It's barely been a month since Naina was re-enrolled and she's already missed two days of school. She hadxa0to perform all the household chores as her mother was visiting relatives(swissinfo.ch) The world’s first private, performance-based investment aims to keep girls in rural India in school. But ...

A new face will have to be added to the 2017 group photo of the gove ment. Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter (second fromxa0left)xa0will step down in Octoberxa0(Bundeskanzlei/Beat Mumenthaler) The resignation and replacement of a gove ment minister may not be worth more than a shrug of the shoulder...

From left: candidates Isabelle Moret, Ignazio Cassis and Pierre Maudet(Keystone) Three candidates from the centre-right Radical Party are vying to become the seventh minister in Switzerland’s cabinet, or Federal Council. Will it be the first candidate from Ticino this century, a lawyer and party lea...

E-voting is popular among the Swiss, but conce s about data security has slowed down progressxa0(tudmeak/123RF) The use of electronic voting in Switzerland has been making slow progress amid setbacks over security conce s. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) is pushing for the introduction of...

Jura or Be ? Two municipalities will decide on Sunday(swissinfo.ch) Sorvilier and Belprahon, two small Be ese municipalities, are deciding whether to join the canton of Jura. In so doing, they would follow the lead of the town of Moutier, though challenges to its vote of June 18 are still pending.Al...

(Betty Shilman) With one foot in Switzerland and the other in the US, Jonathan Lachowitz is a cross-border financial planner and advocate for residency-based taxation. His story is the fifth in our series on US expats in Switzerland.As many Americans overseas know, you see your country in a differen...

It's a good time for people looking to rent an apartment in Switzerland, as there are axa0huge number of empty properties and landlords are slashing rents in some places. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)xa0There are around 55,000 empty rental flats in Switzerland. For example in Wangen bei Olten, Cantonxa0Solothu...

(swissinfo.ch) In public, threats. Behind the scenes, diplomacy and de-escalation. Switzerland has been negotiating between the United States and North Korea without fanfare but with success. This week a former US diplomat and a representative from North Korea spoke to each other in Montreux.xa0It w...

These are the stories on our agenda for the week beginning September 18, 2017. (swissinfo.ch) TuesdayIs there a place for private, for-profit investment in the inte ational development sector dominated by gove ments, non-profits and wealthy donors? We look at the world’s first Development Impact Bon...

The nomination of Professor Strauss (whose last name is the German word for ostrich) inspired many caricatures at the time.(Author unknown) In 1839, the election of a reform-minded theologist to Zurich’s education council caused an uproar – followed by a deep liberal-conservative rift that split the...

Representatives of Switzerland's youth party take part in a debate. Youth parties are the only ones who receive direct financial contributions from the Swiss state. (Keystone) State funding for Swiss political parties does exist, despite popular belief. Two young political science researchers estima...

Wine producers in Lavaux, the spectacular wine-growing region on Lake Geneva, have been enjoying a boost in trade sincexa0the region onxa0UNESCOxa0World Heritage status ten years ago. (RTS/swissinfo.ch)xa0 Enotourism, that is tourism whose purpose is the tasting and purchase of wine, is big business...

Trying to check the electronic timetablexa0at Swiss railway stations it is difficult to ignore the political postersxa0 (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 v...

Their fat faces grace postcards, and their fat is used in salves. In Switzerland, the marmot is part mascot, part medicine chest – and for game lovers, a meal.xa0 A member of the squirrel family, alpine marmots have powerful paws and strong claws to help them dig their burrows in mountainous areas. ...

Iranian women queue to vote for the presidential and municipal councils' electionsxa0in the city of Qom, south of the Iranian capital, Tehran,xa0onxa0May 19, 2017. A Sadhu, or Hindu holy man, shows his ink-marked finger after voting during the state assembly electionxa0in the town of Ayodhyaxa0in In...

A fire to celebrate a nation: "The Swiss are modest. They do not display their merits in the shop window," says Otto Lampe. (Keystone) Although we always had plenty of work to do, my time as Germany’s ambassador in Switzerland feels in retrospect like one big party. A love letter to Switzerland… Gys...

The last stretch of the campaign ahead of the vote could be decisivexa0 (Keystone) A controversial old-age pension reform has been losing ground ahead of a nationwide vote on September 24. An opinion poll shows the outcome remains wide open. Compared with a previous survey by the GfS Be research and...

The two-seater electric powered Magnus E-Fusion aircraft by Siemens flies nearly silently (Keystone) Electric aeroplane enthusiasts recently met in Switzerland to show off the latest technologies that could influence the air travel of tomorrow. Before the Smartflyer Challengeexte al linkxa0event – E...

More of Switzerland's wealthy people see cryptocurrencies as a key to increased wealth (Keystone) Who are the investors eager to bet on bitcoin, and what plans do they have for their newly minted digital assets?xa0 “There is only one type of crypto investor – one who wishes they had bought more,” Bi...

Politicians inxa0parliament building celebrate a result of the Swiss national football team, which they watch onxa0television. (Keystone) Parliament is continuing its debate of a people’s initiative which aims to scrap licence fees for the services of the public Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC)....