Switzerland’s oldest art museum, the Kunstmuseum in Bern, will be accepting a collection of modernist artworks bequeathed by Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of a Nazi-era art dealer. The masterpieces, among them paintings and drawings by Picasso, Chagall and Monet, were discovered in Gurlitt’s home a couple of years ago, according to The Guardian. Following an […]
The Swiss deflation puzzle
There is currently much talk of the dangers of deflation and the specter of its imminent arrival in the Eurozone. The Economist newspaper proclaimed last week that if deflation were to set in, the single currency would be in peril. Economists assume that deflation, or falling prices, reduce consumption as consumers defer spending in the […]
Swiss pulls out of Basel: Airline to move operations to Zurich
National carrier, Swiss International Air Lines is to stop its operations at Basel’s EuroAirport at the end of May 2015. The decision comes as no surprise (Le News passim) with the airline blaming a difficult political environment that offers little prospect carriers such as SWISS being able to operate profitably. Indeed, Swiss’ operations in Basel […]
Fighting cat and dog eaters
Swiss animal rights activists recently handed a petition to members of parliament demanding a ban on eating cats and dogs, a custom still practised by hundreds of thousands of Swiss people. According to the activist group, up to three per cent of Swiss secretly eat the animals, especially in the regions of Lucerne, Appenzell, Jura […]
Web inventor Timothy Berners-Lee wins prestigious Swiss Award
The brains behind the creation of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee has been awarded prestigious Gottleib Duttweiler award. According to the institute, the award recognises people who have made “outstanding contributions to the well-being of the wider community”. Previous winners include: Václav Havel, president of the former Czechoslovakia; and Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales. […]
Meet the new President
Switzerland’s parliament has re-elected Social Democrat, Simonetta Sommaruga (54) to the Federal Council to become the new President of Switzerland. She received 181 votes (well over 80%) in Wednesday’s parliamentary vote in Bern. She replaces Didier Burkhalter, the Foreign Minister. Sommaruga was first elected to the seven-strong cabinet in 2010 where she took over the […]
Switzerland’s initiatives: Too much democracy?
Взять онлайн займ на карту. The overwhelming vote on 30 November against even more limited immigration (Ecopop); an end to special tax rates for wealthy foreigners and minimal gold reserves enabled the Federal Council in Bern, which had opposed all three initiatives, to sigh with relief. What the government did not need were more obstacles […]
From Grade I apples to car seat belts: The UN’s unknown “pearl”
Heading one of the United Nations’ least known but most influential organizations, Christian Bach, the recently appointed Danish Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is hoping to turn it into a household name. GENEVA One of the UN’s most pervasive problems is that it is marketing itself poorly. Given that much […]
We are the champions! Roger and Stan wow Lausanne
Around 10,000 people gathered at the Place de la Navigation in Ouchy, Lausanne yesterday evening to celebrate Switzerland’s first ever win in the Davis Cup’s 115-year history and to congratulate the players, above all Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer. They came straight to the Vaud capital off their flight from Lille, bearing the trophy with […]
Geneva: Assisted suicide central?
Geneva will become the new home for the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, which voted in favour of leaving New York in late October. According to GenevaLunch.com, the move, which is likely to take place in 2015, is associated to possible changes in the NGOs tax status in the US. The organisation has […]