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. […]
Swiss climber Ueli Steck found dead in Himalayas
Ueli Steck, a former carpenter and climber from Ringgenberg near Interlaken in Switzerland, was found dead on 30 April 2017 by other climbers near Nuptse, a 7,861 m peak close to Everest. Steck, known as the “Swiss machine”, was acclimatising before climbing Everest via the Hornbein route on the West Ridge of the world’s highest peak. The […]
Museum night – Geneva opens its museums for a night of festivities
20 – 21 May 2017 One Saturday evening a year, Geneva opens its museums, workshops, and gardens until midnight. This year, the event starts on the evening of Saturday 20 May 2017, runs into the night, and continues on Sunday the 21st. The event is spread over 31 locations, together offering 240 activities. Not to be missed, the event […]
Swiss no longer thinks two people are needed in the cockpit
20 Minutes. From Monday the airline will drop the rule requiring two people to be present in the cockpit at all times. A security audit showed that the measure, introduced in 2015, hadn’t improved safety. Pilots started criticising the rule at the beginning of 2016. The decision was taken after consultation among all of the airlines […]
New Swiss company tax reform plan well received in Brussels
The Swiss government’s company tax reform plans have been reborn after the last plan met with defeat in a popular vote on 12 February 2017. The new plan, dubbed “Tax proposal 17”, aims to avoid issues that bedeviled the last project. Last time many were concerned by the potential financial impact of lower company tax rates, and […]
Snow returns to Switzerland
Meteo Swiss. Yesterday, Meteo Swiss predicted snow, and this morning, many in Switzerland awoke to a sprinkling of white on the ground. The main areas affected are central and western Switzerland, in particular the Alp and pre-Alp regions. The snow is the result of opposing high and low level air currents. North of the Alps, […]
Swiss naturalisation to get much cheaper in Geneva
20 Minutes. For those wanting to become Swiss, Geneva will no longer charge based on income. For some the price will be a less than a third of what they’d pay now. On Wednesday, the cantonal government announced that the fees will change on 1 June 2017. Currently the total cost ranges from CHF 930 […]
Swiss have never moved as much as they did in 2015
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 […]
