When Zurich was known for Needle Park SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2015-04-20 | It was impossible to overlook Zurich’s open drugs scene. Has the situation for addicts improved 20 years after its closure? The Platzspitz is a park in Zurich adjacent to the Swiss National Museum and the main railway station. In an attempt to confine the sprawling use of drugs, the authorities decided in 1987 to allow the use and sales of drugs in the park. Thus Zurich’s Platzspitz became one of the biggest open drug scenes in Europe. What became popularly known as “Needle Park” went out of control, and was cleared by the police in February 1992. The drug scene soon moved to the nearby and equally central area of Letten, between an unused railway station, and the banks of the river Limmat. Under unprecedented pressure from residents, the Letten area was finally cleared by the police 20 years ago. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)---swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events.For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.chChannel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideosSubscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Swiss Abroad: Stay in touch with Switzerland SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-12-02 | SWI swissinfo.ch, a branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), provides targeted information to all the Swiss living abroad. We deliver the latest news from and about Switzerland. We report on political events in Switzerland and on the international stage. We also look at how the government and the cantons deal with issues relating to the Swiss Abroad.SWI swissinfo.ch provides independent reporting on Swiss politics, business, science, culture and society in ten languages.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Swiss foundation ReBin produces Biogas in Toffo, Benin SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-11-29 | In the municipality of Toffo, in the south of the West African country, ReBin has been transforming local organic waste into compost and biogas since 2018.As part of an exchange program between French-speaking journalists, our reporter visited their organic waste treatment plant in southern Benin. Founder and president Mark Giannelli walks us through the different activities the centre is active in.Villagers and local vegetable-growers bring peel and other organic leftovers to the centre, and get money in return. With this, they can also buy the centre’s products: fish, compost, biogas, or water. In five years, the number of registered users has doubled, as has the amount of biogas produced – a renewable resource, much less polluting as a household cooking gas compared with wood or coal.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Meet Switzerlands next man in space SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-11-25 | Marco Sieber has been chosen as a “career astronaut” by the European Space Agency (ESA) – he is thus set to become only the second Swiss spaceman in history. The 33-year-old from Bern was selected from a total of 22,500 candidates who applied for a spot in the latest promotion.Sieber, who currently works as a urologist in the bilingual Swiss city of Biel/Bienne, is also a paratrooper in the Swiss army, as well as the holder of a private pilot’s licence.He previously worked as chief medical officer for the Swiss forces in the KFOR international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. And in his free time, Sieber is a fan of adventure sports, including skydiving, paragliding, scuba diving, ski touring, and kitesurfing.As a career astronaut, he will receive training for missions to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) and perhaps further afield, the ESA said. The education starts with a 12-month basic training course in the ESA’s European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany, in spring 2023. A first foray into space is not likely before 2026.Before Sieber, the only Swiss astronaut was Claude Nicollier, who racked up over 1,000 hours in space, notably during four missions onboard a NASA shuttle.(Source: European Space Agency - ESA)--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Producing syngas from sunlight SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-11-22 | The Swiss company Synhelion is developing the world’s first industrial-scale plant to produce synthetic fuels from CO2, methane, water and sunlight. A reactor in the tower is fed with methane and carbon dioxide of biowaste origin from a local paper mill, as well as water. This is then processed into environmentally friendly versions of petrol, diesel or jet fuel using standard gas-to-liquids technology.The production method was first demonstrated in 2019 in a mini refinery built at ETH Zurich. From next year, the Swiss entrepreneurs want to produce 10,000 litres of solar fuel a year at the new German plant. In parallel, Synhelion will start work on a much larger commercial plant in sunny Spain that can be operated continuously, increasing total production to 1.6 million litres a year from 2025. Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is on board with the initiative. But the long-term production challenges remain immense.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Women soldiers in peacekeeping SWISSCOY contingents SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-11-15 | Women are still a minority in international peacekeeping operations. The Swiss armed forces’ contingent in Kosovo, SWISSCOY, shows just how important their role can be.We spent a day with Iris Probst, who now just completed her training module which is part of her three-month pre-deployment preparation at SWISSINT, the Swiss armed forces’ centre for international peacebuilding in Stans-Oberdorf, in canton Nidwalden. She has now been posted to Kosovo for six months, as deputy press and information officer with the Swiss peace-support mission, SWISSCOY.The proportion of women in the peacekeeping force has risen steadily in recent years. In 2020, around 60 women were sent on mission to Kosovo; by September 2022, this number had risen to nearly 70. