A bright spark in this dreary January in Geneva is certainly the Black Movie festival. Take “Silent Mist”, a visually mesmerising film shot on location in a remote Chinese village. “Still no electricity”, says the Director, Zhang Miaoyan, explaining the string of red lanterns that light up the movie and the night. A moving story, […]
Archives for January 2018
FILM: THE POST (The Pentagon Papers) – It could make you a better more hopeful person
26 January 2018. THE POST (The Pentagon Papers) **** Stephen Spielberg must be a good man. It’s simply obvious in his filmography: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND; SCHINDLER’S LIST; AMISTAD; LINCOLN; SAVING PRIVATE RYAN; BRIDGE OF SPIES; etc. etc. He always has his audience in mind – offering them worthwhile, historical themes, or thrilling […]
The Rhaetian Railway – probably Switzerland’s best train journey
Rounding another curve on the Bernina Express, sometimes we glimpse something – an ancient stone hut, a cliff naturally carved with a quizzical face, a shimmering snow-covered village – then wonder later if it was really there. Sitting comfortably in our train car with panoramic windows is a little like being on a slow-motion toboggan, […]
New poll on vote to axe Swiss broadcast fee suggests rejection
A poll run by the media group Tamedia shows a clear majority in favour of rejecting the initiative, dubbed “No Billag”, which aims to end Switzerland’s broadcasting fee. This poll follows one done in December 2017, which showed a majority in favour of the initiative. In December 57% were either fully or quite in favour […]
Some Swiss train platforms to go smoke-free in February
From 1 February 2018, Swiss Rail will start trialling smoke-free train platforms in Nyon, Neuchâtel, Basel, Zurich, Chur and Bellinzona. If successful the ban could become permanent and cover all Swiss Rail stations by the end of the year. Some smokers interviewed at Nyon train station by the newspaper Le Matin, described the move as […]
Fast-track citizenship starts in February for third generation foreigners
Last week Switzerland’s Federal Council announced that young foreigners whose grandparents immigrated to Switzerland or were born there, could get Swiss citizenship via a simplified procedure, starting on 15 February 2018, provided they meet certain requirements. 60.4% of Swiss voters agreed to this plan in a referendum on 12 February 2017. Swiss to vote on […]
Most Swiss against 1.3 billion franc EU payment, according to poll
A poll by Swiss media company Tamedia, suggests a majority of Swiss are against the CHF 1.3 billion payment the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, agreed to contribute towards EU payments to EU members in eastern Europe over 10 years. The poll results were reported in 20 Minutes. After agreeing the sum in November last year […]
The new immigration vote that could end free Swiss-EU migration
Last week the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) and Action for a neutral independent Switzerland (ASIN) began collecting the 100,000 signatures required to launch a new vote to limit immigration into Switzerland from EU and EFTA nations. The new initiative to limit immigration is less ambiguous than the one put to a vote on 9 February 2014. […]
Budget busting burgers – Swiss franc still the most overvalued
The Economist has just published its January 2018 Big Mac index, a light-hearted measure of whether currencies are under or overvalued. The underlying assumption is that a Big Mac is the same whether bought in Kiev or Chur, so any price difference must be due to the exchange rate. In January 2018, Swiss Big Macs […]
Further heavy snow and rain forecast to hit Switzerland
On 21 January 2018, Meteo News reported that Switzerland is expected to be hit by more heavy snow and rain over the next three days, which will add to the significant snow that has already fallen. The avalanche warning has been raised to 5, the highest level, across much of the Swiss Alps. Further roads […]