Swiss celebrations, ‘natural’ foods and digital IDs

Here’s a selection of the stories we will be bringing you in the upcoming week.

Monday and Tuesday

The Swiss at home and abroad will be celebrating Swiss National Day on August 1. We kick off our series of special reports to mark the big day with a look at how easy – or difficult – it is to become Swiss. On Tuesday, we report on what the world thinks of Switzerland and present the address of this year’s president, Doris Leuthard, to the Swiss living abroad.

Wednesday

How would you celebrate your 70^th birthday? If you were a film festival, you’d reminisce about all the stars who’ve appeared on your big screen and taken to your stage. We present a selection of the artistically – and at times politically – charged highlights from the past seven decades of the Locarno Film Festival, which kicks off on Wednesday.

Thursday

How natural are the foods labelled “natural” that we buy? There may not be much substance to the claim, which is why Swiss and Spanish researchers set out to learn whether placing the word on packaging is enough to convince consumers to pile products with the label into their grocery carts. The answer may surprise you.

Friday

We meet a former investment banker who wants Switzerland to take inspiration from an even smaller country, Estonia, and introduce electronic identities for everyone. He’ll have to overcome sceptical politicians.

What you may have missed last week: