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Environment Minister Sommaruga acknowledged that many citizens share the conces of the Green Party to curb urbanisation but they reli...

Here is a selection of stories we're looking ahead to in the week of January 15, 2018. (Keystone) Tuesday The Swiss national football team has been doing well of late, but not much is known about the country’s Super League. We look at why, and consider whether the team is punching below or above its weight in Europe, relative to its national success and the finances of its clubs. (Keystone) Wednesday Why are the Swiss such experts at predicting avalanches? What makes their approach so special? All will be revealed in our in-depth article. (Keystone) Thursday On March 4, the Swiss could vote to get rid of the radio and television licence fee. We look at the arguments on...

... Print comment Reuse article See in other languages: 3 See in other languages: 3 Languages: 3 Keeping animals in small cages for fur production is baed in Switzerland.(Sylvain Cordier/Biosphoto/AFP...

... Print comment Reuse article See in another language: 1 See in another language: 1 Languages: 1 laura g 1 Laura Gibilras swissinfo.ch: You were bo in Italy as a Swiss abroad. Does someone ...

Around 2.2% of Bosnia and Herzegovina is still covered withmines(zVg) The barking of dogs produces such noise that it’s impossible to hear your own voice. We are at the Global Training Centre for Mine Detection Dogs in Blagovac, in rural Bosnia, about 10 kilometres north of the capital Sarajevo.+Read about the Ottawa Convention, baing landminesFourteen people are currently looking after 60 dogs on these vast premises. The dogs have names like Panzer, Amor, Luna, Irony, Jala or Brick. They are all Belgian Shepherds.“This breed is healthy, active and not as lazy as, say, a Labrador,” says Goran Šehić, the deputy programme manag...

The constitution calls for every effort to be made to care for and integrate people with disabilities into society, like this group of girls.(Keystone) People with disabilities and placed under f...

Honorary consuls are local personalities who represent foreign states in Switzerland, and they are not paid for their work. What motivates them? (RTS/swissinfo.chexteal link)There are about 130 honorary consuls them in Switzerland. They are not professional diplomats, but people who workon a voluntarybasis until their appointments are revoked. For instance, François de Coulonexteal link, who...

There is always plenty of debate in Switzerland, with sometimes surprising results. (Keystone) In Switzerland, voters determine how much should be paid in taxes, and how those taxes should be used. Isn’t this asking for trouble? Switzerland is a strange nation. The people are handed the chance to increase their aual leave to six weeks on a silver platter, and what do they do? They decline!...

Inteational Alertworks with young people in neighbourhoods near Tunis to promote local govement participation and workforce development (swissinfo.ch) Urban working-class areas around the Tunisian capital, Tunis, have a reputation as breeding grounds for crime and religious extremism. Swi...

A family member of missing persons waits for body bags in Merdare, 40 km (25 miles) north of the Kosovo's capital Pristina , on June 30,2006 (Keystone) A two-day conference this week in Geneva aims to relaunch the process of identifying 1,658 people who disappeared during the war in Kosovo (1...

Hungary has witnessed a wave of recent protestsagainst various policies that are seen as a rollback of liberal democray (Keystone) The spread of democracy has tued into a crisis of democracy. Historical amnesia is partly to blame for a growing disenchantment, but this phenomenon, which vari...

Swiss Parliament has just increased the retirement age for women to 65 years, up from 64. This may be just a first step, since parliament has for several years mentioned the possibility of raising retirement age to 67 years for both sexes. For some, the increase in life expectancy justifies these in...

Workers lay reinforcement steel in a tuel between Bellinzona and Lugano.(Keystone)From baker to banker, Swiss workers ea salaries that must be put into perspective.Like anywhere in the world, salaries in Switzerland vary depending on factors like education, experience and location. Each year, ca...

The proportion of under-25s getting their licence in Geneva has fallen from 75% 15 years ago to 65%, according to mobility specialist Vincent Kaufma(Keystone)Geneva attracts global attention for its motor show currently underway, but fewer and fewer young adults in Geneva itself are showing an int...

Campaigners celebrate the rejection in 2016 of a controversial initiative to deport foreigners who commit certain crimes(Keystone)The more options people are given to participate politically, the happier they are, according to scientific research. So shouldn’t every country introduce Swiss-style dir...

Assad has said that taking the city of Aleppo from rebel forces would act as a springboard to 'push terrorists back to Turkey’ (AFP) Syria's President Bashar al-Assad told Swiss public television, SRF, that fighting ‘terrorists’ in Aleppo was the only way of ‘protecting civilians’. He denied govement forces bombed hospitals indiscriminately and dismissed allegations of the army’s use of chemical weapons. “According to the constitution, according to the law, we have to protect people, we have to get rid of those terrorists from Aleppo. This is where we can protect the civilians,” Assad told SRF in the interview broadcast on Wednesday. "How can you protect them while they are under the con...

We often get asked who our audience is at swissinfo.ch. Well, we’re aimed at an inteational community who are interested in Switzerland, and Swiss citizens living abroad. To know our readers better, we asked our fans on Facebook to tell us who they are and what their coection to Switzerland is. Here’s three people who shared their stories of their interest in Switzerland and why swissinfo.ch matters to them. David, Mexico: "Leaing to ski changed my life!" (Courtesy of David Martinez ) “I was bo in Mexico City in 1958. Actually I live in Monterrey, the third largest city of Mexico, located 200 km away from the US Border. I am married and I have three sons: David Alejandro, 24; Daniel And...

Battle of the generations? Actually political ideology seems to be more important when deciding whether to increase pension payments (Keystone) Why would you vote against something from which you would benefit – or vote in favour of something that you would have to pay for but not benefit from? An upcoming people’s initiative on raising pension payments by 10% has raised questions about the role of personal and national interests in direct democracy. There have been several initiatives and referendums over the years in which the Swiss appear to vote against their own interests, rejecting for example a lower retirement age, an unconditional basic income and extra holiday. Incredulous fore...

These are the top stories we're following in the week starting September 12. (Keystone) Monday With Swiss voters poised to decide on a people’s initiative promoting a greener economy, swissinfo.ch tests the oft-quoted maxim that Switzerland is world champion of recycling. We check the facts and put the claim to the test. (Keystone) Tuesday Researchers from the University of Neuchatel will present the findings of a co-produced survey into the social media performances of US Presidential election candidates Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. Which candidate attracted the most online users and whose was the most effective? (Keystone) Tuesday To non-climbers, it can seem counter-intu...

Scientist are calling for the replacement of old heating systems in Swiss buildings. An iovative facade producing solar energy was added to a renovated apartment house in the city of Zurich (Stephanie Hess) A renowned energy specialist has called on Zurich’s cantonal parliament to replace old oil and gas heating systems with new, more sustainable technology. A special tool, the individual initiative, gives citizens an additional instrument to engage in politics. It is not as if Swiss scientists have nothing to say in their fields of expertise – just take the experts at Geneva's CERN research centre, others developing important robotic parts, or Bertrand Piccard and his round-the-world fl...