20 Minutes. On Wednesday Simonetta Sommaraga, federal councillor and head of the federal department of justice and police, publicly denounced the referendum launched by the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) to put Swiss law ahead of international law. The plan dubbed the initiative for self-determination passed the 100,000 signature threshold last year. It was officially submitted […]
Archives for 2017
Over two thirds of Swiss would like to change jobs
A survey shows that 71% of those working in German-speaking Switzerland would change jobs if they could. Dream jobs vary significantly by gender. The survey, conducted by Marketagent.com on behalf of XING Switzerland, questioned around 1,000 employees in German-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 18 and 65. If age and and education could be ignored, 71% of the […]
Swiss franc outstrips other currencies over last 117 years
Recent analysis by Credit Suisse, London Business School and Cambridge Judge Business School shows the Swiss franc’s enduring strength. The reports says that for a small country with just 0.1% of the world’s population and less than 0.01% of its land mass, Switzerland punches well above its weight financially. The country has had the world’s […]
Volkswagen to recall 22,000 of its cars in Switzerland
20 Minutes. The newspaper 20 Minutes reported that around 22,000 Volkswagen cars in Switzerland are to be recalled because their ABS brake system does not function correctly. On Wednesday, blick.ch published a statement made by Dino Graf, a spokesperson for Amag, a Swiss car importer, that confirms the manufacturer’s recall plan. Swiss VW owners will be […]
Switzerland’s most beautiful villages
By Bill Harby Congratulations Moudon. This enchanting hamlet is the newest official member of a coterie of beautiful historic Swiss villages. Generally, the Swiss don’t like to brag. Even when it comes to cheeses, chocolate and direct democracy, they’re more likely to just offer you a taste and let you decide for yourself. But when […]
Man struck by lightning while taking water from fountain
Tribune de Genève. According to the newspaper, a man was struck by lightning in Switzerland while taking water from a public fountain last week. Last Wednesday an ambulance was called to Chemin de Saule in Bernex, outside Geneva. At around 5pm on 28 June 2017, a man was struck by lightning while taking water from […]
Swiss towns with the most jihadists
Tribune de Genève. The results of an investigation by the newspaper Tages-Anzeiger show where those identified as jihadists are based. Statistics published in May 2017 by Switzerland’s Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), show an estimated 88 individuals motivated by jihad had travelled from Switzerland since 2001. 74 are thought to have gone to Syria and Iraq, 13 to Somalia and 1 […]
Earthquake felt in Vaud
Some in the Swiss canton of Vaud might have felt the earth wobble this morning when a quake of 4.3 on the richter scale occurred. The exact location of the quake was Rossinière, according to the Swiss seismological service in Zurich. 10:10 Séisme de magnitude 4.3 à Rossinière VD. Ressenti sur une zone étendue. Dégâts […]
Swiss driverless buses a hit despite accident
By Peter Hulm Sion’s driverless public shuttle buses celebrated their first anniversary of experimental operation in the mainly pedestrian precincts of the Valais capital on 23 June 2017. Switzerland’s PostAuto/PostBus, responsible for the 11-seater yellow electric vehicles built by the French company Navya, said the two SmartShuttles carried more than 21,500 people through the Sion […]
New figures reveal British racing to apply for Swiss citizenship
According to Swiss broadcaster RTS, the number of British citizens applying to become Swiss has risen sharply. The steepest rise was in the canton of Vaud, where the number rose 71% in 2016. 473 applied in 2016, compared to 276 in 2015. In Geneva the number rose 60% from 90 to 145. In 2015, there […]
