Everyone has a story. Our series, “My Swiss Story” looks at lives in Switzerland. With a Japanese mother and Swiss father who met in England, it’s no surprise that Olivia Raths loves to travel with her husband (they met as children) and their young daughter. Just returning from a 7-week family adventure in San Francisco, […]
Geneva wants to limit Airbnb rentals to 60 days a year
The canton wants the platform to place limits on its use to put the brakes on commercial operators. The 60 day limit was set by Geneva’s State Council. Antonio Hodgers, State councillor in charge of housing told Tribune de Genève that renting on the platform had become a real business for some and that this […]
Swiss parliamentarians refuse to give up free first class travel
Several years ago Switzerland made international news for its leaders’ use of public transport, something aided by the free first class train passes given to Swiss members of parliament. Last week, Swiss parliamentarians voted to keep their first class train passes, with 154 votes in favour and 28 against. Despite being a vote akin to […]
Driverless buses spotted in Geneva
Last Friday two driverless vehicles painted with the TPG’s logo, the acronym for Geneva’s public transport, were spotted at Palexpo, the location of the Geneva International Motor Show. Le Salon de l’auto en mode autonome ! Profitez de votre visite au Salon pour peut-être avoir l’occasion de monter à bord du véhicule autonome des tpg […]
Switzerland – a definition of middle class
A recent survey calculates 60.1% of Switzerland’s population was middle class in 2015, a figure that has remained broadly stable since 1998, reaching its highest in 2009 (61.3%) and lowest in 2013 (56.8%). But what is middle class in Switzerland? According to Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office, it is anyone living in a household with a […]
Swiss politicians with links to health sector can still fully participate in health commissions
Lukas Reimann, a parliamentarian and member of the Swiss Peoples Party (UDC/SVP), fought to have parliamentarians paid by health companies partially excluded from government commissions dealing with health issues. He thinks vested interests are behind high health premiums and that cartels must be broken. According to him 23 out of 25 of the members on […]
Plan to increase fines for cyclists in Switzerland
If you run a red light in a car it costs CHF 250. On a bike it costs CHF 60. Other cycling fines, such as riding with no hands on the handlebar (CHF 20) and riding on the pavement (CHF 40) are also comparatively low. Hans-Peter Portmann, a federal councillor from Zurich wants this changed, […]
Geneva – investigators now actively hunting for welfare fraudsters and tax cheats
The team, which has been operating since the beginning of March, is hunting for people on welfare who might be working or have undeclared assets, according to 20 Minutes. In addition, it is looking for those living in the canton but pretending to live somewhere else like Monaco, Dubai or another Swiss canton. Last year […]
My Swiss Story – leaving the flip-flops behind and returning to Switzerland
This week we spoke to Simone Aïda Baur, an interior designer who runs her own design business and a blog offering design tips. She was born and grew up in Basel, and now lives in Zurich. Her other passion is travel. She’s lived in seven countries, speaks six languages, and especially loves the Caribbean – last […]
How hot politics in the Balkans slowed the clock on your oven
Switzerland’s power grid is part of a large pool of ebbing and flowing electricity spanning 25 countries, known as the Continental European (EC) power grid. Enough electricity must be fed into it to keep it at a stable frequency. The EC’s magic number is 50 Hz. Maintaining this requires a carefully coordinated trans-national balancing act. […]
