Parliament, burkas, mediation and real estate

Here are the top stories we’re following the week of October 26, 2015:

Monday

Never before has a Swiss citizen living abroad been elected to parliament. Retired ambassador Tim Guldimann, who lives in Berlin, now holds the distinction of being the first and will be sworn in to the House of Representatives in a few weeks. A profile by swissinfo.ch takes a closer look at his plans.

According to estimates there are about 150 to 300 people living in Switzerland who wear a burka or niqab, of which a small number in Ticino Keystone

Tuesday

With a nationwide vote to ‘ban burkas’ in the pipeline, Switzerland will be closely watching how the cantonal parliament in Italian-speaking Ticino handles discussions today on making what’s been dubbed a ‘burka ban‘ work there. Voters in Ticino decided in 2013 to outlaw in public places veils or clothing that hides the face. 

Contract labourers get paid substantially lower wages than permanent workers and lack job security Reuters

Wednesday

When Swiss multinationals behave badly abroad those affected have to resort to the media and courts to be heard. But the Swiss government offers a third and seldom used option for conflict resolution – we meet the man in charge of bringing the two sides together.

freshfocus

Thursday

The threat of an economic bubble has been looming in the notoriously pricey property markets of Zurich, Lucerne and Lake Geneva for years. A global index from Swiss bank UBS will reveal the latest market information on how close the threat is to materialising.

What you may have missed last week

Why do female film-makers in Switzerland receive less funding than men? It’s a complicated situation that women in the industry are set on resolving, as we found out in our podcast.