Switzerland

My old home lemmy instance feddit.ch has beein showing server error for a fiew days. What happened ? Does it have something to do with the ongoing spam attacks ?

Hello, I am a french student and I will soon be joining a Swiss company as an intern for several months. I am therefore looking for a place to live, with roomates preferably. Are there any website you would advise me ? I already began to look at homegate.ch. Sadly I can't create an account for anibis.ch because I don't have a swiss phone number, so i can't look there. Thanks !

In 2023, residential property prices in Switzerland continued to increase, though the growth rate slowed due to interest rate hikes. The Swiss Real Estate Institute's analysis, based on actual sales prices from the Swiss Real Estate Data Pool, found that:

1. Single-family homes saw an average price increase of 3.6%, outpacing the general inflation rate of 2.1%. Flats, however, only experienced a slight price increase of 0.4%.

2. Central Switzerland had the most expensive detached houses, averaging CHF 1.64 million, a 5.1% increase from 2022. Zurich was the second most expensive region.

3. The largest price increases were in Eastern Switzerland (8.2%) and Ticino (6.7%). This is attributed to a catch-up effect and relatively more affordable financing options in these regions.

4. Bern and Solothurn were the only regions with declining prices, with a 2.1% decrease and the lowest average selling price for single-family homes at CHF 920,000.

5. In the flat market, Zurich overtook Central Switzerland with an average price increase of 1.8% to CHF 1.14 million. Bern and Solothurn saw the most significant decrease in flat prices, dropping by 8.8%.

6. The municipality of Erlenbach in the canton of Zurich had the highest average price for detached houses at CHF 5.16 million.

Overall, the Swiss residential property market showed varied trends across different regions and types of properties, with some areas experiencing significant price increases while others saw declines.

Swiss farmers are worried. Not only are they suffering from sharply falling incomes, but they also have to contend with consumers cutting back on food.

“Most farmers are rather disillusioned. At a time when everything is getting more expensive, people seem to be saving on food first and foremost,” Markus Ritter, president of the Swiss Farmers’ Union, told the media at the organisation’s start-of-year press conference on Wednesday. ...

The vast majority of Switzerland’s 26 cantons have done little or nothing to implement the new law on cycle routes, criticises Pro Velo.

This law, which has been in force since January 1, 2023, imposes obligations and deadlines on the cantons.

The new law requires the cantons to plan networks of cycle routes by the end of 2027 and to build them by the end of 2042, Pro Velo, the association that defends the interests of cyclists, pointed out in a press release on Wednesday. ...

The number of flights in and out of Switzerland’s biggest airport increased by 14.5% in 2023, but activity is still 10% lower than pre-pandemic years.

A total of 241,005 aircraft took off and landed in Zurich last year, according to figures from the airport website analysed by news agency AWP. In 2019, it was 268,968.

In the wake of travel restrictions to contain the spread of coronavirus in 2020, flights had plummeted to 40% of the 2019 level. Since then, traffic has steadily recovered – in 2022, the gap compared to 2019 was still around a fifth. ...

A normal train service can resume between Brig in southwestern Switzerland and Domodossola in Italy. This follows a decision by the Italian authorities to extend by one year a deadline for implementing new fire protection measures for railway tunnels.

It had been reported on December 29 that certain train services between Switzerland and Italy would be cancelled due to a missing fire protection authorisation from the Italian authorities.

But on January 1 the Keystone-SDA news agency reported that the Italian authorities had extended by one year the deadline for implementing new fire protection measures required for railway tunnels. ...

One in five new cars (20.9%) sold in Switzerland in 2023 was a battery electric vehicle. Sales continued to grow last year but at a slower pace than expected.

Between the end of 2022 and the end of 2023, the market share of battery electric cars (BEV) grew from 17.3% to 20.9%, while plug-in hybrids rose from 8% to 9.2%. In total, 30.1% of new cars sold were electric-powered, Swiss eMobility said on Monday.

Overall, the share of petrol-engine vehicles sold in Switzerland dropped from 37.8% (2022) to 33.3% (2023), and diesel-powered vehicles slid from 11.7% to 9.3%.

As of January 1, 2024, 163,511 electric cars were in circulation on Swiss roads, out of a total of 4.5 million cars. It will probably take another twenty years for the entire fleet to be electric, according to projections by Swiss eMobility. ...

The marble trout, aka Salmo marmoratus, has been named the Fish of the Year 2024 by the Swiss Fishing Federation (FSP). This freshwater fish from south of the Alps is fighting for its survival.

Perfectly camouflaged, the marble trout has dominated the waters of southern Switzerland for thousands of years, the Swiss Fishing Federation (FSP) said in a statement on Tuesday. But today it is only found in Lake Maggiore and a few rivers in the Bregaglia and Poschiavo valleys in canton Ticino. ...

