In early December 2020, the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house voted in favour of same sex marriage, finalising a government decision to change Switzerland’s laws to allow marriage equality for all. Since then those opposed to the idea have been busy. The proposed referendum is entitled: Yes to marriage and family, no to marriage […]
Swiss unemployment up steeply in 2020
Today, figures on Swiss unemployment at the end of 2020 were published. At the end of December 2020, there were 163,545 people registered as unemployed in Switzerland, a figure 39.5% higher than at the end of 2019. At 31 December 2020, the number of job seekers was 260,318, a number 34.9% above the same figure […]
Religion continues to decline in Switzerland
Statistics for 2019 show that 30% of Switzerland’s residents belong to no religion. As recently as 1960 the same figure was less than 1%. The percentage believing in God in Switzerland continues to decline. Between 2014 and 2019, this percentage fell from 46% to 40% of the population. Indoctrination of religious beliefs also appears to […]
Swiss president one of world’s 100 most influential women, according to Forbes
As her year as Switzerland’s president comes to an end, Simonetta Sommaruga joins 99 other women on the Forbes list of the world’s 100 most influential women. Sommaruga was ranked 56th. The top three were Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde and Kamala Harris, America’s new vice president. Merkel has held the top spot ten years in […]
Swiss upper house votes in favour of gay marriage
On 18 December 2020, The Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, voted in favour of allowing gay marriage in Switzerland. 27 members voted for the plan, 15 against and 7 abstained. The result follows a successful parliamentary vote on the subject and is the culmination of a 7-year campaign to achieve full marriage rights for […]
Man raising money to help men
Men live shorter lives and are more likely to take their own than women. 17 years ago a group of friends in Australia decided to start the Movember foundation to raise money and awareness of the often overlooked health challenges, both physical and mental, faced by men. Globally, the life expectancy of men (70.8) is […]
One third of Swiss prone to believing conspiracy theories
One third of Swiss are prone to believing in conspiracy theories, according to a study run in 2019 by researchers at ETH University in Zurich. Researchers at ETH Zurich’s department of delinquency and crime prevention questioned around 10,500 people (2,111 adults and 8,317 young people) in 2019 regarding their beliefs. Survey takers were asked questions, […]
Switzerland’s Christian Catholic church votes in favour of same sex marriage
Over the weekend, the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland voted in favour of same sex marriage at a national synod in Zurich, according to RTS. The Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland is part of an offshoot of Catholicism that rejects papal infallibility. The church has around 12,000 adherents mainly in Basel, Aargau, Solothun, Zurich, Bern, […]
Vaud police association rejects allegations of racism and violence
On 24 June 2020, the Professional Association of Vaud Police (APGV) announced that it rejects recent accusations of racism and violence and deplores the lack of public support from politicians. The association, which represents members of the canton’s police force, is upset that some are crudely assuming that policing in Vaud is the same as […]
Swiss parliament decides lesbians should have access to sperm
On 11 June 2020, Switzerland’s parliament voted in favour of gay marriage and allowing lesbian couples to have access to sperm donations. 132 parliamentarians voted in favour of the proposal with 52 voting against it. All of Switzerland’s main political parties voted in favour of allowing lesbians access to sperm with the exception of the […]
