Independent journalism from the heart of Europe
Nestlé Results
The world’s largest food company reported third-quarter organic growth of 4 per cent on Thursday, ahead of the 3.4 per cent analysts expected, with real internal growth of 2.8 per cent and volumes up in every zone. At the same time the Vevey group deconsolidated its Russian operations, seized by Kremlin decree in September, derecognising CHF 1.6 billion of net assets and booking a non-cash charge of CHF 1.4 billion.
November Votes
The first YouGov barometer for 29 November shows 62 per cent backing the fireworks initiative and 51 per cent rejecting the VAT rise for the 13th OASI pension, while the War Materiel Act referendum sits at 38 yes against 33 no with nearly three in ten voters undecided. The survey of 2,949 voters also finds a comfortable lead for the Centre party’s tax fairness initiative.
Fireworks Initiative
In its message to parliament, the government recommends rejecting the ban on noisy fireworks, arguing that cantons and communes already hold the legal tools to restrict them and calling national rules disproportionate. Five weeks before the vote, every poll points the other way.
Succession Race
Rémy Wyssmann, a 59-year-old Solothurn National Councillor and self-described state-critical lawyer, entered the race to succeed Guy Parmelin on Wednesday. Nominations close at noon on Friday, the ticket follows on 20 November, and the election falls on 9 December.
Monetary Policy
The National Bank’s summary of its September assessment, published on Thursday, shows a governing board relaxed about a franc that has shed 3 per cent since June, comfortable with inflation at 0.8 per cent, and watching the Middle East as the main global risk. The franc hit a sixteen-month low against the dollar this week, and markets are pricing a first rate rise well before mid-2027.
Nuclear
An undervoltage on the control-rod busbars triggered an automatic reactor scram at 6.40 on Tuesday morning. Every safety system responded as designed, no radioactivity was released, and by 5.50 pm the Solothurn plant was back on the grid.
Carbon Border Tax
The Federal Council wants a compensation levy on cement imports to level the playing field with Swiss producers in the emissions trading scheme, and to stop production and its emissions migrating abroad.
Direct Democracy
The popular initiative meant to strip planning hurdles from big solar installations has failed before reaching the ballot: too many of its signatures were ruled invalid by the communes. Backers blame paperwork errors and promise to try again.
Europe
A month after the Senate’s 22-hour marathon, the House Foreign Affairs Committee called the treaty package absolutely essential, found it meets or even exceeds every objective set, and approved the wage protection compromise the unions negotiated. The full chamber debates the package from December, with the referendum question still open.
Football
Slavisa Jokanovic’s first match on the Basel bench ended in a 3-0 humbling at promoted Vaduz, where Marcel Monsberger scored twice in ten first-half minutes. Lugano beat Luzern 4-0 to stay six points clear, and Young Boys host St. Gallen on Saturday evening.
Evolution
A 30-year University of Lausanne study of more than 3,100 barn owl genomes shows the birds becoming redder and more heavily spotted, with natural selection, not chance, driving one of the fastest documented evolutionary shifts in a wild animal.
Weekend
The Japanese trip-hop pioneer played his only Swiss date at Fri-Son, the COMET market filled Lausanne’s Pyxis with forty independent comic artists, and the Orchestre Horizon marks a quarter century of Harry Potter with John Williams’ score live.
Switzerland serves itself and others best when it treats neutrality as an instrument of policy rather than an article of faith.
Health insurance dominates the political agenda, yet the quiet driver of household stress is the cost of simply having a roof.
More votes do not automatically mean better decisions. Switzerland should protect the deliberation that makes its system work.
A strong currency flatters national pride and punishes exporters. The National Bank cannot manage that tension alone.