Over the years some in the mainly French-speaking town of Moutier have tried to have the town removed from the canton of Bern and added to the canton of Jura, a movement dubbed “Mouxit”. In Switzerland, changing cantons is a big deal. Many things, such as tax rates, health systems, education systems and official languages […]
CERN discovers highly suspicious particle behaviour
On 23 March 2021, Geneva-based CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, announced evidence of strange particle behaviour. The idea that matter is made up of tiny indivisible particles is ancient. The word atom is derived from the ancient Greek word atomos, which means uncuttable. However, as particle physics has progressed, the uncuttable atom has […]
Serious cycling injuries up sharply in Switzerland in 2020
Last year the number of serious road injuries on Swiss roads rose 4% to 3,793, according to FEDRO, Switzerland’s road authority. Venturing on to roads on two wheels was the most likely way to end up seriously injured. Cyclists and e-bikers together accounted for the largest share (38%) of total serious accidents, followed by motorcyclists […]
Around 8,000 protest against Covid-19 measures in Switzerland
On 20 March 2021, around 8,000 people assembled in Liestal in Switzerland to protest against government measures to contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The protest, which was authorised by the authorities, drew people from across Switzerland. According to a report by RTS, around 8,000 people were present, a number lower than the 8,500 […]
Swiss crime down sharply during first wave of pandemic
Statistics from Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office show a dramatic fall in the number of crimes during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020. Across all of 2020, 421,678 crimes were recorded, 2.4% fewer than the year before. Drug crimes (-9%), immigration crimes (-12%) and burglaries (-10%) were all down. At the same time violent […]
Swiss clocks advance one hour on Sunday
Summer time begins on Sunday, 28 March 2021 in Switzerland. In line with the surrounding European nations, at 2 a.m. on Sunday, 28 March 2021, Swiss clocks will move forward on hour to 3 a.m. Switzerland will remain on summer time until 31 October 2021. Abolishing daylight savings in Europe has been a subject of […]
Government agrees on laws to tackle high Swiss prices
This article was first published on 365 club.ch Residents of Switzerland have long grumbled about the nation’s high prices compared to neighbouring countries. On 19 March 2021, the government moved a step closer to removing two of the competitive barriers inflating Swiss prices. There are many factors behind Switzerland’s high prices. Chief among them are […]
Politicians demand citizenship for those born in Switzerland
Two members of the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, have called for those born in Switzerland to be granted citizenship, a concept known as Jus soli, which is predominant in the Americas, but rare elsewhere. The two politicians, Paul Rechsteiner from St. Gallen and Lisa Mazzone from Geneva, say that studies show citizenship acts […]
Call for SUV import ban in Switzerland
Swiss parliamentarian Isabelle Pasquier-Eichenberger from the Green Party has asked the Federal Council to ban the import of vehicles weighing 2 tonnes or more from 2022. Heavy SUVs are becoming more and more popular in Switzerland. In 2019, around 130,000 were sold compared to 50,000 in 2010. They now make up 40% of new car […]
The invisible lock invented in Switzerland
Researchers in Switzerland have developed an invisible lock made of a printed transparent electronic material. The transparent touch sensitive material can be placed anywhere, which means, unlike a traditional keypad, making it very difficult for an intruder to even know where to press. The team at Switzerland’s EMPA research centre is focused on developing thin […]
