Snowboarding throughxa0Lausanne(Keystone) Almost every article published by swissinfo.ch containsxa0a percentage, an age, an amount of money or some other figure.xa0Here’s a round-up of the most interesting statistics to appear in the past week’s stories. Exte al Content Formatting

This content was published on March 3, 2018 11:00 AMMar 3, 2018 - 11:00 In 1843, Switzerland became the second country ever to introduce postage stamps; the UK was first in 1840. Early examples of Swiss stamps are therefore some of the most valuable and sought-after in the world. An exhibition showi...

This content was published on March 3, 2018 2:00 PMMar 3, 2018 - 14:00 The possibility of using computers to count the votes of the Swiss population had been in discussion for some time before a large-scale experiment took place in a district of canton Zurich on February 1, 1970, with the help of th...

Two-thirds of the gove ment’s tax revenue is at stake in the vote(Keystone) Projections show 83% of voters have renewed the gove ment’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.xa0xa0

Voters overwhelmingly decided not to pull the plug on the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation(Keystone) Voters have rejected a proposal to do away with the mandatory licence fee for Switzerland’s public broadcasters.Provisional final results show 71.6% of voters throwing out the initiative, which was lau...

(swissinfo.ch) Today, on World Radio Day, we celebrate the power of radio and its role in bringing people together.xa0It is also an occasion to look back at how swissinfo.ch began... with radio.Beginning in 1935, special programmes for the Swiss abroad were broadcast over short wave.xa0In 1939, the ...

This content was published on February 12, 2018 1:13 PMFeb 12, 2018 - 13:13 Balthazar Burkhard was in the right place at the right time: Be in the 1960s. The city had a lively bohemian scene, and was a magnet for radical artists and ideas that culminated in 1969 in the anthological exhibition, "When...

Jürg Schär and Konrad Rüegg are both members of the Swissxa0Federation of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises xa0(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 wil...

An Egyptian soldier guards the Luxor temple.xa0(Keystone) Switzerland has one of the most generous, state-funded victim support services in the world. However, it doesn’t benefit everyone: Swiss people who live abroad and their relatives – as well as Swiss tourists – who are victims of crime are fal...

At 91, she's the oldest elected politician in Switzerland: Marlies Näf-Hofmann from Arbon in canton Thurgau. And she's still going strong. Swiss Public Television, SRF looks back at an often controversial political career. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)xa0She represents the Christian Democratic Partyxa0in the A...

(PatitucciPhoto) The Alps are full of huts and shelters for farmers and their cows to use in the summer, but in the winter, they can provide welcome respite for skiers as well.Photographer Dan Patitucci captured this shot of a rest stop at a hut while out for a day of skiing."We'd just spent hours s...

(Keystone) Here are the stories we'll be following the week of February 12, 2018. (Keystone) MondaySwitzerland has generous aid available for victims of crimes, but some groups – namely the Swiss living abroad – get left out. An in-depth look at the issue, and who can benefit from assistance. (swiss...

The Davos sledge has become a part of Swiss heritage(Adrian Moser) The small wooden sledges were originally intended for transporting goods until a carpenter launched the “Davos sports sledge”. The museum-piece mode of transport has since been a fundamental part of Swiss wintertime and carpenters li...

A cloud of confetti at the start of the Luce e ca ival on Thursday(Keystone) Almost every article published by swissinfo.ch containsxa0a percentage, an age, an amount of money or some other figure.xa0Here’s a round-up of the most interesting statistics to appear in the past week’s stories. Exte al C...

This content was published on February 10, 2018 11:00 AMFeb 10, 2018 - 11:00 Falconer Ulrich Lüthi spends part of his time with his birds of prey hunting rooks in Swiss towns. swissinfo.ch spent a day watching them in action. xa0Lüthi’s birds sit on the back seat of his car, letting out the occasion...

Benoît Schwarz delivers a stone during the A-Division European Curling Championships 2017(Keystone) A record 171 athletes will be representing Switzerland at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, which start on Friday. But only a few can make a living from their sport. They need a job and a company wi...

Players need to wrap up in thermals, gloves and hats and have footwear with a good grip to stop them from slipping on the outfield(Sasi Subramaniam) The gentleman’s sport of cricket, an obsession on the Indian subcontinent, has been strategically used to drum up interest in Switzerland by promoters ...

Battle of the polygons - a rectangular Swiss flag flies in Austria during a state visit.(swissinfo.ch) When the Swiss athletes march into the Olympic stadium in PyeongChang, South Korea, for the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Games, they will wave a rectangular flag – proportions of 2:3 – in ke...

The number of Eritreans applying for asylum at the Swiss border has fallen dramatically in recent years. In 2015 there were 8,523 new requests, whereas in 2017 there were just over 400. (RTS/swissinfo.ch)xa0This is explained by the changing asylum situation in the Mediterranean and Italy, but also b...

Around 170 workers are being drafted in to the central Swiss village of Göschenen to build the new Gotthard road tunnel, but there's controversy over where they should stay. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)xa0The Swiss Federal Roads Office (FEDRO) wants to build a container village to house them, but many locals ...