Personal Finance

Italy has been ranked the healthiest country on Earth in the Bloomberg Global Health Index of 163 countries. According to the study, the average life expectancy in the country is 80-89 years, while 2,800 miles south in Sierra Leone, the average newborn will die by 52.

The Bloomberg Global Health Index ranks Italy, Iceland, Switzerland, Singapore and Australia as the countries with the healthiest populations, in that order. The ranking takes into account metrics such as mortality, life expectancy, the number of people with elevated levels of blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol, as well as the prevalence of obesity, alcoholism, and childhood malnutrition in the country.
Also on the top ten are Spain, Japan, Sweden, Israel, and Luxembourg. On the Bloomberg list, the U.S. landed in 34th place, with a health grade of 73.05 out of 100, compared to Italy’s grade of 93.11.

The canton of Valais is 160,100 francs richer after an anonymous bidder bought the car licence plate VS 1, with the letters standing for the Canton of Valais in western Switzerland, in an auction that finished on Tuesday last week.
The figure is the highest amount ever paid for a vehicle registration plate in the Alpine country and "surpassed expectations", said the cantonal authorities in a statement.

Norway, the Scandinavian nation of 5 million, known for its spectacular fjords, reindeer and "Midnight Sun," ranks No. 1 among 155 countries rated for happiness in a United Nations report out Monday.

The country rocketed from 4th place to the top of the list, on the basis of several key calculations for measuring social happiness, among them levels of caring, freedom to make life decisions, generosity, good governance, honesty, health and income. Notably, on The Children’s Worlds index of material deprivation, Norwegian children lacked the least in the world.

For months, leading luxury travel specialists, writers and executives with canadian travel agency Flight Network examined accommodations based on everything from style to first-class services to the ability to embody local culture and provide access to remarkable environments, according to a news release.

So, after highly vetting a list of nearly 1,000 luxury and boutique hotels, resorts, lodges and inns, Flight Network officially unveiled their most definitive guide to date: the 100 Greatest Hotels in the World.

Tag Heuer has followed its first Connected smartwatch with a new model that features a unique twist. The Swiss watchmaker is back with a new and highly-customizable model: the TAG Heuer Connected Modular 45, based on an Intel chip. Unlike the original Connected though, just about every part of the Modular 45 can be swapped, from the straps, to the buckles, and lugs, and even the watch module itself. That’s right, you can change the electronic module with a mechanical watch module, which not only gives you extra customization options, but it ensures that your expensive watch won’t become obsolete in just a few years.

Online luxury retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter said it’s developing technology to allow well-to-do customers to buy products directly through WhatsApp as the e-commerce market for Prada and Versace goods becomes more competitive.
As the Independent reported, the platform’s personal shoppers already message clients on the Facebook-owned service and Chief Executive Federico Marchetti says that the Milan-based company plans to expand its use of the app but did not set a date for the launch of the feature.

Switzerland is viewed as the No. 1 overall country, according to the 2017 Best Countries report, a joint rankings and analysis project from U.S. News & World Report, Y&R’s BAV Consulting and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

People regard the European country highly for its citizenship, being open for business, an environment that encourages entrepreneurship, the quality of life it provides its citizens and for its cultural influence. The rankings evaluate 80 countries – up from 60 last year – across a range of criteria, from power and economic influence to citizenship and quality of life, to capture how nations are perceived on a global scale.

Consumers in Switzerland are shopping more and more products from foreign ecommerce websites. Last year, the total value of online purchases Swiss consumers made abroad was worth 1.3 billion Swiss Francs, which corresponds to 1.22 billion euros. That’s an increase of 18% compared to last year.

And that growth is mostly due to Swiss consumers shopping online more and more from Chinese websites, a new survey by Swiss mail-order association VSV, GfK, Swiss Post and MediaFocus shows. According to this study, online purchases at foreign ecommerce websites have doubled between 2012 and 2016. And this development is likely to continue in the coming years. The study authors assume that cross-border ecommerce in Switzerland will continue to grow disproportionately.