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The worlds longest passenger train through the Swiss alps SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-11-09 | Switzerland’s largest private railway operator, Rhaetian Railway (RhB), set a new world record for the longest passenger train on a spectacular narrow gauge track. The train – comprising 100 carriages for a total length of 1,910 metres - travelled for 25 kilometres on the Albula/Bernina route from Preda to Alvaneu in canton Graubünden in southeast Switzerland.It comprised 25 newly delivered train units, or 100 carriages, making a total length of 1,910 metres. On its journey from Preda to Alvaneu the train descended 568 metres. When braking on its way down, it generated the same amount of electricity as a family house consumes in a year.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Let’s Talk: the future of Crypto Nation Switzerland SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-11-08 | Switzerland has built a reputation for nurturing a new industry based on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. Experts give their take on the pros and cons of the fledgling ‘Crypto Nation’.More than 1,000 blockchain companies, supporting 6,000 jobs, have set anchor in Switzerland, encouraged by the welcoming political and legal infrastructure.But other countries are raising their game, determined to entice the world’s best technology innovators to their realms. How will Switzerland cling on to its lead as the competition heats up.SWI swissinfo.ch invited guests from Switzerland, Dubai and the United States to gauge the strength of the blockchain industry and unpick the best strategies for countries to adopt.Alexander Brunner is president of Home of Blockchain.swiss, a public-private partnership focused on promoting Switzerland as the go-to venue for the industry.Matthew Allen has written for SWI swissinfo.ch on cryptocurrencies and blockchains for several years.Faisal Zaidi, co-founder of Crypto Oasis and Middle East lead for the Swiss Crypto Valley Association, provides the view from Dubai, which has launched an ambitious blockchain and metaverse drive.Joining the debate from the US is Sandra Ro, CEO of the Global Blockchain Business Council, which represents the views of the industry worldwide.During the studio discussion, we also hear from several entrepreneurs who have chosen Switzerland as the venue to operate their revolutionary businesses.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Swiss journalist reports on the art of survival SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-11-08 | Karin Wenger, former Asia correspondent for Swiss public broadcaster SRF, has put down her microphone and picked up her pen, publishing no less than three books this year focused on survivors she met while travelling around Asia. The journalist from Zurich has worked all over Asia since she started reporting there in 2009. More recently she started to revisit people from all walks of life, who she met during her newsgathering. Holed up in Bangkok because of the Covid-19 pandemic, she finally had time to write her stories about the tribulations they overcame and their extraordinary survival spirit. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Let’s Talk: polar research and our struggling planet SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-11-01 | Some may question the value of polar research when there are other problems closer to home. But what is happening in these remote regions has a knock-on effect all over the globe.SWI swissinfo.ch invited two Swiss-based scientists to discuss their experiences – including working on the sea ice and examining the largest glacier outside the north and south poles.Julia Schmale is a professor and head of the Extreme Environments Research Laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). She studies the Earth’s atmosphere – especially how aerosols interact with clouds to influence and maybe accelerate polar warming. Schmale has spent a lot of time working on Antarctic and Arctic climate expeditions, including the MOSAiC expedition, which drifted for a year with the Arctic sea ice. She leads the GreenFjord project, one of the Swiss Polar Institute’s flagship initiatives.Francesca Pellicciotti is a senior scientist and head of HIMAL (High Mountain Glaciers and Hydrology Group) at WSL, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research. She specialises in hydrology and what’s called the “third pole”. That’s high mountain glaciers across the world, from the Andes to Asia. In Tajikistan she’s been studying glaciers that are growing rather than shrinking as part of PAMIR, another Swiss Polar Institute flagship project.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Swiss keep an eye on tensions in Kosovo SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-10-27 | Things are tense in northern Kosovo as a deadline approaches for Serbs to swap their Belgrade-issued number plates for local ones. A seemingly trivial request from Kosovo’s government has stoked discontent among ethnic Serbs. Swiss military personnel are among 3,600 NATO peacekeepers in the country, keeping watch. David Olumese, Team Commander LMT (liaison and monitoring team), works in the divided city of Mitrovica, where Albanian and Serb settlements are separated by the river Ibar. He talks to different communities and reports back to KFOR headquarters. He says there is a feeling of uncertainty among people there, as “they don’t know what’s coming”.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Kosovos post-war problems SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-10-26 | The Serb community in northern Kosovo has been instructed by the government to ditch their Belgrade-issued number plates for Kosovan ones, but for many people, this is tantamount to accepting Kosovo's independence, something Serbia has avoided since 2008. This video looks at the background to the number plates row and the chances of reconciliation. Swiss peacekeepers are present in northern Kosovo as part of NATO's KFOR mission. - swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
