Planning for the future? Of course you are. We all are. But a solid plan needs to be based on a vision of how the future might change. How solid is your vision? Most organizations rely on projections or forecasts to try and get a handle on the way things will develop in the future. […]
Blatter to stand for fifth Fifa term – England not supportive
Sepp Blatter (78) has confirmed he will stand as Fifa president for a fifth term next year despite repeatedly denying that he would do so. Blatter claims that the support expressed by most national associations at Fifa’s congress in São Paulo made him reconsider. Several Fifa members, including England, state that they will not support […]
Swiss organ donor shortage
Every year 100 people in Switzerland die due to lack of an organ transplant, but the country’s nationwide organ shortage could now be reduced. A new smartphone app developed by Jocelyn Corniche, an anaesthetist at Lausanne University Hospital, and Swisstransplant, informs emergency-room staff that the phone’s owner is a registered organ donor – even if […]
WHO demands e-cigarette bans and marketing restrictions
Much to the irritation of the tobacco industry, including corporate giants such as Philip Morris in Switzerland, the World Health Organization is demanding that governments ban electronic cigarettes indoors. It also wants curbs on advertising and other tactics that lure young people. In a report issued at the end of August, the UN organization maintains […]
Divonne railway station: Going, going…?
The French spa town of Divonne-les-Bains, well-known for its colourful Sunday market, is planning a major facelift of its former railway district. The area is currently serving as a parking lot with the late 19th century station lying largely derelict apart from an SCNF ticket boutique. The nearly seven hectare site will soon be turned […]
Hostages: To pay or not to pay, that is the question
The grotesque assassination of the American journalist James Foley has publicly raised the complex question of whether or not governments, companies or individuals should pay a ransom to free hostages. There are supportable arguments on both sides of the issue and, not surprisingly, there are differences on to how to deal with the problem. There […]
Top ranked Switzerland’s Achilles heel
GENEVA Broadly confirming the findings of IMD’s World Competitiveness Report last May, the World Economic Forum’s latest global competitiveness report once again ranks Switzerland, for the fifth time in a row, at the head of the 148-country listing. But there is a serious caveat. One of the country’s biggest problems is to maintain this lead […]
Americans abroad – Pushed to vote
Democrats and Republications Abroad, two non-profit organizations representing US citizens, are pushing hard over the next few weeks for expat Americans to register for the next presidential election. While some states retain permanent overseas registration, most require their citizens to re-register every time. Democrats Abroad Switzerland is holding informal events in Geneva and Zurich to […]
Basel: Public transport with vision
Among European cities such as Helsinki, Copenhagen and Freiburg, Switzerland’s north-eastern city of Basel ranks as having one of the continent’s most visionary approaches to public transport. It is one that the Lake Geneva region would do well to heed if it is to deal with rising car traffic in a more imaginative and environmentally […]
A more communal stance for humanity
While much of the Swiss summer has proved miserable, for those of us who managed to get abroad, there were constant reminders of just how globally relevant the Lake Geneva region is. Somehow Switzerland is mentioned one way or another in any media coverage of the Middle East, banking, football, climate change or Ebola. It […]