Switzerland Today
Greetings from Bern,
It is rainy here today, but what is the weather prediction for the months ahead?
While most people will turn to MeteoSwiss for a forecast, some will gather in Zurich this evening to witness the traditional burning of the Böögg snowman. According to legend, the sooner the head explodes, the better the weather will be.
In the news: Macron loyalists, ammunition for Ukraine and pet rats
- Emmanuel Macron won 58.5% of the vote in the run-off for the French presidential election against Marine Le Pen, but he garnered a whopping 81.2% of the votes of French expats living in Switzerland. His popularity in Switzerland was already evident in the first round of elections where he was well ahead with 44.13% of the vote share. Jean-Luc Mélenchon (18.86%) came in second place, followed by Éric Zemmour (8.73%), Yannick Jadot (8.25%), and Le Pen (7.64%).
- The Swiss decision to reject a request from Germany to supply tank ammunition to Ukraine is generating debate in political and humanitarian spheres on neutrality and weapons export rules.
- Do you know anyone in Switzerland looking for an unusual pet? The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) is now putting its lab rats up for adoptionExternal link. They are the lucky ones. Some end up being “re-used” in other labs or other experiments. “Most end their lives in terminal experiments, where they are euthanised so that scientists can take tissue and organ samples for further study,” says EPFL.
Rolex marathon: Japan’s obsession with luxury watches
The Japanese take their hobbies very seriously. Collecting Swiss watches is one. Even though Rolex produces around a million timepieces a year, there is not enough to go around for watch aficionados in Japan. To get their hands on one, they engage in “Rolex marathons” that involve visiting multiple boutiques regularly, sometimes more than once a day.
11th language: SWI swissinfo.ch, now in Ukrainian
We’ve had a Russian language service since 2012 and it has seen a significant growth in readership in recent months due to the war in Ukraine. From today, SWI swissinfo.ch will also be offering a selection of articles in Ukrainian on a trial basis on all ten language sites. We’ve also created a new channel in Russian on Telegram to meet demand from the region.
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