How exclusion became the driving force for democratisation SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-10-26 | It is a widely held belief that political inclusion has been an integral part of Swiss life since women gained the right to vote in 1971. Democracy, however, is a work in progress. To this day, some people remain excluded from Swiss political life. The move towards full democracy has happened in small, sometimes surprising, steps. One example is a historical 2020 vote in canton Geneva: 75% of voters agreed that citizens with mental or physical disabilities were entitled to full voting rights.This resounding “yes” paved the way for 1,200 citizens previously excluded from the polls to cast their votes in elections and referendums, and even to stand for election.Geneva thus became the first canton to adopt the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Switzerland had ratified in 2014. Based on the Declaration of Human Rights, the UN considers any restrictions on universal suffrage to be unacceptable.This episode is part of the series Swiss democracy hotspots with Claude Longchamp.This series in several parts is tailored for our author: Claude Longchamp’s expertise makes him the man who can bring alive the places where important things happened. Longchamp was a founder of the research institute gfs.bern and is the most experienced political analyst in Switzerland. He is also a historian. Combining these disciplines, Longchamp has for many years given highly acclaimed historic tours of Bern and other sites. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Neuchâtel: where one woman broke the male monopoly on politics SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-10-18 | The first woman in Switzerland ever to be elected to a cantonal parliament was Raymonde Schweizer. This Social Democrat came from the industrial town of La Chaux-de-Fonds in the Neuchâtel Jura. A trade unionist and feminist, she was elected on her first try in 1960, thereby becoming a trendsetter at a time when Swiss women were not even allowed to vote in national elections.Not once but twice was Neuchâtel the setting for key developments in the decades-long exclusion of women from the country’s democratic system. This episode is part of the series Swiss democracy hotspots with Claude Longchamp.This series in several parts is tailored for our author: Claude Longchamp’s expertise makes him the man who can bring alive the places where important things happened. Longchamp was a founder of the research institute gfs.bern and is the most experienced political analyst in Switzerland. He is also a historian. Combining these disciplines, Longchamp has for many years given highly acclaimed historic tours of Bern and other sites. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos swissinfo english swiss info suiça
Swiss hydropower prepares for energy shortage SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-10-11 | Europe’s severe drought this summer has hampered hydroelectric output across the continent. In Switzerland, the hot weather has caused glaciers to melt rapidly and Switzerland’s hydropower reserves are currently below-average. Will they be enough to help prevent an electricity shortage this winter?---swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events.For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.chChannel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideosSubscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos swissinfo english outage swiss info suiça climate change--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Student-made electric plane SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-10-06 | A four-seater battery-powered electric plane was recently launched by students at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. A team of 20 engineering students took two years to make it for their bachelor’s degree. The outer shell was made by the South African kit aircraft manufacturer Sling Aircraft. But the students replaced the combustion engine with an electric propulsion mechanism, powered by a modular battery system fitted with a special cooling network.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Lucerne, the capital city that never was SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-10-04 | Three times Lucerne tried to be named the capital of Switzerland. Only the first attempt succeeded, short-lived as it was. None of this, however, can overshadow Lucerne’s decisive role in the birth of Swiss democracy.This episode is part of the series Swiss democracy hotspots with Claude Longchamp.This series in several parts is tailored for our author: Claude Longchamp’s expertise makes him the man who can bring alive the places where important things happened. Longchamp was a founder of the research institute gfs.bern and is the most experienced political analyst in Switzerland. He is also a historian. Combining these disciplines, Longchamp has for many years given highly acclaimed historic tours of Bern and other sites.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Melting Swiss glaciers reveal tragedies of the past SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-10-01 | Switzerland’s melting glaciers have revealed more unexpected, macabre secrets than ever this summer: human remains and plane wreckage trapped in the ice for over 50 years. Such discoveries are set to multiply in the coming years, says Robert Bolognesi, a snow science expert.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Happy as an invasive clam? SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-09-21 | Asian clams are among the foreign shellfish taking over Swiss waters, causing serious problems for local ecosystems and infrastructure. Could harvesting and eating them be a solution? Our reporter went clam digging and cooked up her catch.Switzerland may be landlocked, but that doesn’t keep foreign marine life from entering its rivers and lakes, and threatening local ecosystems and drinking water. Could eating them be part of the solution?Chest-deep in Lake Biel near the Swiss capital Bern, I poke my toes around the sediment below me. Without goggles, the bottom is not clearly visible, so I use my foot to lift a sodden clump of sand to the surface. It dissolves in my hands, clouding the water as I clutch a small clam in shades of butterscotch and brown.The bivalve in question is Corbicula fluminea, commonly known as the Asian clam. Originally from eastern Asia, it came to Europe via North America, likely in the ballast water from cargo ships. This small organism is having an outsized impact on Swiss waters because of the speed at which it feeds and breeds. Gobbling up the plankton that native species depend on, each clam releases about 350 larvae per day. After they die, their empty shells litter lake bottoms – destroying the natural habitat for fish and invertebrates that need to forage along a sandy or grassy floor.Asian clams were first recorded in the River Rhine near Basel in 1997; now they’re widespread throughout Switzerland. The Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) reports that this invasive species managed to spread upstream by hitching rides on vehicles like boats driven from lake to lake.