Electric cars – how much cleaner are they?
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.---
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April 01, 2021
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My brother dug me out of an avalanche
Two skiers who were lucky to have survived an avalanche released this video as a warning to others. It shows in detail how one of them nearly died. They admitted having "misjudged" the risks. Lake and Forrest Schorderet, two freerider brothers, were hit as they were skiing in the mountains near Saint-Luc in the canton of Valais. At least 27 people lost their lives in the Swiss Alps this winter.
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April 01, 2021
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Swiss-EU relations hang in the balance
Discussions between the EU and Switzerland over the future of their bilateral relations could be on the verge of collapse. Over 100 bilateral treaties set the terms of relations between the two. These need updating. A framework agreement has been hammered out over seven years but there are sticking points and the deal is under fire from across the Swiss political spectrum.
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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.
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March 23, 2021
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A nightclub in an isolated Swiss town
Before Juliane and Nici opened Cult, young people in the eastern Swiss town of Scuol had to drive for miles – even across the border into Austria – for a bit of fun.
“Scuol was a ghost town in terms of nightlife,” Juliane admits. As a result, local youngsters organised a petition saying there needed to be somewhere in Romansh-speaking Scuol where young people could meet and dance or just have a few drinks with friends. Parents were also supportive as the risk of drink-driving was reduced.
On a limited budget, the two created from scratch the wildly successful Cult, which is not just a bar and nightclub but also a platform for various cultural events.
They say everything's going really well and they've received a lot of positive feedback, although they wish people would dial back the rock’n’roll behaviour and stop breaking doors and loos.
“I have to say that I was really surprised at how much vandalism we were constantly getting in the club, right from the beginning,” Juliane says.
“I think this makes communication extremely important so that we can make it very clear to people: Hey guys, we’re doing all of this just for you and not for anyone else. And it would be great if you’d respect that.”
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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.
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November 17, 2020
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Minimising the threat of melting glaciers
Meltwater from glaciers can pose a serious threat to villages in the valleys. Stored in vast sub-glacial lakes, it can break suddenly through the ice to cause flooding and damage. Can it be controlled?
Swiss public television SRF journeyed deep into the Plaine-Morte glacier to find out. It’s a fascinating hidden ice world – and a constant threat to the village of Lenk below. Influenced by global climate change, the glacier collects over a billion litres of meltwater every summer – water that threatens to break out suddenly and cause flooding. (SRF/swissinfo.ch)
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March 02, 2021
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Two tales of women's suffrage
Swiss men continued to deny women the right to vote until 1971. This inspired two Swiss-based authors to tell stories of women experiencing the fight for women's suffrage at first hand.
In The Other Daughter by British author Caroline Bishop, one of the key protagonists, Sylvia, is a reporter sent to Switzerland on a mission to find out the effect of the introduction of female suffrage. Voting Day by Irish writer Clare O'Dea is set on the day that men first voted no to women's suffrage in Switzerland in February 1959. Clare's novella examines how sexual inequality affects the lives of its four main characters.
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February 23, 2021
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Gabriela Martina - from yodel to bebop
Over a decade ago, Gabriela Martina left her home in the countryside of Lucerne to study jazz in the United States. Today, the vocalist and composer lives in Boston and teaches at her alma mater, Berklee College of Music.
Martina tries to mix her Swiss yodelling roots with jazz, soul, RnB, gospel and blues. Her latest album, Homage to Grämlis, tells stories about the farm where she grew up with her parents, grandmother, two sisters and a brother. Many of the songs are about how they tended animals and the land. It’s bittersweet as the family recently had to give up the farm.
When we first met Martina, the traditional building was undergoing renovations in preparation for the new tenants. She herself was preparing to perform at a local yodel festival.
Later, we met Martina across the Atlantic, on the lively campus of Berklee in Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. It’s here that she has been able to develop and thrive as a musician. She’s founded her own booking agency, Red Velvet Sounds, and performs at various venues up and down the US East Coast. Earlier this year, she won a grant from The Boston Foundation for her work, and in 2016, Sonic Relief, which Martina co-founded, was awarded the Berklee Urban Service Award for using music to aid people in need.
