WorldcrunchBased in Lausanne, Le Temps (“The Times”) is one of Switzerland’s top French-language dailies. It was founded in 1998 as a merger among various newspapers: Journal de Geneve, Gazette de Lausanne and Le Nouveau Quotidien.
“He’s not human. He’s a robot. Dante Pryor is a socialbot,” lawyer and series’ heroine Alicia Florrick says in the latest episode of the TV series The Good Wife. “How could a robot defame your client?” the judge character asks her. “It’s designed to repackage comments and gossip by others and disperse it onto sites,” […]
LAUSANNE — The idea that young people nowadays are more conservative than previous generations is a common cliché. Girls are said to be dreaming of becoming housewives while boys supposedly behave like old-style alpha-males, reproductive and career-obsessed. As Switzerland is about to vote on an initiative that aims to use tax breaks to benefit a […]
Those who suffer from autism are increasingly sought out for their special skills set, particularly in IT. But difficulty with office politics and politesse can place limits.
France’s star architect Dominique Perrault is focusing his attention downward: “We come from the earth and we shouldn’t be afraid of it…”
GENEVA — Imagine yourself in the office of a senior executive of a big company, such as Nestlé or UBS. But instead of typing on his computer’s keyboard, the man just sits still, chin resting on his fist and gazing as if lost in thought. Like a modern thinker, he invokes Aristotle and reflects on […]
Since returning from Camp Grounded, Anastasia Savvina sees the world differently. “On the bus, everyone stares at their cell phones,” she says. “People don’t look each other in the eye anymore. And I, who only have an old phone without any connection, I look at them.” Camp Grounded is a retreat for those who want […]
CRISSIER — Not far from a highway turnoff near the Swiss city of Lausanne, there is a wooded enclave surrounded by a national forest. On a slice of these lands — around 70 acres of woods, agricultural fields and parks — the pupils of the Bois Genoud private school are enjoying themselves in complete freedom. […]
BELGRADE – Clean shaven, impeccably dressed in a dark suit and tie, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is back in business. On Sept. 17, France’s former Finance Minister and disgraced head of the International Monetary Fund officially accepted a post as economic adviser to the Serbian government. DSK’s hosts in Belgrade had a hard time hiding how proud […]
BASEL — Niklaus Blumer is an architect by training, and his partner Pascal Wirth is an economist. These two men from the Swiss city of Basel are the unlikely creators of Idilio Origins, a brand that specializes in pure, designated-origin Grand Cru chocolate. They tell of prospecting in Latin America in search of a cacao […]
GENEVA — A musician and PhD in bioacoustics, Bernie Krause is on a mission to create a systematic organisation of the landscape of sound signatures. He sums it up this way: While a picture is worth a thousand words, a soundscape is worth a thousand pictures. “There was a time when I considered natural soundscapes […]
OSLO — It’s still too early to predict how Norway’s Prime Minister-elect Erna Solberg, who was elected earlier this month, will tweak the oil policy developed by outgoing Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. During his eight-year tenure — even as Norway was in the process of building its wealth — the government adopted standards for managing […]
MUNICH – A single electoral poster sums up Angela Merkel’s campaign: a collage of 2,100 photos, all taken by anonymous “Angie” fans, displayed on a 2,400 square meter billboard outside Berlin’s central station. Germany’s Future Is In Good Hands, it says. Of Angela Merkel, we only see the two hands, shaped in a triangle, a […]
GENEVA — No need to read Plato’s complete works or learn by heart the words of the Dalai Lama to understand the meaning of happiness. Science may have the answers. At the University Hospital of Geneva (UHG), neurologist Fabienne Picard has been studying for years a very rare phenomenon that scientific literature barely talks about […]
Since January, more than $540 billion has passed through the tax shelters of the largely unknown island of Labuan. Here’s why the rich are increasingly hiding their money there.
First, ovens that already know a dish’s cooking parameters? Now, miniature computers that you can swallow like pills? After the Internet of Things, here comes the Internet of Bodies.
Bruno Strebel spends his days tracking missing persons, insurance scammers and white-collar criminals. The former cop founded a detective school that teaches others to do the same.
The Syrian crisis will dominate the G20 summit in St Petersburg. While the U.S. readies a lonely military strike, Russia’s President presents himself as protector of international law.
Kim Pasche set off from Switzerland to follow in the footsteps of indigenous people. That led him to the wild forests of Canada, where he spends eight months a year living as a hunter-gatherer.