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Swiss vote on raising retirement age for women. SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-09-13 | The Swiss are set to vote on plans to reform the pension system, which include raising the retirement age for women from 64 to 65, the age when men retire. There would also be a hike in value added tax on goods and services to help pay for pensions. The left-wing politicians and trade unions that launched the referendum are particularly concerned about the reform, given that they already have on average much lower pensions than men. Those in favour of the revision say it is vital to act given the demographic shift and looming pension funding gap.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Swiss vote: sticking up for animal welfare SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-09-09 | The Swiss will vote on September 25 whether to ban factory farming. The country is committed to agriculture and already has very strict animal welfare legislation. The popular initiative was organised by animal rights organisations, who say the welfare requirements for livestock and poultry should at least meet the criteria of the 2018 Bio Suisse standard. But the government and parliament consider farm animals to be adequately protected under current legislation and are calling on voters to reject the initiative. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Let’s Talk: pension reform debate SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-09-07 | A revamp of Switzerland’s pension system is set for a popular vote. SWI swissinfo.ch discussed the issue with supporter Andri Silberschmidt and opponent Barbara Gysi.The reform plans encompass two separate proposals to be decided by voters on September 25: the retirement age for women is to be hiked from 64 to 65, while value-added tax in Switzerland is to rise by 0.4%.Opinion polls suggest the result could be tight. They also show that divisions among voters don’t just fall along left-right lines, but are above all between the sexes. Women – more affected by the proposal than men – are strongly against it.In our video debate, follow the arguments of parliamentarians Andri Silberschmidt (from the centre-right Radical Liberal party) and Barbara Gysi (from the left-wing Social Democrats).--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The circular economy: A new way of making and using things SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-09-07 | A circular economy means moving away from using precious raw materials and producing goods that end up in the landfill. Products are repaired, reused and recycled instead. This video shows how the process works in Switzerland, a country with few raw materials that is good at recycling but that also generates among the most waste in Europe.Various hurdles stand in the way of developing a circular economy and prevent the efficient use of resources, as a report by the Federal Council from March 2022 points out. It is currently examining measures to address these. The potential for improvement is particularly high in the areas of construction and housing, agriculture and food, transport, mechanical engineering and the chemical industry. We take a closer look at some of these possibilities: For example, the report suggests that when construction companies could use existing components and recycled materials. There are also business opportunities for repair and leasing services as well as sharing platforms.Other examples can be found in agriculture: Byproducts from grain milling or cheese production can be used to feed cattle and pigs. A Swiss shrimp farm uses the waste heat from salt production to heat its shrimp ponds, while feeding cool water back to the salt mine it is located in. The circular economy is also a key topic at the Swiss Green Economy Symposium 2022. The event taking place from September 7 to 8 brings together representatives from business, politics, research and civil society to discuss ideas and projects for sustainable development.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Your views on female conscription SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-09-06 | By the end of this decade, the Swiss army expects to have trouble recruiting enough personnel. So the defence department is studying the option of drafting women alongside men for military service or an alternative civilian service. We recently asked readers to send in their views on gender-neutral conscription.-- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
How a strike threat reshaped Swiss democracy SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-08-24 | “Next stop: Olten.” The biggest rail junction in Switzerland was once also home to the Olten Action Committee, which in 1918 called the first nationwide strike – with far-reaching consequences for Swiss democracy.On November 11, 1918, the First World War came to an end with the fall of the German Empire. One day later, workers in Switzerland started a general strike. It was organised by the “Olten Action Committee”, which coordinated the nationwide protest from a building there called the House of the People.Olten, some 50km west of Zurich, is Switzerland’s main rail junction, where train lines from north to south and east to west come together. For a long time the station buffet at Olten was jokingly regarded as the unofficial centre of Switzerland. So Olten was just the right place to be the centre of a national strike. From there, militant workers could send out their instructions to every part of the country.In the French-speaking part of Switzerland the response to the strike call was muted; people were just glad the war was over. But starting in Zurich, German-speaking militants saw this as an