2 November 2018. By Neptune Do not miss Geneva’s own International Film Festival – GIFF – running from 2 to 10 November 2018. Click here for more information. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY **1/2 This is obviously a must for fans of the band Queen and its charismatic, strutting singer, Freddie Mercury. A detailed musical biopic, it reveals […]
Archives for 2018
FILM: GIFF – Geneva’s own international film festival
Do not miss Geneva’s own International Film Festival – GIFF – running from November 2 -10. Its innovative director Emmanuel Cuenod and his team have put together an ambitious program of 164 works, including exciting films in competition, upcoming TV series, short films, digital and web novelties, moments for children and families, and important guests […]
8 things you must do if you’re running a Swiss business
Brought to you by Winbiz online accounting for Swiss businesses. Once a business is established, there are many ongoing administrative tasks required by law. The main ones are covered in this article. The first few relate to employees and the rest to taxation and other essential administrative tasks. 1. Social insurance taxes Businesses that employ people, including […]
Switzerland leads the world on taxing carbon, despite gaping holes
Taxing carbon emissions pushes polluters to find less polluting alternatives. However, in some countries, like Australia, carbon tax makes for hot politics. Some in the Australian government described it as “a great big tax on everything” before removing it in 2013. In Switzerland, where politics inches forward based on consensus, more durable progress has been […]
Switzerland’s religious decline continues – numbers by canton
Time and history have revealed almost countless Gods. However, in some countries, more and more people are choosing to believe in none. In Switzerland, where religious freedom is set out in the constitution, the portion of the population with no religious affiliation is approaching 25%, according to figures for 2016 published this year. In Switzerland, religion […]
Switzerland expecting a 2.5 billion franc federal surplus for 2018
The latest figures forecast Switzerland’s federal spending for 2018 will be CHF 0.9 billion less than expected. This and higher than expected receipts of CHF 1.3 billion add up to an extra CHF 2.2 billion on top of an original budget surplus of CHF 0.3 billion, bringing the total forecast federal surplus to CHF 2.5 […]
Swiss still world’s richest
According to the annual wealth report produced by Credit Suisse, Switzerland leads on wealth per adult with US$ 530,240, comfortably ahead of second-placed Australia where the figure is US$ 411,060. The US is third with US$ 403,060. During the twelve months to mid-2018, aggregate global wealth rose by US$ 14.0 trillion to US$ 317 trillion, […]
Swiss temperatures set to drop significantly
According to Swiss Meteo temperatures are set to drop significantly over the weekend, with daily highs dropping by around 10 degrees to around 7 degrees across most of Switzerland north of the Alps. On Tuesday the snow line could fall as low a 1,000 metres in western Switzerland, according to the forecaster. It could be […]
Self-employment declining in Switzerland
The percentage of Switzerland’s workers working for themselves has been slowly declining. In 2010, 13.7% of workers were self-employed. By 2017, the figure was 12.8% – self-employed includes those working as independents and those working for companies they own. Swiss (14.5%) are far more likely to be self-employed than foreigners (7.9%). This is partly explained […]
FILM: PIG – a surreal comedy thriller from Iran
26 October 2018. By Neptune KHOOK (Pig) ***1/2 (vo Farsi) A surrealistic comedy/thriller out of Iran? Is that even possible? Well, it is for actor/director Mani Haghighi who has been breaking the cinematic rules of his country in his previous films such as the intriguing “Modest Reception” or “A Dragon Arrives!”. After having often mixed […]