GenevaLunch » Bern

Bern gives transalpine rail cargo aid to offset high Swiss franc

Ellen Wallace — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:52:07 +0000

GenevaLunch.com BERN, SWITZERLAND – Four rail groups are receiving CHF21 million in aid from the Swiss government to offset some of the losses they suffered in 2011 due to the rapid increase in the value of the Swiss franc during the year. All four provide transalpine shipping and use combined or piggyback cargo transport, carrying trucks [...]

Bern gives transalpine rail cargo aid to offset high Swiss franc © genevalunch.com, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.

Bern unauthorized protest stopped by police

Ellen Wallace — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:24:20 +0000

GenevaLunch.com BERN, SWITZERLAND – A few dozen anti-World Economic Forum protesters, a small crowd estimated by one news agency at 100 persons, were stopped by police from four cantons Saturday 21 January in Bern. The group, which did not have a police permit, was protesting against capitalism and the forum, which starts 24 January in Davos, [...]

Bern unauthorized protest stopped by police © genevalunch.com, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.

Time to take down the Christmas tree: latest fire in Bex injures 2

Ellen Wallace — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:19:13 +0000

GenevaLunch.com LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Two people, ages 57 and 65, suffered from shock and light burns Wednesday 4 January when their Christmas tree caught fire in their apartment in Bex. Vaud police did not provide details but say the fire was caused by negligence. Le Matin (Fr) noted in an article Wednesday that fires are frequently [...]

Time to take down the Christmas tree: latest fire in Bex injures 2 © genevalunch.com, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.

New tax on 5kg+ batteries applies in January

Ellen Wallace — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:20:13 +0000

GenevaLunch.com BERN, SWITZERLAND – Batteries over 5kg will be taxed at purchase, rather than when they are recycled, starting 1 January 2012, says Bern. Household and small batteries currently carry a recycling tax, at purchase, but not larger ones, such as car batteries and industrial ones. The new system is designed to boost the rate of [...]

New tax on 5kg+ batteries applies in January © genevalunch.com, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.

Swiss and Egyptians moving to restore frozen CHF410m to nation

Ellen Wallace — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:49:39 +0000

GenevaLunch.com BERN, SWITZERLAND – Egyptian and Swiss legal experts met Friday 2 December to “take stock of progress made so far and to strengthen bilateral cooperation” for “an efficient restitution of any assets of illicit origin from the entourage of the former Mubarak regime”, says the Swiss Justice Department. Switzerland froze about CHF410 million in assets [...]

Swiss and Egyptians moving to restore frozen CHF410m to nation © genevalunch.com, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.

Mercer’s best cities selects 3 Swiss, 3 German for top 10

Ellen Wallace — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:07:21 +0000

GenevaLunch.com Vienna comes out number one, Paris is 30 and London 38, Geneva sixth safest GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Mercer’s list of top cities in the world in terms of quality of living shows three Swiss cities in the top 10 in 2011 and three German cities, but Austria’s Vienna remains in the number one slot. Zurich [...]

Mercer’s best cities selects 3 Swiss, 3 German for top 10 © genevalunch.com, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.

Ban Ki-moon to visit Bern

Ellen Wallace — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:16:37 +0000

GenevaLunch.com BERN, SWITZERLAND – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be received in Bern 17 October by a Swiss delegation led by President Micheline Calmy-Rey, for an official working visit. It is the UN leader’s first official Swiss visit since April 2007. The agenda covers “a number of UN-related themes of mutual interest,” Bern says in its [...]

QS’s new world uni rankings show EPFL slipping and ETH Zurich steady

Ellen Wallace — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:22:04 +0000

GenevaLunch.com ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – The QS World University Rankings 2011-2012, published independently since 2010 and considered one of the main global education ranking systems, show EPFL in Lausanne slipping from slot no. 32 to 35, but ETHZ in Zurich holding its no. 18 place, just behind McGill in Canada and ahead of Duke in the US. [...]

QS’s new world uni rankings show EPFL slipping and ETH Zurich steady © genevalunch.com, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.

Single and rich in Zug with plenty to spend – or get married if you’re in Geneva (update)

Ellen Wallace — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:00:12 +0000

GenevaLunch.com Swiss taxes varied considerably from one city to another in 2010 Update 22 July (new files added at end) BERN, SWITZERLAND – That magic moment in the year is here, when Bern tells Swiss taxpayers where they were best off, living or dying, in 2010, so the rest of the holidays can be spent planning [...]

Single and rich in Zug with plenty to spend – or get married if you’re in Geneva (update) © genevalunch.com, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.

Bern grapples with passionate feedback on revisions to hunting laws

Ellen Wallace — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 13:35:51 +0000

GenevaLunch.com BERN, SWITZERLAND – Bring up hunting and fishing, protecting the environment and the population’s growing use of nature areas, and you can expect passions to rise quickly. This is exactly what the Swiss government found when it put out for public consultation its proposed changes to hunting and fishing laws, the first in 25 years. [...]

Bern grapples with passionate feedback on revisions to hunting laws © genevalunch.com, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.