Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

Filter archive by: Show All Show only Articles Show only Videos

Living in Switzerland as a Muslim

2021-10-12

by

The Swiss population has voted in favour of banning face coverings, in a vote known as the 'burka ban', in March 2021. They had already voted in favour of banning the construction of minarets in November 2009. What is it like to grow up, and live, as a Muslim in Switzerland? Muslims are the third largest religious community in the small Alpine nation. Despite this, its members say they still face discriminations because they believe in Islam. We...

Read More »

Simona Aebersold, on being a world orienteering championships medallist and student

2021-10-05

by

Simona Aebersold is 23 but has been running through forests and fields since she was a kid - her mom and dad are former top athletes and got her into orienteering very young. A 7-times world championship medallist, Simona is also a student at the University of Bern, where she's getting a degree in Sports science and Psychology. We met her in her garden, and she told us how she manages to balance her training sessions, competitions and exams. ---...

Read More »

A giant water battery in the Swiss Alps

2021-09-07

by

The amount of electricity that can be stored thanks to the new pumped-storage and turbine power station in Nant de Drance, canton Valais, could charge more than 400,000 electric car batteries. Its director explains the role of this "water battery" for electricity supply and grid stabilisation in Switzerland and Europe. “The electric storage capacity of the reservoir surpasses that of 400,000 electric car batteries,” explains Alain...

Read More »

An alternative life of Swiss luxury

2021-08-31

by

Thomas Brunschwig leads an unconventional life. He is a self-confessed outsider who has found his sustainable, spiritual paradise in a Bernese farmhouse filled with various Indian and Chinese instruments and sculptures – and four zebu cattle. The zebu produce neither milk nor meat. In fact he says the only useful thing they produce is dung, the fuel of fire in the Vedic religion. “Technically, if I calculate the income from selling dried cow pats,...

Read More »

Afghan women face an uncertain future

2021-08-27

by

One of the big questions since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan is what will become of Afghan women. When the militant group last ruled the country, women and girls were barred from schools, universities and jobs, and had to veil from head to toe in public. The Swiss-based non-profit group Geneva Call has been active in Afghanistan for several years, trying to improve the protection of women in particular. Marie Lequin, Head of the Eurasia...

Read More »

Covid vaccinations in schools

2021-08-24

by

Aargau is the first Swiss canton to offer mobile vaccination centres for older pupils on school grounds. The aim is to boost the vaccination rate among 16- to 19-year-olds in the canton, which currently stands at 43%, as well as to stem the number of coronavirus outbreaks in schools. More than 200 pupils tested positive for the virus in the first week of term. Schools in the northern canton were the first to go back after the summer holidays on...

Read More »

Deepfake hunters

2021-08-17

by

Deepfakes are often used in ads and films, for instance when actors play younger versions of their characters. However, the technology also offers high potential for misuse. A spin-off of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne is using AI and deep learning to create software to help specialists detect fraud. Artificial intelligence helps detect anomalies inside images. The software then marks any manipulated areas. Detectors are also...

Read More »

The grand old man of Swiss alpinism

2021-07-27

by

Meet Marcel, father of the legendary Swiss climbers Claude and Yves Remy. Marcel may be 98 years old, but he’s still climbing. You can see him in action here at the climbing centre in Villeneuve on the eastern shores of Lake Geneva. Marcel Remy spent all his free time in the mountains, taking his two sons with him. Claude and his brother Yves inherited Marcel’s determination and resilience. The Lausanne-born hard-rock lovers opened and outfitted...

Read More »

Inbreeding hits bearded vultures in the Alps

2021-07-20

by

Switzerland is celebrating the reintroduction of 50 Bearded Vultures to the Swiss Alps. It’s 30 years since the programme began in the Swiss Wildlife Reserve near Melchsee-Frutt in central Switzerland. The Bearded Vulture used to be widespread in large parts of the Alps but was hunted to extinction towards the end of the 19th century. The wild population is growing in the cantons of Valais and Graubünden, but the raptors in central Switzerland...

