Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

The Swiss People’s Party (SVP/UDC), Switzerland’s most popular party, garnered even more votes than it did in 2019, mainly at the expense of the Green Party. On 22 October 2023, the SVP/UDC received 27.9% of votes, winning 62 of the 200 seats in Switzerland’s federal parliament. In second place was the Socialist Party, with 18.3% of votes and 41 seats, followed by the FDP/PLR (14.3% and 28 seats) and the Centre Party (14.1% and 29 seats). The SVP/UDC gained 9 seats, the Socialist Party gained 2 seats, the Centre Party gained 1 and the FDP/PLR ended up one seat down.…

Fireworks are a common festive spectacle in Switzerland. But for some their noise outweighs their benefits. This week, a group announced it had collected more than the 100,000 signatures required to launch a referendum on the subject, reported RTS. In the 18 months allowed, the group collected signatures 137,429 signatures, which it submitted to the federal chancellery for verification this week. The text of the initiative would ban the use of noisy fireworks, something that would be legally defined. Exceptions would be made for significant events such as those celebrated at a national or cantonal level. Fireworks without detonation would…

Changing your home heating system is a complicated matter in Switzerland, involving much paperwork and significant administrative cost. To incentivise the installation of heat pumps, a more efficient form of electric heating, the canton of Vaud changed the rules to make it easier. A group of around 40 people, many with scientific backgrounds has challenged the move in court, describing it as an odd exemption making little sense, reported RTS. Instead of a long drawn out application process, the government changed the rules on 1 August 2023 so that homeowners need only notify their municipality before installing a heat pump.…

As the world gets warmer many winter resorts have found themselves too low for snow. Across Switzerland 65 lift systems have already been closed. Once they are closed they are often abandoned, leaving behind an environmental problem. A report by RTS looks at the problem. A striking example of an abandoned lift system can be found near the entrance to the Grand Saint Bernard tunnel in the Canton of Valais. The Super Saint-Bernard, unlike most abandoned facilities, does not lack altitude. Great for freeride skiing and accessing the Aosta valley, it started at around 1,900 metres and rose to nearly…

A study by Greenpeace estimates as much as 300 tonnes of perfectly good new electrical goods are destroyed in Switzerland each year, reported RTS. Many of the dumped goods are items that have been returned by customers. Greenpeace pointed the finger at retailers such as Digitec, Galaxus, Fust and Interdiscount, all businesses connected to Migros or Coop. Greenpeace explained how these retailers are focused on minimising cost. But destroying products in perfect condition is unacceptably wasteful, it said. Greenpeace researchers returned goods with trackers in them and were able to work out the fate of the items. They ordered 25…

Mountains are beautiful. But they can also leave you in the shade. Several corners of Switzerland are so well tucked away in Alpine valleys the sun does not shine on them for several months, reported SRF. In the municipality of Oberterzen in the canton of St. Gallen the sun made its final appearance on Tuesday and will not return for around two and a half months. Switzerland’s sunless corners lie mainly in narrow valleys that run east-west. When the sun is lower in the sky during winter it cannot shine past the mountain tops. Oberterzen is not alone. The towns…

Between 2008 and 2018, prescriptions for opioid painkillers almost doubled in Switzerland, reported RTS this week. Opioid prescriptions for minor injuries rose by 88.3% and those for serious injuries by 91.4% over the decade, according to a study run by Baden hospital. The study shows how the drugs are often prescribed for mild pain. According to some doctors many of these prescriptions are unjustified. In many cases opioids are no more effective than other painkillers but come with worse side effects. Even inappropriate use of mild opioids concerns experts. Mapi Fleury, a pharmacist at CHUV hospital in Lausanne, is especially…

Data published this week show that Switzerland invested CHF 24.6 billion into research and development (R&D) in 2021, a sum 4% higher than in 2019 before the pandemic struck. With an R&D investment equivalent to 3.4% of GDP, Switzerland was fourth internationally behind only the United States (3.5%), South Korea (4.9%) and Israel (5.6%). R&D investment in 2021 in Switzerland was 4% higher compared with 2019, the year of the last survey. R&D activities were mainly carried out within higher education institutions (28%) and private enterprises (68%) by close to 140,000 people. The federal government and non-profit organisations undertook the…

This week, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and the University Hospital in Lausanne (CHUV) tested a new system which allows the brain and spinal column to communicate. Dutchman Gert-Jan Oskam has been paralysed since a bicycle accident twelve years ago. Thanks to the implants, one in the skullcap and the other in the spinal cord he can now stand, walk and even climb stairs with the help of a walker or crutches. “It’s a nice feeling to be able to stand again,” said Oskam at a presentation of the new study. “Because it’s good…

According to an interview by SRF, the perpetrators of numerous recent cyber attacks in Switzerland may come from Russia. Several Swiss federal government websites have been attacked recently. Swiss Rail was affected, with ticket online ticket sales temporarily blocked. The federal parliament website was attacked last week and two newspaper websites, the NZZ and CH-Media were hit by ransom attacks a few weeks earlier. The recent spike in attacks is not easily explained. However, Raphael Reischuk, the head of cyber security at the IT company Zühlke and co-founder of the national test institute for cyber security, thinks it may relate…