Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
when you travel or live outside Switzerland, you end up becoming an ambassador for the country. Most of the time a Swiss passport elicits a positive reaction, but when things go wrong or if you’re caught behaving badly, there’s a good chance you’ll make the news.
In the news: Child support, army finances, UBS branch closures and gender equality
Recipients of the old-age and survivors’ insurance (OASI) pension fund should no longer receive child supportExternal link. That is the view of the House of Representatives. The cost of child support paid out to pensioners has risen sharply over the past 20 years and amounts to more than CHF230 million ($261 million) annually.
Is the Swiss army short of cash or not? Defence Minister Viola Amherd says no, but SRF has obtained a memo that says there will be major financial bottlenecksExternal link in the next few years. One reason is approval of higher spending on armaments than originally planned and diversion of army funds to other areas like cyberdefence and intelligence.
After the takeover by Credit Suisse, UBS wants to close 85 branches across SwitzerlandExternal link. A pilot phase of branch closures will begin in April and locations where UBS and Credit Suisse branches are located directly next to each other will be affected.
On International Women’s Day, the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation has published a survey on equal rights of women in Switzerland. Over half of men surveyed felt that men and women are treated equally but only a quarter of women felt the same way. One thing both sexes agreed on was that Swiss society would not be better if more women stayed at home with their children.
Obnoxious overseas: When the Swiss behave badly abroad
The Swiss Abroad have been making news in Asia for the wrong reasons in recent days. A Swiss man was recently arrested in Thailand for kicking a womanExternal link and another one is suspected of murdering his Thai wifeExternal link. Now in the Philippines a Swiss man has been detained for joking about explosives External linkin the Del Carmen airport.
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