A woman from Lausanne, who joined the so-called Islamic State, wants to return to Switzerland, according to the Swiss broadcaster RTS. The woman, currently held in a prison camp in Syria, joined the organization four years ago with her husband. Switzerland’s government has not yet decided whether the woman and her one and a half […]
Swiss unemployment rate rises
There are various ways to measure unemployment. Switzerland’s standard measure looks at the number of people registered with unemployment offices across the country. By this measure Switzerland’s unemployment recently reached a 10 year low of 2.6%. Today, another unemployment measure was published. It shows a 0.1% increase in unemployment over the fourth quarter of 2018 to 4.6% […]
Swiss deflation continues for third month in a row
In January 2019, prices fell 0.3%. This follows monthly declines of 0.3% in both November and December 2018. Falling clothing, shoe, heating oil and medicine prices were the main drivers of the monthly price decline, which was muted by rising hotel and electricity prices. By the end of January 2019, Swiss consumer prices, based on […]
Switzerland’s federal surplus even larger than expected
In October 2018, government number crunchers revised Switzerland’s federal forecast budget surplus up from CHF 0.3 billion to CHF 2.5 billion. Today, Bern announced that provisional calculations for 2018 now show a surplus of CHF 2.9 billion, CHF 0.4 billion more than last year’s revised figure. The increase was driven by strict spending discipline and […]
Switzerland to allow UK citizens to come to work in Switzerland after Brexit
Yesterday, Switzerland’s Federal Council decided that it would continue to allow UK citizens to come to work in Switzerland after 30 March 2019 in the event of a no-deal Brexit. A government press release stated there would be a separate quota of permits available to UK citizens. The temporary quota would allow 3,500 UK citizens […]
Vote results on freezing construction land and secularity in Geneva – 10 Feb 2019
The federal vote to stop urban sprawl was rejected by 63.7% of voters. Majorities in all cantons voted against this initiative which would have frozen construction land. The only cantons close to majorities were Geneva (47.7%), Neuchâtel (46.2%) and Basel-City (46.5%). In Geneva the law restricting restricting religious clothing in public office was accepted by 55% of voters, while initiatives […]
Swiss health authority now recommends vaccinating against tick borne encephalitis
This week, Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) issued a statement recommending vaccination against tick borne encephalitis for those living in or visiting nearly all of Switzerland. The vaccination is recommended for all people exposed to ticks in Switzerland and anyone living in or visiting any Swiss canton other than the cantons of Geneva […]
The best way to save forests, according to a forester
Last summer, two mates and I set out on what turned out to be a “bridge-too-far” walking project. Switzerland is blessed with more than 60,000 km of walking trails crowned by seven iconic National Routes. The National Route 5 (which extends as the GR5 into France’s renowned “Grande Randonnée” hiking network), but is also known the […]
Switzerland’s prison population swells 50% in less than 30 years
The number of prisoners in Switzerland rose 50% from 1988 to 2017. Much of this is due to population growth. Switzerland’s population grew 28% over the same period. However, population growth doesn’t account for all of the increase in prison numbers. In 1988, there were 70 prisoners per 100,000. By 2017, the same figure was […]
Switzerland set to ban the grinding of live baby chickens
Only female hens can lay eggs. Many of the hens used to produce eggs come from hatcheries that sort and dispose of the male chicks. One way some dispose of these unwanted chicks is by grinding them alive, a gruesome process known as maceration – this video shows how it’s done [WARNING: graphic footage]. Defenders […]
