![The four-metre-long painting "Sonntag der Bergbauern" [Sunday of the Mountain Farmers, 1923-24/26] had to be removed by a crane from the German Chancellery in Berlin for the exhibition in Bern.](https://www.swissinfo.ch/content/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2025/12/01_Pressebild_KirchnerxKirchner.jpg?crop=1165px,0px,1670px,1670px&w=480&ver=855f1d9f)
Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
For months, various groups have been mobilising against the federal government’s billion-franc savings package. Today, a petition to protect Swissinfo was handed in to parliament to coincide with the Senate debate on the cuts.
This briefing also looks at the latest episode of our emigration podcast and asks what happens to the body of a serious offender after death in prison.
Best wishes from Bern
Today, the Senate discussed the federal government’s savings package – a reform whose scope is already beginning to shrink. Resistance is growing against several proposed cuts, including the planned reduction in funding for Swissinfo.
Approved by the Federal Council in September, the savings package includes 67 measures intended to save over CHF8 billion ($10 billion) by 2030. The proposed cuts affect areas ranging from education and agriculture to transport. In recent weeks, lobbying by different affected stakeholders has intensified, raising the likelihood that parliament may significantly scale back the package.
One contested measure concerns the federal contribution to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation’s (SBC) foreign mandate. Until now, CHF19 million had been allocated for this purpose, with CHF9 million going to Swissinfo. This covers half of Swissinfo’s operating costs; the remainder is financed by SBC via the Serafe licence fee.
In protest, over 17,000 people have signed a petition opposing this cut. The petition was officially submitted today by the OSA and various organisations.
Switzerland prefers to treat illnesses rather than prevent them. A new report shows it invests less in prevention than any other European country – with rising healthcare costs as a consequence.
Have you ever ignored a health problem for so long that treatment became more complex and expensive than it needed to be? According to a report cited by the Tages-Anzeiger, Switzerland is in a comparable position when it comes to preventive healthcare.
Prevention includes discouraging harmful behaviours such as smoking. Yet Switzerland is described as a “paradise for the tobacco industry”, and alcohol prevention measures are also considered weak. Alcohol remains cheap and easily available. Vaccination rates illustrate the same pattern: only one-third of people over 65 are vaccinated against influenza, compared with more than three-quarters in Denmark.
The cost of missed prevention is paid later, in the form of higher healthcare expenditure and more complex treatments.
Listen to the latest episode of our podcast “Ade merci, Schweiz!” (in Swiss German) – this time on the cultural challenges of emigration.
Emigration is about more than finding a new home; it also means navigating a new culture. How does integration work in everyday life? What role do communication styles, unspoken rules and personal values play?
The fourth episode of the Swissinfo podcast “Ade merci, Schweiz!” explores these questions. Guests include Swiss expat Roger Brugger, who has lived in Rwanda with his family for several years, and intercultural trainer Heike Geiling.
They discuss direct and indirect communication, phases of culture shock, and how to adapt without losing one’s identity – offering personal insights and practical advice on building relationships abroad.
Serial killer Werner Ferrari has died in prison. Who takes responsibility for the burial of convicted criminals?
The name Werner Ferrari evokes dark memories in Switzerland. Convicted of four child murders in the 1980s, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Now, after a serious illness, Ferrari has died at the age of 78 in the retirement wing of Lenzburg prison.
“How do you bury a serial killer?” asks the Aargauer Zeitung. The Swiss Constitution requires that human dignity be respected – even after death, and even in such cases.
As a rule, procedures following a death in prison mirror those outside: relatives are informed and organise the funeral. Some prisoners leave instructions in advance. Ferrari, however, had no surviving relatives and left no wishes.
In such cases, responsibility falls to the municipality of last residence – in this instance, Olten. Some inmates are buried following a small, internal ceremony held within the prison.
The Advent calendar of Swiss Oddities
Every day until December 24, our newsletter features a surprise article from our Swiss Oddities series – interesting, unusual and sometimes bizarre stories from Switzerland.
Translated from German using DeepL/amva/sb
In compliance with the JTI standards
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