Swiss Identity

Suter ties for second in Canada super-G event

This content was published on Dec 8, 2008 The 23-year-old, who is based in Sattel-Hochstuckli in central Switzerland, tied with Andrea Fischbacher of Austria. They finished the course in 1:21.25, 0.28 seconds behind Nadia Fanchini of Italy. Suter finished 23rd in the downhill two days earlier. Last season, she recorded two World Cup wins, both in Italy.

Culture

Geneva resident is Europe’s top talker

This content was published on Dec 8, 2008 Geneva resident John Zimmer recently took first prize in the finals of the European Humorous Speech Contest organised by Toastmasters International in Bamberg, Germany. The contest brought together competitors from 18 different European countries. Zimmer, a Canadian lawyer who has worked for the past ten years at the United Nations and the International Organization for…

Culture

Santa vs St Nicholas

This content was published on Dec 8, 2008 Europeans worry that America’s Santa Claus could usurp the role of their more down-to-earth St Nicholas. With only oranges and nuts for the children, St Nicholas is up against stiff competition from the flamboyant Father Christmas, as he sweeps in from the North Pole with all manner of presents. But a stroll through the streets…

Ammann flies further in Norway

This content was published on Dec 7, 2008 At Sunday’s event in Trondheim, Norway, the Swiss jumper bested his competitors with a total of 280.2m. Finland’s Matti Hautamäki finished second with 278.3m and Schlierenzauer’s 274.8m was good for third place. On Saturday, Ammann ended fifth, only managing 271.3m. After the first three events of the season, Ammann leads the field with 245 points,…

Demographics

Cyclist Cancellara voted sportsman of year

This content was published on Dec 7, 2008 Cancellara crossed the line just ahead of Roger Federer – a five-time winner of the award – and alpine skier Didier Cuche. Television viewers on Saturday selected 21-year-old gymnast, Ariella Kaeslin, as sportswoman of the year for her fifth place finish at the Beijing Olympics. Although she did not bring home a medal, her result…

Demographics

Gene doping in sport: fact or fiction?

This content was published on Dec 6, 2008 A science journalist, who has published a novel on the theme, and a scientist working in the field of genetics talked to swissinfo about the likelihood and dangers of gene doping in sport. Since the times of ancient Greece, a minority of athletes have employed a variety of potions to artificially boost their performance. More…

Culture

Bern University honours John le Carré

This content was published on Dec 6, 2008 David John Moore Cornwell, better known under his pseudonym John le Carré, studied German literature from 1948 to 1949 at the Swiss university. On Saturday, the 77-year-old best-selling author was honoured for reviving the spy novel and giving it a profound, literary dimension. He was called an analyst of the “mechanism of might and corruption…

Demographics

Government drafts law to return dictator cash

This content was published on Dec 5, 2008 The foreign ministry said the law would allow countries to retrieve so-called potentate money from accounts even if they were unable to conduct legal proceedings against a former dictator. In late November, the government asked the Democratic Republic of Congo for help in resolving whether to release frozen assets belonging to former dictator Mobutu Sese…

Demographics

Winter magic

This content was published on Dec 5, 2008

Big bill for Big Bang machine repair job

This content was published on Dec 5, 2008 The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern), which built the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), said repairs on the SFr10 billion machine would cost SFr15 million and spare parts another SFr10-20 million. “We will not be going to our member states asking for more money, we will deal with it within the current Cern budget,” spokesman…

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