This week, the Socialist and Green Parties submitted sufficient signatures to trigger a popular initiative, reported RTS. According to the organisers, nearly 130,000 signatures were submitted to the Federal Chancellery on Thursday. The initiative aims to create a climate fund that would help all levels of government to invest in actions to meet international climate agreements. […]
Swiss government wants 5-year Hamas ban
This week, Switzerland’s Federal Council said it wants to ban the Islamist Palestinian organisation Hamas for a period of five years, reported RTS. The Federal Council sent a draft bill for a ban for consultation. The ban also includes affiliated and successor organisations to Hamas, as well as organisations and groups that act on behalf of […]
Swiss immigration up sharply in 2023
In 2023, 98,851 more people moved to Switzerland than left, according to data from Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). The net number of arrivals in Switzerland in 2023, exceeded the number in 2022 by 21.5%. A total of 181,553 people immigrated to Switzerland, of which 71.9% came from an EU or EFTA member state. Immigration […]
Switzerland’s marriage tax penalty back in the spotlight
Married couples in Switzerland are taxed together, unlike unmarried couples who are taxed individually. This often acts as a tax disincentive for one spouse to work, disproportionately affecting women. For many years, certain political parties have been pushing to remove what is essentially discrimination on the basis of marital status. The issue came back into […]
More than 17,000 drivers fined in a month on one Zurich street
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 […]
