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Swiss Attoey General Michael Lauber (centre) in a file photo Keystone / Peter Klaunzer Swiss Attoey General Michael Lauber - facing impeachment proceedings over his handling of a ...

The Mühleberg nuclear power plant  as seen on Friday, shortly before it was shut down(Keystone / Anthony Anex) ...

Women candidates from the Green Party celebrate their victories(Keystone / Eddy Risch) From massive shifts in party pow...

(Keystone) Almost every article published by swissinfo.ch containsa percentage, an age, an amount of money or some other figure.Here’s a round-up of the most interesting statistics to appear in the past week’s stories. Exteal Content Formatting classes Mond...

(Keystone) On April 16, 1943, Albert Hofma suddenly saw “an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours”. Hofma, then a scientist at Basel-based pharmaceutical company Sandoz, had accidentally experienced the first LSD trip after touchin...

Two-thirds of the govement’s tax revenue is at stake in the vote(Keystone) Projections show 83% of voters have renewed the govement’s right to tax its citizens and companies for another 15 years. This is a unique feature of Switzerland’s political system of direct democracy and federalism. ...

Jürg Schär and Konrad Rüegg are both members of the SwissFederation of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (swissinfo.ch) Switzerland’s Federation of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) supports a proposal to do away with mandatory licence fees for public service broadcasters, which will come to a nationwide vote on March 4. Two of its members sat down to discuss the issue.The SME umbrella organisationexteal link is up against an alliance of most political parties, parliament, the govement, trade unions and most sectors of the business community, who recommend voting against the initiative. But it is a political force to be reckon...

Jean-Claude Biver believes infacing the enemy head-on(Keystone) In a boardroom on a boat moored off Geneva’s Quai du Mont-Blanc, Jean-Claude Biver is explaining his first success in business, furiously thumping the table to punctuate his words.In the early 1980s, the luxury Swiss watch industry faced a near-existential crisis: Japanese manufacturers had threatened to render mechanical watches obsolete by introducing cheap, more accurate quartz models, and sales told accordingly.Swatch’s founder, Nicolas Hayek, played the Japanese at their own game, launching Swiss-made $50 plastic quartz watches in every colour. But Biver played the cont...

(Keystone/Sigi Tischler) Why is Swiss meat among the most expensive in the world? Farmers, consumer groups and industry experts all have their opinions. Not many people in the world can afford to pay nearly $50 for a kilogramme of beef leg round or more than $20 for the same amount of pork chop. But those are the price tags on these cuts of meat in Swiss supermarkets. According to the Meat Price Index 2017 by Caterwingsexteal link, Switzerland has the highest meat prices in the world - 142% more than the global average. Caterwings estimates that an unskilled Swiss worker needs only 3.1 hours to afford 1kg of beef, while in India someone must work 22.8 hours to pay for the same amount. ...

Mike Müller in the role of mayor at a town hall meeting(André Albrecht) A few times a year, the locals of some small and medium-sized Swiss communities get together to discuss the community’s budget, the aual accounts, tax rates, a new school building or anything else that’s going on. The discussions are often heated, and afterwards the people cast their votes by raising their hands.+ How can communities improve the appeal of town hall meetings?Four-fifths of Switzerland’s communities still have this tool of direct democracy which forms the legislative arm instead of having a parliament.In his comedy “Town Hall Meetings Today”, Müll...

This drug store shop window in Zurich needs no sign to explain what it sells.(© KEYSTONE / CHRISTIAN BEUTLER) Let’s start with some examplesexteal link: if you needed a 30-day supply of a drug called Xarelto to prevent or treat blood clots, you’d shell out about CHF100 ($102) in Switzerland. In the United States you’d be out an average $292. Or maybe you’re prescribed the painkiller Oxycontin. In Switzerland a 30-day supply costs $95, and in the US it would be $265. (Also, this is a drug with a controversial historyexteal link.)Swiss per capita spending on drugs is among the highest in Europe, but not nearly as high as in the US, wh...

Historicscene: Tim Wilson proposes marriage to his partner in the Australian Parliament. Hesaid yes.(Getty Images) In 1913, Canberra was founded as the capital in this region which expands over 2,300 square kilometres. This is where the federal govement of the country of 25 million people has its seat and where the two houses of the national parliament conduct their sessions.Recently, the House of Representatives witnessed history being made. Tim Wilson was standing at the speaker’s desk, but the representative of the ruling liberal party did not talk about same-sex marriages, as listed on the agenda.Instead, Wilson dropped a bomb. ...

Democracy is a bit likea puzzle, withmany different people holding a piece. People trying to solve the puzzle have todiscuss ideas and vote. If citizens don'tfulfil certain criteria, the puzzle doesn't fit together very well. Civic education plays a crucial part in democracy:it prepares people to take part in a democracy and helps them find their place on the political spectrum. What happens ...

The village of Bondo was sitting next to a ticking time bomb (Reuters) The mountain that sent four million cubic metres of rock through a Swiss village on Wednesday was known to be unstable. A section of the mountain moved 30 centimetres over the course of three years, but it was impossible to determine when it would collapse. Several hikers are still missing in canton Graubünden after the r...

This content was published on August 22, 2017 5:00 PMAug 22, 2017 - 17:00The ten-day Badenfahrt festival happens just once every ten years – transforming the spa town of Baden into a party animal’s playground. The theme for 2017 is “opposites” and the festival features various purpose-built structures to highlight that concept. Food, drink, music and a fun fair draw a million people to Baden, which has a population of 19,000. Located along the River Limmat, Baden is a 15-minute train ride from Zurich. Established in 1923, the Badenfahrt festivalexteal link is an example of intangible cultura...

Why do the Swiss abroad vote differently from the Swiss at home?An expert takes a closer look at the political profile of the Swiss diaspora. Political expert Thomas Milic has researched the political profile of Swiss expats. He's an expert on voting, parliamentary research and political psychology at the research centreSotomoexteal link. He also regularly works for the Centre for Democracy Aarauexteal link. In our new series,'Inside the Democracy Labs', researchers answer all kinds of questions about democracy. ...

Swiss shoppers can be reimbursed VAT in the Lago shopping centrein the German border town of Constance (Keystone) Many Swiss consumers shop in nearby towns on the other side of the border to avoid high prices at home. Now, Swiss border towns want to form an alliance to put an end to the pract...

Tama Vakeesan was bo in Switzerland – to Tamil parents from Sri Lanka. Both she and her friend Aceko, who’s from Cameroon, had trouble convincing their parents to support their career choices. Aceko succesfully switched from banking to professional dancing, and went on to winthe “Red Bull Beat It" competition in 2016.(SRF Kulturplatz/swissinfo.ch) ...

Jun 24, 2017 - 11:00In April 2013, Swiss photographers Nico Krebs and Taiyo Onorato, who have worked together for more than 12 years, jumped into an old Land Cruiser and headed east. They had a rough route and stops in mind, with the final destination being Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. It ...

Almost like civil war: Riot police clash with separatist demonstrators in the town of Moutier in 1977 (Keystone) It may have been just a local ballot, but it marked a decisive stage in a long-term Swiss territorial conflict. Here’s why the town of Moutier’s June 18 vote to join canton Jura wi...