The canton of Valais is 160,100 francs richer after an anonymous bidder bought the car licence plate VS 1, with the letters standing for the Canton of Valais in western Switzerland, in an auction that finished on Tuesday last week.
The figure is the highest amount ever paid for a vehicle registration plate in the Alpine country and "surpassed expectations", said the cantonal authorities in a statement.
Norway, the Scandinavian nation of 5 million, known for its spectacular fjords, reindeer and "Midnight Sun," ranks No. 1 among 155 countries rated for happiness in a United Nations report out Monday.
The country rocketed from 4th place to the top of the list, on the basis of several key calculations for measuring social happiness, among them levels of caring, freedom to make life decisions, generosity, good governance, honesty, health and income. Notably, on The Children’s Worlds index of material deprivation, Norwegian children lacked the least in the world.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in a policy statement in the National Assembly said that Pakistan is going to sign an agreement with Switzerland on exchange of information regarding bank accounts on March 21st.
He said that the conditions presented by Pakistan were accepted by the Swiss authorities as Pakistan would not lessen the tax rates and it would not give Switzerland the status of Most Favoured Nation (MFN).
For months, leading luxury travel specialists, writers and executives with canadian travel agency Flight Network examined accommodations based on everything from style to first-class services to the ability to embody local culture and provide access to remarkable environments, according to a news release.
So, after highly vetting a list of nearly 1,000 luxury and boutique hotels, resorts, lodges and inns, Flight Network officially unveiled their most definitive guide to date: the 100 Greatest Hotels in the World.
The National Council approved, by 101 votes against 91 with 4 abstentions, the proposals of the Conciliation Conference over the Retirement Provision 2020. Earlier, the Council of States had supported the project with 27 votes against 17. The dossier is now ready for final voting. Now the people will have to give its opinion on September 24th.
In his final address to the House on Thursday, Interior Minister Alain Berset on behalf of the government stressed the crucial importance of the reform for “Switzerland, the people, the economy and the stability of the institutions”.
Following its latest quarterly policy meeting, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) made no changes in interest rates and it kept its target range for three-month Swiss franc Libor at -1.25% to -0.25% and the rate it charges on sight deposits at -0.75%.
Consensus forecasts were for an unchanged policy, although there had been some speculation that a shift could be sanctioned with a further rate cut. The SNB reiterated that the franc is still significantly overvalued and that it would remain active in the foreign exchange market as necessary.
Italian and Swiss tax authorities have signed an accord to improve the exchange of information to fight tax evasion, with Italy’s Economy Ministry on one hand and Switzerland’s Confederation’s Tax Administration on the other.
The agreement, which took effect on March 2, aims to further enhance transparency following a previous accord which was introduced last summer, the italian ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Controls on firearms in the European Union would be tightened under legislation approved by the European Parliament on Tuesday. The new rules would require member states to check whether deactivated weapons have been rendered permanently unusable. Such weapons are used legally on film sets or in theatre productions. The deactivated weapons must also be registered.
The directive also applies stricter controls to firearms designed to fire blanks. The European Commission had proposed to reform the firearms directive in November 2015 in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris.
