Actors, cow horns, school costs and halal

Here are the stories we will be watching in the week of March 21:

Keystone

Tuesday

When you put an actor in the role of a scientist, you often end up with a bespectacled, jargon-filled eccentric in a lab coat. What happens when you put a scientist in the role of an actor? That is the experiment brewing at an improvisational theatre troupe in Lausanne.

While on the topic of the stage and silver screen, we look back in photos at the celebrated career of Zurich-born Bruno Ganz, arguably Switzerland’s most famous actor, who turns 75.

 

Keystone

Wednesday

Can one man persuade 100,000 fellow citizens to care whether cows have horns or not? If the man is as bull-headed as Swiss farmer Armin Capaul, the answer may be yes. It is common for farmers to de-bud young animals so their horns will not grow – ostensibly, to protect animals and humans from injury – but the de-budding procedure is a painful one, and Capaul is convinced the horns serve a purpose.

 

Keystone

Thursday

Debate is raging in Switzerland about whether to raise the country’s still-low university fees, but statistics show the real costs of studying in Switzerland is already comparable with some universities in the United States – elite institutions excepted – when living expenses are taken into account.

 

A Bern-based company operating for more than two decades has provided halal certificates to over 200 companies around the world Keystone

Friday

Some well-known Swiss and European food and pharmaceutical companies have been looking to promising halal markets for higher profit margins. Making products that are permissible under Islamic law as defined in the Koran can require a basic change of ingredients or production, so some young Swiss companies are now specialising in offering services in the granting of Halal certifications.

 

What you may have missed last week: