SWI swissinfo

The entrance of the Palais des Nations, the UN's European headquarters in Geneva(United Nations Photo) ...

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

Meat may be a delicious staple for most Swiss but it is not so good for the climate.(Keystone) The latest UN climate re...

Encrypted digital tokens, representing ownership rights to underlying securities, are being tipped to transform financial trading. (KEYSTONE/STEFFEN SCHMIDT) The Swiss stock exchange is just one...

Orphans eatlunchin Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo.More than four million children have lost at least one parent in Congo over the past two decades(Keystone) The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has boycotted a United Nations conference in Geneva that reaped hundreds of millions of dollars to help...

A demonstrator calls for the child protection authorities to be stripped of their powers following the case of a mother who killed her two children to stop them being retued to care. She later killed herself in jail.(Eio Leanza/KEYSTONE) Child protection authorities are among the most unpopularinstitutions in Switzerland, even after recent reforms. Why the backlash?Overshadowed by the dark past of so-called "slave children", Swiss child protective services were subject tosweeping changes in 2013. But their reputation has continued to suffer after a series of incidents, notably a mother who killed her two children to stop them from being ...

Avalanche observers lea how to check the profile of the snowpackto see how it has changed over the winter and look for weak layers (swissinfo.ch) It may seem quite a leap from studying snowflakes with a magnifying glass to forecasting one of the greatest natural threats in the Alps, but the step is part of how Switzerland manages avalanches. The approach could soon win coveted Unesco cultural heritage status. “What happens to fresh snow when it lands?” asks Gian Darms, an instructor at the Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research (SLF)exteal link in Davos. Knee-deep in powder, his pupils stare blankly at each other. Whirring chairlifts can be heard in the distance. “The arms of the c...

The cross-border Portes du Soleil ski region is a bargain for skiers looking for variety. (© KEYSTONE / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT) Where in the Swiss Alps do you get access to the most ski slopes for your money? We crunched the numbers and found there’s a reason you’re asked to pay more at Adelboden than Airolo, or at Zermatt than Zuoz. Our graphic shows the inteational resort of Zermatt exteal linkrivalled in price by only a handful of other ski areas at CHF79 ($81) a day, while a pass at Zuoz exteal linkcosts only CHF56. However, the additional CHF23 in Zermatt buys you access to 360km of groomed pistes, compared to only 15km in Zuoz. At the lower end of the scale are stations where you c...

In the view of the crypto community, consumer power will force the traditional banking system to accept a transition to decentralised currencies.(Keystone) However, they are likely to run into quite some resistance from the traditional financial players in Switzerland.The likes of SCX Exchange, Swissborg, Smart Valor, Melonport, Lykke and Crypto Finance appear to be timing their arrival to catch a wave that has propelled bitcoin through the $10,000 (CHF9,900) and $15,000 barriers in a matter of days.They will join the “old” guard, Bitcoin Suisse and Bity, which have been servicing the Swiss crypto market for the past four years. The...

Today, about 90% of Switzerland’s natural ponds are in the mountains, with only 5-10% on the plateau, where human activity is most intensive. Most ponds found in lowland areas are artificial.(Beat Oertli, HES) Only 12 kilometres to the east of the bustling city of Geneva at the Lullier Horticultural School, a cattail-shrouded pond blends in so perfectly with the bucolic surroundings that the eye passes right over it. But as Beat Oertli, a professor of aquatic ecology at the University of Applied Sciences of Weste Switzerland (HESSO) explains, this pond isn’t just part of the landscape: it’s been strategically placed to protect a nat...

This content was published on October 26, 2017 10:47 AMOct 26, 2017 - 10:47 Known for directing Hollywood blockbusters ‘Good Will Hunting’ and ‘Milk’, Gus Van Sant will now feature in the first retrospective of his work in Switz...

A Polish/Scottish couple decidedto apply for Swiss citizenship to boost their children's integration. This is their story. (Julie Hunt, swissinfo.ch)David Kirk comes from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in Scotland. Dominika Wieczorek Kirkis from the town of Piastow in central Poland.They came to Switzerland as research scientists, and met here. Dominika works at the pharmaceutical giant, Novartis...

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...

Trying to check the electronic timetableat Swiss railway stations it is difficult to ignore the political posters (Keystone / Alessandro della Valle) Mode direct democracy keeps citizens tuned in with Swiss politics. It enables them to make an informed judgement on issues at stake in popular votes. There are also good reasons for Switzerland to promote people power worldwide through dipl...

Tama Vakeesan was bo in Switzerland – to Tamil parents from Sri Lanka. She meets up with stand-up comedian, Sven Ivanic, who is Croatian, Serbian and "100 % Swiss". They explore the prejudices against Balkan boys in Switzerland, and Svendefends his right to wear tracksuit bottoms.(SRF Kulturplatz/swissinfo.ch) subscription form Form for signing up for free newsletter. Sign up for our fre...

On September 24, Swiss voters will decide on a reform of the country's old age and disability pension scheme - it is the 15th vote on the issue in nearly nine decades. So far only two reform proposals won a majority at the ballot box (Keystone) Swiss voters will have the final say later this month on a reform of the country’s old age pension scheme. It is an important, but only temporary dec...

Tama Vakeesan was bo in Switzerland – to Tamil parents from Sri Lanka. Sometimes it's hard for Tama and her friends ofdifferent ethnic origins to stay true to family traditions. She asks Arjeta what being an ethnic Albanian means to her.(SRF Kulturplatz/swissinfo.ch) ...

Tama Vakeesan was bo in Switzerland – to Tamil parents from Sri Lanka. She meetsmake-up artist, Kavi, and they discuss why Tamil women still try to make their skinlighter. Is it a hangover from Sri Lanka's colonial past? (SRF Kulturplatz/swissinfo.ch) ...

Summer in the Aare River in Thun (Keystone) Up until the 1950s, waste was dumped directly into Swiss rivers and lakes, resulting in dying fish, bad smells and swimming bans. Much has changed since then. The entire population is coected to sewage treatment plants but new challenges are on the...

Will lovers of quality Swiss watches have to spend hundreds of francs to get their favourite timepieces fixed? (Thomas Ke/swissinfo.ch) Even a Swiss-brand watch will not run forever.Nowadays, minor repairs can be very expensive or take months because many specialist watchmakers no longer re...