24 Heures. International trains have become the latest security concern after last week’s terrorist attack on a high speed Thaly’s train travelling between Amsterdam and Paris. Last Friday a man armed with a machine gun opened fire before being immobilised by some of the train’s passengers. Now that airports have been well secured, terrorists appear […]
Archives for August 2015
Swiss make their views on paternity leave clear
24 Heures. Being a working mum or dad is not always easy in Switzerland. Long school lunch breaks with no school supervision mean parents need to collect children from school in the middle of the day or find lunch time care which is often over subscribed. Finding help to look after babies can also be […]
Fewer migrants expected in Switzerland in second half of 2015
More refugees are arriving at Switzerland’s Eastern borders daily, yet Switzerland is not the primary destination for refugees travelling via the Balkans. According to the State Secretariat for Migration, the number of people seeking Swiss asylum is even expected to drop in the second half of the year. The State Secretariat for Migration projects that […]
Most UK graduates fail to get a job doing what they studied. Most Swiss do.
A recent report by the UK based Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) calculates that nearly 59% of UK graduates end up with non-graduate jobs, such as working in a cafe or bar. The report looks at European countries and only Greece and Estonia perform worse on this measure. In Switzerland less than 10% […]
Coop and Migros compete on a new retail concept
20 Minutes. Coop launches takeaway stores hot on the tail of Migros, which launched one in Bern last week. According to Coop more and more people are eating neither in a restaurant nor at home, choosing instead to eat takeaways. The supermarket has decided to open stores under the brand “Coop to go” to cater […]
Government makes getting a Swiss passport harder
20 Minutes. In June 2014, Swiss citizenship requirements were tightened allowing only those with permanent residency permits (e.g. a C permit) to apply, excluding anyone on a different permit such as a B permit. Yesterday the federal council issued a proposed ordinance which tightens requirements further. People receiving social assistance and a wider range of […]
Swiss immigration initiative RASA gets required number of signatures
Tribune de Genève. On 9 February 2014 a slim majority of 50.3% of Swiss voters called for an end to open immigration from European Union (EU) nations. Since then Switzerland has been engaged in difficult discussions with EU negotiators who say that Switzerland’s EU deals, which include trade, must come as a package and cannot […]
Unpaid UN intern in tent tells his story
David Hyde, the young man who lived in a tent while working unpaid for the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, published his story on the website The Intercept. He describes how he planned to make a documentary about the plight of unpaid UN interns. He talks about his shock at the scale of the media’s […]
What is driving the Swiss franc’s fall?
Bilan. For several days the Swiss franc has been losing ground against the Euro. According to Bilan the franc came close to 1.10 against the Euro on 11 August 2015 before recovering to around to 1.085 on Thursday the 13th of August based on Reuters data. According to Bilan experts are forecasting a return to […]
The expats banned from voting
After 15 years abroad British citizens lose the right to vote. According to a recent article in the British newspaper the Telegraph, this is about to change, albeit too late for British expats to vote on whether Britain should stay in the European Union or not. A BBC article describes a global trend towards greater […]