From CEO salaries to alleged Russian spies

Keystone

Almost every article published by swissinfo.ch contains a percentage, an age, an amount of money or some other figure. Here’s a round-up of the most interesting statistics to appear in the past week’s stories.

Monday

800

The number of people from the village of Rheinau near Zurich who have signed up for an unconditional basic income experimental project. Participants will receive an unconditional basic income of CHF2,500 per month for one year. Filmmaker Rebecca Panian is planning a documentary about how the project affects the town on the Rhine River in northern Switzerland.

Tuesday

3,500

The age of an extremely rare Bronze-Age golden artifact presented to the public, which came from an ancient burial site in northwestern Switzerland. Police appear to be investigating whether any artifacts were unlawfully taken from the site. A bronze dagger, needle and hair spiral, along with bones of a human male that date from around 1,500 BC to 1,400 BC were also found.

Wednesday

18

The minimum age limit in Switzerland for people wanting to buy E-cigarette devices or liquids that can be vaporised. A consortium of 38 tobacco manufacturers, producers of electronic cigarettes and large retailers have agreed a voluntary ban on the sale to minors until a Swiss law change comes into effect.

Thursday 

8,700,000

The median earnings (in Swiss francs) of the bosses of top companies in Switzerland last year. According to a consultancy group, Swiss chief executive officers are still the best off in Europe, ahead of those in Britain (a median of CHF7.21 million) and Germany (CHF7.18 million).

Friday

25

The percentage of Russian diplomats based in Switzerland, who are suspected of being spies, according to a Swiss news report. This allegation was roundly dismissed by the Russian ambassador to Bern in an interview on Swiss public television, SRF. Sergueï Garmoni accused journalists of distorting reality and drawing their conclusions from assumptions. Switzerland and Russia have been involved in a diplomatic row over suspected espionage activities by Russian spies in the alpine nation.