Around 10,000 people gathered at the Place de la Navigation in Ouchy, Lausanne yesterday evening to celebrate Switzerland’s first ever win in the Davis Cup’s 115-year history and to congratulate the players, above all Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer. They came straight to the Vaud capital off their flight from Lille, bearing the trophy with […]
Swiss precision in space
As the world celebrates the remarkable landing of the robotic Philae lander on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko ten years after it was launched from earth, scientists are looking forward to analysing the first panoramic and 3D shots of the comet’s landscape taken from ground level. The pictures will be taken by seven cameras developed in Neuchâtel by […]
The désalpe – she’ll be thundering down the mountain
The season of the “désalpe” is here again, when the cows led by La Reine come down from their summer pastures, where they have been feeding on lush grass and alpine flowers. The spectacle of hundreds of cows –giant bells round their necks, ornate floral bouquets on their heads – clattering through village streets at […]
Cheaper restaurants – not on the menu
Don’t uncork the champagne just yet. Finance minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf this week outlined the Federal Council’s response to the popular initiative “Stop discriminatory VAT in the restaurant business”, to be put to the vote on 28 September. For several reasons, she rejected the proposal of GastroSuisse, the hotel and restaurateurs association, to bring the standard […]
Pleasant shock for your wallet
Many Lausanne residents will have received a pleasant surprise with their latest electricity bill – a deduction of CHF 80 for every person, including children, in the household. This is in fact an annual subsidy from the commune to partly offset the cost of living in the city. It was introduced at the beginning of […]
Beware: Voracious pest
Your garden, terrace or balcony with its elegantly shaped box shrubs may be looking its best, but beware. The smart look of your home may be in jeopardy. Your decorative box shrubs may become the unwitting host and victim of the box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis), an unwelcome Asian invader with no natural predators. Originally […]