On 11 October 2018, Governments of 181 countries and the European Union met in Geneva for the 8th conference of the parties to the global tobacco treaty, formally called the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The tobacco industry has a history of using legal threats to intimidate governments into abandoning the […]
Geneva border crossing offers fast lane to those sharing a ride
Cars with more than one person in them crossing into Geneva via the customs post at Thônex-Vallard now have a lane reserved for them, according to the newspaper Tribune de Genève. A special lane, reserved for cars carrying multiple passengers, is in place from 6:00 to 9:00am and 3:30 to 6:30pm. In the morning the […]
Switzerland slides significantly in expat country ranking
A recent survey suggests Switzerland might be losing its attractiveness as a place for foreigners to live and work. Switzerland fell 17 places from 27th to 44th in the ranking of 68 countries done by the networking company Internations. Switzerland’s overall ranking is a mix of good and bad. 78% of expats in Switzerland said […]
CERN makes a big breakthrough
On 28 August 2018, six years after the discovery of the Higgs boson, physicists at CERN unveiled their latest breakthrough. The Standard Model of particle physics predicts that about 60% of the time a Higgs boson will decay to a pair of bottom quarks. CERN has just announced that this decay has at last been […]
Geneva set to vote on maintaining public spending in the face of company tax reform
An initiative entitled: zero losses, was filed this week in Geneva. It aims to ring fence current public spending in the face of future company tax reform. The initiative gathered 9,147 signatures, more than the 7,840 required. Under pressure from the OECD and the EU, Switzerland is being forced to make major changes to its tax […]
Swiss air traffic control strike cancelled
An air traffic control strike scheduled for 23 July 2018, has been cancelled, according to RTS. The air traffic control union Skycontrol and Skyguide, the company that employs air traffic controllers at airports in Geneva, Sion, Bern and Lugano, restarted talks on Tuesday with help from CRCT, the canton of Geneva’s labour relations organisation. In […]
Air traffic control strike planned in Switzerland
On Tuesday, the union Skycontrol, presented a plan for a strike in July. Skycontrol represents some workers working for the air traffic control company Skyguide, which operates at airports in Geneva, Sion, Bern, and Lugano. The strike would run from Monday 23 July until Friday 27 July 2018. A tweet from Skycontrol sets out the […]
Speed limits reduced in France
From 1 July 2018, speed limits on some French roads are lower. On 9 January 2018, France’s government decided to cut the speed limit from 90 km/h to 80 km/h on some roads. The new speed limit applies to the more than 400,000 kms of two-way roads with no dividing line. Around 11,000 speed signs […]
Pope’s visit to Geneva could create 1 million franc deficit
The Pope’s 21 June 2018 visit to Geneva is expected to cost CHF 2.2 million, according to RTS. These costs, which are spread over the rental of the venue and security, must be covered by the host diocese. Given the Vatican’s late announcement of the visit (in March 2018), local church leaders were not given […]
Geneva – school ramadan recommendations spark outcry
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 […]
