20 Minutes. In Switzerland, more than a million people moved house in 2015, 12.1% of the population. The figure has never be higher, according to a report called Immo-Monitoring published by Wüest Partner. The home moving covered around 490,000 dwellings. Of those who moved, 344,000 stayed in the same commune (Gemeinde) while the other 659,000 changed […]
New 50 Swiss franc note wins international beauty contest
The new 50 franc note, launched last year, was voted the best new bank note in 2016 by the International Bank Note Society, a society founded in 1961. Nearly 120 new banknotes were released worldwide in 2016. The Swiss 50 only narrowly beat the Maldive Islands 1000 Rufiyaa bill, Argentina’s 500 Peso jaguar, and the […]
Vote launched to legalise cannabis in Switzerland
Tribune de Genève. Last week a group called “Legalize it“, launched an initiative to have cannabis legalised. They now have 18 months to get 100,000 signatures, the minimum number required to qualify for a referendum, known as a popular initiative. Unlike a failed referendum on the subject in 2008, this one includes a ban on sales […]
On Saturday crowds took to the streets of Geneva in support of science
People around the world marched for science on Saturday. Some of the slogans, such as “There is no planet B”, “I’m with her…” and an arrow pointing at a picture of the earth, or “Alternative facts are the square root of minus one”, were humorous, however the message was serious: science underpins our success as a species […]
Snow up to one metre forecast for parts of Switzerland
Meteo Swiss, has posted a warning of snowfall of between 70 and 100 cm in parts of the Swiss Alps above 1,800 metres over the next 24 hours. The warning applies to the region stretching between Andermatt and St. Moritz, although it extends further west of Andermatt and further east of St. Moritz. The affected […]
Euro gains against Swiss franc on French election result
The official French presidential election results place Emmanuel Macron (23.8%) and Marine Le Pen (21.5%) in first and second places in the first round of the French presidential race. The run off between these two will take place on 7 May 2017, when most forecasters expect Macron to win and become France’s next president. How votes […]
Why Facebook needs to be replaced
Michael Casey, one of the speakers at yesterday’s TEDx in Lausanne, thinks the world needs something better than Facebook. Casey, a former Wall Street Journal journalist and cryptocurrency expert based in New York, thinks the social media giant now has so much impact on our lives it needs to become a public good, not something […]
Close to a fifth of Swiss workers think corruption widespread, says survey
A survey conducted by the advisory firm EY shows a rise in perceived corruption in the workplace in Switzerland. 18% of workers surveyed by the firm in Switzerland now think bribery and corruption are widespread in the country. While high this figure is well below the 33% average for Western Europe and the 51% average […]
International Geneva to get a 3 billion franc facelift
Tribune de Genève. Plans are afoot to invest close to CHF 3 billion across 15 sites across Geneva over the next few years, according to Tribune de Genève. Not only will existing buildings be renovated and extended, schools, apartments and new transport infrastructure will be added. “Over the next five years, we are going to invest […]
Big bonuses contrast big losses at Credit Suisse, despite bonus haircuts
The management of Credit Suisse Credit Suisse reduced their bonuses by 40% after severe criticism from shareholders. The reduction amounts to around CHF 20 million. Some are still outraged. The group made a loss of CHF 2.7 billion in 2016 and one of CHF 2.9 billion in 2015. In an interview published in Le Matin […]
