Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

Currently, Switzerland’s mountain regions are suffering badly from flooding following thunderstorms and exceptionally heavy rain. However, Switzerland’s plateau is not immune to flooding, reported SRF. New calculations suggest more than half of Switzerland’s buildings are at risk of being damaged by storms and floods. As the climate changes, devastating thunderstorms are becoming more frequent everywhere, said Olivia Romppainen, co-director of the Mobiliar Lab for Natural Risks at the University of Bern. A one degree rise in air temperature increases its moisture carrying capacity by seven percent. A key problem is water absorption. When so much rain falls quickly the ground…

Swiss Post buses are equipped with horns to warn on coming vehicles as they navigate tight corners on Switzerland’s mountain roads. The horns sound out the first few notes of the Andante of the overture to Gioacchino Rossini’s opera William Tell. These notes were first heard on Swiss roads 100 years ago. In 1919, when Switzerland introduced a motorised Alpine postal service post buses frequently ran into increasing numbers of private vehicles. To avoid accidents, the postal service added horns to their vehicles to warn on coming vehicles where visibility was poor. However, the early manual horns proved inadequate so…

On 22 September 2024, Swiss voters will decide whether or not to accept the latest round of government reforms to employee based pensions known as the second pillar pensions. Swiss trade unions are against the reform, which reduces the annuity rate from 6.8% to 6.0%. Instead they are calling for a higher rate to compensate for recent inflation. Switzerland’s pension system faces a similar demographic challenge to many developed nations. Its population is ageing and people are living longer. This means fewer people putting money in and more taking money out and for longer. This is a problem particularly for…

Dans le monde complexe de l’investissement pour les grandes fortunes, une approche sur mesure est primordiale. Nuevida Capital, un important family office, est à l’avant-garde en offrant des services spécialisés de conseil en investissement et de médiation, répondant aux besoins et aspirations uniques des particuliers fortunés (HNWI). Nuevida Capital reconnaît que les particuliers fortunés ont besoin de plus que de simples conseils financiers génériques. Ils recherchent un partenaire de confiance qui comprend leur situation financière complexe, leurs objectifs à long terme et leurs aspirations en matière d’héritage. Grâce à une équipe d’experts chevronnés et à une gamme complète de services,…

After recent flooding took out a stretch of the road in the Misox region the A13 Alpine route connecting northern Switzerland to the south has been closed. On 27 June 2024, the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) said that it expects the damaged stretch of road to reopen as a single lane, reported SRF. Reconstruction of the washed-out section between Lostallo and Mesocco is progressing very well, according to FEDRO. The original repair plan aimed to reopen the road on 10 July. The forecast has now been moved to 5 July. However, a 120-metre-long crack in the ground has formed at…

Data published by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) show a sharp rise in the number of people moving to Switzerland from EU/EFTA nations. In 2023, 68,000 people arrived in Switzerland from EU/EFTA countries to live, the highest number since 2008 when 72,100 arrived. The 2023 figure is 29% higher than the number of people arriving in 2022. According to SECO, the rising number reflects Switzerland’s robust employment growth and low unemployment. Immigration and employment go hand in hand, said the agency. Employment growth was solid in 2023, while the unemployment rate reached its lowest level since 2001. As…

On 24 November 2024, Swiss voters will be called on to decide on four things, announced the Federal Council this week. The four votes include one on road and tunnel extensions, two on rental contracts and one on healthcare funding. Road and tunnel enlargement The first is a government plan to extend road infrastructure in six places. Switzerland’s population continues to grow and the amount of time spent stuck in traffic has reached record levels. Three motorway extensions are planned between Geneva and Nyon, Wankdorf and Schönbühl ,and Schönbühl and Kirchberg. In addition, tunnel expansions are planned at Rosenberg, the…

This week, Swiss and its parent Lufthansa group announced fare hikes on flights departing from Europe to cover the cost of complying with European Commission environmental rules, reported RTS. From 1 January 2025, European flyers will pay a surcharge. Anyone departing from the UK, Norway, Switzerland or one of the 27 EU nations will be have the surcharge added to their ticket price. The amount charged will range from 1 to 72 Euros depending on the length of the flight and ticket price. The airline said it would not be able to bear the cost of implementing coming regulations, among…

Switzerland’s housing crisis is pushing low income earners into poverty, warned Caritas this week. According to the charity, high rents are pushing some low income earners into poverty. An acute shortage of housing is pushing rents beyond the level that some people can afford, forcing them to cut back on spending in other areas, said the charity. Some are spending around a third of their income on rent and utilities, roughly double the average proportion of income spent on these things. In Geneva, where the home vacancy rate is 0.42%, 8,000 people were on a waiting list for affordable housing…

Walking next to the Rhone has been banned in the canton of Valais until Monday evening due to high water levels, reported RTS. High temperatures over the last few days have rapidly melted some of the unusually abundant snowfall in April and May 2024. In addition, there has been heavy rain. The combined effect of these two weather events has made the river dangerous. The risk has been assessed at 4 out of 5, according to the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). Similar warnings have been issued for Lake Constance in eastern Switzerland. In a town near Zermatt around…