Antoine Vielliard, the mayor of the French commune Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, which borders the canton of Geneva, is after those who live in France but pretend to live in Geneva. In a radio interview on Swiss broadcaster RTS, he explains how they estimate the level of fraud and how they are combatting it. Across neighbouring France an […]
Archives for 2017
Heavy snow warning for parts of western Switzerland
Swiss Meteo warns of heavy snow tomorrow in the region stretching from Aigle, in Vaud, through to the region around the Grand St. Bernard pass in the canton of Valais. Snow of between 40 cm to 70 cm is expected above 800 m. The affected region includes the Swiss ski resorts of Leysin, Villars, Torgon, Morgin […]
Soft drink tax proposal criticized by industry
20 Minutes. Vaud state councillor Pierre-Yves Maillard has proposed a new cantonal tax on soft drinks to fund dental care. The plan would combine the money raised by this tax with a new social security tax of up to 0.06% of salaries. The combined projected CHF 38 million collected, would fund 50% of dental care costs […]
Geneva plans to offer permits to thousands of illegal immigrants
Tribune de Genève. After more than 15 years, Geneva State councillor Pierre Maudet unveiled a plan code named operation Papyrus. The operation was negotiated with Switzerland’s federal government to regularise some of Geneva’s illegal immigrants, mainly domestic workers. Under the operation, 590 residence permits have already been granted. Pierre Maudet said “Papyrus is a roadmap for […]
Nearly 320,000 cross-border workers in Switzerland
20 Minutes. Foreign residents close to Switzerland’s borders continue to be drawn to the country to work. In 2016, the number of cross-border workers climbed by 11,300 to close to 320,000. After slowing, the number crossing into the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino is on the rise again. In 2011, there were 251,700 crossing into Switzerland […]
Scabies reappears in Swiss schools
20 Minutes. Scabies, a disease also known as the seven year itch, has reappeared in Swiss schools. The contagious skin infection is cased by a mite and is spread through skin contact and occasionally by sharing clothes. In French it is called gale. In german it goes by the name of Krätze. Symptoms include intense itching and a […]
Swiss fact: one in seven Swiss drink no alcohol
A recent report1 shows that around 1 in 7 Swiss drink no alcohol. Of the 13.8% who avoid alcohol completely, 6.5% have avoided it all their lives, while a further 7.3% are former drinkers who haven’t consumed alcohol over the last 12 months. The number of Swiss non-drinkers has climbed since 2011 when only 11.7% […]
New temperature record for Switzerland
Today, 23 February 2017, was the warmest February day ever recorded in Switzerland, according to Meteo News. Several weather stations on the Swiss plateau recorded temperatures exceeded 20 degrees. Normally, temperatures this high do not arrive in Switzerland until the end of April. Temperatures reached 21.2 degrees in Sion (1.4 degrees above the previous record), in […]
Film: a true story about a small boy accidentally separated from his family
24 February 2017. LION **** India, a small village, a very poor but loving family, and an incident that overturns all their lives. For the younger boy, around 4 or 5 – with the sweetest face and biggest eyes you’ll ever see – follows his brother to work, they become separated, and he ends up […]
Fasnacht: no ordinary weird Swiss festival with scary masks
The annual Fasnacht festival in Basel offers marching bands wearing monstrous masks, soup made from flour and onions, rude satirical poems and a parade starting at 4 in the morning. How can you resist? By Bill Harby A parade that starts at 4 in the morning? With piccolos? And drums? In winter? Really? Yes, and […]