As war has made regular work scarce, Ayham has trafficked in anything that has a buyer. But lately he says the face of the black market has started to change.
GENEVA – The other day, someone posted a photo of a Coca-Cola bottle named Jonas on my Facebook wall. I was honored, though I couldn’t quite say why: was it because of the object itself, even though until then, I had been mostly annoyed by the new global marketing campaign where Coca-Cola replaced its logo […]
Israeli authorities granted some one million visas to vacationers from the West Bank to cross the border during the recent Ramadan holiday. Some had never set foot in Israel before.
Once a simple gold-mining camp, La Rinconada is considered the world’s highest city. But its 30,000 inhabitants live amid ice melt and endless piles debris. Can Peru finally clean it up?
After rejections by Austrian and French ski-lift companies, a Swiss competitor was set to supply Pyongyang the means to realize his Alpine fantasy. But then the state stepped in.
Since August 14, when Egyptian security forces moved in to disperse the sit-ins of supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi, the nation has suffered considerably. And while the situation is less cut and dry than some observers make it sound, one thing seems clear: there are two players apparently intent on accelarating a conflict that […]
As the number of people renouncing American citizenship has shot up across the world, binationals in Switzerland have led the way in turning in their blue passport. But it’s not just about the banks.
Though the country spends less per pupil than many other developed nations, students here consistently test better than nearly all their global counterparts. Here’s why.
A vast number of planet music’s cash cows – including a little act named Madonna – originated on the synthesizer keyboards of Swedish songwriters, but can the country hold its high note?
“We knew there would be a price to pay for democracy. But no one imagined it would cost so much.”
GENEVA – For a long time, the brain was considered a kind of black box, whose internal workings were largely a mystery. But recently, this special organ has started yielding its secrets, thanks in part to the progress made in the field of genetics. Neuroscientists from the University of Geneva have achieved a breakthrough that […]
HALDEN – “Hello everybody! How are you today!?” On stage, behind his keyboard, the musician takes in the applause and boisterous chattering, as he presents the members of his band. They kick into a cover of a reggae version of a Jackson Brothers’ song, the lights blink, as the singers move confidently from English to […]
“Here you have a stevia, that’s for diabetes,” says Téodora, a sun-weathered snippet of a woman of around 50, proudly beginning a tour of her medicinal plant nursery. She points out the Paraguayan lemongrass, for nerves; and a plant with little purple flowers, called “forever alive”, which is excellent for the heart.” All told, her […]
It’s an attitude, a way of life — but have no doubts, these women riders are very much aware of the dangers.
-Essay- GENEVA – Have you ever heard of Dan Rollman? If so, you are spending way too much time on your computer – just like me. Dan is a Canadian native who now lives in New York and works in media. On May 28, he caught the attention of Internet addicts when he went viral […]
The Egyptian Army Chief and Defense Minister had ordered the ultimatum to President Morsi, and then followed through. A portrait of Egypt’s strongest strong man.
BEERSHEBA – “If we need to be violent to be heard, we will be violent. We will lay down under the bulldozers…” A few kilometers south of Beersheba, the largest city in the Negev desert, Fahdi, his brothers and dozens of other relatives of his large family are gathered in a corrugated sheet metal hut […]
After a string of acquittals by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, some accuse Judge Theodor Meron, a Polish-born American citizen, of having a political agenda.
They were shocked by 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, and they firmly believe the world is coming to an end. To cope with the imminent disaster, some of these preparation enthusiasts (or “preppers”) turn their SUVs into armored fortresses while others buy fancy bunkers. Julie Zaugg met one of those so-called “survivalists.” NEW […]
GENEVA – From one culture to another, the temperature of what people drink during their meals can vary. In many Asian countries for instance, people like to drink a hot beverage while they eat. Europeans for their part tend to favor drinks at room temperature, while North Americans prefer them ice-cold – on the rocks. […]
ADDIS ABABA – On June 3, Egyptian politicians were caught in a televised diplomatic gaffe, which could have cost them dearly. Invited by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to a debate on the $4.2 billion hydroelectric dam that Ethiopia is about to start building across the Blue Nile, one of the two major tributaries of the […]
GENEVA – Wife: “I’ve done my share. It’s your turn now.” Husband: “If you leave me in the next five years, I’ll really feel like I sacrificed myself for nothing.” What are they talking about? Working part-time to spend more time with the kids? Turning down a promotion? Giving up paragliding and cycling on weekends […]