opportunity for a real social revolution.The strike committee made nine demands:Calling of new elections based on proportional representation;Votes for women;A general obligation to work;A 48-hour week;A reform of the army;Ensure availability of food supplies;An old-age and disability insurance scheme;State monopoly of foreign trade;A wealth tax to reduce national debt.The federal government reacted immediately by calling out the army. It also convened a joint session of the two chambers of parliament. Without responding to the demands, it issued an ultimatum for the strike to end. It was like a declaration of civil war.On the morning of November 14, 1918, the Action Committee and the Social Democratic parliamentary group called off the general strike. They wanted to avoid further escalation and even bloodshed. There were dramatic scenes in the industrial town of Grenchen, however, where even after the official ending of the work stoppage, three young strikers were shot dead by soldiers.The workers’ movement regarded its first direct extra-parliamentary action as a defeat. This had to do with how the nine demands were granted – or not.What actually happened doesn’t take long to tell. The 48-hour week was quickly implemented, replacing the previous 59-hour week. Pension legislation took much longer; it came only in 1947. Women didn’t get the vote until 1971. And a wealth tax to bring down the national debt has never been tried in Switzerland to this day.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Swiss hospitality business school EHL expands its campus SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-08-16 | The world’s oldest hotel school, the EHL Hospitality Business School in Lausanne, has unveiled a huge new campus costing CHF250 million ($254 million). The move comes as the Swiss hotel school seeks to boost its international standing.The inauguration on July 8 took place in the presence of the Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, who praised the hotel school’s ambassadorial role.--- SWI swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Episode 3: The Golden ticket SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-08-12 | In our satirical video format, Swiss comedian and director Patrick Karpiczenko apologises for Switzerland’s transgressions – this time for so-called golden visas that have been given freely to Russian oligarchs.Why are so many Russian oligarchs staying in Switzerland? How do they avoid getting sanctioned and having their assets frozen? Is Vladimir Putin hiding his children in southern Switzerland? And why does North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un speak Swiss German?In this new episode, Patrick Karpiczenko visits “Little Moscow” in canton Zug, gives a short insight into Swiss hospitality before and after Putin's invasion of Ukraine, and looks into the childhood of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un who went to a Bern school.If you want to know more about Russian oligarchs and hidden assets in Switzerland, we recommend these texts from our archive:https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/meet-the-oligarchs--switzerland-s-awkward-guests/47457106https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/could-switzerland-seize-russian-assets-to-rebuild-ukraine-/47691436https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/business/is-switzerland-doing-enough-to-freeze-russian-assets-/47597540If you have any suggestions for things Switzerland should apologise for, send them to sorry@karpi.international--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
How Covid changed Swiss democracy SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-08-09 | In April 2020, with the arrival of Covid-19, political analyst Martina Mousson expressed concerns about the curtailment of parliament and political rights in Switzerland. Two years on, she is visibly more relaxed about things.Mousson, a project manager at the research and polling institute gfs.bern, is one of the busiest and most renowned observers of direct democracy in Switzerland.What traces has the pandemic left on Swiss politics? Over two years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, we asked Mousson this question (see below). Now we present her with her statements and predictions from April 2020, to see which of them came about and which not. After the initial shock, however, Mousson is now much more positive about how democracy dealt with Covid-19.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Crystal hunters in the Swiss Alps SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-08-05 | Archaeologists are looking for crystals in the Swiss Alps as these are clues to how Stone Age craftspeople lived. Fragments of crystals can indicate how and where tools were made. Check out the full article on our website: http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/sci-tech/in-pursuit-of-the-crystal-hunters/47669880--- SWI swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The Swiss army: your questions answered Part 7 SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-08-02 | In Switzerland, all able-bodied men complete compulsory military service, while others opt for a civilian service. But how useful is a conscript army in light of what Russia did to Ukraine? This is one of many questions SWI readers sent to us. Daniel Reist, head of media relations for the Swiss armed forces, takes a shot at answering them.Our seventh question and the last in our series is: why are women not conscripted in Switzerland? --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The Swiss army: your questions answered Part 6 SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-07-26 | In Switzerland, all able-bodied men complete compulsory military service, while others opt for a civilian service. But how useful is a conscript army in light of what Russia did to Ukraine? This is one of many questions SWI readers sent to us. Daniel Reist, head of media relations for the Swiss armed forces, takes a shot at answering them.Our sixth question is: are Swiss soldiers being used as free labour? -----More questions and answers are to follow in the coming weeks. