Repairs on A13 motorway are on track

The reconstruction work on the section of the north-south axis destroyed last weekend by a landslide, is “progressing,” according to the Federal Roads Office (FEDRO). 

Although the cantonal police of Graubünden, the canton where the damaged part of the motorway is located, initially said works will take “months,” FEDRO’s forecast is more optimistic: according to current estimates, at least one lane per each direction will be open from July 10th.

FEDRO also plans to take measures to ensure that traffic on alternate routes remains as fluid as possible.

READ ALSO: The alternative routes from Switzerland to Italy

Switzerland to allow special characters in foreign names

The new computerised civil status register, called Infostar NG, will be put into service on November 11th, 2024.

From this date, special characters in European languages can be used in Swiss civil status registers and official documents, the Federal Council said on Wednesday.

An example is the ‘c’ with an acute accent (ć) in Croatian, and  the ^ used in other languages.

Foreign nationals will therefore be able to ask the civil registry to adapt the spelling of their name, at the of cost of 75 francs for a single person and 100 francs for a family.

This process will be free of charge, however, when registering babies’ births.

Government urges the ‘no’ vote to ‘sustainability initiative’

Instigated by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), the proposal, also referred to as ‘No to Switzerland of 10 million,’ is calling for curbing the number of immigrants coming into Switzerland.

However, on Wednesday the government asked the voters to turn down this proposal when it goes to polls (the date is not yet set), because such a drastic measure would “compromise the country’s prosperity, economy and security.”

READ ALSO: What Switzerland’s new vote to limit immigration could mean 

Geneva pays France 372 million francs from cross-border workers’ taxes

Each year, Geneva transfers a portion of the tax it collects from salaries of cross-border commuters to their home country (France).

For the 2022 tax year, the canton has levied 1.21 billion francs in tax. Of this total, 372 million francs were recently transferred to France, the Geneva parliament indicated on Wednesday.

The tax on cross-border workers received by the departments of Haute-Savoie and Ain is allocated in the vast majority to projects benefiting the region.

Switzerland invests billions into regional public transport

Regional public transport in Switzerland should benefit from 3.5 billion francs for the period 2026-2028, according to the Federal Council, which opened a consultation in this regard on Wednesday. It will run until October18th.

For 2022-2025, the Federal Council had requested 4.35 billion for this purpose, which Parliament had approved. This amount did not take into account the financial consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Supplements for this purpose were requested in the budget.

The 3.5 billion must make it possible to meet the growing financial needs of the sector, while taking into account the government’s budgetary constraints.

Concretely, this money will make it possible to finance new route extensions, including more boat connections on Lake Geneva between Lausanne and Thonon in France. 

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