Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

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When cooperatives wanted to prevent a world war

2022-07-12

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2022-07-12

The word “cooperative” is everywhere in Swiss daily life. What’s often forgotten is that cooperatives were once at the forefront of a worldwide movement that advocated for consumer rights, affordable rents – and world peace.

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Charities have yet to spend most of Ukraine donations

2022-07-11

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2022-07-11

Despite record public donations for Ukraine, four months since the start of the invasion by Russia, Swiss aid agencies have only been able to spend a small amount of the funds on humanitarian work.

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Swiss fighter jet document reveals secret French tax offer

2022-07-10

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2022-07-10

France offered Switzerland a financial sweetener, worth an estimated CHF3.5 billion, to buy its Rafale fighter jets rather than US F-35A aircraft, according to a secret document seen by Swiss public broadcaster SRF. The document sheds light on background negotiations as Switzerland seeks to replace its ageing fleet of fighter jets.

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Ukraine reconstruction summit was worth the risk, says Swiss press

2022-07-10

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2022-07-10

Newspaper editors in Switzerland offered praise mixed with criticism on the two-day international conference in Lugano to support war-torn Ukraine with its reconstruction efforts.

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How air conditioning cools homes and warms the planet

2022-07-09

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2022-07-09

More intense and frequent heatwaves have caused demand for air conditioning to skyrocket, even in temperate countries like Switzerland. But there is a catch: the cooler the buildings, the warmer the planet.

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Immigration only partially alleviates lack of skilled workers

2022-07-09

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2022-07-09

The Swiss economy has recovered well from the Covid-19 crisis, but despite the free movement of people agreement with the EU, some sectors are struggling to recruit qualified staff, says a government report.

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Gas industry head warns winter supplies could be tight

2022-07-08

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2022-07-08

The president of the Swissgas industry platform says Switzerland is not aware of how fragile the situation is and that “it would not take much” to lead to a winter shortage. André Dosé told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) newspaper on Thursday that looming gas shortages elsewhere in Europe and exploding prices amounted to a “huge problem” for Swiss supplies.

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Swiss to double aid to Ukraine

2022-07-07

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2022-07-07

Switzerland will double its aid to Ukraine to CHF100 million ($104 million) by the end of 2023, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis announced at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in the Swiss city of Lugano.

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Large Hadron Collider restart at CERN

2022-07-06

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The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is back. Scientists are again firing proton beams at nearly the speed of light around its 27-kilometre loop as they resume their search for clues to the origins of the universe. After three years of maintenance work, the world’s biggest particle accelerator, located at the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva, has started its third operational cycle, officials said this week. The increased amount of energy...

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Inflation ‘back with a vengeance’ in Switzerland

2022-07-05

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2022-07-05

The price of household goods for Swiss consumers rose 3.4% in June compared to the same month last year, led by the surging cost of fuel and heating oil. “Inflation, which has de facto been absent for more than a decade, is back with a vengeance,” said economic forecast group BAK Economics.

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Large Hadron Collider primed to hit record energy levels

2022-07-05

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2022-07-05

Ten years after it discovered the Higgs boson, the world’s biggest particle accelerator is poised to smash together protons at record energy levels at the CERN particle physics laboratory near Geneva, as scientists resume their search for clues to the origins of the universe.

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Swiss minister pushes for renewable energy to replace gas imports

2022-07-04

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2022-07-04

Energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga has warned of possible shortages of natural gas in Switzerland during the winter months

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Rebuilding Ukraine. How much can the Lugano summit achieve?

2022-07-03

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2022-07-03

How to set Ukraine on the path to recovery will be the focus of a major international conference hosted by Switzerland in Lugano in early July. But that may be easier said than done with war still raging in parts of the country and lingering concerns about corruption.

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Swiss gold imports come under scrutiny as G7 targets Russia

2022-07-02

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2022-07-02

An unexpected spike in Switzerland’s gold imports from Russia is under scrutiny as the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations gear up to introduce a ban on the precious metal.

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War and peace: dual-use technologies divide

2022-07-02

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2022-07-02

New technologies, developed to improve our society, are increasingly being used to wage war. Switzerland, which leads the development of autonomous drones, is very much affected by this phenomenon.

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James Webb – A glimpse into the origins of the universe

2022-07-01

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The James Webb Space Telescope, which lifted off into the heavens in December 2021, is on the hunt for distant galaxies, faint comets and early star formations. A key component of the telescope was part-developed in Switzerland. The Webb, the biggest and most powerful telescope ever sent into space, is considered as the successor to the Hubble telescope launched in 1990 by NASA. However, while the Hubble captures images in the spectrum visible to...

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Cartel fined for fixing price of Volkswagens

2022-07-01

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2022-07-01

A group of Volkswagen dealers in southern Switzerland has been fined CHF44 million ($46 million) by the Federal Competition Commission (Comco). The seven cartel members, including car importer AMAG, had fixed the prices of new Volkswagen cars for years.

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Foreign currencies going off Swiss central bank menu

2022-06-30

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2022-06-30

Switzerland’s central bank is buying lower volumes of foreign currencies to support the franc as it balances the needs of exporters with the rising cost of goods.

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‘Hidden’ costs of transport total CHF14 billion

2022-06-30

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2022-06-30

Negative costs on third parties caused by transport in Switzerland amounted to CHF14 billion ($14.7 billion) in 2019. The damage mainly affects the environment and climate, but also health.

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Novartis to cut 1,400 jobs in Switzerland

2022-06-29

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2022-06-29

Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis is laying off more than one in ten employees in Switzerland over the next three years – 1,400 of 11,600 jobs will go. It also plans to cut 8,000 of 108,000 jobs worldwide.

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