Soaring temperatures, kickbacks and gender pay gap

Switzerland has been affected by an intense heatwave this week. Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

Almost every article published by swissinfo.ch contains a percentage, an age, an amount of money or some other figure. Here’s a round-up of some of the most interesting statistics to appear in the past week’s stories.

Monday

130

The millions of Swiss francs that Switzerland plans to return to Uzbekistan after securing a conviction in its six-year investigation into allegations of money laundering involving the eldest daughter of the former Uzbek president, Islam Karimov.

Tuesday

19

The median salary pay gap percentage between men and women in Switzerland last year, calculated by the Federal Office for Statistics. It reported that the median gross salary of male full-time employees in Switzerland stood at CHF85,200 ($87,276) last year, while for full-time female employees it was CHF71,500.

Wednesday

50

The amount in millions of Swiss francs that Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus has been accused of paying in kickbacks for securing a contract to supply 75 training planes to the Indian air force.

Thursday

36.6

The temperature (in degrees Celsius) in Sion, canton Valais, in southern Switzerland. This week Switzerland and swathes of western Europe have been sweltering due to an unseasonably early intense heatwave. The high temperatures were caused by a storm stalling over the Atlantic Ocean and high pressure over central and eastern Europe, resulting in hot air being sucked up from the Sahara desert.

Friday

14

The number of people injured on a Zurich tram when it was forced off the tracks on Friday morning by a truck.