SWI swissinfo.ch – English
How to clean up the gold trade
- Title
- How to clean up the gold trade
- Runtime
- 30:23
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- In this follow-up to "The Dirt on Digging for Gold" we hear about some measures to make the gold trade more sustainable. Swiss anti-corruption champion Mark Pieth provides insight into the social problems sparked by gold mining. And members of the Swiss Better Gold Association share their experiences in Latin America.
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- Strange days: checking in with Swiss people in America
- Runtime
- 18:41
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- The past year has been a strange time for all of us. It can be even harder if you’re an expat. One in ten Swiss people lives outside of Switzerland. In this episode, we hear from a few Swiss citizens who are living in the United States. They tell us how they’re experiencing the coronavirus pandemic and politics in their adopted homeland.
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- What Covid-19 tells us about the pharma industry
- Runtime
- 21:02
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- Switzerland is the home of some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies. But when it comes to coronavirus vaccines, the Swiss pharma giants are not part of the discussion. How did they miss out? Or did they? And what does it mean for the next pandemic?
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- How to catch a child sex offender
- Runtime
- 24:10
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- The case of a Swiss couple abusing Indian children – and getting away with it – shows the limits of the international police network.
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- Crypto – a spy thriller made in Switzerland
- Runtime
- 25:11
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- Multiple spy agencies, secret documents, international intrigue, and a Swiss company's encryption machines are at the heart of this episode. But does anybody really know the whole story?
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- Why women's suffrage took so long
- Runtime
- 31:20
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- Switzerland is celebrating a rather awkward anniversary this year. It was only 50 years ago that women got the right to vote at the federal level. What was the hold-up? And what’s still holding women back today?
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- 'Swiss Johnny Cash' Florian Fox walks the line between Zurich and Nashville
- Runtime
- 32:55
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- Sometimes changing names and continents is the best way to cope in a pandemic. For Swiss country music singer-songwriter Florian Fox, this meant moving to Nashville, Tennessee. He tells us why he's in the right place at the right time.
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- The dirt on digging for gold
- Runtime
- 20:23
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- Switzerland is the world’s leading gold refiner. But in spite of efforts to make the supply chain more transparent, there are still some big questions about the origins of all this gold, and how it's extracted from the earth. In this episode we travel to Peru to find out what happens during the gold mining process.
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- Part 3: Why do we get nostalgic?
- Runtime
- 26:08
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- Part three of a three-part series about the connection between nostalgia and homesickness. If a friend abandoned you in a foreign country, how angry would you be? And how healthy is it to dwell on the past?
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- Part 2: Why do we get nostalgic?
- Runtime
- 29:13
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- Part two of a three-part series about the connection between nostalgia and homesickness. We "meet" a medical student who attended Basel University in the 17th century, and we try to retrace the steps of the Swiss mercenaries who inspired him.
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- Part 1: Why do we get nostalgic?
- Runtime
- 19:04
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- Part one of a three-part series about the connection between nostalgia and homesickness. For this we travel back in time to join two backpackers exploring Europe in the 1980s, and we find out how they’re connected to Swiss mercenaries hitting the road in the 17th century.
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- Moving back to Switzerland in a pandemic
- Runtime
- 24:00
- Date posted
- 3 years ago
- Description
- In 2020, getting the kind of schooling you want for your kids sometimes meant moving halfway across the world, at the drop of a hat. Meet a Swiss woman in California who did just that.
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SWI swissinfo.ch (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/) is a public service media company based in Bern, Switzerland.
- Title
- Hollywood gives Swiss bankers a bad rap
- Runtime
- 3:37
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- To foreigners, Switzerland often means Alpine mountains, cows, chocolates – and tax evasion. As Frédéric Maire, director of the Swiss national film archives, explains in this video, the Hollywood movie machine is helping to keep these clichés alive.
He examines whether the sleazy characters depicted in films such as Wolf of Wall Street are simply exaggerations of the real bankers working in Geneva. We ask him whether the rigid, stiff, secretive, protestant, Germanic banking types of Zürich are real or just figments of filmmakers’ imaginations.
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Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch
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- Title
- Napoleon Bonaparte’s impact on Switzerland
- Runtime
- 4:13
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
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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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel:
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- Title
- Covid-19: WHO really calls the shots?
- Runtime
- 11:01
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- How much do we really know about the World Health Organization – the agency that Covid-19 has thrust into the spotlight?
