A comparison of coffee prices in 75 cities around the world places four Swiss cities in the top five. At an average price of CHF 3.47, Zurich came out top, followed by Copenhagen (3.22), Basel (3.21), Bern (3.07) and Geneva (3.02) The best prices were in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo in Brazil, just […]
Archives for November 2016
Nearly one person in five in Switzerland has slept with 20 people or more
In Switzerland, a typical adult female has sex with six people over the course of her life, while an average Swiss man has on average seven sexual partners. A survey conducted in July and August 2016 by Blick and Le Matin, conducted as part of the Swiss government sponsored “Love Life, Stop AIDS” campaign, designed […]
Swiss regulator does not want to loosen mortgage restrictions
24 Heures. Swiss financial markets regulator Finma is not planning to loosen mortgage lending directives, according to its director Thomas Bauer, after the bank Raiffeisen expressed a desire for looser lending rules. In an interview with Zentralschweiz am Sonntag, Bauer said that this could allow certain households to get mortgages that they wouldn’t be able to service […]
Swiss towns want to ban the distribution of the Quran
Le Matin. According to Le Matin, recent German government action against salafistes is pushing the Swiss authorities to act. According to Tages Anzeiger, some Swiss towns have already taken action. The town of Brugg in the canton of Aargau banned distribution of the Quran in 2012. “It seems that radical islamists were behind it” explained the town’s […]
SMI up on post Trump rally
18 November 2016 – Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. Swiss stocks continued to rise this week, in line with other global stocks thanks to a strong performance from financials which gained as investors weighted the prospects of higher interest rates in the US. Stocks in the financial sector advanced after […]
The snow has arrived early. Many resorts are open this weekend.
This season, Snow has come early to Europe. Generally speaking the snow above 1,500 metres is good and above 1,800 it is even better. Speaking to 24 Heures, Pierre Besson, director of the lift company Télé Villars-Gryon-Diablerets, said there is around 90 cm of snow at this altitude. All of this snow means that some […]
Swiss fact: Switzerland’s newest canton was created as recently as 1979
Most consider 1291 to be the date Switzerland became a nation. That year, the three cantons of Uri, Unterwalden and Schwyz, agreed to stand together against outside judges and aggressors. Progressively over the years Switzerland expanded from these three cantons, to 25, when Geneva joined in 1815. Switzerland would wait more than 160 years to […]
Film: a young Russian dancer who leaves for France
18 November 2016. POLINA – DANSER SA VIE *** (vo Russian, French) A young girl takes up ballet at the prestigious Bolshoi in Moscow, reluctantly at first, then with growing ardor thanks to a charismatic teacher. The mood is very Russian – grueling work, little gratification, dedicated parents. Polina perseveres, gets a chance to go to […]
Geneva unveils big tax changes
Le Matin. After nearly ten years of European Union opposition to preferential company tax deals, Switzerland’s government agreed in 2014 to do away with such arrangements. Under current rules Swiss cantons can offer preferential tax rates to certain companies, mostly multinationals with most of their activity abroad. In Geneva, these special rates mean certain companies pay tax […]
International Geneva gets a new magazine in English
A new English-language magazine for international Geneva, called Global Geneva, launches its pilot issue this week. Le News interviewed the magazine’s co-founder and editor, former Le News editor, Edward Girardet, to find out why he started it and what it’s all about. Over a coffee with Edward in the UN cafeteria, he points out the window at […]