In the video above she tells us what it’s like to be a Swiss musician in America.
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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.
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December 29, 2020
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Swiss circus performer brings her passion to New Orleans
At a young age, circus artist Meret Ryhiner migrated to the United States to study circus arts in New York. She became a professional circus artist and eventually moved to New Orleans.
This is the story of how a road accident and hurricane Katrina changed her life, as well as the lives of the people in her community.
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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.
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December 29, 2020
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The introduction of women's suffrage worldwide
Switzerland was one of the last countries to grant women their right to vote, preceding only 22 other countries worldwide. Today, only one country doesn't allow women voters to cast their ballot in national elections, just because there aren't any. In Vatican City, an absolute monarchy, the legislators are appointed by the Pope. Neither male nor female citizens have the right to vote.
February 7, 2021, marks the 50th anniversary of Swiss women's right to vote. Two thirds of the male population voted in favour of women's suffrage in 1971. A first vote in 1959 was rejected with the same proportion, and a previous petition submitted in 1929 was ignored by the government.
When and how were women allowed to vote in other countries? The journey through time starts in 1776, and is closely linked to the notion of land ownership. Here's a brief timeline of the introduction of women's suffrage worldwide.
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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.
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February 04, 2021
ELrkbwH80Yc
Travelling to Switzerland post-Brexit
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If you're a Brit planning to visit Switzerland, you might want to think twice about bringing your pets with you! Things have changed since Brexit. ?
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UK nationals are no longer covered by the EU’s free movement of persons agreement. When the present Covid-19 related travel ban is lifted, they will still be able to visit Switzerland for short periods using just their passports. But from 2022, short visits will require a visa waiver. UK citizens now have had to go through a different passport channel and may face longer waits at airports. ?
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Travellers from the UK wanting to enter Switzerland with pets or meat and dairy products will also face stricter rules, as we find out in this video. ?
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.
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February 03, 2021
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Switzerland's four languages
The Swiss are known for their multilingualism. The proportion of polyglots has increased slightly since 2014, according to a new report from the Federal Statistical Office. Over two-thirds of adults regularly use more than one language. They need these skills to communicate with each other, either in the workplace or across the four distinct language regions.
The majority speak German, followed by French, Italian and Romansh. The latter is in decline and efforts are being made to ensure its survival. Find out all about the challenges of multilingualism in this Explainer video.
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January 26, 2021
uytRgv0YKBA
Army takes charge of vaccine logistics
Switzerland’s conscript army is fighting on a new front, providing logistical help in the battle with Covid-19. It’s responsible for the transportation and safe storage of all vaccines, which are kept in secret armed forces installations. Meanwhile, civil protection staff are also helping with contact tracing, virus screening and setting up reception centres in hospitals.
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January 26, 2021
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A Swiss sausage maker in Denver
Born in Zurich, Eric Gutknecht came to the US with his parents when he was a little boy. Today he runs a sausage factory in Colorado.
Gutknecht did two charcuterie-making apprenticeships in Switzerland. His professional experience includes teaching economics and working as a business analyst. In 2003, he and his wife, Jessica, took over the family sausage business in Denver.
Today, CharcūtNuvo provides grocery stores and Swiss clubs all over the United States with traditional Swiss-style Bratwursts as well as more unusual varieties, like chicken-spinach and mac-n-cheese. The factory uses European production techniques and even some Swiss equipment.
“We try to get our supplies from within a 500-mile radius,” says Gutknecht, adding that the meat, which comes from smaller farms, is not treated with antibiotics or hormones. “The challenge is getting it fresh. Sometimes we have to buy frozen.” The award-winning company has also launched an organic line.
“I miss Swiss things like Ragusa and Rivella,” says Gutknecht, who hasn’t lived in Switzerland since his apprenticeship time. He has a 17-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter, so there is some chance of passing on the family business.
