Cluster: Swiss Identity

Why contemporary art is breaking auction records

This content was published on Nov 29, 2013 In the space of ten minutes, the bids climbed to $142.4 million (CHF128.5 million), making Three studies of Lucian Freud, a triptych painted by Francis Bacon in 1969, the most expensive work of art in history. It sold at a Christie’s auction in New York on November 13. Several other records were broken at the…

Culture

Basel FC’s new crowd-pleaser

This content was published on Nov 28, 2013

Read more: Basel FC’s new crowd-pleaser

Demographics

Ethics training for police called into question

This content was published on Nov 28, 2013 More than half of the 16-member vice squad are suspected of being involved in, or aware of, incidents of corruption which saw confidential information – notably about inspection dates – provided to bar and club managers in return for free drinks and sex. Such cases are rare in Switzerland, which repeatedly ranks among the best…

Demographics

How Botox affects the brain

This content was published on Nov 26, 2013 Botulinum toxin type A – or Botox as it is commonly known – is one of the strongest poisons around. Botox is used commercially to reduce wrinkles by paralysing the facial muscles, especially in the forehead. Treating wrinkles with Botox also affects the brain according to a recently published study by the University of Zurich.…

Bern gets to know its onions

This content was published on Nov 25, 2013 On sale in the stalls that line the narrow streets and spread over the squares of the Old City are not only elaborate strings of onions and onions made into whimsical figures of all sorts, but garlic bread, and onion and cheese tarts, as well as more general items. The market opens officially at six in…

The Genesis of Sebastião Salgado

This content was published on Nov 23, 2013 Retreating to his family’s fazenda (large farm) in Aimorés, the village of his birth in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, he found a region which had suffered significant deforestation since his youth. His parents handed on the estate to him, and together with Lélia, his partner in both life and work, Salgado set about…

Demographics

Farming land shrinks as built-up areas expand

This content was published on Nov 22, 2013 The office looked at the data covering the period between 1985 and 2009, which show that urban development and infrastructure now account for 7.5% of all land use. The increase is equivalent to slightly more than the surface of Lake Geneva, or 584 square kilometres. One third of the new urban zones was taken from…

Demographics

Swiss given top UN job for Palestinian refugees

This content was published on Nov 21, 2013 In his new position he will be ranked as an under-secretary-general, the second highest position in the UN system, and as such reports directly to the UN General Assembly, the Swiss foreign ministry said. For ten years Krähenbühl has been director of operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), where he was…

Demographics

When neighbouring farmers become partners

This content was published on Nov 21, 2013 The two farms in Hasle outside Lucerne are only a few metres apart. The Lustenberger and Krummenacher families were never particularly close. They respected each other and when needed, lent a helping hand. They waved to each other occasionally and the children often met on the way to school. In the end, there were 14…

Demographics

Nuclear fallout role-play tests emergency response

This content was published on Nov 20, 2013 Nuclear power and how Switzerland would respond to an accident at a power plant have been real topics of debate since the catastrophe in Fukushima, Japan in 2011. It’s led to a decision to decommission the controversial nuclear power plant in Mühleberg, canton Bern.

Cluster: Swiss Identity

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