Married couples in Switzerland are taxed together on their combined income, something that is not applied to unmarried couples who are taxed individually. This often acts as a tax disincentive for one member of a married couple to work, disproportionately affecting women. Politicians and organisations focused on improving women’s career chances would like to see […]
Swiss Rail defends surveillance camera plan
Following concerns and criticism at its plans to install cameras in stations, this week Swiss Rail defended its plan, reported RTS. The train operator said that the cameras, which will record passenger movements in some of its nationwide network of stations, will not record personal data or use facial recognition technology. Last week, the consumer […]
Living alone most common way to live in Switzerland
Data published this week by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) show the number of single person households continues to rise. Eight years ago there were 1.3 million single person households. The latest figures show there are 1.4 million, a rise of around 10%. This type of household makes up 38.4% of the total, up from […]
iPhone bug overloads Swiss emergency services
The latest iPhones and Apple watches automatically call emergency services when triggered by movements typically associated with accidents. False alerts on these devices have been causing emergency service phones to ring unnecessarily, particularly in the canton of Valais, reported RTS. The false alerts are being caused by the devices confusing skiing with car crash movements. […]
Firearms at home linked to Switzerland’s exceptionally high suicide rate
The male suicide rate using firearms is higher in Switzerland than the rest of Europe. According to a recently published report the higher rate could be linked to military weapons in Swiss homes, reported RTS. The report published by a researcher at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands looks at the link between firearm […]
Rules on Swiss wills to change in 2023
In Switzerland, limits are placed on what people can put into a will. Currently, a minimum of a quarter of a person’s assets must be left to a surviving spouse and at least 3/8ths to any children or their descendants. Someone in Switzerland dying without a will before 31 December 2022 will have their assets […]
Most searched terms in Switzerland in 2022
The most searched terms on Google in Switzerland in 2022 were “Ukraine”, “World Cup 2022” and “Wordle”, according to data published by the search engine. In fourth place was the tennis player “Novak Djoković”, followed by “Australian Open”, “Nations League”, “Jeffrey Dahmer”, a mass murderer, “Olympics 2022”, referring to the Beijing Winter Olympics, “Queen Elizabeth […]
World Cup: Switzerland through to next round after beating Serbia
On 2 December 2022, Switzerland beat Serbia 3:2 to secure a place in the next round of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The three goals were scored by Xherdan Shaqiri (at 20 minutes), Breel Embolo (at 44 minutes) and Remo Freuler (at 48 minutes). 35 minutes into the match Switzerland was losing by one […]
Verbier attempts record for the most Santas on skis
Every year, Verbier hosts its opening day, an event where they attempt to assemble a record number of skiers dressed as St. Nicolas, or his redder equivalent: Santa Claus. This year the event is on 3 December 2022 and returns after a Covid-19 induced hiatus. In 2016, the sun shone, the snow was decent, and […]
Qatar 2022: Swiss broadcaster reveals evidence suggesting vote buying
An inquiry presented this week by RTS reveals evidence of likely vote buying related to the choice of Qatar for the 2022 Football World Cup due to start on 20 November 2022. A cloud of corruption has hung over FIFA since 2010 when Qatar was chosen by 14 votes to 8 as the place for […]
