Music streamer Spotify provides data on Christmas music streaming trends. Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is you” is the clear global favourite, followed by the Wham! hit “Last Christmas”, Michael Bublé’s “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas”, “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee and Ariana Grande’s “Santa Tell Me”. […]
Swiss tourism – sharp rises and falls from some countries over the summer
The number of visitors to Switzerland rose 6% this summer, but this headline figure hides some steep rises and falls. From May to October 2017, 11 million people holidayed in Switzerland, 644,000 more than the over same period in 2016. Swiss made up close to half the total (4.9 million), followed by Germans (950k), Americans […]
Swiss trust in institutions remains high compared to rest of world
Earlier this month, the bank Credit Suisse published it’s annual survey, which looks at the level of trust Swiss have in government (The Federal Council, Parliament and States Council), courts (Federal Tribunal), banks, police, NGOs, public administration, internet and television, among other things. Overall 60% of Swiss trust the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive branch of […]
Ski airline to skip this season
According to the airline Powdair, Brexit and the collapse of several airline operators – Monarch, Air Berlin and Darwin – caused their key investor to get cold feet and pull out. This happened last week. Richard Corbett, a member of the european parliament says falling back on old pre-EU aviation agreements after Brexit would only […]
Second rape claim hits high-profile Swiss Islamic scholar
Late last week, another claim of sexual assault by Geneva-born Islamic scholar Tariq Ramadan surfaced, according to the French newspaper Le Monde. The woman, who came forward anonymously, claims she was assaulted in a hotel room in Lyon in 2009. This accusation follows another from Henda Ayari, who named Ramadan as her aggressor in a Facebook […]
The Pope’s confusing message on climate change
Pope Francis sends diametrically opposed messages when it comes to climate change. This week, as he flew over the storm-ravaged Caribbean on his way back from Colombia, Pope Francis called on the world to save the planet. According to the NY Times, on the subject of climate change, he quoted from the Bible: “Man is […]
Swiss hotel causes outrage with notice to Jewish guests
A Swiss hotel has caused outrage with a guest notice. A photograph of a notice posted in the hotel Aparthaus Paradies in the Swiss town of Arosa spread rapidly on social media after a Jewish family staying in the hotel noticed it. The notice singles out Jewish guests asking them to shower before swimming. SWITZERLAND: […]
Minister criticises Swiss vote against international courts
20 Minutes. On Wednesday Simonetta Sommaraga, federal councillor and head of the federal department of justice and police, publicly denounced the referendum launched by the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) to put Swiss law ahead of international law. The plan dubbed the initiative for self-determination passed the 100,000 signature threshold last year. It was officially submitted […]
Two suspected terrorists arrested in Vaud
24 Heures. Two people were detained by the police on Saturday afternoon in the car park of a retail park in Aubonne in Vaud, Switzerland. The arrest was part of an antiterrorist operation, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. The police arrested a man and a woman at around 3pm. Members of the public told […]
Switzerland makes top 10 most peaceful countries
The 2017 Global Peace Index places Switzerland in the top 10. The Global Peace Index, produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace ranks 163 countries covering 99.7% of the world’s population. The index looks at 23 indicators covering the level of safety and security in society, the degree of domestic or international conflict, and […]
