INGLESE SENZA SFORZO

Pioneering Portugal has radically reduced its dependence on fossil fuels. This year nearly half of its electricity will come from renewable sources. Five years ago, the leaders of this sun-scorched, wind-swept nation made a bet: to reduce Portugal’s dependence...

The hidden world of the oceans may soon be revealed in a huge marine aquarium planned by Switzerland’s oldest zoo. Basel Zoo – known affectionately to locals as the “Zolli” – is looking to expand further into the city, by building what it calls an Ozeanium...

“Has anyone seen any Menander?” A lone voice struggles amid the clamour of excited scholars hunting ancient treasures in the dim-lit underground museum. swissinfo.ch caught up with papyrus experts who had taken time off from an international congress...

Swiss wrestling has a new champion. 20-year-old Kilian Wenger from Diemtigtal in the Bernese Alps is the new king of the Swiss national sport of Schwingen, a type of wrestling in which participants dressed in loose shorts over their trousers fight in...

Swiss expert trains Liberian state prosecutors to reclaim stolen assets. The civil war in Liberia left it ruined economically. The nation urgently requires money that was stolen from Liberian rulers and deposited in foreign banks. A new law should enable...

Avenches Arena stages Lucia di Lammermoor. This summer the Roman amphitheatre in Avenches in western Switzerland shows Lucia di Lammermoor, the famous tragic opera by Gaetano Donizetti. swissinfo.ch went to the premier and talked to the artists. (Michele...

A dispute has broken out over a renewable energy project. In the Jura hills near the French border, a few wind turbines produce electricity. Wind energy promoters and politicians want more erected but face stiff opposition from environmentalists: local...

Valle Bavona: stone houses and (almost) no electricity. Valle Bavona is surrounded by hydroelectric power plants, but in the 1950s its inhabitants rejected electricity. Keeping away from modernity has been a plus for the valley. Since it had no electricity,...

The Commission proposal to introduce a European tax is an attractive one, especially for countries which are net contributors to the EU. However, De Volkskrant argues that it will have little chance of overcoming opposition from national governments,...

The myth of the Polish plumber taking bread from the table of German workers has been and gone. According Foreign Policy Romania, the time has come for workers in Western Europe to migrate to Central Europe, where there are plenty of jobs on offer. Matei...

Riceviamo e pubblichiamo. Buongiorno, sono uno studente, il mio sogno è quello di diventare interprete di conferenza, ma non mi precludo di certo la strada della traduzione. Per quanto riguarda la specializzazione, mi interessa molto la medicina. Ma in...

Should banks be forced to pay for the crisis? While some governments support the idea, many banks are threatening to offload any extra costs onto clients. The man in the street will be saddled with the bill once more, reports Warsaw’s Polityka. Cezary...

For years, European film boards have been competing with offers of tax breaks and subsidies to lure major US film producers to their studios. France is the latest country to adopt such a strategy, but it still lacks the appropriate infrastructure. Michael...

Nicolas Sarkozy’s proposal to revoke the citizenship of naturalised felons has catapulted the immigration issue back onto the political agenda. Even as governments seek to adjust their legislation to an ever-changing situation, the EU ought to extend...

Hundreds of scientists have put together the first comprehensive study of the state of the world’s seas, from the Arctic through the tropics to the Antarctic, and come to an alarming verdict: the Mediterranean is the most endangered sea on the planet....

Following the leak to the international press of over 90,000 documents related to the war in Afghanistan, there is precious little evidence that the country is stabilising. The west might do well to abandon its counter-insurrection strategy there, and...

When Fiat offered to relocate its Polish factory to southern Italy, it asked the workers to agree to work more. They accepted but face a major culture shock. A month later, Gazeta Wyborzca visited the Italian plant and seems puzzled by this instance of...