Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

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The Alptransit project – Lötschberg, Gotthard and Monte Ceneri tunnels through the Alps

2020-10-01

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The Lötschberg, Gotthard base and Monte Ceneri base tunnels make up the Alpine rail link project. The idea to dig the three tunnels under the Swiss Alps was approved by Swiss voters in 1992. Twenty-eight years later, the project is symbolically completed, as the last tunnel, the Monte Ceneri, was handed over to the Federal railway company, SBB CFF FFS, who will exploit it.

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How are Swiss cities being planned?

2020-09-30

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Swiss cities and the growing areas around them are increasingly being developed. An expert on urban transformation walks us through the three phases of Swiss spatial planning, with examples in Zurich.

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Nuns: powerful women of the Middle Ages

2020-09-29

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The Middle Ages were a rough time for women. They were considered inferior to men, and very few were educated. Convents offered them opportunities that might otherwise have been denied them: access to schooling, social welfare and the chance to break away from the close strictures of their families. An exhibition at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich showed how ecclesiastical women lived in the Middle Ages, and what they created. swissinfo.ch...

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How the Swiss film industry is coping with the pandemic

2020-09-24

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Filmmaking doesn’t naturally lend itself to social distancing, meaning the coronavirus is disrupting films worldwide. This is how Swiss directors and the industry have been coping with the situation.

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Swiss women’s football anniversary

2020-09-22

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It's the 50th anniversary of the women’s football league in Switzerland, and there's a special exhibition at Zurich's football club to celebrate women's participation in the sport.

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What remains of Swiss democracy after the coronavirus measures?

2020-09-15

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On March 16 the Swiss government declared an “extraordinary situation” due to coronavirus. People had to stay at home for two months. The spring session of parliament was cancelled. The May referendum was postponed. The government ruled alone by emergency decree. Where does that leave direct democracy? Martina Mousson*, a political scientist from the gfs.bern research institute, is familiar with psychological phenomena in times of crisis. After...

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Time travelling in Basel

2020-09-01

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Why is the northern city of Basel described as Switzerland's cultural capital and how come the pharmaceutical industry started there? A new book called ‘Leaps in Time’ takes us on a journey down the centuries, introduces reformers, humanists, artists, plague doctors and the powerful tradesmen who ousted the aristocracy. From the first settlement at the time of the Celts, it grew into Switzerland’s third most populous city. It’s known for its...

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How I built my own Swiss watch – in a day

2020-08-28

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For fans of Swiss watches, the watchmaking world can sometimes seem like an impenetrable castle. The uninitiated rarely get the chance to observe or even touch delicate mechanical watch parts. Imagine assembling your own Swiss mechanical watch and taking it home with you at the end of the day. swissinfo.ch tried out the popular new concept run by Jura start-up Initium. heir start-up offers beginner watchmaking courses open to all ages. The firm,...

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Why is Switzerland one of the most expensive countries?

2020-08-21

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Everybody seems to agree, Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in the world, but why is that? The anecdotal evidence is there, and in the press, the big Swiss cities are constantly ranked among the most expensive cities in the world. Zurich and Geneva regularly make it into the top ten. And the Swiss are very much aware of these price differences. A study published at the beginning of 2020 concluded that Swiss businesses and...

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A 360-degree visit to Bern’s onion market

2020-06-03

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Take a virtual visit to the heart of the Zibelemärit, the picturesque onion market in the Swiss capital, Bern. Extra trains and more than 100 coaches from Switzerland and abroad brought thousands of visitors to this traditional farmers’ festival, where the main attraction was artfully braided onion garlands in all shapes and sizes. The Zibelemärit …

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How does asylum work in Switzerland

2020-05-22

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Switzerland has a humanitarian tradition and deals with relatively more asylum requests than other European countries, given the size of the population. Over 14,000 applications were submitted in 2019 and about a third of these people were admitted provisionally. However, migrants heading for Europe often prefer to go to neighbouring Germany and France. The Swiss …

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How to become Swiss

2020-03-04

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If you have a connection to Switzerland through your family or your partner and want to make it official by becoming Swiss yourself – this is how you can go about it. The Swiss passport can seem difficult to get. In this ‘Switzerland Explained’ video we describe how to kickstart the application process if you’re living abroad and how to find out …

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#swihack Live Stream of presentations

2020-02-22

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On location at #swihack Multilingual Journalism Hackathon organized by Swissinfo For more information, please visit https://swihack.ch --- 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 swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel: Website:...

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#swihack Live Stream of presentations

2020-02-22

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On location at #swihack Multilingual Journalism Hackathon organized by Swissinfo For more information, please visit https://swihack.ch — 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 swissinfo.ch or subscribe to …

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There’s plastic in your beer: here’s why

2019-11-06

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Plastic is all around us: it’s so present in our everyday lives we don’t just find it in our cupboards and on our desks, we even find it inside human bodies. A study published by the University of Newcastle found plastic traces all the way inside our muscles. For a material that’s so intrinsic to the way we live, recycling plastics is surprisingly difficult, and still seems to be a riddle in Switzerland. As waste management is in each canton or...

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There’s plastic in your beer: here’s why

2019-11-06

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Plastic is all around us: it’s so present in our everyday lives we don’t just find it in our cupboards and on our desks, we even find it inside human bodies. A study published by the University of Newcastle found plastic traces all the way inside our muscles. For a material that’s so intrinsic to … Continue reading »

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Parties’ position on gender equality

2019-11-05

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On October 20, a new parliament was elected and never before have so many women been chosen as parliamentarians. While their election can be viewed as a good thing in terms of gender balance, it’s not automatically good news for gender equality issues, as each party has its own manifesto and position on matters such … Continue...

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Three surprises and one piece of sad news

2019-10-23

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Last Sunday’s federal election was historic for many reasons, but also disappointing for some voters, as for the first time it wasn’t possible to vote electronically. Despite some voting material being delivered late to Swiss living abroad, some of them still managed to cast their vote and give us feedback on the outcome. Nouvo brings …

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How to choose your candidatesplatforms

2019-10-16

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The federal elections are coming up this Sunday and there are 3 websites where you can take a quiz to find out which candidate suits you the best. The number of questions vary, as do the final suggestions. Did you find someone who could represent you? Nouvo brings you short videos about Switzerland, Swiss current … Continue...

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Where do Swiss parties stand on environmental policies?

2019-10-10

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On October 20 the Swiss will elect their new parliament and all eyes are on the Greens and Liberal Greens, who could profit from the environmentalist hype raised by climate demonstrations. But where do right-wing parties stand? We checked the different parties’ positions on climate issues. Nouvo brings you short videos about Switzerland, Swiss current …

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