At the end of September 2023, driving was banned on a 60 metre section of Langstrasse in Zurich. To enforce the ban, cameras were later set up on 8 January 2024 to catch and fine errant drivers. Since then 17,310 fines have been issued. The driving ban, which excludes buses, was introduced to make the […]
European court rules Swiss police engaged in racial profiling
In 2015, a Swiss man with Kenyan roots was stopped by the police at Zurich train station and asked for identification. He refused to provide it and was fined CHF 150 for not complying. What exactly happened or went on in the minds of those involved is unclear. The man who was stopped, a librarian […]
Higher Swiss pensions – voter support narrows
Support for the popular initiative to boost state pensions by 1/13 narrowed from 61% to 53% between 14 January and 10 February, according to a poll published by RTS. Voting intentions vary significantly by age. In the latest poll, people under 40 were most against it (55%), possibly because they know they will probably need […]
Zurich initiative aims to make demonstrators pay for police cost
An initiative in the canton of Zurich will ask voters on 3 March 2024 to decide whether those who demonstrate should cover the costs of damage and the costs of policing protests, reported SRF. Those behind the plan argue protestors who break windows or glue themselves to roads should be required to cover the costs […]
Swiss supercomputer aims to make AI open to all
Much of the progress being made in AI is captured within private companies aiming to keep it to themselves in order to profit from it. Open AI, a project started as an open-source non-profit has morphed into a largely closed-source profit-maximising project increasingly integrated into the software company Microsoft. Many see open-source as critical to […]
Swiss government deficit larger than predicted
The federal government spent less in 2023 than budgeted but overestimated revenue. The net effect was an additional unexpected shortfall of CHF 1.4 billion, reported SRF. At a media conference this week, finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said that the Federal Council was not aiming to raise a taxes to fund the additional shortfall. Raising taxes […]
Lake Geneva threatened by record water temperature
Lake Geneva is getting warmer and hit a record high in 2022, according to a recently published report by the International Commission for the Protection of the Waters of Lake Geneva (CIPEL). Since 2012, the average water temperature at the bottom of Lake Geneva has risen by one degree, while the average surface temperature has […]
Serious acts of anti-semitism rise 7-fold in French-speaking Switzerland
Anti-Semitic incidents increased by 68% in French-speaking Switzerland last year, according to CICAD, an organisation dedicated to fighting anti-semitism. The number of serious attacks in 2023 was seven times the number in 2022. Almost half of these acts occurred after the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel. During 2023, the Intercommunal Coordination Office against Anti-Semitism […]
Switzerland slips in democracy ranking
In 2023, Switzerland slipped one place in the EIU democracy ranking to eighth place behind Norway, New Zealand, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Ireland. Overall, only 24 (14%) out of the 167 nations surveyed were classified as full democracies. The relatively small populations of these flag bearers of democracy means only 8% of the global […]
Swiss inflation drops to 1.3%
Over the 12 months to the end of January 2024, annual inflation in Switzerland fell from 3.4% to 1.3%. The latest rate is 0.4 percentage points lower than a month earlier – it was 1.7% at the end of December 2023. At the same time, on a monthly basis, inflation rose from 0% in December […]
