24 Heures. On 27 September 2016, the canton of Vaud decided to ban begging after the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) launched an initiative to make it illegal. Vaud’s state government voted for the move with 60 votes for, 56 against, and 5 abstentions. In response to the ban the Socialist Party and others started collecting signatures […]
What you call Lake Geneva really does matter, according to a poll
To non-French speakers the notion might seem odd. In English the big blue watery thing in Western Switzerland has only one name: Lake Geneva. And in German it is der Genfersee. Well in French it is not that simple. Lausanne’s student radio station Fréquence Banane, ran a poll on their Facebook page that was picked up by […]
Fatal Vaud police shooting now under investigation
On Monday, Vaud police confirmed that a man had been fatally shot by a police officier on Sunday evening. In a police communiqué they said that two police teams had responded to a call regarding a disruptive tenant in a building in the town of Bex in Vaud, Switzerland. When the individual rushed towards them with […]
Swiss fact: Zurich has Switzerland’s sixth highest percentage of foreign residents
In 2015, 25.5% of Switzerland’s population were foreign, or one in four. However, foreigners were not spread evenly across the country. The canton with the highest percentage of non-Swiss living within its borders was Geneva, where 42.1% of the population lived without a Swiss passport. Next on the list were the cantons of Basel-City (36.2%), […]
Thailand’s King Bhumibol’s life in Lausanne, Switzerland
88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand died today. Born in Cambridge in the US on 5 December 1927, while his father was studying public health at Harvard University, he later spent nearly 18 formative years in Lausanne. Roughly a year after arriving in Thailand in 1928, his father died of kidney failure. Then in 1933, […]
Video of Swiss slack line walker crossing between two mountain peaks
The video below, by Sean Charlton White, shows Raphael Bacot, from Lausanne, on one of his attempts to cross between the 2,331 m Tour d’Ai, and 2,326 m Tour de Mayen, on a slackline. Windy Highline Leysin | Raphael Bacot from Sean Charlton White on Vimeo. Amazingly, he manages to stay on his feet despite the strong wind. […]
Begging banned in Swiss canton of Vaud
Le Matin. The canton of Vaud decided to ban begging after the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) launched an initiative to make it illegal. Vaud’s state government voted in favour of the move on Tuesday, by 60 votes for, 56 against, and 5 abstentions, according to the newspaper Le Matin. A referendum would achieve nothing further. […]
Man dies after kicking a train in Lausanne
According to Vaud Police, around 5pm on Saturday a man died in an accident at Lausanne train station in Switzerland. After kicking a departing train, he lost his balance and fell between the moving train and the platform dying immediately. The Police were advised around 5pm. Initial reports said that a man had kicked a train […]
Top Swiss chef found dead
20 Minutes. He was supposed to be in Paris this Monday for the launch of this year’s Michelin Guide but never arrived. The head of one of three 3 Michelin starred restaurants in Switzerland, the Frenchman Benoît Violier was found dead on Sunday morning. According to the police, Violier a keen hunter, appears to have […]
David Bowie’s life in Switzerland
David Bowie died on 10 January 2016 two days after his 69th birthday. His death was announced on his Facebook page. January 10 2016 – David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with… Posted by David Bowie on Sunday, 10 January 2016 Tributes to the artist have flooded […]