BERN The Swiss National Council recently supported an initiative seeking to ban convicted paedophiles from ever working with children again. The so-called Marche Blanche proposal, which passed by 82 votes to79, aims to prevent repeat offences by prohibiting access to potential victims through professional pathways. The referendum is set for18May. The Federal Council, however, deems […]
Research fund side-steps EU ban
The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) in Bern has set up a temporary funding scheme to get around the European Union’s 26 February ban excluding Switzerland from European Research Council (ERC) grants. According to SNSF spokesman Jürg Dinner, researchers working in Switzerland, or who applied for an ERC starting grant before 25 March, may request […]
French elections: Round one, right wing won
GEX The first round of the French municipal elections confirmed the growing force of the right. With record breaking abstentions (38.7% failed to vote), towns such as Perpignan, Avignon, Forbach, Fréjus and Tarascon saw the Front National (FN) take the lead. More locally, the conservative parties (UMP, DVD and FN) have done well, especially in […]
More time to shop
BERN The Federal Council’s proposal to homogenize the opening hours of retail businesses throughout Switzerland will rescind existing cantonal and municipal laws. Given growing cross-border competition, where prices can be 20–30% less, and the strong Swiss Franc, the project seeks to address strident economic realities hindering the country’s retail market. If the plan passes, communes […]
Champ-Dollon prison violence
GENEVA Tensions remained high at Geneva’s Champ-Dollon prison, which holds inmates from 100 different nationalities, after three days of fighting. Last Sunday afternoon a brawl involving a hundred prisoners broke out resulting in seven injured, including one guard. More fighting erupted on Monday. On Tuesday morning, prison authorities called in ambulances after two further fights. […]
Economic sentiment weakens
ZURICH In February Swiss economic expectations fell from near their highest level in more than three-and-a-half years, amid concerns by financial analysts that the vote to re-impose quotas on European Union workers could hurt growth. A survey by the ZEW Institute and Credit Suisse published last week shows the headline index of investor and analyst […]
Hijack farce
The Swiss Air Force didn’t respond to a hijacking over Swiss airspace on Monday because it happened outside the normal business hours of the nation’s air force, which only flies between 08h00 and 17h00. The Ethiopian Airlines 767 co-pilot hijacked his own flight while en route from Addis Ababa to Rome, and instead flew it […]
Avalanches: Still a danger
DAVOS With varying weather, skiers still need to remain vigilant about the avalanche risk over the next few weeks. By the end of January at least 25 people had died in avalanche-related deaths in the Swiss and French Alps since Christmas. A fatality in Nandaz this week brought the seasonal total for Switzerland alone stood […]
Swiss image suffers
GENEVA In 2012, Switzerland’s reputation ranked 8th among 50 countries on the Nation Brand Index largely due to its good governance and system of direct democracy. A study by Presence Switzerland then categorized its overall image abroad as ‘good’. For the current situation, however, Presence Switzerland’s director, Nicolas Bideau, gave a more cautious assessment in […]
Becoming Swiss
Geneva Faced with the unknown prospects of this month’s referendum aimed at curbing immigration, some long-term residents eligible for naturalization are putting a rush on their applications. So who can become Swiss, and how? Citizenship may be granted through three different channels: birth, marriage or naturalization. Contrary to the US, UK or Germany where naturalization […]