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The UK and Switzerlands fall outs with the EU SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-07-21 | What do Brexit and the Swiss breakdowns in relations with the EU have in common? According to a Swiss social historian, quite a lot. Switzerland has never been an EU member but enjoys almost full access to the EU’s internal market, thanks to 120 bilateral agreements. Attempts to update these with a new framework agreement collapsed in 2021 when the Swiss walked out of talks with the EU. The Financial Times dubbed the fallout “Swexit” in reference to Brexit, the divorce between the EU and the UK as both countries had similar sticking points with the 27-country block.SWI swissinfo.ch met up with Oliver Zimmer, a Swiss expert in modern European history, who takes a closer look at the similarities between the two countries in their troubled relations with the EU. Zimmer is in a good position to compare the two: he was a renowned Oxford University professor who recently returned to Switzerland after 27 years in the UK. He now works for CREMAExternal link, the Zurich-based Center for Research in Economics Management and the Arts. -----swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events.For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The Swiss army: your questions answered Part 5 SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-07-19 | In Switzerland, all able-bodied men complete compulsory military service, while others opt for a civilian service. But how useful is a conscript army in light of what Russia did to Ukraine? This is one of many questions SWI readers sent to us. Daniel Reist, head of media relations for the Swiss armed forces, takes a shot at answering them.Our fifth question is: what would the army do if there was a nuclear war?More questions and answers are to follow in the coming weeks. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The Swiss army: your questions answered Part 4 SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-07-12 | In Switzerland, all able-bodied men complete compulsory military service, while others opt for a civilian service. But how useful is a conscript army in light of what Russia did to Ukraine? This is one of many questions SWI readers sent to us. Daniel Reist, head of media relations for the Swiss armed forces, takes a shot at answering them.Our fourth question is: how can a neutral country have an army?More questions and answers are to follow in the coming weeks. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Large Hadron Collider restart at CERN SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-07-06 | The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is back. Scientists are again firing proton beams at nearly the speed of light around its 27-kilometre loop as they resume their search for clues to the origins of the universe.After three years of maintenance work, the world’s biggest particle accelerator, located at the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva, has started its third operational cycle, officials said this week. The increased amount of energy used this time is expected to lead to greater precision and discovery potential than ever before. The ramping up of the energy and intensity of the beams in the upgraded collider coincides with the tenth anniversary of the LHC’s landmark discovery of the Higgs Boson particle, a long-sought fundamental particle that gives mass to other subatomic components of the universe.Just before the LHC relaunch, Swiss television SRF visited CERN and got a glimpse of the ALICE experiment deep underground, as well as the lab’s operational centre and its huge data centre.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Swiss conference on Ukraine’s recovery SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-07-05 | An international conference on reconstructing post-war Ukraine is being held in the Swiss city of Lugano.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the conference by video link. He said, “Russia’s war is not just an attempt to take our country, but a challenge to the European system. The reconstruction of Ukraine is therefore not just a local matter, but the task of the entire democratic world.”The two-day event had already been scheduled before the Russian invasion began in February. Several international politicians, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, are participating. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is also there, along with several members of the Ukrainian parliament.On the sidelines, Swiss Environment Minister Simonetta Sommaruga signed an agreement with Ukraine on implementing the Paris climate treaty. Elsewhere, delegates discussed the role of Ukraine’s parliament in the process of the war-torn nation’s recovery. (Picture source: Keystone). --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The Swiss army: your questions answered Part 3 SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-07-05 | In Switzerland, all able-bodied men complete compulsory military service, while others opt for a civilian service. But how useful is a conscript army in light of what Russia did to Ukraine? This is one of many questions SWI readers sent to us. Daniel Reist, head of media relations for the Swiss armed forces, takes a shot at answering them.Our third question is: why does Switzerland need an army?More questions and answers are to follow in the coming weeks. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
James Webb - A glimpse into the origins of the universe SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-07-01 | The James Webb Space Telescope, which lifted off into the heavens in December 2021, is on the hunt for distant galaxies, faint comets and early star formations. A key component of the telescope was part-developed in Switzerland.The Webb, the biggest and most powerful telescope ever sent into space, is considered as the successor to the Hubble telescope launched in 1990 by NASA. However, while the Hubble captures images in the spectrum visible to the human eye, the Webb can see further in both space and time – largely thanks to the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), one of four scientific instruments on board. MIRI, developed with the help of Swiss researchers, can peer into the wavelength range from 5 to 28 microns – a mid-infrared range under-researched to date, and within which it’s hoped can be spotted galaxies