A recent OECD study, which looks at retirement, shows the relatively large amount spent on pensioners in Switzerland. Switzerland consumes 11% of its GDP on retirees, compared to 9% across OECD nations. Despite this high spending, the risk of poverty is higher in Switzerland than across the OECD. According to the organisation, 19% of those […]
Basel’s Fasnacht festival gets UNESCO cultural heritage status
All those weird masks (and the people behind them) that are so much a part of Basel’s annual Fasnacht festival have a new reason for their crazy grins. The annual 3-day festival was just added to the UNESCO list of events exhibiting the “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”. With this list, UNESCO “seeks to protect […]
Switzerland’s “harmful tax regime” gets it on EU grey list
This week EU Finance ministers came out with a list of countries it thinks don’t measure up to its definition of good tax behaviour. There are two categories: blacklist and so-called “grey list”. Black is bad and grey is heading toward good, but not yet there. Switzerland is on the “grey list”. To stay off […]
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 […]
Swiss rail tests its first automatic train
The Swiss train system is not throwing its engineers off the train (yet), but is experimenting with how to make their job simpler, while improving efficiency without compromising safety. Aircraft have long used a proven autopilot system that helps them fly efficiently, mostly hands-off, conserving fuel while minimizing travel time. Now CFF/BSS/FFS is testing similar […]
Large email hack reported – Swiss agency tool lets you check if your account was compromised
It’s the question lurking in many people’s minds, especially during the frenzy of online Christmas shopping: has my email account been hacked? MELANI has got your back – up to a point. The Reporting and Analysis Centre for Information Assurance (MELANI), is part of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service. They have recently come into possession […]
My Swiss Story – how mountains changed my life
Everyone has a story. My Swiss Story is a series that looks at lives in Switzerland. This week we spoke to Alex Inchbald. He’s from just outside London, lives near Geneva, is married with two children, works as an extreme artist and leadership mentor and has a passion for skiing and the mountains. What brought […]
Former King Michael of Romania dies at his home in Switzerland
Michael I, Romania’s former king has died at the age of 96. A long time resident of Switzerland, he passed away today at his home in Aubonne, Vaud, Switzerland, a town more likely to be associated with an IKEA store than a former king. Under pressure from communists Michael was forced to abdicate in 1947 and […]
Swiss Fact: Switzerland’s longest glacier has shrunk 1.3 kilometres
The longest, largest glacier in Europe is the Aletsch, in Switzerland’s canton Valais. The glacier is currently about 23 km. long and blankets about 81.7 sq. km. It’s estimated maximum depth is nearly 1 km. For now. Because, alas, like most of the planet’s glaciers, the Aletsch, which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage […]
Airbnb charges some customers more than others, particularly the Swiss
Many Swiss residents travel to neighbouring eurozone countries for their holidays. These countries are close and Swiss francs go far there. However, to get the most out of a strong currency you need a good exchange rate. If a Swiss resident presenting euro cash at a checkout in Germany or France was told they couldn’t […]