Its job it is to promote universal health care, set standards and coordinate the world's response to health emergencies. When a new coronavirus appeared in late 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was thrust into the spotlight, and used - by some - as a scapegoat for the failure to contain Covid-19.
The Geneva-based agency will again be the focus of media attention in late May when its decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, meets. High on the agenda will be proposals to improve emergency preparedness and ensure equitable access to vaccines.
But how much do we really know about the WHO? Who runs it, and how is its work paid for? What has it achieved since it was founded in 1948, and what has it been able – or unable - to do to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic?
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swissinfo.ch is the ...
- Title
- Lynx thrive in Switzerland 50 years after reintroduction
- Runtime
- 2:18
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- It's been 50 years since lynx were reintroduced to the wild in Switzerland after dying out.
The species became extinct due to population growth leading to forest conversion and hunting. It is believed the last lynx in the Swiss Alps was killed in 1894.
When large-scale deforestation came to an end, deer populations dramatically recovered, creating the right ecological conditions for a return.
About 14 lynx were transferred in the 1970s from the Carpathian Mountains to the Swiss Alps. Six lynx were also transferred in 2001 from the northwestern Swiss Alps to the eastern side. It’s estimated there are now about 250 of the wild cats in Switzerland, but scientists fear that the lack of contact between the separate populations could lead to a decrease in the gene pool, threatening their long-term survival in the wild.
swissinfo.ch is the international branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC)....
- Title
- A positive mindset through the Covid pandemic
- Runtime
- 2:40
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- The pandemic blues is affecting different age groups in many countries around the world, as people keep on fighting the third wave of Covid-19 and patiently wait for their dose of the vaccine. To help you overcome the fatigue we've asked our readers to share their own strategies for keeping a positive mindset amid the chaos.
In this episode, the third of our 'Silver linings' series, it's all about staying sane by going insane and appreciating the natural beauty surrounding us.
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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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel:
Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch
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- Title
- What Switzerland and North Korea have in common
- Runtime
- 1:50
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- ---
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 international events.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel:
Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch
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- Title
- Tales of positivity to fight the covid blues
- Runtime
- 3:31
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- Last spring, when the coronavirus pandemic reached Switzerland, we asked you – our readers and viewers – to send us a video or voice message of your silver linings during this time of uncertainty.
A year later, we are reaching out to you again for your stories and perspectives. Have you had any positive experiences over the last year? Did you learn something new or develop strategies to make everyday life bearable despite the covid-19 restrictions and concerns? Did you find joy in something unexpected? How are you fighting off the covid blues?
In this second episode of Season 2 we find out who Pi and Palala are, what the curiosity for coding turned into and how home office became a blessing.
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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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissin...
- Title
- The great Mars debate
- Runtime
- 25:42
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- Is human exploration of Mars worth the cost and the risk? Will we ever see the first man or woman on the surface of the Red Planet?
Following the launch of recent Mars missions with Swiss and international involvement, including the landing of the Perseverance rover, SWI swissinfo.ch put those questions to Sylvia Ekström of the University of Geneva and Pierre Brisson of the Swiss Mars Society in an online debate, hosted via Zoom.
These are highlights from the debate, in which Ekström’s co-author, Javier Nombela, also took part.
For Ekström and Nombela, it’s clear that the risks of a manned mission to the Red Planet outweigh the benefits. At the end of last year, they published the book 'We won't live on Mars, or anywhere else', a paving stone in the form of a list of obstacles to a manned mission to Mars.
Yet for the past 50 years, many very capable people have done more than dream about getting to the Red Planet. Could th...
- Title
- Pension reform in Switzerland: a democratic balancing act
- Runtime
- 5:16
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- The reform of pension systems is a pressing item on most political agendas worldwide. But in Switzerland, all major reform efforts since 2003 have failed. Is this a case of democracy hitting its limits? Political scientist Silja Häusermann explains how the mountain could be scaled.
Western countries all face the same scenario: the number of pensioners is going up, while the number of active workers – who finance these pensions – is going down by comparison. In Switzerland, the workings of the system needs to be adjusted so that old-age and survivors' insurance payments – the core of the social finance model – remain guaranteed after 2030.
But the latest attempt at a reform again threatens to fall at the hurdle of the ballot box. During the recent spring parliamentary session, the Senate (the smaller of the two houses) voted that the retirement age for women should be raised from 64 to 65, while at the same time, while at the same time, compensation me...
