20 Minutes. Switzerland’s deal with the EU involves a financial contribution. The sum announced by the Federal Council is CHF 1.3 billion over the next 10 years. The arrangement, announced on Thursday to coincide with a visit by european commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, extends a previous 10 year deal. Not everyone is happy with the […]
Archives for November 2017
Facebook posts that could still break Swiss law
Warning someone of a Swiss speed check via Facebook or other social network could still be illegal. People should still think twice before doing this. A warning is allowed under Swiss law if it is not public. But the law does not define public. A recent case in Saint Gallen demonstrates the lack of clarity. […]
FILM: MADAME – about the cruelty of class and the tenderness of the heart
24 November 2017. MADAME ***1/2 Here is a strange romantic tale that takes the mind and heart in different directions. Starring the unique Rosey de Palma, whom Almodovar made famous, this film is about the cruelty of class and the tenderness of the heart. De Palma literally steals the show as she blooms into a […]
Hurricane Irma – watched helplessly from Zurich
“Auntie, I’m gonna miss you, I feel like I’m gonna die from the storm… I feel like the wind is gonna take me.” This was the last message Simone Aïda Baur, based in Zurich, received from 7-year old Niomi in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). She heard nothing more for three days. Simone met Ann […]
Switzerland’s Federal Council against banning dual nationals from office
When Ignazio Cassis gave up his Italian nationality ahead of his recent election to the Federal Council some celebrated. According to 20 Minutes, Lorenzo Quadri, from the Lega dei Ticinesi, a political party in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, put forward a motion to have this made law. He thinks Federal Councillors, parliamentarians and diplomats […]
Where an average Swiss household spends its income
A recent report from Switzerland Federal Statistical Office shows how an average Swiss household spends its income. In 2015, the mean income was CHF 9,946 per month, including all forms of income and any 13th month payment received at the end of the year. This means an average Swiss household of 2.17 people had CHF 119,352 […]
Here’s why the Chateau de Chillon is Switzerland’s most-visited castle
The Chateau de Chillon is the most-visited historic building in Switzerland. There must be a reason, beyond the fact that it’s easy to get to on the edge of Lake Geneva near Montreux. You enter the Middle Ages as you cross the little castle’s covered bridge into its walled courtyards. This is no fairytale castle, […]
Landing blind in the Alps
This video was taken not in the Swiss Alps but in New Zealand’s Southern Alps. This is what the pilot sees and the passengers do not see During landing at Queenstown New Zealand Airport pic.twitter.com/fQa4yEwXTG — Sandeep Varma (@Sandeepvarma787) October 6, 2017 Sandeep Varma, a pilot landing in Oueenstown, offers a rare glimpse of what […]
Where Swiss travelled in 2016 and who went the most
A recent government report shows Swiss residents spent 22.4 million nights away from home in 2016. Two thirds of these nights were spent in six countries. By far the favourite destination was Switzerland, which accounted for 33% of all overnight stays. Next were Germany (13%), Italy (12%), France (9%) and Austria (4%). A long list […]
Glyphosate – Swiss government rejects ban plan. Plus how to avoid it.
Last week, the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, rejected the Green party’s plan to ban the use of the controversial herbicide glyphosate, a compound classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organisation. According to 20 Minutes, the Federal Council thinks glyphosate residues in Switzerland are […]