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 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, […]
The world’s best restaurant is in Switzerland
Switzerland has two of the world’s top five restaurants according to recently published rankings by “La Liste”. The Schauenstein restaurant in the small town of Fürstenau, a village of around 300 people sitting at 650m in the mountains of Graubunden in Switzerland, came in at number five, and the Restaurant de l’Hôtel de Ville, in Crissier near […]
Could Switzerland language divisions ever divide it?
Christophe Büchi discusses the country’s language divisions and why we should worry about Italian-speaking Ticino. Long time correspondent in French-speaking Switzerland for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the journalist and writer is fascinated by the complex relationship between Switzerland’s French and German speakers. He spoke with Thibaut Kaeser of Echo magazine about Switzerland’s language divisions and […]
Switzerland’s coldest places are not where you’d expect
If you woke up in Switzerland on Tuesday morning to find temperatures of -5 or -10 outside, then you are living somewhere relatively warm. According to Meteo Centrale, whose website lists the 20 coldest places every night, winter has truly arrived in Switzerland. Eleven of the places in Meteo Centrale’s top 20 coldest sit at altitudes above […]
A look inside the IKEA houses Switzerland plans to use for refugees
20 Minutes. Instead of housing refugees in army tents, one Swiss canton has decided to experiment with flat-pack IKEA houses. They cost around CHF 1,000 and can be put up in four hours. With a floor area of 17.5 m2, each one is designed to shelter five people. One of the biggest problems with tents […]
5 myths about Switzerland
1. Swiss people work a lot An average Swiss worker spent 1,568 hours working in 2014, 11% fewer hours than the OECD average of 1,770. Workers in Greece (2,042), Portugal (1,857), Ireland (1,821), Italy (1,734) and the United Kingdom (1,677), all spent more hours at work. How Switzerland leads Europe on youth employment (Le New […]
Government makes getting a Swiss passport harder
20 Minutes. In June 2014, Swiss citizenship requirements were tightened allowing only those with permanent residency permits (e.g. a C permit) to apply, excluding anyone on a different permit such as a B permit. Yesterday the federal council issued a proposed ordinance which tightens requirements further. People receiving social assistance and a wider range of […]
Poke your head out of a Swiss train and it could get whacked by a broom
In the United States you might get sued for this. But this is Switzerland and Swiss Rail has decided that getting your head hit by a broom from time to time is far better than getting it knocked off by something harder like a tunnel entrance or a piece of construction equipment. How refreshingly practical. […]
First high powered particle collision photos from CERN
For the first time, on the night of 20 May 2015, protons collided in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN at the record-breaking energy of 13 TeV. These test collisions were part of the systems set up that includes adjusting the collimators that protect the machine and detectors from particles that stray from the […]