In 2023, some 30 previously banned substances were exceptionally authorised by federal authorities, as a means of tackling growing menaces to agricultural crops.

Thierry Blaser observes the same thing every year when walking through his rapeseed field. “Insect pests sting the rape and lay their larvae. The plant then gets deformed and can no longer produce as it should,” the farmer told RTS public radio on Tuesday.

To kill the insects and produce his 15 tonnes of rapeseed, there was only one solution for Blaser: protection products. The problem is that the number of authorised substances is constantly decreasing. Since 2005, 208 products have been withdrawn from the market.

Conservation group Pro Natura says that if the species – which belongs to the marten family – is to survive in the country, a nationwide ecological infrastructure is needed.

The polecat, classified as “vulnerable” on Switzerland’s red list of threatened species, is a nomad with no fixed territory, roaming the countryside at night in search of prey. To do this, it needs hedges, ditches and wetlands. Like many wild animals, it avoids open spaces.

Its network of natural routes has been however largely destroyed, laments Pro Natura on Wednesday. According to the conservation group, structurally rich agricultural landscapes and wetlands are among the currently most threatened types of natural environment in Switzerland.

More than three-quarters of the Swiss population support the initiative submitted in the autumn to restrict the use of fireworks by private individuals. According to a representative survey, the main reasons for this are animal welfare and air pollution.

The fireworks initiative enjoys strong support among the population, according to the survey: 76% of all respondents are in favour of the initiative and 24% are against. Most of the participants took a clear stance. Only 11% would have chosen the “rather yes” or “rather no” option. ...

Three Swiss companies have once again made it into the top 100 most valuable listed companies in the world. However, more than half of the most highly valued large corporations are based in the US.

From a Swiss perspective, it is a familiar picture with three representatives among the “Top 100” listed companies. According to the list compiled by the auditing and consulting firm EY, the food group Nestlé was ranked 26th (previous year 23rd) with a market capitalisation of just over $307 billion (CHF258 billion) as of December 27. ...

The regulations on the expansion of landfill sites are to be relaxed in Switzerland. The department of Environment Minister Albert Rösti wants to amend an ordinance to this end and has opened a consultation process until mid-April.

With the relaxation, the government wants to address the lack of landfill space for the disposal of non-recyclable waste. The environment ministry said on Thursday that the expansion of existing landfill sites was one way of counteracting the tense situation.

Two popular initiatives calling for a ban on foie gras imports and a ban on fur imports have been submitted to the Federal Chancellery. They have 106,448 and 116,140 signatures respectively.

The two petitions, entitled “Yes to a ban on the import of fur from animals that have been mistreated” and “Yes to a ban on the import of fur products manufactured under conditions of cruelty to animals”, are aimed at preventing animal suffering.

The products in question are banned from being manufactured in Switzerland but are “imported en masse”, as the Swiss Animal Alliance (AAS), which launched the texts in June 2022, pointed out on Thursday. ...

Swiss drugs reglator Swissmedic has authorised a new medicine to treat colds and cases of acute bronchitis in infants and young children. Beyfortus is used to treat respiratory tract diseases caused by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

The step was taken “after careful consideration”, Swissmedic said on Thursday. It is an important step towards prophylaxis against RS viruses, a common cause of respiratory diseases, a Swissmedic spokesperson told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA. ...

Former Swiss senator and prosecutor Dick Marty died on Thursday aged 78, his party confirmed.

Marty was born in the southern Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, where he served as deputy public prosecutor, then public prosecutor from 1975-1989. He was a member of the Ticino cantonal government from 1989 to 1995. ...

The Swiss have a bleak view of the coming year and expect financial losses, according to a survey. Nevertheless, they do not want to give up their car or holidays.

Almost a third of those surveyed expect to have less money in their wallets and accounts in 2024, price comparison website Comparis said on Thursday. It wrote of a “record level”: in previous years the proportion of those with a negative outlook was between 13% and 18%. ...

Marco Chiesa, president of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, will not stand for re-election at the end of his term of office in March 2024.

“I had a mission. And it has been fulfilled,” said the Ticino native, who was elected party president in 2020.

The People’s Party’s selection committee had already begun its work, Chiesa, 49, said in an interview with CH Media and Corriere del Ticino on Thursday. He was convinced that the time was right for him to step down as party president. “The aim of my term in office was to win the elections and strengthen the politics and values of the People’s Party.” He had succeeded in doing so, he said. ...

The mountain railways in San Bernardino in southeastern Switzerland are back in operation after ten years of standstill.

The re-opening of the ski resort on Wednesday is part of Ticino investor Stefano Artioli’s plan to breathe new life into the ailing holiday resort with investments totalling CHF300 million ($360 million).