- Title
- Fighting the pandemic blues - S02E01
- Runtime
- 3:43
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
One year later the world is still fighting against covid-19, many countries have still enforced a lockdown and experts are warning of increased depressive feelings. We therefore decided to launch a new season of our positivity series. This time we asked people to share the strategies they've come up with to fight the covid blues.
In this first episode we hear about the power of gardening, see how a family traveled around the world seated at their kitchen table and discover a painter's love for his adoptive city.
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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 perspect...
- Title
- Electric cars – how much cleaner are they?
- Runtime
- 1:55
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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 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: http://www.swissinfo.ch
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- Title
- My brother dug me out of an avalanche
- Runtime
- 1:24
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
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:
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- Title
- Swiss-EU relations hang in the balance
- Runtime
- 0:56
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel:
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- Title
- A nightclub in an isolated Swiss town
- Runtime
- 7:03
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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 constantl...
- Title
- Minimising the threat of melting glaciers
- Runtime
- 2:23
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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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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: http://www.swissinfo.ch
Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swiss...
- Title
- Two tales of women's suffrage
- Runtime
- 4:45
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
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: http://...
- Title
- Gabriela Martina - from yodel to bebop
- Runtime
- 5:01
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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 found...
- Title
- Swiss circus performer brings her passion to New Orleans
- Runtime
- 2:51
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel:
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- Title
- The introduction of women's suffrage worldwide
- Runtime
- 2:48
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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 S...
- Title
- Travelling to Switzerland post-Brexit
- Runtime
- 0:59
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- ---
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.
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.
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.
For more articles, interviews and v...
- Title
- Switzerland's four languages
- Runtime
- 6:47
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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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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: http://www.swissinfo.ch
Channel: http://www.youtub...
- Title
- Army takes charge of vaccine logistics
- Runtime
- 1:34
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
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: http://www.swissinfo.ch
Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos
Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=swissinfovideos
- Title
- A Swiss sausage maker in Denver
- Runtime
- 1:46
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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 org...
- Title
- Swiss mom an ‘unofficial cultural ambassador’ in America
- Runtime
- 2:27
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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 ...
- Title
- A Swiss Rifle Club in America
- Runtime
- 2:06
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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 compe...
- Title
- Can 3D printing save the coral reefs?
- Runtime
- 7:18
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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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- Title
- Why the rock band Queen loves Montreux
- Runtime
- 4:36
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
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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- Title
- Skiing in Switzerland: is it good for your health?
- Runtime
- 1:23
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel:
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- Title
- Swiss style bakery in Boston
- Runtime
- 2:58
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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”, althou...
- Title
- Swiss to make space squeaky clean
- Runtime
- 1:00
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- 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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel:
Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch
Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos
Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_cen...
- Title
- Swiss footsteps in New Orleans
- Runtime
- 4:41
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- As a child, John Geiser III was surrounded by Swiss people in his grandfather’s adopted city of New Orleans. After the Second World War had ended, John was a young adult when his father took him to Switzerland for the first time.
We met John in June 2019, when he gave us a tour of New Orleans. Over the course of a hot and humid morning – mainly on foot – he energetically showed us the traces of Swissness dotted throughout this city famous for its music and mardi gras.
John has served as the Honorary Swiss Consul in the US state of Louisiana, and he is still an active member of the Swiss American Society of New Orleans. In fact, nobody in the club has been a member for as long as he has.
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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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swi...
- Title
- Swiss drones to the rescue!
- Runtime
- 1:52
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- Drones are widely used to take amazing aerial photos, or to inspect infrastructure and crops. But in the future it is hoped they can increasingly be deployed to help firefighters or search and rescue operations in emergency situations.
Swiss researchers are at the forefront of drone research. The Swiss rescue agency REGA is testing an autonomous rescue drone to find people lost or in difficulty in the mountains. It should be operational next year.
Scientists are also working on small autonomous drones that can fold up to squeeze through collapsed buildings or super-agile bird-like robots that can fly through forests or buildings independently for use in rescue operations.
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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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or s...
- Title
- Koyo Kouoh: Art is in the cracks, not in the polish
- Runtime
- 4:05
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- The Meret Oppenheim prize took Koyo Kouoh by surprise, and not just because she doesn't care about prizes. The Swiss-Cameroonian curator says she never found much of an echo in Switzerland for her artistic interests – postcolonialism, African diaspora, and identity politics – for which she has received praise in many other countries.
