Category Archive: 3) Swiss Markets and News

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Coronavirus: more than 4,000 new cases over 3 days in Switzerland

On 12 October 2020, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 4,068 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection over 72 hours. The latest 3-day infection figure is 2.6 times the number over the same period a week ago.

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Initiative against Swiss Covid app fails

In July 2020, a group started gathering signatures to launch a public vote to ban Switzerland’s Covid-19 contact tracing app.

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Heard the one about the Swiss sense of humour? switzerland

The Swiss have a reputation for being rather humourless – a stereotype many say is unfounded. How much is comedy linked to culture, politics and language that perhaps isn’t understood by outsiders? 

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Hotel sector sees gloomy outlook

Swiss hotels are predicting a worsening outlook, as newspapers warn thousands of jobs could be lost in the sector. According to the latest survey by sector association HotellerieSuisse  at the beginning of this month, more than a third of hotels (37%) say they will have to lay off staff in the coming months.

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Coronavirus: over 1,000 new cases in a day in Switzerland

On 7 October 2020, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) reported 1,077 new cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection over 24 hours.

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Swiss refiner breaks industry silence on sourcing gold from risky areas

In a rare interview, PX Precinox CEO Philippe Chave defends his company’s record in Peru and says abandoning artisanal miners is not the way to achieve more sustainable and transparent mining practices.

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Women 62 percent of doctors under 40 in Switzerland

At the end of 2018, there were 23,000 doctors in Switzerland, according to a recently published study. Overall, 41% of these doctors were women. Among doctors aged 60-64, the percentage was 28%. However, 62% of doctors under 40 were women, a figure which partly reflects the higher numbers of women graduating from Swiss universities.

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Swiss bank caught in Venezuelan money-laundering scandal

The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has found that Banca Credinvest “seriously violated money-laundering regulations” in its handling of Venezuelan client relationships.

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EasyJet reduces fleet and cuts jobs in Switzerland 

Faced with lower demand and with no recovery expected anytime soon, EasyJet Switzerland is withdrawing two of its 12 planes stationed in Basel. Seventy jobs will be lost. 

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A conversation with Thikra Mohammed Nader, exiled Iraqi journalist

Thikra Mohammed Nader, a Baghdad native who worked there as a journalist for a quarter century, fled to Switzerland in 2006. Decades ago, she was honoured by the Iraqi government for her work and was one of the first journalists on the ground of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. But throughout her career and especially following the arrival of American troops in Iraq in 2003, she was targeted and threatened for her writing which contained ideas that ran...

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Pandemic increases demand for second homes in Switzerland

Demand for second homes has risen since restrictions related to coronavirus were loosened, according to real estate company Wüest Partner.

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Hackers steal wages from Swiss universities

Unidentified cybercriminals have managed to siphon off employee salary transfers from at least three Swiss universities, including the University of Basel.

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Rising numbers struggling to pay rent in Switzerland

Nearly 44% of renters surveyed said that coming up with the money pay rent is now harder than it was before Covid-19, according to ASLOCA, a renters’ association.

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Home office could lead to 10 percent less office space

Despite the easing of Covid-19 measures, remote working is still widespread in Switzerland, with almost a third of service sector employees still working from home.

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Investors stake their money on postponing death

A group of wealthy investors is gathering virtually in Switzerland to stake their money on a new asset class. It's longevity, underpinned by the science and technology of longer and healthier lives, and it could be a multi-billion-dollar market.

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Coronavirus: Switzerland seems to be fending off potential second wave

The number of recorded Covid-19 cases in Switzerland has declined over the last 12 days. Over the most recent 14 days, the number of recorded cases per 100,000 in Switzerland was 59, below the figure of 60 used by the Swiss health authorities to define a region as high risk.

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Switzerland ranked sixth in digital competitiveness study

The Alpine nation has slipped one place to sixth in the “World Digital Competitiveness ranking” compiled by the Lausanne-based IMD business school.

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Greenland glacier water wins environmental shame award 

A mineral water from Greenland glaciers sold by Swiss retail chain Manor has been dubbed worst climate offender in this year’s “Devil’s Stone” award by the Swiss Alpine Initiative. 

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The Alptransit project – Lötschberg, Gotthard and Monte Ceneri tunnels through the Alps

The Lötschberg, Gotthard base and Monte Ceneri base tunnels make up the Alpine rail link project. The idea to dig the three tunnels under the Swiss Alps was approved by Swiss voters in 1992. Twenty-eight years later, the project is symbolically completed, as the last tunnel, the Monte Ceneri, was handed over to the Federal railway company, SBB CFF FFS, who will exploit it.

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UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index 2020: Munich and Frankfurt are the most overvalued housing markets globally

The UBS Global Real Estate Bubble Index, a yearly study by UBS Global Wealth Management's Chief Investment Office, indicates bubble risk or a significant overvaluation of housing markets in half of all evaluated cities.

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