On 11 March 2012, Swiss voted to accept a law restricting the construction of secondary residences, homes that are only used occasionally by owners living somewhere else. Under the law no more than 20% of a municipality’s housing can be second homes. Those with percentages above 20% run into building restrictions. The initiative was nick […]
Archives for 2017
Swiss highways already overloaded with Easter traffic
20 Minutes. School holiday dates overlap in several european countries this Easter. Many holiday makers try to head south at this time of year where the weather is starting to feel summery. Those who can depart early have an edge on those leaving on Friday. At least they hoped they would. According to the Swiss Federal […]
A war on vegetarian sausages has started in Switzerland
20 Minutes. A member of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) from Bern has proposed a ban on the use of terms associated with meat products when describing vegetable equivalents. Saveloys, sausages and schnitzel would become terms reserved exclusively for meat products. The number of vegetarian products in Swiss supermarkets designed to substitute meat has taken off. […]
Women can now swim topless in Geneva
Le Matin. From now on women in Geneva will be allowed to swim topless in the lake and any of the canton’s rivers, including the Rhône. According to Meteo News, the water in Lake Geneva is a chilly 12 degrees, so it may be a while before the new rule has any practical value. A rule […]
A tiny Swiss group of lawyers takes on war crimes and crimes against humanity
The International Criminal Court at the Hague was created in 2002 to hold individuals responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The concept was good, but the international tribunal was almost immediately paralyzed by politics. As William Dowell writes, Alain Werner, who created Civitas Maxima has a different idea: represent the victims and fight […]
Paris says no to sand from Swiss company that bid for Trump wall
Le Matin. The French-Swiss group, described as “disreputable” by the Ville de Paris, will not be supplying sand to the city of Paris this summer. Paris Plages (Beaches), a project that creates temporary beaches of sand along the banks of the river Seine every summer, said it would take no more sand from LafargeHolcim because […]
Some UN consultants thought their income was tax free. They were wrong.
20 Minutes. Some United Nations consultants haven’t paid taxes on their income, thinking it was exempt. When the tax authorities catch up with them they’ll risk paying back taxes and fines. As a general rule, foreign UN functionaries are not required to pay local taxes on their income. On the other hand UN consultants must. Over the […]
Birch pollen season has started early
Le Matin. A mild March has meant early pollen. Regula Gehrig from Swiss Meteo told aha!, a Swiss allergy specialist, that birch pollen will arrive a week earlier this year and last until May. “Birch pollen contains proteins which trigger strong allergies” said Georg Schäppi, a director at aha! And because the pollen particles are relatively […]
A fifth of Swiss can’t cope with an unexpected expense of 2,500 francs
In 2015, 21.7% of Switzerland’s population was unable to cover an unexpected expense of CHF 2,500 within a month, says a report from the Swiss Federal Statistics Office. Single parent families were the least able to cope with 46.1% of them falling into this camp. Single parent families were followed by single people under 65 (27.1%) […]
On meeting Bin Laden – former Le News editor tells his hair-raising story
When the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in February, 1989 after nearly a decade of failed occupation, most Red Army soldiers were already gone. In their stead, they left a demoralized force of Afghan soldiers and militia to protect the communist ‘Khalqi’ regime in Kabul. With their backs to the wall, these would continue fighting […]
