Cluster: Archive

Chimps get closer to humans on Basel stage

This content was published on Sep 7, 2000 The play was about a chimpanzee called Lisa, who grew up in an urban apartment with her minder, Sonia, and was part of a language experiment in which she was taught sign language. As Lisa grows into an adult chimp, she becomes more difficult to handle and is eventually sent to a camp in the…

Editorial on the votes

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 The people’s initiative calling for controls on immigration has prompted heated debate. The exasperation that many people, particularly women, feel about illegal immigration and abuses of the asylum law is now expressing itself as xenophobia. But a quota system won’t solve the problem. Moreover, Switzerland, with its humanitarian tradition, stands to lose a great deal.…

Energy issues at the ballot box

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 The Solar Initiative proposes a constitutional change to introduce a tax surcharge on non-renewable energy, such as nuclear power, gas and petroleum. It envisages a levy on energy bills of SFr0.01 rising to SFr0.05 per kilowatt hour within the first five years. This is expected to raise about SFr750 million annually over 25 years. The…

Red Cube goes west

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 “Under the terms of the transaction, Red Cube, will pay Winter Harbor $60 million in cash and $20 million in long-term Red Cube share options in return for its majority stake in I-Link,” Red Cube said in a statement on Wednesday. “With this transaction, Red Cube and I-Link together will be the market leaders in…

Proposal to cut number of foreign residents

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 The initiative, launched by a local Radical Party politician from Aargau, Philipp Müller, seeks to reduce the number of foreigners to the 1994 level when the initiative was launched. It was formally presented to the federal authorities in 1995 after collecting the signatures needed for a nationwide vote. It is not the first time a…

Dreifuss honoured for health insurance reform

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 The Bertelsmann Foundation praised the amended law as an example of how free-market elements can be incorporated into a public health system. Switzerland shared the DM300,000 prize (SFr240,000) equally with the Netherlands, which was rewarded for its primary health care. The interior ministry said Dreifuss accepted the prize on behalf of all those involved in…

Core profit up but net profit down at Zurich

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 Normalised net profit better reflects the company’s core business as it excludes potentially volatile gains or losses from capital investments. However the group’s net profit rate, which includes capital fluctuations, actually dropped back by 24 per cent at $1.3 billion over the same period, as Zurich Financial Services cut back on capital gains. The company…

Oil price rises threaten winter crisis

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 The surge in crude oil prices to a 10-year high means consumers can expect to pay almost twice as much for their heating this year as they did in 1999. Petrol prices have also risen sharply, but unlike France there is no petrol shortage in Switzerland. Swiss petrol stations are reporting a big influx of…

Swisscom ups the stakes in price war

This content was published on Sep 6, 2000 In the latest move in Switzerland’s telecom price war, Swisscom will reduce the price of calls to Britain to SFr0.12 ($0.068) a minute during the week from a current SFr0.25 a minute. The weekend rate will be SFr0.10 a minute down from SFr0.20 a minute. Call charges to South Korea and Taiwan will be slashed…

Small and medium firms urged to log on

This content was published on Sep 5, 2000 The “Untapped Potential” conference highlighted a range of benefits available to smaller firms, including increasing their customer base and widening their sources of supplies. Addressing the conference were Olli-Pekka Lintual, director of Nokia Mobile Phones, Michael Büsbeck, director of the Zurich-based e-commerce consultants Commerce One, and Swiss writer and commentator, Beat Kappeler. “Four years ago…

Cluster: Archive

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