In Switzerland, how much you pay for compulsory health insurance depends on where you live. Premiums vary hugely by canton. For 2016, average monthly adult premiums in Basel City are CHF 545.60, Switzerland’s most expensive, compared to CHF 326.70, in lowest-cost Appenzell-Innerhoden. The difference between the two cantons is 40%. In addition to big differences between […]
Winter storm expected tonight followed by snow tomorrow
20 Minutes. Despite warmer temperatures today, the winter chill is far from over. According to Klaus Marquardt of Meteonews, a cold front called “Egon” is heading for Switzerland and will hit on Thursday night and Friday. “We should expect snow, lightening, thunder and falling temperatures” he told 20 Minutes. Swiss Meteo, has warned there will […]
Swiss mortgage rates climb in 4th quarter
20 Minutes. After reaching a historical low in the third quarter of 2016, rates started rising in the fourth quarter. Rate increases hit mortgage tenors of five and ten years. Compared to Q3, fixed mortgage rates on loans of ten years went up an average 0.2% to 1.62% according to price comparison website Comparis.ch. Five […]
Women’s march planned in Geneva on Trump’s first day in office
The Women’s March on Washington, timed to coincide with Donald Trump’s first day in office as U.S. president, has spread around the world – including Geneva. Currently, there are plans for 62 similar marches in 31 cities on 21 January, according to Women’s March Geneva organiser Karen Olson. Olson, a former interpreter for the United […]
Living close to a major road increases risk of dementia
A recent study published in the Lancet finds a link between living close to a major road and dementia. The study looked at 2.2 million residents aged 55-85 years in Ontario in Canada. Initially, all of these people were free of neurological diseases. Between 2001 and 2012, 243,611 cases of dementia were identified among the group. A […]
Swiss fact: Swiss eat half as much meat as Americans
In 2015, an average American consumed 95.4 kg of beef, mutton, pork and poultry. An average resident of Switzerland ate 47.1 kg, slightly less than half the amount. The biggest difference was the amount of poultry consumed. An average American ate 47.6 kg compared to 10.5 kg in Switzerland. There was also a big difference […]
Muslim parents cannot exempt their daughters from mixed swimming classes
20 Minutes. Muslim parents living in Basel, who were opposed to mixed swimming classes at school, took their case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The case concerned the refusal of the parents to send their daughters, who had not reached the age of puberty, to compulsory mixed swimming lessons as part of […]
How Roger Federer dealt with defeat
Is Roger Federer considering a career change? The Tweet below suggests he might be. He tweeted this after losing to Alexander Zverev at the Hopman Cup. At least I have a backup career as a bongo player ?? pic.twitter.com/C8xl0pW9Pu — Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) January 4, 2017 As they say, laughter is the best medicine. And […]
One refugee’s Swiss story
Dersim Avdar came to Switzerland as a refugee 22 years ago. After completing a bachelor’s and a master’s degree at the University of St. Gallen, including studies in Madrid and Beijing, he now works in the investment industry in Zurich. Evangeline de Macedo interviewed him to get his story. When did you come to Switzerland? […]
Temperatures plummet in Switzerland, but some of the coldest places are not where you’d expect
If you woke up in Switzerland on Friday morning to find temperatures of -10 C, then you are living somewhere relatively warm. Only one of the places in Meteo Centrale’s top 20 coldest sits at more than 2,000 metres above sea level. The Julierpass at 2,284 m, with a low of -20.5 C, was the highest but only the 12th […]