Read More »

Why is Switzerland important in the commodity trading sector?

2021-07-07

by

Tiny landlocked Switzerland is a big player in the commodity trading business. The country's involvement in this industry can be traced back to the 15th century, when its ideal central location had merchants from all over Europe meeting on its city square to exchange goods. Today, commodities are shipped around the world in huge container ships, and the trading mostly happens in climatised offices, far away from the mines and ports. Giants such...

Read More »

Diplomatic back channels: years of USA-Syria talks in Geneva

2021-07-06

by

Stretching over several decades, meetings in Geneva between American presidents and Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, raised hopes of peace in the Middle East. The situation at the end of the 1960s in the Middle East is tense. Israel and the Arab states are at war. Syria clashes against Israel over occupied territories in the Golan Heights. The US hopes to stabilise the region by strengthening ties with Arab nations. It is in Geneva that...

Read More »

Icy relations warm up in Geneva

2021-06-17

by

The handshake between US-President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin between made headlines in Geneva on Wednesday. The atmosphere of their meeting was described as “warm”. The summit took place amid a huge security operation involving thousands of police and military personnel. The lake and parts of the city became no-go zones. swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is...

Read More »

How Geneva is preparing for Biden and Putin

2021-06-15

by

Geneva will be hosting the first presidential meeting between the American president Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Preparations are underway. As the host country, Switzerland will be deploying its good offices and taking all the necessary measures to ensure that talks, which start on June 16, can take place as safely and as discreetly as possible. Issues which have contributed to a rise in tensions between the United...

Read More »

How robot cars may transport freight under Switzerland

2021-06-08

by

Cargo sous terrain, or underground cargo, is a futuristic Swiss freight project aimed at relieving pressure off existing roads and other infrastructure. The plan is to build a 500-kilometre network of tunnels linking production sites and logistics hubs in Switzerland’s biggest cities.

Read More »

Swiss woman’s grandchildren held in Syrian camp

2021-06-01

by

This is the story of a Swiss woman who desperately wants her grandchildren to be brought back from a Kurdish-controlled camp in Syria, even if it means taking them from their mother. Switzerland refuses to repatriate adult detainees from Syrian camps, a policy that effectively leaves seven Swiss children stranded in the war-torn country. Many detainees in the camps are suspected of having links to the Islamic State terror group, in northeastern...

Read More »

Protest over academic collaboration with China

2021-05-25

by

The Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) is one of three European institutions cooperating with a university in China with ties to the military. Not all ZHdK staff and students agree with the move. A petition has been organised by Verso, the ZHdK student organisation, which is calling for cooperation with the Chinese Harbin Institute of Technology to cease immediately. It has been signed by 531 students and members of staff. But a Swiss-China...

Read More »

Napoleon Bonaparte’s impact on Switzerland

2021-05-17

by

To mark the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's death, Swiss Public Television SRF takes a closer look at the changes he brought about in Switzerland, as he plowed his way across Europe with the French Imperial Army. --- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on international events. For more articles, interviews and videos visit...

Read More »

What Switzerland and North Korea have in common

2021-05-03

by

--- In both North Korea and Switzerland, the omnipresence of high mountains most probably affects the national psyche. An exhibition at the Alpine Museum in Bern investigates the similarities and differences between the two mountain nations, focusing not on politics but on people. swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Its role is to report on Switzerland and to provide a Swiss perspective on...

Read More »

Fighting the pandemic blues – S02E01

2021-04-13

by

Last year, as the coronavirus pandemic hit Switzerland, and the rest of the world, we asked our readers and followers to look at the bright side of those dark times. With the pictures and videos they sent us we compiled a season made of six episodes, filled with tiny moments of joy.

Read More »

Electric cars – how much cleaner are they?

2021-04-05

by

Are electric vehicles really more eco-friendly than other types of cars? The Swiss TV consumer magazine ‘Kassensturz’ used a new climate calculator to find the answers, comparing the carbon footprints of electric cars with those of other types over the entire lifespan of the vehicles. The tool was developed by the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS) automobile association.--- swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting...

Read More »