24 Heures. Like many in the United States who defend loose gun laws, more and more Swiss are deciding guns will make them safer. Martin Boess, Director of the Swiss centre for crime prevention, disagrees. Compared to 2014, requests for permits to buy guns went up an average of 20% across 12 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons in […]
Billions of francs of unclaimed Swiss pensions – could some of it be yours?
24 Heures. You are working in Switzerland, find a new job in another country, leave in a whirlwind and forget to tell your work’s pension provider you are moving. If this sounds familiar then there could be a pot of forgotten Swiss pension money with your name on it sitting unclaimed in a special fund. […]
Swiss vote to tighten asylum rules on track for June
Le Matin. Changes to the laws around asylum in Switzerland are currently working their way through Switzerland’s parliament. The Swiss Peoples Party (UDC / SVP) does not like some of the changes and has now collected enough signatures to launch a referendum against them. The controversial changes include free legal assistance and new powers that will […]
2015’s worst film and two great ones
31 December 2015. Because of the Christmas holidays, the films have been piling up – so the reviews will have to be short. There are a variety of films – so you’ll need to know which to run to, and which ones to miss. Have a GREAT 2016 – hopefully a kinder, gentler year, if possible. And […]
2015, a turbulent year for Swiss equities
31 December 2015 – 2015 Swiss and global market roundup. Brought to you by Investec Switzerland. The SMI is expected to end the year largely unchanged (-1.84%), achieving a modestly better performance than the MSCI World (-3.58%) in 2015. However, the year was more turbulent than these figures suggest as share prices fluctuated wildly throughout 2015, dominated […]
Ten of our most popular stories in 2015
As 2015 draws to a close we pulled together ten of our most read stories this year. At the same time the Le News team wishes all of its readers the very best of wishes for 2016. 1. Government makes getting a Swiss passport harder In June 2014, Swiss citizenship requirements were tightened allowing only […]
Why there has been so little snow in the Swiss Alps this December
A Meteo Suisse spokesperson told Le Matin “there is no doubt that this is the hottest month since records started in 1864, especially at altitude”, while RTS reported that this December is set to be an average of 3.5 degrees above normal and the hottest since 1864. The previous December-record dates from 1868. In addition, 2015 has […]
Why Switzerland ranks near the bottom for working women
Earlier this year the Economist ranked OECD countries on workplace gender equality. Switzerland ranked near the bottom scoring last on one measure and third last on another, pegging it as the forth worst place for women to work. Only Turkey, Japan and South Korea are considered worse. The index covers 28 of the 34 OECD countries – Iceland, Mexico, […]
Stiffer rules for Swiss ticket cheats from January
A new law allows travellers caught without a valid train or bus ticket on Swiss public transport to be recorded in a national database from 1 January 2016. Train and bus staff across Switzerland will soon have access to a national database allowing them to identify those with a habit of cheating. Currently there is […]
Big rise in Swiss carbon tax from 1 January 2016
Swiss law requires big reductions in CO2 emissions by 2020. Reductions are below target, so from 1 January 2016 the government is increasing the tax from CHF 60 to CHF 84 per tonne of CO2 emitted as allowed by law. In particular, those who heat with gas and oil will pay more in 2016. Electricity […]
