The seasonal festivities are the perfect way to ring out the old year and ring in the new with family and friends. For many they also represent an opportunity to hit the pause button and take a well-deserved time-out. Good food and wine assume greater importance at this traditional time of year and add a […]
Archives for 2014
Robots, kids and complexes
Sunday was a big day for my family: for on Sunday, a perfect little miracle was delivered to us. And no, that does not refer to another baby, for those of you who haven’t read my previous 39 columns and who have no idea how much I could not cope with more children. No. The […]
Christmas gifts for one and all
Santa Claus is coming to town, but what should you put on your wish list? And, more importantly, what should you get for her, for him and of course for the little ones, who are impatient to see what they will find in their oversized stockings fixed precariously above the fireplace? More often than not, […]
Payot’s best sellers of the week
Christmas in the Snow is the latest novel by Karen Swan who is best known for Christmas at Tiffany’s and Christmas at Claridge’s. Published by Pan Macmillan, Swan has come up with another spellbinding story. Set in glamorous locations such as Zermatt and taking the reader through a series of heart-breaking twists, Christmas in the […]
The plague of plagiarism in schools
Rather than simply punishing students for passing off other people’s work as their own, schools need to help them become more discerning – and critical – with their use of online research. William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Martin Luther King all have been accused of plagiarism, so what chance do young students stand in coming […]
A Swiss role for Afghanistan?
GENEVA NATO will be ending its official role after 13 years in occupation of Afghanistan on 31 December, 2014. Nearly 10,000 US troops, mainly special forces, but also several thousand Australian, British and other NATO forces are expected to remain in a primarily training capacity for another two or three years. Last week, President Obama […]
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 […]
Le News – 4 December 14 – edition 35
04 December 2014 We apologise for this change of format but our e-reader provider had a few issues this week so we decided to provide you with a picture of our front page instead. If you click on it you will download a nice PDF of the whole paper for your reading pleasure. Download the […]
Swiss vote: three times “NO”
30 November 14 Swiss referenda. According to the newspaper 24 Heures, preliminary national results of the three votes in Switzerland this weekend were overwhelmingly “No”. The Ecopop initiative resulted in 74% voting “No”, the initiative seeking to do away with lump sum taxation or forfait fiscaux resulted in 62% voting “No”, and 77% voted against […]
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 […]
