Tag Archive: Latest news

Switzerland experiences highest unemployment rate in a decade

The unemployment rate in Switzerland rose again in January, reaching 3.7% - the highest level since April 2010. 

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Protecting livestock from predators costs Swiss taxpayers millions

The federal government spends CHF4 million (around $4.4 million) a year to minimise the damage caused by predators like wolves and lynx.

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Switzerland and UK to push ahead with financial services deal

Britain and Switzerland will press on with plans to strike a trade deal for their vast financial services industries, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday ahead of talks with his Swiss counterpart.

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Manser diaries donated to Basel museum

The diaries of Bruno Manser, a Swiss environmental and human rights activist, have been donated to the Museum der Kulturen in Basel.

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Swiss Corporate Merger Activity Dampened by Covid

The coronavirus pandemic left its mark on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in Switzerland last year. The volume of transactions halved, and the number of deals was also down. Overall, the number of transactions with Swiss participation fell from 402 to 363. At $63.1 billion (CHF56 billion), the transaction volume was only half what it was in 2019 – mainly owing to the absence of mega-deals, consultants KPMG said on Thursday.

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Top Swiss banker Collardi reprimanded by financial watchdog

Former Julius Bär CEO Boris Collardi has had his knuckles rapped by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) following an investigation into money laundering.

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Swiss probing corruption linked to Lebanon central bank

The Swiss attorney general's office has requested legal assistance from Lebanon in the context of a probe into "aggravated money laundering" and possible embezzlement tied to the Lebanese central bank, Reuters reports from Beirut.

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Covid-hit restaurants call for ‘compensation now’

Half of all hotel and restaurant businesses in Switzerland will go bankrupt by the end of March if they do not receive immediate financial compensation for the effects of coronavirus restrictions, warns the sector’s umbrella organisation.

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Switzerland hit by widespread malware campaign

Several security bodies in Switzerland have been targeted by emails that appear to come from official organisations such as banks or the police and contain a password for a zip file. When this file is opened, the computer becomes infected with a trojan called Emotet.

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‘We were too lax’ admits Swiss health minister on Covid-19

In an interview with Swiss public television, SRF, Health Minister Alain Berset has acknowledged that Switzerland made mistakes in managing the coronavirus outbreak.

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Swiss groups argue about parking spaces

Even good drivers might struggle to fit their cars into the allotted parking spaces in Switzerland. Yet Swiss cities don’t necessarily want to provide larger spaces.

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Switzerland bans flights from UK over new coronavirus

Switzerland has joined other European countries in suspending flights from the United Kingdom and South Africa after reports of a fast-spreading new coronavirus strain.

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First Covid-19 vaccine approved for Swiss use

Swiss health regulator Swissmedic has approved the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech. According to the Swiss authorities, the level of protection is over 90% a week after the second dose.

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Switzerland among best placed to recover from Covid crisis

Switzerland is among the countries best equipped to withstand the effects of the global pandemic, although no nation has emerged unscathed, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). 

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Switzerland and UK sign agreement on mobility of service suppliers

An agreement that secures reciprocal, facilitated market access for service providers from Switzerland and Britain from January 1 has been signed by Economics Minister Guy Parmelin and Liz Truss, the British Secretary of State for International Trade.

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Government hopes for ‘first successful pension reforms’ of the century

In summer 2019 the social partners agreed on a reform of the Swiss occupational pension scheme. The government on Wednesday adopted this compromise unchanged; the ball is now in parliament’s court.

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Nuclear plant worker’s cancer judged not to be a work-related illness

The Federal Court has dismissed the appeal of a former employee of two Swiss nuclear power plants who was diagnosed with bladder and prostate cancer. The man took legal action after the national accident insurance fund refused benefits for an occupational illness.

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Ex-Credit Suisse boss recruited by Rwandan government

Tidjane Thiam, who resigned as CEO of Swiss bank Credit Suisse in February, has been tasked with using his connections to build up the Rwandan capital Kigali as an international business location, according to Swiss business newspaper Handelszeitung.

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Will vaccination campaign convince hesitant Swiss?

Faced with considerable public scepticism towards a Covid-19 vaccine, the Federal Office of Public Health is preparing an information campaign about vaccinations. However, the country’s top hospital hygienist thinks offering incentives is a better way to make people get a jab.

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Raiffeisen pulls out of Swiss Bankers Association

Raiffeisen, Switzerland’s third-largest banking group, says it will leave the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA) at the end of March 2021. It intends to represent its interests independently.

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