The canton of Geneva takes the separation of state and religion, or laïcité, seriously. Article 3 of Geneva’s constitution, states that the government and its institutions should be secular, religiously neutral, not pay clerical salaries or subsidise any religious activity, while maintaining relations with religious communities. In 2016, the canton’s public schools were sent a […]
Geneva airport advises against travel on 21 June
On 21 June 2018, the pope will be at the Palexpo convention centre next to Geneva Airport. Because of this and the security accompanying it the airport warns that “access to the airport is not guaranteed” and recommends avoiding it unless absolutely necessary. The airport says that road access and parking will be very heavily […]
Most Swiss for neutrality and against EU membership
An annual survey on security by ETH in Zurich reveals widespread support Switzerland’s neutrality. Since 2015, support for the principle of neutrality has remained constant at 95%. 85% feel neutrality is inseparable from the Swiss concept of the state and 60% think Switzerland’s armed neutrality contributes to security and stability in Europe. In addition, 94% […]
Internships – Switzerland’s Young Socialists caught preaching one thing and practicing another
In collaboration with the Swiss union Unia, Switzerland’s Young Socialists have launched a protest against the exploitation of interns. To get on the career ladder, many young people feel compelled to take internships offering little or no pay. The Young Socialists are demanding interns be better paid. Recent data from the Federal Statistical Office shows […]
Hemingway and Fitzgerald in Switzerland
Basel-based Irish writer Padraig Rooney, whose recent book The Gilded Chalet, explores Switzerland’s relationship with American, British and other expatriate authors, looks at Hemingway’s and Fitzgerald’s own encounters with the Lake Geneva region. The war was over and the French franc cheap: twenty-five to the US dollar in the mid-twenties. Ernest Hemingway first breezed into […]
Europe’s most expensive hotels in Geneva, Paris and Zurich
Across the road from Lake Geneva, sits Geneva’s and the world’s most expensive hotel suite. The Hotel President Wilson’s Royal Penthouse Suite is reported to cost $83,500 per night – the price is not listed on the hotel’s website but costs this much according to CNN. For most of those planning to visit Geneva, this price […]
International aid – Switzerland gives less but still 8th most generous
A club of countries known as the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) together gave US$ 147 billion in international aid in 2017, 0.6% less than in 2016. The figure includes money spent on refugees. In percentage of GDP terms, the most generous nations were Sweden (1.01%), Luxembourg (1.00%), Norway (0.99%), Denmark (0.72%) and the UK (0.70%). […]
How a Swiss-American journalist ended up in court for defending French cultural heritage
In 1989, war correspondent Edward Girardet came face to face with Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden threatened to kill him. This time around it’s money and principle rather than his life that are at stake. On 4 April 2018, he’ll be in a French court defending himself against a defamation charge brought by a French […]
Tariq Ramadan – new testimony undermines alibi
This week, things took a turn for the worse for Tariq Ramadan. According to a report by Swiss broadcaster RTS, a witness contradicted an alibi given by the Swiss muslim academic. One of his accusers claims she was raped in Lyon during the afternoon of 9 October 2009. In opposition to this claim, Tariq Ramadan’s […]
Maker of the Sniper’s Choice, makes the news – but what is the Swiss company RUAG?
The Swiss company RUAG made the news last week when investigators were called in to look at information relating to the sale of ammunition. But what is this company? According to RTS, the investigation revealed contracts for the sale of ammunition to Russia that had not been properly declared, RUAG triggered the investigation itself when […]
