Last week’s piece in Le News on US double taxation and the growing number of Americans relinquishing their citizenship has produced different reactions. These range from “exaggeration” by those who say complaining Americans are simply those who wish to “hide” their assets to “sadness” that US nationals should be obliged to hand over their passports […]
Identity and the cost of living abroad
The Independence Day celebrations for Canadians (1 July) and Americans (4 July) are reminders about identity. This is not always easy, particularly if one’s family consists of different nationalities with kids born in places such as Nairobi or Singapore, or attending school in Switzerland or France. How does one explain what it means to be […]
Exploring Roman Switzerland: Lessons for diversity
NYON Apart from having left Switzerland with an exceptional archaeological legacy, the ancient Romans are also a reminder for both Swiss and EU citizens of just how culturally diverse and open to trade and migration their empire was. “I don’t wish to romanticise, but Roman society was incredibly mixed with Romans, Greeks, Berbers, Frisians, Helvetics, […]
Cross-border car fines: lousy information
Last week’s front page story by Pamela Taylor on the risk of massive fines for cross-border driving with Swiss or EU-licensed vehicles has produced more vehement reader interest than any Le News story so far. It also appears that such problems are nothing new, but have been a relatively unknown fact of life for years. Furthermore, […]
Infringing Neutrality: The RAF in Switzerland (1940–45)
This 255-page book by Lake Geneva-based author Roger Anthone is more geared to military or history buffs, and makes a fascinating read for those intrigued by the role of Allied forces in Switzerland during World War II. As a neutral country, Switzerland was obliged to intern all Allied and Axis personnel, regardless of nationality, who […]
Mountains, bees and books
As long as the Swiss and many expats have their teams (German, English, Spanish, Portuguese…) still in play, the World Cup is impossible to ignore. So it’s refreshing to have outdoor enthusiasts, such as the two Lausanne women, one who climbed Everest, the other who base-jumped off the Matterhorn, remind us about other things, notably […]
The Lake Geneva region: A writers’ pole for creativity
Perched at the foot of the Jura mountains, the Maison de l’Écriture rises as a strident intrusion of modernity with its vaulting, white pillars, panoramic windows and perforated roof. Yet this is not the first time that a New Age phenomenon has imposed itself on the area. Back in the 1890s, when the Morges to […]
Lowest Swiss unemployment in 25 years
Bern With last month’s unemployment figures at 3% – the lowest in 25 years according to Bern’s Secretary of State for Economy (SECO) – Switzerland’s good economic prospects are proving increasingly attractive to foreign companies despite the gloom of the 9 February anti-mass immigration vote. Based on an Ernst & Young (which now calls itself […]
Swiss resorts: Primed for the summer – and beyond
LAUSANNE According to the World Tourism & Travel Council, the Swiss tourism industry should do well in 2014 with more visitors – and income – for the country. With the impact of climate change and growing competition from resorts elsewhere in the world, however, realising such improvement is not a given. Switzerland still needs to […]
Geneva: how to turbo boost the region
GENEVA Following growing curbs on Swiss banking, the migration vote and last month’s xenophobic surge in the European elections, is the Lake Geneva region taking appropriate steps to ensure a competitive economic edge? While both the cantons of Geneva and Vaud are increasingly pooling their resources – and ideas – it remains unclear as to […]
