24 Heures. In the centre of Lausanne it is no longer possible to park from free between 12:30 and 13:30. The zone stretches from the city to the main train station and from Chauderon to Parc Mon-Repos. The area covers around 1,600 parks. While difficult to estimate, the city expects to collect an extra few hundred […]
What one Swiss university learned by following student smartphone wifi signals
Researchers followed students on the EPFL campus in Lausanne, Switzerland, for ten days, by tracking their mobile wifi signals. Thanks to help from IT services at the university, researcher Antonin Danalet was able collect information on the movements of 2,000 individuals via their wifi signals over a period of ten days. By linking wifi access point […]
Number of vacant homes rises again in Vaud
At 1 June 2017, 3,650 empty homes, of which 2,655 were for rent and 995 for sale, were on the market in Vaud. This brought the vacancy rate to 0.9%, a rise of 0.1% compared to the year before. This rise follows an increase of 0.1% in 2016 from a rate of 0.7% in 2015. […]
Two suspected terrorists arrested in Vaud
24 Heures. Two people were detained by the police on Saturday afternoon in the car park of a retail park in Aubonne in Vaud, Switzerland. The arrest was part of an antiterrorist operation, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. The police arrested a man and a woman at around 3pm. Members of the public told […]
Only 23% of those in one Swiss canton convinced there is life after death
Of those asked if there was life after death, in a survey published in June 2017, only 23% were sure there was. A further 19% said it was quite likely, while 33% said there was probably or definitely no life after death. A further 25% had no opinion on the subject. The Numero survey, conducted by the canton of Vaud’s […]
Vaud begging ban to go in to force despite opposition
20 Minutes. Four out of five judges from the canton of Vaud’s constitutional court rejected a call to do away with the canton’s law banning begging. Opposed by a group of political parties on the left, the law was passed by Vaud’s parliament, known as the Grand conseil, and became law in September 2016. The group opposing […]
Unemployment benefit scam rocks Vaud
24 Heures. Last week, the regional newspaper 24 Heures, uncovered a fraudulent scheme allegedly involving two workers from the union Unia, which may have cost Vaud’s social security system as much as CHF 3 million. The alleged fraud is centred on the construction industry, where bosses of small businesses along with two staff from the […]
Vaud cantonal election delivers status quo on low voter turnout
Despite Switzerland’s reputation for democracy, only 39% of eligible voters bothered to vote at Sunday’s cantonal election in Vaud. The election, which gives voters a chance to choose the canton’s 150-seat parliament (Grand Conseil) and who goes into the second round run off for the 7-member executive (Conseil d’Etat) on 21 May, delivered little change. […]
Woman fined for singing in the streets of Lausanne
20 Minutes. Walking through town listening to your favourite music and singing along to its tune is not something you would expect to end in court. For one 37 year old woman in Lausanne it did. On 1 June 2016, at around 6:30pm, the woman, singing to the tune “I feel good” by James Brown, was stopped […]
Vaud rejects plan to follow Geneva and give permits to illegal workers
Le Matin. Jean-Michel Dolivo put forward a motion for Vaud to follow Geneva and grant permits to illegal workers. Vaud’s cantonal parliament rejected the plan by 71 votes to 60. The proposal would have worked in a similar way to Papyrus, a plan unveiled in Geneva recently, which grants visas to illegal workers that meet […]