas (in Romanche), changed their official […]
Parliament rejects use of Swiss-German for official debates
This week, parliament rejected a motion put forward by Lukas Reimann, a member of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) from St. Gallen, to allow the use of Swiss-German in official federal political debates, reported RTS. Switzerland has four national languages, however, many Swiss tend to fluently speak only one of them, although among federal politicians […]
Reports of racial discrimination rise again in Switzerland
In 2022, 708 cases of racial discrimination were reported in Switzerland, 78 more than the year before and more than double the number in 2019, according to an annual report from humanrights.ch The rapid rise in the number reported events partly reflects a rising tendency among the population to respond to racism, says the report. […]
Funky Swiss Alphorn player dies at 39
Eliana Burki, considered by many to be the ambassador the Swiss Alphorn, passed away this week at the age of 39, reported RTS. Burki, who is from the canton of Solothurn, moved to Los Angeles and incorporated the iconic Swiss instrument into the funk and jazz music scene there describing her instrument as her “Funky […]
How Lausanne’s Ukraine Centre is helping Ukrainians help Ukrainians
Within a few weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine over 6,000 refugees had fled to Switzerland’s canton of Vaud. In response, three English speaking churches in Lausanne grouped together with other concerned local residents to set up the Ukraine Day Centre to help the refugees. “The canton was doing its utmost to provide vital […]
The quirky, neglected Swiss astronomer who designed a new way to look at “wicked” problems
By Peter Hulm Remembering a Glarus native who bubbled with new ideas his whole life. Deputy editor of Global Geneve Magazine Peter Hulm reports. Ninety years ago, on 16 February 1933, Fritz Zwicky posited the existence of dark matter. It then took three decades for cosmologists to accept his ideas (three years after his death), […]