at the edge of the universe.The Swiss component was developed by the Paul Scherrer Institute in collaboration with industrial firms. Later the project was taken over by the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics (IPA) at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich, working within a European consortium that also collaborated with NASA. ETH Zurich astrophysicist Adrian Glauser and his team developed special cryo-cables as well as a mechanism to protect MIRI from contamination during the cool-down phase; to work optimally, MIRI has to be cooled to -266°C – close to absolute zero.The Swiss team will thus be finishing its work with the Webb telescope, but for Glauser the next job is already waiting. Along with his scientific director Sascha Quanz, he will oversee the infrared imaging device METIS at the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which is set to begin operating in the Atacama desert in Chile in 2027. Apart from this, he is also already working on the next generation of space telescopes, which one day will be capable of searching for exoplanets similar to Earth.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The Swiss army: your questions answered Part 2 SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-06-28 | In Switzerland, all able-bodied men complete compulsory military service, while others opt for a civilian service. But how useful is a conscript army in light of what Russia did to Ukraine? This is one of many questions SWI readers sent to us. Daniel Reist, head of media relations for the Swiss armed forces, takes a shot at answering them.Our second question is how would Switzerland defend itself, faced with a large-scale attack? --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
True Story Award 2020/21 SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-06-25 | On Friday, June 24 2022, the winners of the True Story Award 2020/21 were announced at the Kornhausforum in Bern.Tune in here at 7pm CET (UTC +2) to find out who has won.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Ukrainian students adjust to life in Switzerland SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-06-24 | The Lucerne School of Art and Design has taken in 29 Ukrainian students as exchange students rather than refugees. This means their time in Switzerland counts towards their degree.The 29 students come from the Lviv National Academy of Arts, a partner university. They came by bus via Warsaw, Poland, and then through Germany and on to Lucerne shortly after the war started in Ukraine.Monika Gold, head of the Bachelor’s Programme in Graphic Design, was the driving force behind the move. Her own grandparents emigrated to Switzerland from what is now Ukraine and she has more than 20 years’ contact with the Lviv National Academy of Arts.“A few days after the war broke out, I contacted the director there and asked if we could help," she told Swiss public television SRF.The 29 students are now adjusting to life in Switzerland and to the Swiss study programme, as can be seen in the video above. In order to overcome the language barrier, the school has chosen to teach them in English. As exchange students rather than refugees, they can count their time in Lucerne towards their studies.The future is yet unclear. Many of the students come from regions that are very affected by the war and are anxious about their family and friends. The School of Art and Design, which is part of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, will see if the students want to stay for a second exchange semester or whether they want to fully transfer to Lucerne. Some may want to return to Ukraine.The Swiss university and research community has already said that it would do all it can to help academics and students fleeing conflict-torn Ukraine. Institutions have also offered support to Ukrainian researchers already in Switzerland.At present, there are no Swiss-wide statistics for how many Ukrainian students are in Switzerland. Last month, reports said however that universities had received hundreds of requests from Ukrainian refugees.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
The Swiss army: your questions answered Part 1 SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-06-21 | In Switzerland, all able-bodied men complete compulsory military service, while others opt for a civilian service. But how useful is a conscript army in light of what Russia did to Ukraine? This is one of many questions SWI readers sent to us. Daniel Reist, head of media relations for the Swiss armed forces, takes a shot at answering them.Our first question is can a small army be effective? More questions and answers are to follow in the coming weeks. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
24 hours inside a new Swiss prison SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-06-14 | Over 800 people volunteered to be locked up in a Zurich prison last month to test the new facility. SWI swissinfo.ch reporter May Elmahdi-Lichtsteiner was one of the lucky inmates selected for the trial.The Zurich cantonal authorities recently came up with the unusual idea to give the detention facility and staff a test run before the prison starts taking real inmates.The pilot project was intended as a good way of “ensuring the proper functioning of daily operations and allowing wardens to familiarise themselves with the facility”, according to the authorities. May stayed for 24 hours before being released.The new Zurich West prison was built partly to alleviate criticism of conditions for remand prisoners in the canton.