Switzerland

Around 50 caravans belonging to members of a travelling community attempting to enter canton Valais in southern Switzerland, from France, without prior warning were blocked by police on the motorway to prevent their unauthorised entry

43% of adults are overweight, with significantly more men affected than women; first-hand data are delivered by the obesity centre at Aarau Cantonal Hospital, which is currently receiving more new patients than ever before

The Coalition against Wage Discrimination, made up of 52 organisations, addressed the government in an open letter urging to eradicate wage discrimination against women; a woman in Switzerland loses an average of around $9.000 a year in salary

Cigarette smuggling at Swiss airports increased sharply in 2024 with 880.000 undeclared items, compared to 690.000 in 2023; Geneva airport was the focus point with over 700.000 undeclared cigarettes discovered, mostly probably intended for sale in France

The city of Geneva, considered the world capital of human rights, international law and humanitarian aid, is planning to pay CHF10 million of NGO worker wages following the United States decision to freeze humanitarian aid for 90 days

Switzerland adopted new EU regulation to standardise the collection and transfer of passenger information that aims at enhancing the accuracy and precision of the data gathered and preventing illegal entry of air passengers into the Schengen area

Johnson & Johnson plans to reduce its workforce in Switzerland, as the Company goes through reorganization and the business must adapt to a "complex and rapidly changing external environment"

Drivers will be allowed to use self-driving technology on Swiss motorways and let go of their steering wheel starting 1 March 2025; following the decree recently adopted by Federal Council, they must be ready to take control at any time

The world’s steepest cable car has opened, connecting the villages of Stechelberg and Mürren in the Bernese Oberland; the iconic aerial cable car climbs 775 metres of altitude difference in 4 minutes on a track of 1.194 metres with 159,4% gradient

Compulsory tipping does not meet with unanimous approval among the Swiss: over two-thirds of citizens do not want to include it in the price of their food, according to survey published earlier this month

First physical and commercially usable quantum computer was inaugurated at Uptown Basel competence centre in Arlesheim; it will be available to companies, academic institutions and start-ups in areas such as simulation, optimisation and machine learning