According to the newspaper Le Matin, the municipality of the city of Lausanne has a tradition of planting a tree when a baby is born, something it has been doing for 17 years. The “one tree one child” programme is intended to create a connection between the city’s residents and local forests and promote environmentalism. […]
Swiss yellow vests protest a flop
On 5 January 2019, a Swiss version of the recent gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protest in France was born. The plan, publicized on social media, was to meet at various train stations around the country and take the train to Switzerland’s capital Bern to protest. However, in Geneva, only three people turned up, according to […]
50 tonnes of plastic ends up in Lake Geneva every year
Every year around 50 tonnes of plastic ends up in Lake Geneva, according to study mandated by the Association pour la sauvegarde du Léman (ASL). Most plastic comes from litter and from plastic in rivers flowing into the lake. Only 10% of this total plastic leaves the lake via the Rhone river. The rest remains […]
Famous Swiss vegetarian restaurant opens in Lausanne train station
On 7 December 2018, the restaurant chain Tibits, which has eight restaurants in German-speaking Switzerland, and one in London, opens its first restaurant west of the rösti graben*, in French-speaking Switzerland. Ahead of the launch of their first restaurant in 2000, three Swiss brothers, Christian, Daniel and Reto Frei, who had dreamt of creating quality […]
Vaud begging ban start date announced
Vaud’s government announced the canton’s ban on street begging will begin on 1 November 2018, according to the newspaper Le Matin. From this date, anyone caught begging in the canton will risk fines of CHF 50 to CHF 100. Anyone organizing dependents or people under 18 to beg will face fines of CHF 500 to […]
Begging ban upheld by Switzerland’s highest court
In September 2016, the government of the Swiss canton of Vaud introduced a law banning begging across the canton. Unhappy with the ban a group made up of religious groups and political parties on the left have been challenging the law ever since. In 2017, they approached Vaud’s constitutional court where 4 out of 5 […]
Vaud caps health insurance premiums at 12% of income
Starting in September 2018, health insurance premiums in excess of 12% of income in the canton of Vaud will be covered by the government. From the beginning of 2019, this percentage will be reduced to 10%, increasing the number of people who qualify and the size of the subsidies, according to the newspaper Le Matin. […]
Vaud plans tax cuts
Last week, Vaud’s government announced a plan for future tax cuts. The residents of Vaud are among the highest taxed in Switzerland. In 2016, a single person in Lausanne earning CHF 100,000 paid CHF 16,050 in cantonal and communal tax on top of CHF 1,840 of federal tax. This was the fourth highest across all […]
Switzerland loses a newspaper
Born as the La Tribune de Lausanne in 1893, the newspaper Le Matin, will roll off printing presses for the last time on 21 July this year, announced its owner Tamedia today. The newspaper, which lost CHF 6.3 million last year, will lay off 41 staff and continue as a digital publication. Over the last decade the paper […]
Extremist vows terrorist attacks in Lausanne and Geneva
Last week, the newspaper Le Temps reported on mobile phone messages that suggest there were plans for terrorist attacks in Lausanne and Geneva. One message, sent via Snapchat from the phone of a 28-year old man from Annemasse in France, read: “We are going to blow ourselves up in Lausanne and in a church in […]
