Swiss footballers Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri both received a warning and a fine of 10,000 Swiss francs for unsporting behaviour by FIFA’s disciplinary panel, according to numerous reports. Details of FIFA fines for Swiss trio who celebrated scoring v Serbia with hand gestures of Albania’s national eagle symbol. Stems from Xhaka & Shaqiri having […]
Football – star Swiss players face sideline after political gestures
Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, two star Swiss footballers, risk being sidelined. The two goal scorers in the pivotal win against Serbia last Friday, could find themselves banned from playing in the next two world cup matches. On Saturday, FIFA’s disciplinary committee announced that it had opened disciplinary proceedings against the players. In a statement […]
Football – Switzerland beats Serbia
On 22 June 2018, Switzerland won 2:1 against Serbia, following a 1:1 draw against Brazil last Sunday. Switzerland’s two goals were scored by Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri. Both of these Swiss players are of Kosovan descent, so winning against Serbia, a country that refuses to recognize Kosovo, would have had an additional emotional dimension […]
Toilet tantrums – some Swiss toilets charge women more than men
Public toilets in some Swiss train stations charge 2 francs for a toilet and 1.5 francs for a urinal. The sit-down price is the same for both men and women, but given only men can use urinals, they have an option unavailable to women, to pay a bit less for a number one. Why the […]
Reaction to Swiss newspaper article on Serena Williams’ tennis outfit goes viral
A reaction to an article in the print edition of the Swiss newspaper le Nouvelliste, which has a photograph of the tennis star in her latest tennis costume and the headline: Tennis : Serena Williams, a real lack of taste1, has gone viral on Facebook. Catsuit anyone? For all the moms out there who had […]
Switzerland’s highly contrasting divorce rates
Switzerland is a varied patchwork of languages and cultures. Divorce rates are no different varying by as much as 27.1% depending on the canton. Across Switzerland the rate was 41.5% in 2016, far higher than 32 years earlier in 1984 when it was 28.9% – a percentage increase of 44%. An average marriage in Switzerland […]
How one Swiss town rewards long-time married couples
By Bill Harby Upon their 50th wedding anniversary, Pierrette and Lucien Erard received an unexpected surprise: a big bouquet of flowers from the government of the town of Neuchâtel. “It’s always nice to receive a gift, especially when it’s unexpected, and from the government of my hometown”, said Madame Erard. “I was also surprised by […]
Losing faith – religion declines in Switzerland
Statistics for 2016 show that 25% of Switzerland’s residents have no religion. As recently as 1960 the same figure was less than 1%. The percentage with no faith shows significant regional variations. While only 19% of Italian speakers have no religion, 24% in German-speaking Switzerland and 30% in French-speaking Switzerland don’t. Non-believers in Switzerland Infogram […]
Switzerland ranked best country in 2018 – the good, bad and the ugly
Once again the USA News Best Country ranking placed Switzerland first out of 80 countries in 2018. The overall score is based on nine groups containing a total 65 measures, scored out of 10, which show Switzerland’s underlying strengths and weaknesses. Switzerland makes the top 10 on five of the nine high-level measures. These include: […]
Roger Federer – a few facts
Yesterday, Roger Federer won the Australian open, beating Marin Cilic from Croatia, making him the first male player to win 20 grand slam finals. “Of course winning is an absolute dream come true,” Federer told the crowd while holding the trophy. “The fairytale continues for me after the great year I had last year. It’s […]
