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Glance around Switzerland: Jewish attacks, Swiss wine drinkers, viral railway video & child abuse

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Glance around Switzerland: Jewish attacks, Swiss wine drinkers, viral railway video & child abuse
gvictoria/depositphotos

Our round up of stories you might have missed this week include attacks on Jewish institutions, a teacher who spent 70,000CHF of his own money on students, parents hitting children and Switzerland being among the world's biggest wine drinkers.

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As usual, we have given you an overview of the story and a link to follow up on, if you want. 

Man arrested after series of Jewish attacks

Photo: Kyrychenko / depositphotos

A 37-year-old Swiss man has been arrested following attacks on Jewish institutions in Basel. The man currently faces nine charges, including threatening behaviour.

Two attacks happened on Jewish holidays. 

The Jewish community in Basel is said to be unsettled by the attacks but the prosecution has said that there is no evidence they were racially motivated at this stage.

For more on this story, visit the Basler Zeitung website.

50 percent of Swiss parents hit children

Photo: Stiftung Kinderschutz Schweiz Facebook page

A study by the University of Freiburg has revealed that around 50% of parents have hit their children as a form of punishment at least once.

To try and reduce this number, the Swiss Child Protection organisation (Stiftung Kinderschutz Schweiz) has launched a campaign to encourage parents to be calmer when punishing children.  

Adverts like the picture above, which reads 'Dear Mum, count to ten" (left) and "Dear Dad, go outside for a minute" (right), have been appearing on billboards across Switzerland since the end of October. 

The study says that violence was usually a last resort and borne out of frustration. Watson has more on this story.

Patient numbers fall for the first time

Photo: IgorVetushko / depositphotos

For the first time since records began, which albeit was only in 1998, the number of yearly patients admitted to Swiss hospitals has fallen.

According to a report from the Federal Statistic Office, roughly 1 million people were admitted to one of Switzerland’s 281 hospitals or maternity wards in 2017.

Accidental injuries were the most common cause of hospitalisation with around 188,000 cases on record.

Blick has more on this story. 

Teacher spends 70,000 Swiss francs of his own money on students 

Photo: 20 Minuten

Stefan Achermann, a 54-year-old teacher in Schlieren, has spent 70,000CHF of his own money to buy new or better materials for his secondary school students.

Among the items were new computers, comfortable office chairs and various teaching materials for classes like geometry, physics and chemistry.

However, after being ordered to remove the items by his school to ensure “the same conditions for all students and teachers”, Achermann has reluctantly quit his job.

As you can see in the photo below, students are currently campaigning for him to return. 'He should stay!' reads the headline in English. 

Photo: 20 Minuten

20 Minutes has more on this story. 

 

Swiss are fourth biggest wine drinkers

Photo: International Organisation of Vine and Wine

According to a new report from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, Switzerland is the world’s fourth biggest drinker of wine per capita.

The Swiss finished behind only the Portuguese, French and Italians on the 2017 Wine Consumption per Capita list, with the average Swiss drinking 37 litres of wine each year.

For comparison, the average Swiss is said to get through 54.3 litres of beer in the same one year period. Don’t ask about cheese…

Watson has more on this story and a full breakdown of the world's top wine drinkers.

Rhaetian railway goes viral

A video of a train travelling along the Rhaetian railway line amid stunning snowy conditions has gone viral thanks to the help of the National Geographic Facebook page.

The video, which you can see for yourself above, was posted on Tuesday this week and has already been seen by nearly 400,000 people around the world, collecting over 2000 shares.

Thanks to its natural beauty and infrastructure, the route was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.

Head to the National Geographic Facebook page for more.

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