Switzerland Today
Greetings from Zurich!
With all the talk of change and progress after a weekend of voting, some people may be relieved to hear that core Swiss traditions are alive and kicking.
Just as voters were pushing through new laws to green up Switzerland’s energy consumption, the national yodelling festival was attracting record crowds in the mountains.
But first, here’s a look at the latest news:
- Voters may have approved new laws to ween Switzerland off fossil fuels, but the hard part – how to achieve this – is yet to come. A poll of 13,660 citizens suggests that solar panels on buildings is the only alternative energy source that the majority of people are willing to stomach.
- Federal prosecutors have dropped a case against six police officers who were suspected of having caused the death of a Nigerian man they were arresting in 2018.
- Switzerland’s IT systems are dangerously vulnerable to cyberattacks from the likes of Russia, according to a security audit of millions of servers.
- The Swiss chapter of the human rights group Memorial International, which is banned in Russia, was set up at the weekend.
In with the new
Sunday’s vote drew a turnout of 42% to decide on some meaty issues: replacing fossil fuels with green alternatives (59.1%), introducing a minimum 15% tax rate for multinational companies (78.5%) and extending the emergencyCovid-19 law until 2024 (61.9%).
There were also numerous people’s initiatives on a cantonal level, which draw fewer headlines but still pack a punch.
Geneva voted for 24 weeks of parental leave, including same-sex couples and adoptive parents, topping up the existing 16 weeks for mothers and two weeks for fathers. Bern rejected a similar proposal for 24 weeks to be shared among both parents.
Geneva also became the first Swiss canton to guarantee the right to sufficient quality food in its constitution.
Switzerland’s largest city, Zurich, will introduce a minimum wage of CHF23.90 per hour, along with nearby Winterthur that settled for CHF23. Five Swiss cantons have previously adopted a minimum wage.
But tradition holds firm
When all the world’s in flux it’s good to stay grounded with generations-old tradition. The 31st Federal Yodelling Festival attracted record crowds of 210,000 in the city of Zug at the weekend.
This beat the record last set in 2008 when an estimated 200,000 people attended the festival held in Lucerne.
Some 10,000 participants raised spirits over the three days. “There were a lot of people, but there was no chaos,” said event organiser Stephan Schleiss.
The festival had an inauspicious start when the two jets from the Patrouille Suisse aerobatics team collided during rehearsals.
Thankfully, no-one was seriously hurt, but the planned fly-by was cancelled as a result. The incident failed to dampen spirits in the balmy summer weather.
It was a welcome reprieve for the yodelling festival that usually takes place every three years but was postponed by Covid-19.
The next festival will be staged in Basel in 2026.
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