Swiss photographers Stéphanie Borcard and Nicolas Métraux searched in China for abandoned and empty places and spaces. Each scene appears like a stage where the actors have just left or never appeared. The analogue pictures in black and white impart a timeless atmosphere and encourage the viewer to create his or her own story.
The Reunification Express – one of the slowest express trains in the world – was built by the French in 1936, destroyed during the Vietnam War and rebuilt in 1976. It links Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. Swiss photographers Stéphanie Borcard and Nicolas Métraux were fascinated by its slow pace and name and have called their photo essay Waiting for Saigon. The train evokes a sad past and a peaceful present.
1st collector for Ring pull - swissinfo
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Luke, Sylvain, Laura, Luca and Stanley are ordinary-looking young people. On Saturday nights, however, they turn into vampires and other weird characters. In the ring, the fighters of Swiss Championship Wrestling demonstrate their agility and entertain the audience with tricks and acrobatics. (Luigi Jorio and Thomas Kern, swissinfo.ch).
1st collector for Fight over jets - swissinfo
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In 2009, the Group for a Switzerland Without an Army handed in an initiative to stop the purchase of new fighter jets, but withdrew it a year later when the government abandoned its plans. Now the House of Representatives has overturned the government’s proposal and voted in favour of a higher budget, which puts the jet deal back on the agenda. (SF/swissinfo.ch)
Discovered Crash Of Swiss Air Flight 111 May Not Have Been… via dandelionsalad
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1st collector for Asylum in the mountains - swissinfo
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The Arab Spring has led to a huge increase in asylum applications in Switzerland: 9,800 in the first six months of the year. Switzerland decided to open up a military bunker in the remote Jaunpass, in the Bernese Alps, to take pressure off the four reception centres on the country’s borders. Residents are free to come and go as they please. But many locals seem unhappy with the decision. (SF/swissinfo.ch)
1st collector for Louise Bourgeois - swissinfo
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French-American artist Louise Bourgeois died last year. She would have been 100 in December. The Fondation Beyeler in Riehen, Basel had already started preparing an exhibition, together with her studio in New York, to mark her birthday. The show highlights the special relationship she had with other major artists, like Fernand Léger, Francis Bacon, and Alberto Giacometti. (SF/swissinfo.ch)
1st collector for Asia’s Switzerland - swissinfo
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Singapore would like to become number one in investment banking in the future. Attracting investment firms, but not getting a bad reputation as a hidden asset haven is the card the island-state is playing to become the Switzerland of Asia. (TSI/swissinfo.ch)
1st collector for Weapons search - swissinfo
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Following the uprising in Libya, many areas are littered with grenades and abandoned weapons. A Swiss demining foundation has launched an operation in the eastern oil port of Tobruk to ensure that civilians are not injured by this refuse, and that the weapons do not fall into the wrong hands. (SF/swissinfo.ch)