BERN The Federal Council is seeking the same surveillance tools used by those who spy on Switzerland. If approved as expected by parliament later this year, Switzerland will have a new surveillance law giving intelligence services greater powers to tap the internet and private phone lines in the name of countering military and industrial espionage […]
E-cigarettes: helpful or harmful?
FOUNEX Many health and education experts feel that current regulations in Switzerland regarding electronic cigarettes do not go far enough, especially when it comes to protecting children under the age of 18. Last month, David Woods, headmaster at La Chataignerie international school in Founex (VD), sent a newsletter to parents warning about the easy availability […]
Combatting cross-border crime
GENEVA The Geneva and Annemasse authorities signed an agreement on 17 January, to create a joint police task force to facilitate the crackdown on criminal gangs operating cross-border in the Priority Security Zone (ZSP) created in early 2013. The ZSP includes Annemasse, Gaillard, Ambilly and the Canton of Geneva. The Geneva government said the new […]
Absinthe: the Green Muse
GENEVA For centuries, poets and artists lauded the strong liqueur, known as the “green fairy”, for its inspirational powers, while authorities banned it as a cause of madness, murder and moral degeneracy. There should be no concerns, however, about the drink’s 21st-century comeback. Legal in Switzerland since 2005, it was sanctioned in European Union countries […]
The Roma – begging for an answer
The number of Roma in Switzerland has increased significantly since the 2004 adoption of the EU’s right of the free movement of persons. As in other European countries, the result has been a hostile reaction from local inhabitants disturbed by the uncommon sight of beggars on their streets. A study by the University of Zurich, […]
Geothermal power: getting into hot water
Switzerland’s geothermal power cure – energy provided from underground sources – is nothing new in Switzerland. “Taking a cure” at a Swiss mountain thermal spa is a tradition that has been enjoyed by Europe’s elite for centuries. Only since the beginning of this century, however, has geothermal power begun to be taken seriously as a […]
Finishing school opens doors to men
GENEVA The times they are a changin’. Switzerland’s last traditional finishing school, the Institut Villa Pierrefeu in Glion above Montreux, has decided that the 21st Century may no longer merit young women being ‘finished’ in preparation for a good marriage. There is growing awareness that good manners can be good for business. With that in […]