An internal EU commission letter says that without a framework agreement Swiss-EU agreements granting access to the EU single market will only be changed if it is in the EU’s interest, according to the newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) and the Keystone-SDA news agency. The letter dated 10 January 2019 and signed by Martin Selmayr, […]
Archives for 2019
Question of the week: should advertisers use social issues to sell stuff?
Last week, an advertiser offered the world a guide on male behaviour and how men should police each other when they get out of line. The advert was disliked by around 65% of raters. Those who liked it typically praised the advert’s content and the positive message it spread. Those disliking it generally objected to […]
CERN unveils plan for new super-sized collider
Over the next two years the possibility of a new particle collider will be discussed, according to a recent press release from CERN. The new particle accelerator would dwarf the existing one. 100km in circumference, it would form an underground circle containing an area more than three times the size of the canton of Geneva, […]
Swiss unemployment lowest in 10 years
Switzerland’s unemployment rate, now 2.6%, hasn’t been so low for 10 years, according to the latest figures from Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). A weakening of the Swiss franc helped boost Switzerland’s economic growth, creating more jobs. The unemployment rate among young workers (15-24) dropped 0.7% to 2.4% as did unemployment among the […]
Geneva continues to refuse school places to cross-border workers
Last year the courts invalidated the canton’s refusal to offer school places to children living in France. According to the newspaper Tribune de Genève, the canton continues to refuse these children places in its schools. In 2016, around 1,500 children living in France were going to school in Geneva. In 2017, things changed. 143 of […]
The Swiss town on the 2019 New York Times’ places-to-visit list
Every year the New York Times assembles a list of 52 recommended places to visit. This year it lists Vevey at number 49. 2019 is a big year for Vevey. It is the year of the Unesco-recognized Fête des Vignerons, an event held every 20 to 25 years. This spectacular wine festival, which began in […]
Swiss democracy continues to suffer from low participation
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2018 Democracy Index classified only 20 out of 165 countries as having fully functioning democracies in 2018. 14 were in Europe. Globally, democracy remained stable in 2018 according to the report. Only 4.5% of the world’s population (12% of countries) lives in a fully functioning democracy. Overall, the ranking shows a […]
Chateau d’Oex balloon festival gets set for take off
The 2019 Château-d’Oex International Hot Air Balloon Festival is close to launch. The festival, which brings together 60 pilots and balloons from 15 different countries, takes advantage of the exceptional ballooning conditions in this corner of the Alps at this time of the year. It kicks off on Saturday 26 January 2019. Created in 1979, […]
FILM: THE GREEN BOOK – This film is one of those greats. From its first scene.
18 January 2019. By Neptune THE GREEN BOOK ***** There were three films this year that I considered most memorable – the Icelandic WOMAN AT WAR, the Lebanese CAPHARNAUM and the Polish COLD WAR. Until I saw this film that simply blew me away. Probably the best of the year. So, what is a great […]
Question of the week: how can we reach the truth if we reject facts that challenge our beliefs?
In the book Thinking Fast and Slow, psychologist Daniel Kahneman reveals our tendency to avoid critical thought and to only to see what we want to see. Our minds are wired to cling to our current worldview to avoid being plunged into the chaos of open questions. It’s far safer, easier and more comfortable to massage […]