Koyo Kouoh, described by The New York Times in 2015 as “one of Africa’s pre-eminent art curators”, is always on the move, even in the middle of a pandemic. She currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa, where she runs the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA. SWI swissinfo.ch met her during a brief escapade to Switzerland.
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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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube c...
- Title
- Making prosthetic limbs from recycled bottles
- Runtime
- 6:47
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- Recycling plastic to make new bottles is one thing, but using the material to create prosthetic limbs? That's another. Two Swiss designers are using their skills to improve the lives of amputees.
Fabian Engel and Simon Oschwald travelled to Kenya, where they heard about the indignities people with prosthetic limbs faced in everyday life. Due to the high number of traffic accidents, amputations aren't rare.
The cost of an artificial limb is prohibitively high for many people, and the restricted mobility that living with one leg brings, makes finding work difficult.
The two designers set themselves the challenge of coming up with a prosthesis that would be available at a fraction of the normal cost - using local labour and recycled materials. A visit to a vast rubbish dump in Nairobi cemented the idea of making use of materials that had been discarded.
But the intricacies of the design weren't so easy to perfect, and the team almost...
- Title
- What is a Swiss multinational company and what's their role in the economy?
- Runtime
- 1:21
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- Switzerland is home to big players in the raw materials, food and chemicals industries. The alpine country boasts one of the world’s highest concentrations of multinational headquarters. You might wonder: where does its attractiveness come from?
Switzerland offers many advantages to large businesses: economic stability, a strong financial sector, qualified workers, a geographic location at the heart of transport networks – and an advantageous tax system and flexible regulations.
With more than 500 companies active in the sector, the small Alpine nation is a leading global platform for trade in raw materials, such as petrol, metals, minerals, and agricultural products. Switzerland is home to the headquarters of the sector’s world leaders — Vitol, Glencore, Trafigura, Mercuria, and Gunvor — which alone employ 180,000 people around the world and are active in dozens of countries across all continents.
If there is a Swiss trading tradition t...
- Title
- Swiss start-up generates electricity from wind power
- Runtime
- 7:07
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- Switzerland produces less wind power than other European countries but has ambitious future targets. A Lugano start-up is developing drones to generate electricity from high-altitude winds.
Winds, especially at high altitude, offer huge potential as an alternative renewable energy source to help solve the climate crisis.
In Switzerland, the main source of energy is hydropower. Building large wind turbines, especially in Swiss valleys, is controversial.
Aldo Cattano and Nicola Mona, the inventor and chief executive officer of the start-up firm "Skypull", want to contribute towards finding cleaner energy sources by making best use of the winds on Switzerland’s mountain tops.
The small Lugano-based team is developing a system using an autonomous drone connected by a tether linked to a generator on the ground that can generate electricity from high-altitude winds.
Their drone can fly as high as 600metres, about three ...
- Title
- A defender of Eritreans’ human rights
- Runtime
- 7:45
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- Immigration affects everyone in Switzerland, but some people more directly than others. Veronica Almedom, who arrived from Eritrea as a baby with her family, is now an activist for the human rights of Eritreans.
Almedom grew up in Martigny in French-speaking Switzerland and is now a student at the University of Geneva. Since 2016 she has been a member of the Federal Commission on Migration.
Since 2017 Switzerland has steadily tightened its admission criteria for Eritrean asylum-seekers, who represent the largest foreign community seeking asylum in the country. However, having visited asylum-seekers sleeping rough, Almedom is angry and also critical of the Eritrean government.
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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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch ...
- Title
- Meet me at the the online ‘piazza’!
- Runtime
- 5:24
- Date posted
- 6 years ago
- Description
- A woman living in a southern Swiss town noticed that people around her felt isolated and wanted to connect and share things but didn't know how. So she created the "smart village": a virtual town square.
Monica Rush Solcà from the Italian-speaking region of Ticino set up a platform where people can meet and share things. The concept was later used in other towns in the region, with group members hosting events to advertise the service.
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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.
For more articles, interviews and videos visit swissinfo.ch or subscribe to our YouTube channel:
Website: http://www.swissinfo.ch
Channel: http://www.youtube.com/swissinfovideos
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