New planets, legalised immigrants, and boiled lobsters

These are the stories out of Switzerland we’ll be following the week of February 26, 2018.

Monday

Are there really only eight planets in our solar system? Swiss researchers are looking into a theory that there’s a ninth, previously unknown giant planet out there. We’ll delve into their work and what they’ve discovered so far.

Tuesday

A leading Swiss think tank saysSwiss universities need to be more efficient if they are to compete internationally. Regional aspirations have taken priority over excellence, it warns, threatening standards. The researchers have – controversially – mooted increasing tuition fees, traditionally very low in Switzerland. We bring you the background and reactions to the story.

Wednesday

Since last year all eyes have been on a pilot programme in Geneva that set out to regularise the legal status of thousands of previously illegal immigrants in the canton. Has it worked, and is it a legitimate model for the rest of Switzerland?

Thursday

Switzerland grabbed global attention earlier this year by announcing that lobsters and crustaceans could no longer be boiled alive in restaurants. On the day the regulation comes into force, we look into the background of the case and ask how it will affect chefs.

Then, we speak with two people who completely re-invented themselves professionally upon moving to Switzerland. How and why did they do it?

Friday

Political party and campaign funding is notoriously opaque in Switzerland, a fact that some say is a major flaw in the country’s democracy. We look at why this is the case, what it means, and whether things might change.