Category Archive: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

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Swiss government expects 2020 GDP to shrink less than feared

2020-10-15

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2020-10-15

Swiss economic output will shrink by 3.8% this year, a less bad coronavirus-triggered slump than previously expected, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said on Monday.

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Techonology firm Ruag International to cut more jobs

2020-10-14

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2020-10-14

The Swiss aerospace and armament company, Ruag, says it will shed up to 150 jobs by the end of next year due to the coronavirus crisis.

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Heard the one about the Swiss sense of humour? switzerland

2020-10-13

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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

2020-10-12

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2020-10-12

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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Swiss refiner breaks industry silence on sourcing gold from risky areas

2020-10-10

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2020-10-10

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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Swiss bank caught in Venezuelan money-laundering scandal

2020-10-08

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2020-10-08

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 

2020-10-07

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2020-10-07

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

2020-10-06

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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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Hackers steal wages from Swiss universities

2020-10-05

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2020-10-05

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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Home office could lead to 10 percent less office space

2020-10-04

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2020-10-04

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

2020-10-04

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2020-10-04

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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Switzerland ranked sixth in digital competitiveness study

2020-10-03

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2020-10-03

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 

2020-10-02

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2020-10-02

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

2020-10-01

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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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Zurich invention may be used in Fukushima nuclear clean-up

2020-10-01

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2020-10-01

Researchers in Zurich have developed a filter membrane made of whey proteins and activated carbon that can clean contaminated radioactive water. They hope to deploy their invention at the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

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How are Swiss cities being planned?

2020-09-30

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Swiss cities and the growing areas around them are increasingly being developed. An expert on urban transformation walks us through the three phases of Swiss spatial planning, with examples in Zurich.

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The colonial vision of Swiss multinationals

2020-09-30

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2020-09-30

Switzerland is the home of many major multinational companies, many of which date back to the late 19th century, the high tide of colonialism. But is there a link between the rise of great Swiss corporate names and European colonial expansion? The issue turns out to be a complex one.

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Nuns: powerful women of the Middle Ages

2020-09-29

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The Middle Ages were a rough time for women. They were considered inferior to men, and very few were educated. Convents offered them opportunities that might otherwise have been denied them: access to schooling, social welfare and the chance to break away from the close strictures of their families. An exhibition at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich showed how ecclesiastical women lived in the Middle Ages, and what they created. swissinfo.ch...

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SWISS plans to introduce rapid pre-boarding Covid tests

2020-09-28

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2020-09-28

German airline Lufthansa will introduce rapid tests before certain flights to detect Covid-19 in passengers. If the trial, set to start in October, is successful, it will be expanded to Lufthansa subsidiaries Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) and Edelweiss.

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Covid-19: Swiss ‘industry mix’ helps avert dramatic GDP slump

2020-09-28

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2020-09-28

Government economists say the impact of the pandemic in Switzerland is slightly less severe than previously feared. This is partly thanks to the mix of industries in Switzerland and the decision to rapidly lift coronavirus restrictions, according to the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

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