The mountain railways and ski lifts in the winter sports resort at the south portal of the San Bernardino tunnel have been out of service since 2012, with the exception of a few beginner lifts in the village. There was no money for the necessary refurbishment. As Artioli’s company San Bernardino Swiss Alps announced on Wednesday, it acquired the lifts last summer and renovated them. ...

Despite inflation, consumers in Switzerland spent more money on Christmas presents in 2023 than in previous years. Cashless payments reached a record level in the run-up to Christmas.

Rising prices did not have a negative impact on this year’s Christmas business. On the contrary: from December 1 to 24, Swiss retailers earned more from cashless payments than ever before, according to an analysis by the news agency AWP based on data from Monitoring Consumption Switzerland going back to 2019. ...

The Swiss government intends to submit proposals to parliament in the spring to ensure that a Credit Suisse-style bank bailout will no longer be necessary in future.

“We must act – we have no other choice,” said Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) newspaper on Wednesday.

“We must ensure that a major bank can go under without, in the worst case, dragging an entire country into the abyss,” she continued. She will endeavour to ensure that “all the unpleasant questions are really discussed now”. This has nothing to do with hostility towards systemically important banks, but with “our responsibility for the Swiss economy”.

Swiss bank UBS has cut a particularly large number of jobs among global banks in 2023. This was calculated by the Financial Times.

The takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS has led to a reduction of at least 13,000 jobs at the combined bank, the British business newspaper wrote on Tuesday. And further major rounds of redundancies are expected in the coming year. ...

The youth section of the Swiss Social Democrats (JUSO) say they have collected enough signatures for the “Initiative for a Future”.

This calls for an inheritance tax of 50% from a tax-free amount of CHF50 million ($58.5 million) in favour of an ecological restructuring of the economy.

The Swiss electorate will be able to vote on socially fair financing of climate protection, according to a JUSO press release on Wednesday. The party plans to submit its initiative at the beginning of February. It says it has already collected over 130,000 signatures. ...

Most of the confiscated counterfeit Swiss watches come from China and Hong Kong. This year there have also been new payoffs targeting counterfeit Swiss watches in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt.

The fight against counterfeit watches is one of the main concerns of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. More than half of the seizures still involve counterfeits from China and Hong Kong. However, this year saw the first results in other important countries: 150,000 watches were confiscated in Saudi Arabia, 62,000 in Turkey and 25,000 in Egypt. ...

The weather, which was far too mild for the time of year, continued on Christmas day.

In Bern, 13.5°C (56.3°F) were measured on Monday - a record. It has never been this warm in the federal city on Christmas day since measurements began in 1864.

In municipality of Bern-Belpmoos, the weather service Meteonews reported that the temperature reached 15°C at 4:10pm in the afternoon. ...

The crises in 2023 mobilised the willingness to donate in Switzerland despite the increasing pressure on purchasing power. However, this was at the expense of other donation needs.

One example of this was the Telethon Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting people with rare genetic diseases. It recorded a 30% drop in donations in 2022 and fears that this trend will continue in 2023 due to the crises, as it announced at the beginning of December. ...

Around 30 people evacuated after the recent landslide in the town of Schwanden in canton Glarus will probably not be able to return to their homes until the end of the year.

It is not yet known exactly when they will be able to return, Chief of Staff Hanspeter Speich told SRF. "We are currently looking into emergency access to the two buildings," Speich continued on Sunday. In the afternoon, the authorities would receive information on how long it would take to implement emergency access. ...

The Federal Intelligence Service has no indications of concrete plans for terrorist attacks in Switzerland.

However, the FIS still considers the threat of terrorism in Switzerland to be heightened, as it announced in response to an enquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency.

Against the backdrop of possible attack plans, the German authorities have stepped up security measures around Cologne Cathedral. Tighter security measures are also in place in Vienna on Christmas Eve. ...

Hundreds of medicines are either unavailable or difficult to obtain in Switzerland. For around 200 of these medications, the shortage poses a serious problem.

Following the shortage of these medicines last winter, the situation is also critical for common products.

The list of missing products and substances compiled by specialised websites is long. Whether on drugshortage.ch, the platform for drug shortages of the Geneva University Hospital (HUG), the online pharmacy Zur Rose or the list of the Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES) - the situation is very tense. ...

Five people refused to leave the landslide area in Schwanden, canton Glarus, on Saturday.

They defied the evacuation order issued by the authorities. The possibility of the situation in the landslide area worsening has not been ruled out.

According to a statement issued by the municipality of Glarus-Süd on Saturday evening, the overall situation in the Wagenrunse landslide area remained unchanged despite the rain subsiding during the day. The extent of the damage in the village has increased. ...

Despite a turbulent year, the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) has met its budget targets for 2023.

For the current year, the SRC is expecting donations of around CHF45 million ($52.48 million), as SRC President Thomas Zeltner said in an interview. ...