Jun 10, 2017 - 11:00Thomas Eichenberger started playing an alpho in 1996. Its natural tones fascinated him; soon he dreamt of making one himself. In 2012, the trained cabinetmaker had the opportunity to lea the art from retired alpho maker Walter Lussi. The alpho was for a long time a tool f

Moving people moves Swiss train driver Lea Steppacher. (Susan Misicka/swissinfo.ch) What’s it like to sit in the driver’s seat of a Swiss train? It’s a dream job for one woman, who says she doesn’t fear she’ll be replaced by driverless trains anytime soon. In the break room before the trip, t

Police search a Winterthur mosque last year, thought to be a recruiting centre for Jihadists (Keystone) Homegrown Swiss jihadists often want a fresh start due to troubles at school or in the workplace. They tend to view the world in stark terms but harbor no hatred toward Switzerland, accordin

Tama Vakeesan was bo in Switzerland – to Tamil parents from Sri Lanka. One of her best friends is Priya Ragu, also an ethnic Tamil. She tells Tama that her parents do not support her ambition to become a professional singer. Like Tama, she is caught between two worlds.(SRF Kulturplatz/swissinfo.ch)

(Ruedi Widmer) Gove ment backing of the agricultural industry in Switzerland is stronger than in practically anywhere else in the world. Now and again, however, the country faces criticism from the World Trade Organization (WTO). More than half of the Swiss economy’s ea ings are generated a

Doha is feeling the pinch: blockades have been imposed on land, sea and air routes, seriously restricting the movement of goods and people to Qatar (Keystone) The isolation and blockade of Qatar by neighbours on the grounds of suspected terrorist financing has raised uncomfortable questions ab

Classrooms may have changed over the last few decades, but experts believe there is still a lot of unrealised potential for education technology. (RDB) Using technology to improve education isn’t as easy as handing every child an iPad. A new start-up incubator aims to solve these problems – an

The robot Sophia, which integrates the latest technologies and artificial intelligence, was showcased at the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva from June 7-9, 2017 (ITU) Beyond self-driving cars and Google Translate software, there is much talk about how artificial intelligence (AI) technolog

North Korea's totalitarian regime has made it one of the most secretive societies in the world. However, Switzerland is one of just a few humanitarian aid-providers who have been granted access to the state. (SRF, swissinfo.ch) The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has been working

Romansh, spoken in the south-easte canton of Graubünden, is descended from Latin, the common parent of all the Romance languages (Keystone) The Swiss voted overwhelmingly to recognise Romansh as the country’s fourth national language in 1938, but today the language spoken in one of Switzerla

Will Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May stay or go? And what about Brexit? There are lots of questions after the shock UK vote (Keystone) Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to hold a snap election to strengthen her hand in Brexit talks has been disastrous, leaving the country in uncharter

(swissinfo.ch) On a recent hike in the Swiss Alps, this jou alist was caught in a snowstorm. Inadequately dressed, the cold was begi ing to bite. Then, through the clouds, I saw a mountain railway built in the 19th century by Swiss engineers – and a café. Switzerland is often too perfect to

Passport applicants living abroad will also face tighter criteria for Swiss integration. (Keystone) From January 1, 2018, it will no longer be enough to have a Swiss grandmother or great-grandmother to qualify for a Swiss passport. The country’s new citizenship law has more stringent criteria

A closed border crossing at Moillesullaz in Geneva on the French-Swiss border in 1943 (RDB) New research has reignited debate on Swiss policy towards Jews fleeing the Nazis. A historian claims around 3,000 Jewish would-be refugees were tu ed away at the Swiss border with France between 1940-1

(www.geneve.com) A famous Swiss clock that combines floral splendour with precision time-telling has been given a facelift in Geneva. The "L'horloge fleurie" or Flower Clock,exte al link was first created in 1955 and has now received new hands and an updated clock mechanism. The overhaul cost

Consumers have to pay more for many goods in Switzerland despite sales (Keystone) Have you ever wondered why your steak costs twice as much when you eat it in Switzerland compared to neighbouring countries? The World Trade Organizationexte al link has laid the blame squarely on exorbitant Swi

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

An abundance of beautiful hikes (Keystone) The phrase “go take a hike” can help to dispatch an irritating person in some places. In Switzerland its use more often signifies that a person is in good company. From teens to pensioners, more than four-in-10 say they are active hikers. Just how se

Former Gambian gove ment minister Ousman Sonko in a photo from 2012. (Kairo News) Human rights NGOs hope Switzerland has the political will to prosecute former Gambian minister Ousman Sonko and former Liberian rebel leader Alieu Kosiah. Sonko is suspected of crimes against humanity while Kosi

Plans are afoot to transport goods across Switzerland in a giant underground tu el (Keystone) A year has passed since Switzerland inaugurated the world’s longest railway tu el: the 57-kilometre-long Gotthard base tu el. More ambitious tu el projects are in the pipeline. “The main rail an