Cluster: Swiss Identity

Travelling talent seeks computer-generated success

This content was published on Feb 25, 2013 “I was surprised,” Markus Gross, professor of computer graphics at the Federal Institute of technology in Zurich (ETHZ) and director of Disney Research Zurich, admitted (see article). “I knew the technology we developed a few years ago had been picked up by lots of visual effects studios and that it was being used in Hollywood…

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Vets call for action in new horsemeat scandal

This content was published on Feb 24, 2013 Earlier this week, a Swiss television programme showed how horses in Argentina, Mexico, Canada and the United States were being abused. Their meat eventually landed on Swiss dinner plates in the form of steak or perhaps in ready-made foods falsely labelled as “beef-flavoured”. “The images show catastrophic conditions,” as Federal Veterinary Office director Hans Wyss…

Culture

A Swiss-eye view of 1940s Brazil

This content was published on Feb 23, 2013 These pictures are taken from an exhibition in São Paulo. They show everyday scenes of the city from the 1940s. (Photos: Hildegard Rosenthal/Instituto Moreira Salles)

Demographics

Shareholders give Novartis vote of approval

This content was published on Feb 22, 2013 Vasella admitted he had made recent mistakes in judging public opinion, but ended his 17-year association with the world’s second largest pharma group on good terms at the annual general meeting on Friday, February 22. Shareholders voted overwhelmingly to accept the company’s new pay structure and the nomination of new chairman Jörg Reinhardt. Apology accepted…

Culture

A workplace full of twists and turns

This content was published on Feb 21, 2013 Gehry became a star on the architecture stage through his design for the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain. Also noteworthy is the Vitra Design Museum in Weil, Germany, which lies directly across the Rhein from Basel. Behind its facade of glass and steel, Gehry’s Novartis design is dominated by wood. The building houses offices for…

Demographics

When the state hides its criminal citizens

This content was published on Feb 20, 2013 Joseph Valachi died quietly in prison of a heart attack in 1971 at age 67. He had managed to avoid being killed despite a $100,000 bounty (up to $2.5 million – SFr2.3 million – in today’s currency) on his head for betraying the mafia. Valachi, the first member of the mafia to publicly acknowledge its…

Demographics

Retailers could face charges in horsemeat scandal

This content was published on Feb 18, 2013 The chairman of the Association of Cantonal Chemists and a spokesman for the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) told the Swiss News Agency on Monday that the chief chemists of the cantons where the companies are headquartered should draw up a file on the matter and submit it to the courts. It would then be…

Demographics

Syrian human rights violators ‘should face court’

This content was published on Feb 18, 2013 Del Ponte, a former Swiss federal prosecutor who also served as prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was speaking at the presentation in Geneva on Monday of the latest report drawn up by the UN Syria CoI. “Of course we were able to identify high-level perpetrators,” she said, adding that these…

Culture

Basel Carnival kicks off in the dark

This content was published on Feb 18, 2013 Tens of thousands of people take part as the old town is plunged into darkness, with the only lighting coming from the lanterns, such as the one above caricaturing the Russian punk rock band Pussy Riot, and torches. The larger lanterns displayed during Switzerland’s biggest carnival often portray contemporary themes.

Culture

Building for the Winter Olympics

This content was published on Feb 18, 2013 On March 3, voters in the canton will decide whether to put forward a bid, which would commit Switzerland to a huge investment in infrastructure to host the games. swissinfo.ch takes a look back at the early Olympics in St Moritz and examines what facilities are needed today for a winter sporting event on this…

Cluster: Swiss Identity

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