The 'Tropenhaus' or Tropical House in Frutigen is expected to prove a major attraction for visitors to the Bernese Alps this Christmas, offering a tropical experience for people seeking refuge from the winter chill. The project uses sustainable energy for growing exotic fruit and breeding sturgeon, which will soon produce caviar. (Julie Hunt, SF/swissinfo.ch 21.12.2009)

Monika Demenga and Hans Wirth have been writing and performing puppet plays together for more than 30 years. Their Nativity play has become a must for many residents of the Swiss capital Bern during the Christmas season. (Michele Andina, swissinfo.ch)

23-year old Nina Caprez from Graubünden is one of the world’s best female free climbers. By managing most challenging routes all over the globe, she proves what willpower can do. (SF/swissinfo.ch)

A ski pass nowadays usually comes in the form of a plastic, magnetic card that you keep in your pocket. They open the turnstiles at the lifts without skiers needing to lay their hands on them again. This makes it easy for many people to forget to take the cards back to the cashier. Last year skiers in Switzerland left behind four million francs in unclaimed deposits. (SF/swissinfo.ch)

The number of patients being admitted to Swiss emergency wards with head injuries inflicted in fights continues to rise, and the attacks are becoming increasingly brutal according to hospital authorities. Bern’s University Hospital, the Inselspital, is now participating in a study into the background of victims of violence and their aggressors. (Julie Hunt, SF/swissinfo.ch 15.12.2009)

What does Hallwil in north-western Switzerland have that other villages don’t? The answer is clear to anyone who knows the 700-resident village in Aargau’s Lake Valley. There are five unique, colourful customs that are celebrated every year in the middle of winter. In some way or another, they all have to do with Santa Claus, the Christ child or New Year’s Eve. (Pictures and sound: Thomas Kern)

Switzerland is unique in many ways: for example every citizen has a right to a fallout shelter place, even 20 years after the end of the Cold War and the nuclear threat. The bunker isn’t just a fixture in private homes. Underneath public spaces a science-fiction underworld has been built over the past decades. (SF/swissinfo.ch)

The alpine habitat is among the most vulnerable to global warming. Switzerland isn’t doing enough to reduce its carbon footprint, according to climate protection organisations. (TSR/swissinfo.ch)

In the coastal areas of Bangladesh, the lives and livelihoods of millions of people have been hard hit by devastating cyclones in 2007 and 2009. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is helping to restore normalcy, while trying to shield the area from future cyclones. (Justin Häne, swissinfo.ch 03.12.2009)

DNA analysis was developed in the 1980s and has become an important tool in criminal prosecutions. The Swiss police can request DNA samples even from people suspected of minor offences, and civil rights campaigners argue that their powers are too wide. Protesters took to the streets recently to argue the point. (Julie Hunt, swissinfo.ch/SF 9.12.2009)

Tim is a Swiss electro pop musician. Puma Mimi, his girlfriend, a Japanese singer. Together they play long-distance Skype gigs. It's 11.30pm when Tim starts playing in a Zurich club. Puma Mimi sings along on Skype from her bedroom and drinks coffee. In Japan it's 7.30am. (Raffaella Rossello swissinfo.ch, 01.12.2009)