The 69th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest begins in Basel tonight; Swiss army wants female soldiers to abandon their underwire bras; and more news in our roundup on Tuesday.
At last: The Eurovision begins today
The long-awaited (at least by some) Eurovision Song Contest in Basel begins tonight, with the first Semi-Final starting at 9 pm.
The 69th edition of the world’s biggest annual live televised music event is expected to reach around 160 million viewers.
For those in Switzerland, the show will be transmitted live on SRF in the Swiss-German part, RTS2 in the French-speaking cantons, and RSI in Ticino.
You can also watch it on the official Eurovision Song Contest YouTube channel.
As a reminder, Switzerland will be represented by Zoë Më with a song ‘Voyage.’
Next steps are the second Semi-Final on May 15th and the Grand Finale on May 17th.
Forget the weapons; Swiss military is targeting the dangers of bras
Yes, you heard it right: the Defence Department is deeming underwire bras that female soldiers are wearing to be a hazard in combat.
“Any metal object located between the upper body and the bulletproof vest can pose an increased danger in the event of shock waves, shrapnel, or projectiles,” said Lieutenant Lara Joye, adding that the biggest risk is the perforation of the rib cage or thorax.
Therefore, female troops are being asked to use bras without underwires instead.
And the army has a budget set specifically for this very purpose: soldiers will be given 100 francs every three years to purchase wireless bras.
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‘Targeted greening’: How ‘railroad grass’ will be less harmful to the environment
To reduce the use of polluting herbicides to control tall vegetation growing along railroad tracks, the national rail company SBB had commissioned Agroscope — the research arm of the Agriculture Department — as well as the Hepia University of Applied Sciences in Geneva, to jointly develop a mixture of low-growing plants for these areas.
After five years of testing, the method is now considered feasible, Agroscope announced in a press release on Monday.
This means that chemical weed killers can be used less frequently, for the benefit of the environment and everyone in it.
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What are Switzerland’s ‘true values’?
While the answers to this question may be debatable, some responses come from a new survey carried out by Switzerland’s public broadcaster SRF.
And the findings will probably come as a surprise to many people, because things like ‘money’ or ‘financial stability’ don’t even appear among the top answers.
For most respondents, in fact, (nearly 30 percent), honesty is the most important value.
Next (17.11 percent) is happiness, followed by lasting relationships (12.6 percent).
On the other hand, ‘success’ is the most important quality for only 1.48 percent of participants.
If you have any questions about life in Switzerland, ideas for articles or news tips for The Local, please get in touch with us at news@thelocal.ch