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Interview with Yello, the techno and synth-pop music pioneers from Zurich SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-06-07 | Hailed as pioneers of synth-pop and techno music and still filling halls in the wake of a career spanning four decades, the Zurich duo has just won the Swiss Grand Award for Music. Speaking to SWI swissinfo.ch, they explain the secret to success: not to care about success at all. Boris Blank is the musical brains, but he confesses that he can’t read a score. Dieter Meier is the singer who learned how to sing on the job. Together they are Yello, probably the most globally successful and influential Swiss band in history. These two assumed dilettantes couldn’t be more different from each other – Boris, the shy genius behind the group's unique samples, and Dieter the lyricist and front man, who also doubles as a business maverick, bohemian, conceptual artist, and gambler.Yello has so many contradictions in its DNA that it’s hard to fathom how the duo became a sudden global hit right from their beginnings, in the early 1980s. Maybe the reason lies in the fact that they have always been outside of all trends and movements.Blank and Meier welcomed SWI for a chat in their studio in the noble hills overlooking Zurich, but they insisted on being interviewed one after the other rather than together. We asked their manager whether they were no longer on speaking terms, despite displaying genuine brotherly affection and cracking jokes at each other. “It’s a marriage of 40 years,” replied the manager, “and each one of them has his own style and personality”.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Why young people no longer want to work in hotels SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-05-31 | The Swiss catering industry is finding it hard to attract staff – apprentices included. Young people are turning their backs on the long and irregular hours that come with working in hotels. The Covid pandemic has not helped.A glance at the statistics confirms the trend: in 2020, 429 young people started training as specialists in restaurant service – a drop of 40% on 2011 when the number was 731.The hotel sector is also affected by a lack of applicants. In 2011, 379 young people started an apprenticeship in the industry, but by 2020 this number had fallen to 252, according to statistics quoted by SRF.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Episode 2: The fondue invasion SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-05-20 | The new episode of our "Switzerland says sorry" series tells the unbelievable story of how Switzerland «invented» fondue as a way to get rid of all the surplus cheese it produced but was unable to sell otherwise. The video gives a short insight into the Swiss Cheese Union, a mafia-like cheese cartel responsible for price-fixing, bribery and flooding the world with melted cheese. «Switzerland Says Sorry» is a work of satire. Written, performed and produced by Swiss comedian KarpiMusic by artlist.io Produced by Apéro Film in 2022 for SWI swissinfo.ch If you want to know more about the Swiss Cheese Union, check out my sources: «Swiss Cheese» by Dominik Flammer & Fabian Scheffold (book about the history of Swiss cheesemaking) «The Fondue Conspiracy» Planet Money (podcast episode shorturl.at/foqsA) «Federal institute or cartel?» by Dorothee Ryser (text in german shorturl.at/vwD25) Suggestions for things Switzerland should apologise for?Send them to sorry@karpi.international--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
How canton Ticino became a democracy pioneer in Europe SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-05-17 | History books often point to the second French Revolution in July 1830 as the start of a democratising wave that swept Europe, including Switzerland. What is often overlooked is the role of canton Ticino, which pioneered many of the ideas at the heart of these revolutions.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Afghan women footballers take to the field again in Bern SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-05-10 | Two former players with Afghanistan’s national women’s team have started football training for women in Bern, both to improve their footballing skills and to defend the rights of women to play the game. It’s part of Armisa and Sahar’s (pseudonyms) continuing efforts to rebuild their lives after being forced to flee their country for fear of the Taliban, the Islamic fundamentalist group that was waging an insurgency in Afghanistan when they left. swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
New ways of creating and selling in the digital art world SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-05-03 | The final installment in the series explores the work of Dirk Koy, a Swiss artist in the rapidly growing digital art scene. Dirk Koy makes art using tools including 3D cameras, drones, and computers. Because digital images, videos, and animations can in theory be randomly downloaded and copied by anyone, they are bought and sold using non-fungible tokens (NFTs).NFTs, operated through the blockchain, are digital documents which provide proof of who the sole actual owner of an artwork is. But while NFTs provide artists with new economic opportunities, they also have downsides, notably when it comes to their ecological impact.This video portrait is part of the “Digital offensive” series by Swiss public television SRF. It looks at the work of five young people trying to make a difference in the digital world. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)This content was published on April 16, 2022 - 09:00--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Hacking as a tool for highlighting grievances SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-04-26 | Hacker Tillie Kottmann exposes security holes in computer systems and has been charged in the United States for making them public. For Kottmann, tracking down digital vulnerabilities provides a dose of euphoria and adrenaline. The hacker wants to shine a light on data of public interest. This video portrait is part of the “Digital offensive” series by Swiss public television SRF. It looks at the work of five young people trying to make a difference in the digital world. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
Saying no to a tax on streaming companies in Switzerland SWI swissinfo.ch - English 2022-04-19 | Should streaming services like Netflix be forced to support filmmakers in the countries where they operate? Under the the so-called “Lex Netflix” law, they will be required to invest 4% of their Swiss turnover in local productions. The youth wings of Switzerland’s major centre right and rightwing political parties have criticised the law and collected enough signatures to force a national referendum on May 15. They fear the law could drive up subscription prices for streaming services and that less content will be available because of the higher costs for the providers. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
