Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

A group called Opération Libero and the Green party plan to come together to launch a referendum to require Switzerland’s federal government to sign new deal with the EU. © VanderWolfImages | Dreamstime.comAt a meeting on 26 May 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Council evaluated the results of Switzerland’s negotiations with the EU around the institutional framework agreement, an agreement aimed at replacing the country’s current patchwork of agreements with the bloc, and decided not to sign,...

At the end of October 2021, annual inflation in Switzerland reached 1.2% after rising 0.3% over the month, according to the Federal Statistical Office. This is the highest the annual rate has been since August 2018 when it reached 1.2%. © Cameracraft8 | Dreamstime.comThe price rises hitting Swiss pockets the hardest over the last 12 months include rent (+1.4%), heating (+12.0%) and transport (+7.3%). Rising fuel prices are behind the jumps in heating and transport costs. On the other...

Source: Twitter Over the weekend the owners of a family-run restaurant were taken into police custody for defiantly operating their restaurant in contravention of Switzerland’s Covid rules, reported 20 Minutes. On Saturday 30 October 2021, the police arrested the operators of the Walliserkanne restaurant in Zermatt. Three family members, a mother, father and son were arrested on Saturday morning and taken into custody. The restaurant operators had refused to check...

© Sergey Timofeev | Dreamstime.com This week, 10,148 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Switzerland, up 30% from the 7,818 recorded the week before. On a 7-day moving average basis, the number of daily new cases was 1,450. The number entering hospital with Covid-19 was stable. Over the last 7 days, 119 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospital with Covid-19 compared to 150 during the prior 7 days. This week Covid-19 deaths were up. 31 deaths were recorded over...

© Dreamstime.com Last weekend, several thousand protestors assembled outside the Federal Palace in Bern to voice their opposition to Switzerland’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, reported Tribune de Genève. The protest is likely to be the last one authorised in the city ahead of a vote on 28 November 2021 to reverse laws introduced by the Swiss government to manage the pandemic. According to reports at the scene published in various Swiss newspapers the protest...

© Ginasanders | Dreamstime.com The latest forecast for 2021 shows a deficit of CHF 14.8 billion, down CHF 2.6 billion from an earlier forecast shortfall of CHF 17.4 billion. The deficit is driven mainly by the extraordinary cost of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. The federal government expects to spend CHF 4.1 billion on vaccines (1.2) and tests (2.5) in 2021. However, the largest share of extra spending is on full and partial unemployment benefits (6.9)....

The latest forecast for 2021 shows a deficit of CHF 14.8 billion, down CHF 2.6 billion from an earlier forecast shortfall of CHF 17.4 billion. The deficit is driven mainly by the extraordinary cost of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. © Ginasanders | Dreamstime.comThe federal government expects to spend CHF 4.1 billion on vaccines (1.2) and tests (2.5) in 2021. However, the largest share of extra spending is on full and partial unemployment benefits (6.9). Another CHF 4.8 billion has...

© Simona Pilolla | Dreamstime.com Recently published figures show the largest fall in male life expectancy in Switzerland since 1944 and the largest since 1962 for women. In 2020, a year marked by Covid-19, life expectancy at birth fell to 81.0 for men and 85.1 for women, a decline of 0.9 and 0.5 years respectively compared with 2019. Such a decline had not been observed since 1944 among men and 1962 among women, according to mortality tables calculated by...

On 27 October 2021, the Federal Council put forward a plan to change the rules around foreign students working in Switzerland upon completing study at a Swiss university. © Anuwat Sonhan | Dreamstime.comThe proposed rules would allow those graduating from Swiss universities with masters or doctorates in fields with a shortage of workers to work in Switzerland more easily. The changes would reduce the administrative requirements for obtaining a Swiss work permit. However, a maximum annual...

On 27 October 2021, the Swiss government adopted a report setting out how Swiss motorways and railway lines could be used to generate more than 100 GWh of electricity a year. © Marekusz | Dreamstime.comCalculations in the report show that solar panels placed on noise reduction barriers running along the edges of motorways and railway lines in Switzerland as well as on motorway and rail buildings and platforms could generate 101 GWh of electricity a year. 101 GWh of electricity would be...