Switzerland lies at a wine-making crossroads in Europe. Not only is it home to a diversity of wonderful wines and stunning vineyards, but it also borders some of the richest and most varied wine regions in the world. In this first of a series of articles to learn more about our wine-producing neighbours we hop […]
Archives for January 2014
Our technology obsession
Online media: Calling the emperor’s new clothes Cessy, a French village just across the border, is known for two things. First, it’s where Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the World Wide Web, used to live. CERN normally takes credit for this, but I believe that the British computer scientist, like Archimedes, did his original thinking at […]
Le News edition 12
30 January 2014 Download the latest edition of Le News here: Le News 30.01.14 Edition 12 (Right click “save target as”)
Of suitcases and sandcastles
Luggage is what you make of it, not the customs people. Robyn Goss writes on what it means to return home with things that your husband may resent carrying. But then, he really doesn’t have a say, does he? NYON The day we came back to Switzerland from our Christmas holiday in South Africa, I […]
Swiss Real Estate getting risky
ZURICH Buying a house or a flat in Switzerland is a less attractive proposition now than it has been in the last 10 years. While property values have reached a high, according to the UBS Real Estate Focus Report 2014 earlier this week, there has been a decline in momentum, which could mean that residential […]
Swiss payments to French towns
Geneva’s compensation financière genevoise might seem altruistic, but it relies on a historical symbiosis unique to the Lake Geneva region. The bilateral agreement, introduced in the early 1970s, redistributes frontalier tax-money to Geneva’s bordering French departments, Haute-Savoie and Ain. The former receives 76.7% of the CHF 270 million dividend, the latter 23.3%. The funds are […]
Combatting cross-border crime
GENEVA The Geneva and Annemasse authorities signed an agreement on 17 January, to create a joint police task force to facilitate the crackdown on criminal gangs operating cross-border in the Priority Security Zone (ZSP) created in early 2013. The ZSP includes Annemasse, Gaillard, Ambilly and the Canton of Geneva. The Geneva government said the new […]
Anti-nuclear tablets, anyone?
LAUSANNE In tune with Switzerland’s prevention culture, people living within a 50 km radius of a nuclear plant will now receive iodide tablets to counter the possible effects of nuclear disaster. The majority of people inhabiting the Bern, Fribourg, Neuchâtel and Jura cantons will receive the pills. The measure will also concern a substantial proportion […]
Au pairing
Two popular misconceptions exist when talking about au pairing. One is based on gender bias; the other is that it’s not a “proper” job. Reality poses an altogether different take. Living and working abroad while being entrusted with a parent’s most precious possession, their children, is no laughing matter. Nor is it one necessarily reserved […]
Wines of real value
January means counting the cost of the festive period, so maybe now is the time to seek some good value wines. Here is a tantalizing selection of three reds and three whites that balance reasonable quality with affordable prices ranging from CHF 7.95 to under CHF 14.95. Each is available from Coop, Denner and Mövenpick. […]