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December 29, 2020
eyFqpg1HjfQ
Swiss mom an ‘unofficial cultural ambassador’ in America
She kept dreaming of being on a plane that never reached its destination. Those dreams stopped about a year after moving to Colorado.
“The pilot would drop us off in a desert, or in the Alps, or the luggage would blow away,” remembers Regula Grenier, who has lived in Colorado since 2007. She sees the end of those dreams as a sign that she’s finally found the right place to live.
Originally from Einsiedeln in central Switzerland, Grenier quips that she was “made in Germany” since that’s where her parents conceived her.
“My spirit of travel and adventure started in the womb,” she says, explaining that her parents – both of whom had lived, worked and travelled abroad – passed on that interest in seeing the world. “Switzerland is such a small place; you have to explore.”
At 16, she moved to Geneva to be an au pair and loved it, especially the chance to experience a new language and culture. Later, she did the same in Virginia. “I fell in love with the US culture and freedom,” she says. She could only renew her one-year visa once before returning to Switzerland, where she studied tourism management in Lucerne.
“In the Swiss hotel business, I brought the world to myself. But my long-term goal was always to live and work abroad,” she says. A job at Crossair followed, but she quit after 9/11 and the grounding of Swissair. She spent three months travelling in India, Thailand and the US before finding a job with an American tour operator offering European river cruises.
It was on a business trip to the headquarters in Boston that she fell in love with an American coworker. They maintained a long-distance relationship for a year before he moved to Switzerland and they got married. It was hard for him without a job or the language, so Grenier suggested a new start for the both of them in the US. With no jobs lined up, they decided on Denver – a place she had never visited.
“I was disappointed in the city and the fact that the mountains were so far away – and not as dramatic as in Switzerland,” she recalls. Yet she stayed and found work at a shop selling European goods; later, the manager offered her an office job in the related sausage factory. The job lasted eight years – longer than her first marriage.
A new start
Now she’s married to the factory’s maintenance technician. They live in Thornton, a Denver suburb, with their two children. After her second child was born, Grenier quit her job and is mainly a stay-at-home mom today. As a certified Grief Recovery specialist, she gives group and one-on-one courses in her community. She’s also a prolific writer, having penned a column for the Einsiedler Anzeiger newspaper since 2008. In her column, called Briefe aus Amerika (Letters from America), she describes aspects of American culture and traditions that stand out to her as a Swiss. Recently, she published a “best of” booklet featuring about 90 of her stories.
“I kind of see myself as an unofficial cultural ambassador and educator for the Swiss about the reality of life in Colorado,” she says. If she has the chance, she’d also like to write an autobiography.
Grenier visits Switzerland every year or two with her children. Her husband Leo is more of a “homebody”, but he’s been once. When her first child Cody was a baby, she tried speaking Swiss-German to him, “but it felt weird”. However, he recently expressed an interest, so now she tries to make a point of teaching him some of her native language. Yet these days she dreams and even writes her grocery lists in English. And she can’t imagine going grocery shopping Swiss-style.
“It’s not a pedestrian nation. Even if I try to walk somewhere, it’s almost impossible,” she says. Soon, a new train service will link her town with Denver. “It would be a 20-minute walk to the station, but my neighbors would say ‘Are you crazy?’”
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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.
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December 29, 2020
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A Swiss Rifle Club in America
Swiss rifles were coveted during the American revolutionary and civil wars. Today they’re used for fun by the Swiss Rifle Club of Minneapolis.
In the late 1980s, a group of Swiss expats living in Minnesota – all employed by food technology company Bühler – decided to form a shooting club to maintain a tradition from the homeland.
They made a deal with a local club willing to share its facilities, and got the green light from the Swiss military, which continues to supply the guns and bullets.
In late 1991, the club received its first batch of gear: ten rifles, five pistols, ammunition and other equipment; they were able to start shooting in 1992.
Since then they’ve participated in various Swiss marksmanship competitions each year – mostly remotely. Since 1995 they’ve also sent representatives to compete at the national Swiss shooting championships. They compete against North American clubs, too.
In Swiss competitions, it’s not just about winning first, second or third place. Medals are also awarded for long-term, consistent participation.
Most members of the Swiss Rifle Club are Swiss or of Swiss descent, but it’s not a requirement. In fact, the first club member to win a medal was an American who travelled to Thun in 1995.
Today, most members are over 50. The youngest ones are in their 20s, and are the grandchildren of the founding members.
Rangemaster Patrick Fischer, originally from Thurgau, has lived in the US for 30 years. While swissinfo.ch was visiting, he also participated in this roundtable about Swiss living abroad.
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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.
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December 29, 2020
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Can 3D printing save the coral reefs?
The oceans produce one in every two oxygen atoms. Coral reefs are like the ocean's rainforest. But it's disappearing, and fast. Ulrike Pfreundt has made it her life's work to find a solution.
Pfreundt is a marine biologist at the Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich who gets emotional when she talks about coral death. Through 3D printing, she's found a way to make artificial reefs and replace some of the coral that's being lost by providing structures for new coral to grow.
She's now testing the structures in the lab to see how to get coral larvae to start growing on them. Ultimately, she hopes to be able to deploy her printed inventions in the ocean to help grow new coral and support the vast ecosystems that depend on it.
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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.
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November 17, 2020
9wU_pbeXD3k
Why the rock band Queen loves Montreux
The quiet lakeside town of Montreux has become a mecca for Queen fans.
They make pilgrimages here each year to leave messages at Freddie Mercury's statue and join in the annual birthday celebrations for the late star, who died in 1991. Now there's even a Freddie Tour - you can follow in the footsteps of the flamboyant singer and visit the Studio Experience in the town's casino. That exhibition is based on the recording studios Queen owned, where the group recorded seven albums. swissinfo.ch visited Montreux to find out why one of the most famous rock bands of all has such a lasting appeal in a sleepy lakeside town.
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December 25, 2020
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Skiing in Switzerland: is it good for your health?
Some Swiss ski resorts are open for Christmas despite pressure from neighbouring countries on Switzerland to close its pistes until the latest coronavirus wave passes. Germany, Italy and France pushed for Swiss resorts to close until January but Switzerland is reluctant to further damage a sector worth billions to their economies. From December 22, all ski resorts will have to prove they have met strict safety standards to obtain cantonal permits to remain open.
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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.
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December 22, 2020
fc5TW6RFqFw
Swiss style bakery in Boston
Swiss couple Helene and Thomas Stohr run their own bakery in Massachusetts. Every day, they produce an array of Swiss and European treats, including croissants, jelly doughnuts and braided bread.
From a young age, the Stohrs dreamed of seeing the world, so they left Lucerne for North America 20 years ago. Thomas, a professional baker, worked in Canada and the US for various eateries, including Mövenpick, while Helene looked after their sons Tobias and Nicolas.
The push to launch their own bakery came from the boys, who missed homestyle crusty bread. As orders increased, the Stohrs eventually converted their spare room and watched the business expand like fresh dough.
Today, the whole family contributes to the success of “swissbäkers”. They now have three stores in the greater Boston Area, including the central bakery café complete with a Swiss-themed playground. The warm-hearted Stohrs refer to their employees as “guest huggers”, although Covid-19 has forced them to adapt their business in some creative ways.
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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.
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December 11, 2020
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Swiss to make space squeaky clean
Did you know that Swiss are so good at tidying up on earth that they've now won a contract to clean up space? ?The Swiss start-up – ClearSpace - is using technology developed by engineers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Their four-armed robotic junk collector will be launched into space by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2025. A lot of debris has accumulated over six decades of low-orbit activities and ESA hopes the mission will pave the way for a wide-reaching clean-up operation.?
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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.
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December 10, 2020
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