In September 2010, Simonetta Sommaruga was elected to Switzerland’s seven member executive. She joined Micheline Calmy-Rey, Doris Leuthard and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf along with three male members: Didier Burkhalter, Ueli Maurer and Johann Schneider-Ammann, creating the first female executive majority since the creation of the Federal Council in 1848. All four of these women have served as […]
Deadline for overseas US voter registration fast approaching
The US presidential election is on 8 November 2016. Overseas voters from some US states have only until 8 October to register. A full list of state registration dates can be found here. Most recent polls put Democratic contender Hillary Clinton in the lead, however a 12 September poll by the Los Angeles Times shows Clinton […]
Swiss police search the house of train attacker
Tages Anzeiger. Around 2:20pm on 13 August 2016, a 27 year old man attacked passengers on a train travelling through the St. Gallen Rhine Valley as the train approached the town of of Salez, according to the Swiss-German newspaper Tages Anzeiger. Salez is in the Swiss canton of St. Gallen, close to the border with […]
What Switzerland must do in the face of terrorism
Tribune de Genève. After the terrorist attack in Nice, Geneva state councillor in charge of security, Pierre Maudet, is calling for better police training in the face of the danger posed by jihadists. He told the Swiss newspaper Schweiz am Sonntag, that specialised antiterrorism training of police personnel is required so officers can neutralise terrorists immediately when […]
Could foreigners be required to do Swiss military service?
Requiring foreign residents to undertake military service is one option explored in a government sponsored report published last week. The current system requires all able young male Swiss citizens to do military service. In 1985 there were around 45,000 eligible men. By 2014 this number had dropped to about 37,000. Estimates for 2035 are between 36,000 […]
Photos of the inside of a new Swiss prison
After investing CHF 21.8 million on transformation and renovation work, a prison in La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel, now has 102 new prison cells. On 18 March 2008, the canton’s leaders voted unanimously to invest in the project to transform existing buildings, some as old as 130 years, into a new prison facility. […]
No laughing matter – French satirist makes fun of Switzerland’s president
The French satire news show Le Petit Journal recently made fun of a speech made by Swiss president Johann Schneider-Ammann. The speech, made to commemorate Switzerland’s day of the sick on 1 March 2016, recommends laughter to those suffering from illness. The message however, is delivered with no trace of humour. This absence of humour now has […]
Swiss vote to automatically expel foreign criminals. Sensible or perverse?
In 2010, 52.9% of Swiss voters agreed that foreigners convicted of certain crimes should be deported. Following the vote, in March 2015, Switzerland’s parliament approved laws enacting the measure. The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), the vote’s organiser, cried foul, claimed the new laws watered down the original text, and proposed a more rigid formulation that voters […]
Swiss vote: the pros and cons of a new Alpine road tunnel
It is voting season again in Switzerland. On the Sunday 28 February 2016 Swiss citizens get to vote on four proposals. The first is to decide whether to build a second Gotthard road tunnel or not. The current Gotthard road tunnel runs nearly 17km under around one kilometre of Alpine rock from Göschenen in the German-speaking […]
The diet and beliefs that disqualified one man from Swiss military service
20 Minutes. For some, exclusion from compulsory military service would be great news. For one 19-year-old from Valais in Switzerland it came as a huge disappointment. He sees Military service as something that brings valuable experience. Unfortunately for him he was declared unfit for service. Why? Because he is a vegan and won’t eat meat […]
