17 August 2018. WOMAN AT WAR **** (vo Icelandic) If you’re looking for a heroine, here is one in all her glory. Played by the excellent Halldora Geirhardsdottir, she is a real woman, a smart environmental terrorist, a choir leader on the side, and nimble as a gazelle…make that a reindeer. She’s a one-woman bow-and-arrow […]
Archives for 2018
EasyJet adds two new destinations from Geneva
EasyJet recently announced it will launch two new destinations from Geneva this coming winter. Four flights a week to Warsaw, Poland’s capital, will start on 28 October 2018 and run throughout the year. Three flights a week to Warsaw will also be available from Basel airport. Director Thomas Haagensen said that Warsaw is the 158th […]
Swiss farm job programme for asylum seekers a success
A new programme, based on a pilot project which ran for three years, has been launched. The programme will help asylum seekers to work on Swiss farms. Five Swiss cantons have signed up to the programme, which offers asylum seekers entry level farming apprenticeships. 12 have already signed up to start in August. The five […]
Heatwave affecting Swiss hydro
The heatwave has had a marked impact on Switzerland’s hydro landscape. However, not all regions have been affected in the same way. Hydro electric plants in lowland areas have seen production fall as river flows have declined. Guillaume Gros, head of production at Romande Energie, told RTS that some small low-lying turbines were switched off […]
Swiss municipality forced to grant citizenship to Iranian refugee
Becoming a Swiss citizen is a three layered process. Once certain requirements have been met, such as sufficient time in the country, evidence of integration, the ability to financially support oneself, and mastery of the local language, applications pass through three layers of approval: municipal, cantonal and federal. An application can fail at any one […]
Cause of fatal vintage plane crash in Switzerland remains a mystery
On Saturday, a plane constructed in 1939 crashed in the Alps while flying from Locarno to Dübendorf, just outside Zurich, leaving all 17 passengers and 3 crew dead. The Junkers JU-52 aircraft, flown by the company Ju-Air, crashed at 2,540 metres on the side of Piz Segnas in the Swiss canton of Graubunden. The aircraft, […]
Traffic cost Switzerland nearly 2 billion francs in 2015
Traffic cost the nation 1.9 billion francs in 2015, according to calculations by Switzerland’s Federal Office for Spatial Development (ARE). Most of the cost (69%) was time lost waiting in traffic. The cost of traffic related accidents accounted for a further 24%, and wasted energy (5%) and environmental costs (2%) made up the rest. Between […]
Switzerland bans new Audi cars from its roads
Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) has banned the registration of generation 7 Audi A6 and A7 diesel cars, which have been affected by emissions manipulation. The A6 and A7 3.0 diesel models, which are required to comply with Euro 6 standards, were found to have been equipped with illegal defeat devices affecting exhaust emissions. FEDRO […]
Swiss town engulfed in mudslide
On Tuesday evening, a flash flood of mud engulfed the Alpine town of Grugnay in the canton of Valais in Switzerland, according to RTS. High-altitude mud flows triggered by heavy storm rain hit the village at around 7:15 pm, according to the broadcaster. Some cars and houses were damaged and two roads were closed. The […]
FILM: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT – Action as we’ve never seen
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT ***1/2 For a complete turnabout, run to this movie and don’t ask why or how, just flow with the action! And glory be, this is action as we’ve never seen, even from the intrepid Tom Cruise, who is brilliant at performing his own dare-devil stunts and upping the thrills in each […]