11 year-old chess prodigy, Johann Williams, has won the Swiss Under 12 Rapid Chess Competition held last weekend in Solothurn. Johann, who lives in Morrens near Lausanne has been creating a stir in chess circles over the last couple years with a series of superb performances at competitions around the country. Suisse romande players have […]
Swiss property prices on the way down
Credit Suisse’s recent annual property report describes the downward forces on Swiss property prices and explains why a soft landing is not guaranteed. The report also looks at the cities and regions most at risk. Swiss franc shock Swiss real estate was already poised to head into the downward part of the property cycle before […]
Never trust the advice of friends and family
This was one piece of advice to would be entrepreneurs at the Innovation Forum at EPFL in Lausanne last night. “Innovation” that increasingly over-used and tired word is one much bandied around by those who observe from behind the safety of their corporate desks, academic podia and political soap boxes. Last night the word won […]
Solar Impulse breaks a new record
Ahmedabad – March 10, 2015: After an eleven hour pit-stop in Muscat (Oman) Bertrand Piccard took the controls from André Borschberg and continued onwards over the Arabian sea to India. Solar Impulse landed in Ahmedabad (India) in the state of Gujarat at 11:25pm local time (5:55pm GMT) after 13 hours and 20 minutes of flying reaching an altitude […]
French-speaking Swiss, Nidwalden loves you!
Voters in Nidwalden last Sunday rejected a UDC Nidwalden sponsored initiative that would have resulted in French being dropped from the canton’s primary school curriculum. 61.7% voted “No”. The parliament of Nidwalden rejected the initiative ahead of the vote on the grounds it would negatively impact national cohesion and advised voters to vote against the […]
Credit Suisse’s new CEO’s early life and career
Today Credit Suisse announced the appointment of a new CEO, Tidjane Thiam. He is currently the Group Chief Executive of Prudential, the British financial services firm made famous in 1850s England by its army of door-to-door salesmen who sold insurance policies to the working class population for premiums as low as one penny. These salesmen became […]
Geneva’s bread world’s third most expensive – Economist Intelligence Unit
According to the Worldwide Cost of Living 2015 survey published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), one kilogram of bread in Geneva costs US$ 7.48. This is the third most expensive of the world’s top ten most expensive cities. Only Paris and Seoul have more expensive bread, costing US$ 8.83 and US$ 13.91 per kilogram respectively. After looking […]
Lift off – Solar impulse is on its way around the world
Abu Dhabi, UAE – March 9, 2015: The Solar Impulse team in Abu Dhabi guided by Mission Control in Monaco, saw Solar Impulse 2 take-off this morning. André Borschberg flew the first stage of the round-the-world flight to Muscat in Oman. Piccard will take the reins in Oman and continue onward to Ahmedabad (India). Co-pilots Piccard and […]
Swiss eco tax and child benefit tax exemption votes rejected
Both of these votes delivered firm “No” results. Child benefit tax exemption Only 24.6% voted “Yes” for the proposed tax exemption for child benefit payments. The voting difference between the city and the countryside was low with around 3% more rural “Yes” voters. French speaking “Yes” voters were only 7% ahead of voters in the Swiss German […]
Geneva-based author Paulo Coelho slams Swisscom on Facebook
What can you do when you have a nasty experience with a phone company and can’t get things fixed? If you are the world famous Geneva-based Brazilian author Paulo Coelho with over 26 million Facebook followers you can do quite a lot! Early this morning he took to Facebook to vent his frustration at the […]
