After a public consultation where 84% of 4.6 million people across the EU called for an end to daylight saving, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said millions “believe that in future, summer time should be year-round, and that’s what will happen”. The European Parliament said it is “crucial to maintain a unified EU time regime”. […]
Archives for August 2018
Paddling for cancer – dragon boat racing on Lac de Joux this Sunday
This Sunday, dragon boat teams will take to the waters of the picturesque Lac de Joux to battle it out in a race to raise money and awareness for cancer support in Switzerland. There are two categories of teams: corporate and open. Each team requires a minimum of 16 paddlers, four of which are female. […]
Young Swiss far less worried tech will take their jobs than in other countries
A recent report shows only 34% of young Swiss are concerned the jobs they take will eventually disappear compared to 79% in the US, 74% in Brazil and 76% in Singapore. The main worry is the impact of rapid technological change. Fear levels are mirrored in the response to another question: what kind of job […]
Costs of owning a home in Switzerland could be set to rise for some
Currently, home owners in Switzerland must pay tax on fictional rent, calculated based on a home’s size and location. At the same time home owners get to deduct mortgage interest and home maintenance costs from their taxable income. The system was designed to bring the taxation of home owners into line with that of renters. […]
After the Genoa bridge collapse, how safe are Swiss flyovers?
On 14 August 2018 a viaduct in Genoa collapsed killing 43 people. Switzerland’s national road network, which covers 1,840 km, contains 4,548 road bridges and viaducts. The highest, the Mentue bridge, is 113 m above the ground, and the longest, the Yverdon viaduct, is 3,155 m long. Both are in the canton of Vaud. Another […]
CERN makes a big breakthrough
On 28 August 2018, six years after the discovery of the Higgs boson, physicists at CERN unveiled their latest breakthrough. The Standard Model of particle physics predicts that about 60% of the time a Higgs boson will decay to a pair of bottom quarks. CERN has just announced that this decay has at last been […]
Geneva – minimum school leaving age raised to 18
Starting this school year, young people in Geneva must stay in the education system until the day they turn 18. The old minimum leaving age was 15. The move is the result of a popular vote in October 2012 when 54.1% voted in favour of changes to the canton’s constitution containing the plan. The aim is […]
Swiss job numbers up but there are too few qualified workers
In the second quarter of 2018, the number of jobs in Switzerland rose to 5.048 million, a 2.1% increase on the second quarter of 2017. Regions rising the most were Lake Geneva (+3.0%), north west Switzerland (+3.0%), central Switzerland (+2.4%) and Zurich (+2.1%). Rises in job numbers in eastern Switzerland (+1.6%), Mittelland (+1.3%) and Ticino […]
Swiss commutes get longer and slower
As the summer holidays wrap up, many will be getting back into their regular trip to work. The number of people commuting in Switzerland reached a record 3.9 million in 2016, a whopping 34% more than in 1990. In addition, the average Swiss commuting distance increased. in 2016, it was 14.8 km one way, 1.9 […]
FILM: BLACKKLANSMAN – true story of a black police officer infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan
24 August 2018. BLACKKLANSMAN ***1/2 Spike Lee has been on the warpath against discrimination and the continued lack of true equality for his black brothers and sisters since the beginning of his career back in 1979. Rightfully so. His determination and talent have kept him on the radar all these years, with multi-awarded films such […]