From 16 January 2024, British citizens living abroad are now eligible to register to vote in UK general elections, regardless of how long they’ve been living outside the UK. A new law passed in 2022, which came into force this week removes the previous 15-year time limit. The UK Electoral Commission is calling on voters […]
Switzerland and the EU aim for quick start to negotiations
Viola Amherd, Switzerland’s president, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, agreed at the WEF in Davos that they wanted to begin negotiations quickly, reported SRF. Switzerland’s long running saga of negotiations with the EU cleared a hurdle on 15 December 2023 when the Federal Council approved a draft negotiating mandate with […]
Swiss government victim of pro-Russian cyber attack
On 17 January 2024, several federal government websites were temporarily down after a cyber attack, reported RTS. The attack was claimed by the pro-Russian group ‘NoName’ and linked to the presence of Volodymyr Zelensky at the World Economic Forum in Davos. According to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) the group launched a DDoS attack. […]
Two very different votes on Swiss pensions set for March
This week, the referendum roster was announced for 3 March 2023. There will two votes on Switzerland’s state pension system. One aims to tackle the impending funding crisis by extending the retirement age, and the other aims to alleviate old age poverty by increasing payments without a plan to pay for it. The first would […]
Swiss to vote on whether to stop motorway expansion
Motorways across much of Switzerland are clogged at peak times. Recently, the federal government agreed to expand key trunk routes to six lanes. In response, members of the Green Party (and others) started organising a vote against spending CHF 5.3 billion on wider roads. This week, they reached the required number of signatures to call […]
New Swiss rape laws to start on 1 July
On 10 January 2024, Switzerland’s Federal Council announced that new laws on consent will come into force on 1 July 2024, reported RTS. The date reflects delays needed to prepare for the new rules agreed with Switzerland’s cantons. From 1 July, the principle “no means no” will apply to sex. Rape or sexual assault will […]
Switzerland to send old trams to Ukraine
On 12 January 2024, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) announced the donation of as many as 78 trams to the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Vinnytsa. The cities of Bern and Zurich will provide 11 and up to 67 decommissioned but fully operational trams respectively. SECO will organise and finance the transport of […]
Inflation and poverty in Switzerland
This week, SRF held a discussion on poverty in Switzerland. Philipp Frei, Managing Director of the Swiss Budget Consulting Association, an organisation that helps people budget, voiced concern over shrinking disposable incomes. While economic historian Tobias Straumann spoke of the progress Switzerland has made on welfare and poverty’s often transient nature. In 2021, Switzerland’s poverty […]
Switzerland’s second astronaut gets ready for lift off in 2026
In 1992, Claude Nicollier, who was born in Vevey on the shore of Lake Geneva, went on the first of four space shuttle flights. Nicollier, along with Franco Malerba from Italy were the only non-Americans on board the shuttle in 1992. Now, Marco Sieber, a doctor of urology at the hospital of Biel/Bienne, is set […]
Swiss New Year fireworks death and injuries
Numerous incidents involving fireworks and and fires kept Switzerland’s emergency services busy on New Year’s Eve, reported SRF. The worst incident was the death of a 46-year old man in the canton of Luzern who died when a homemade device for firing fireworks exploded. The man died at the scene of the explosion. Two people […]
