Did you know that the first full moon of the year was once known as the Wolf Moon? I picked this snippet up online and shared it with my older child one cold January night, as we had a magical mommy-daughter moment, holding hands and looking up at that moon. Perhaps I should have chosen […]
Of Pinterest, Feral Children and the Kruger National Park
Ever since the bigger child turned 8 and is now ‘practically a teenager’, we’ve been clashing over what she is and isn’t allowed to do. ‘You’re, like, totally controlling,’ she told me a few days ago. ‘No I’m not. And speak properly. And stand up straight.’ ‘You’re also overprotective. What do you ever let me […]
Morning Mood
What’s the music of your morning? These days, mine is far less ‘Morning Mood’ and more ‘Ride of the Valkyries’; less sipping herbal tea as I watch the sun peer pinkly over the Alps, and more hefty contributions to the Swear Jar as I run around trying to get everybody ready and out of the […]
5 beauty products you can make at home
Why spend tens and even hundreds of francs on beauty products when you can just as easily make them yourself, using simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen pantry? Making your own beauty products will not only help you cut your expenses, but your skin and hair will also benefit from the […]
Palestine Geneva summit: Once again to the breach
GENEVA Over the past several years, Geneva has been re-asserting itself as a neutral mediation centre, either formal or informal, for conflicts such as Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine and the Iranian nuclear issue. Back in 2003, it also hosted an Israeli-Palestinian peace effort known as the Geneva Initiative, which outlined possible venues for genuine reconciliation. The […]
Swiss to crack down on FIFA and sports corruption
ZURICH Amid repeated allegations of corruption and lack of transparency, the Swiss-based International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) may finally be held accountable by the Bern government. In recent years, the organization’s top executives, including Swiss national, Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, the governing body of world football, have managed to ignore accusations of inappropriate […]
Web inventor Timothy Berners-Lee wins prestigious Swiss Award
The brains behind the creation of the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee has been awarded prestigious Gottleib Duttweiler award. According to the institute, the award recognises people who have made “outstanding contributions to the well-being of the wider community”. Previous winners include: Václav Havel, president of the former Czechoslovakia; and Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales. […]
Switzerland’s Ecopop: Environmental sustainability in wolf’s clothing
GENEVA The proposed Ecopop referendum on 30 November ostensibly claims to be an effort to limit Switzerland’s rising population and to preserve its natural resources by restricting foreign immigration to 0.2 per cent a year over three years. Backed by a bizarre mix of individual greens, socialists and right-wingers, it also seeks to appeal to […]
Reservé pour vous, madame!
To facilitate the life of lady customers, a Chinese shopping mall decided to reserve several 30 centimetres wider parking lots marked in pink with the indication: “Respectfully reserved for women”. The city hall of Seoul launched a similar enterprise – the initiative is a part of a more global project to make the South Korean […]
Cancer – No need to be alone!
Fighting a battle against cancer is a heavy burden – a trusim but nevertheless it needs to be said – dealing with the illness while living in a foreign country, estranged from your closest support structure and trying to communicate in a language that is not your own, seems almost beyond manageable. For over 15 […]
