Toby is battling with a brain tumour and suffered terribly before it was diagnosed. Now he is battling through his first 18 months of chemotherapy. His father Rob explains what’s happening. (See Everest in the Alps Challenge.) My son, Toby, has a brain stem tumour. His tumour was diagnosed when he was five following a very […]
Archives for 2015
Countdown to world-first Everest challenge in Verbier, Switzerland
Everest in the Alps is a highly imaginative initiative to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity while at the same time roping in both mountain skills and the outdoors for a worthy cause. The effort is the world’s first ski-touring challenge to take place in this manner, notably at the Swiss ski resort of […]
Anne Frank’s cousin Buddy Elias dies
The humanist and actor Buddy Elias passed away on 16 March 2015 just before his 90th birthday. He was president of the Anne Frank Fonds in Basel, Switzerland and the last living relative of Anne Frank. He was also a friend of Le New’s editor Edward Girardet who visited him late last year. The following […]
Swiss are not the world’s biggest cheese eaters
In 2014 the average Swiss resident ate 21.37 kilograms of cheese according to recent calculations done by the Swiss Farmers Union. A 1.6% increase on 2013 consumption, this is equivalent to two portions of fondue a week, and weighs more than the heaviest suitcase many airlines will check in for free. Around half of Swiss milk is turned […]
Rebranding International Geneva
Michael Møller, the Danish diplomat and former aid worker appointed in November 2013 as acting director-general of the UN in Switzerland, would like to see a vibrant new International Geneva that includes not only the UN agencies and NGOS, but also multi-national corporations, Swiss businesses, donors and the local population. “We need to act together to […]
Swiss immigration vote re-run
The February 2014 vote showed just how divided Swiss views on immigration are. While 50.3% voted for the proposal to stop mass immigration, 49.7% voted against it. A re-run could easily undo the result – it should be noted that an exact re-run is not possible under Swiss law. While the amendment to the Swiss […]
A 5-step guide to Switzerland’s immigration changes
On 9 February 2014, Swiss voters decided by a slim majority of 50.3% to adopt new rules on immigration. The new rules now form part of the Swiss Federal constitution. The changes are broad and short on specifics. For this reason the adoption of new legislation implementing the changes is critical for clarifying the exact scope […]
CERN: Bigger bangs imminent
“What happens when the mass of the black hole eventually becomes extremely small is not quite clear, but the most reasonable guess is that it would disappear completely in a tremendous final burst of emission, equivalent to the explosion of millions of H-bombs.” – Dr. Stephen Hawking The scientists at CERN Geneva are gearing up […]
Swiss aviators beat Richard Branson around the world
“If the round-the-world balloon flight was the final adventure of the 20th Century, Solar Impulse is without doubt the first to encapsulate the challenges of the 21st” – Albert II, Prince of Monaco. When it comes to pioneering spirit, a few Swiss names stand proud on the international stage, including three generations of the Piccard family […]
5 dangerous things your kids should do
So, I’ve been reading a lot about dangerous play this last week. Not the Fifty Shades kind. Shame on you, dirty-minded reader. I’m talking about children’s play: specifically the kind that experts call ‘risky’ and parents call ‘incredibly stupid’; the kind of play that involves sharp objects, power tools and fire. (That does sound a […]
