On Wednesday, Switzerland’s Federal Council said it would stand behind the country’s winter Olympic bid to the tune of nearly one billion francs, according to newspaper 20 Minutes. The town of Sion, in Valais, is throwing its Olympic hat into the ring as the centerpiece for the 2026 winter games. Other cantons would also host […]
Meet Switzerland’s newest federal councillor
Yesterday, Switzerland’s federal assembly elected Ignazio Cassis as the federal council replacement to Didier Burkhalter, who resigned in June this year. Cassis was chosen by a majority of the federal assembly over Pierre Maudet (Geneva) and Isabelle Moret (Vaud) in a tightly contested race, receiving 125 of 244 valid votes in the second round. Cassis, a […]
Zug plans to drop French from school curriculum
Following in the footsteps of Thurgau, the canton of Zug is looking at a plan to remove French from the primary school curriculum. The argument is the same: language learning overload. Choosing to learn English as a second language makes sound practical sense in an increasingly global world, however in Switzerland it is not that […]
Swiss towns with the most jihadists
Tribune de Genève. The results of an investigation by the newspaper Tages-Anzeiger show where those identified as jihadists are based. Statistics published in May 2017 by Switzerland’s Federal Intelligence Service (FIS), show an estimated 88 individuals motivated by jihad had travelled from Switzerland since 2001. 74 are thought to have gone to Syria and Iraq, 13 to Somalia and 1 […]
Swiss town’s decision to change canton shows Switzerland’s complexity
Moutier, a largely French-speaking Swiss town of around 7,000 people, has voted to leave the canton of Bern and become part of the canton of Jura. Last Sunday, 51.7% of the nearly 90% of voters casting a ballot, voted to leave Bern and join Jura. Moutier is a commune in one of four districts that decided to remain […]
Swiss system being used to identify potential terrorists in Germany
Tribune de Genève. For several weeks Germany’s police have been using a method developed in Switzerland to identify possible terrorists. Developed by Jérôme Endrass, deputy head of the psychiatric psychological service at the office of justice of the canton of Zurich, the system involves police answering a series of questions on an individual based on […]
Didier Burkhalter’s replacement to be agreed by 20 September
20 Minutes. Late last week, Didier Burkhalter’s Liberal Party (PLR/FDP) announced its calendar for choosing someone to replace him after he announced his resignation on 14 June 2017. Switzerland will be kept guessing about the new leader through the summer, finding out only on 20 September 2017, one month and 10 days before Mr. Burkhalter finishes on […]
New initiative to keep foreign workers out of Switzerland
Le Matin. On 15 June 2017, one day after kicking off the job of collecting the signatures required to call a referendum, the text for a new plan to limit access to Switzerland’s job market was presented to the Swiss government. Before a Swiss popular vote or referendum can be launched 100,000 valid signatures must be collected […]
Swiss Federal Councillor and foreign minister Didier Burkhalter resigns
Today, Swiss Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter announced his resignation. One of seven in Switzerland’s executive, he became known around the world, during his stint as the nation’s president, when a photo of him of him standing alone on a public train platform waiting for his train was Tweeted. The photo was taken by Le Temps journalist […]
Forty new Swiss papal guards sworn in
Over the weekend, 40 new Swiss guards were sworn in at the Vatican in Rome. They swore to sacrifice their own lives to protect the life of the Pope if required. Pontifical Swiss Guards have served since 1506. The new guards swore to “…faithfully, loyally and honorably serve the Supreme Pontiff Francis and his legitimate successors, […]
