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The train that defies gravity

This content was published on May 4, 2010 The famous Rhaetian Railway red train also takes you on a historic journey to the natural beauties of the eastern canton of Graubünden. Passengers leaving Tirano get the message almost immediately: the Bernina Express is a train with a difference. The moment it pulls out of the station of this little Italian town, the train…

How a piece of Africa came to be in Ticino

This content was published on May 4, 2010 The mountain is regarded as the best place for studying fossil marine life from the mid-Triassic period and is believed to have once been part of Africa. It has been a Unesco World Heritage site since 2003. More than a thousand metres above sea level, Monte San Giorgio rises like a pyramid on the southern…

Swiss Life posts healthy first-quarter returns

This content was published on May 4, 2010 The Zurich-based insurance group posted a 23 per cent leap in premiums to SFr7.87 billion ($7.24 billion) for the first quarter compared with the same period last year. “We are very pleased,” CEO Bruno Pfister said. “Premium growth in almost all markets gives us confidence for the next months.” Switzerland’s largest insurer reported an overall…

Historic Bernina line looks to the future

This content was published on May 4, 2010 The line has been a Unesco World Heritage site since 2008, but very nearly didn’t make it. Railway bosses were only convinced following a campaign by locals. Opening celebrations were held on July 5, 1910. A train rumbled by, marking the first time St Moritz in Switzerland and Tirano in Italy were connected by a…

UBS beats forecasts with official figures

This content was published on May 4, 2010 Analysts had been expecting profits of around SFr2 billion. Preliminary figures released in April had predicted first-quarter pre-tax profit of at least SFr2.5 billion compared with SFr1.2 billion for the last quarter of 2009. Instead, the bank’s updated figures show pre-tax earnings topped SFr2.8 billion. “We are well positioned to meet our medium-term goals,” CEO…

Stress in pregnancy could produce bigger babies

This content was published on May 4, 2010 The results, published in the American Psychosomatic Society journal, are the first to tie common stress factors experienced by pregnant women, such as money worries or relationship problems, to greater growth in babies. Similar studies in the past have looked at the impact of severe stress, such as natural disasters or the death of a…

Transocean under fire over US oil spill

This content was published on May 3, 2010 It is still unclear what caused the explosion on the rig operated by BP and owned by Transocean, but many are beginning to point their finger at the Zug-based company’s blowout preventer (BOP) for failing to work properly. “BP is responsible for this leak — BP will be paying the bill,” President Barack Obama told…

Seeing Switzerland through other eyes

This content was published on May 3, 2010 The library has put on a small exhibition giving a tantalising overview of some of the thousands of guidebooks to the country that have been published over the past couple of centuries. Curator Beat Gugger has selected about 300 out of the 30,000 or so in the library’s stocks. As he told swissinfo.ch, the aim…

New chip card aimed at boosting e-business

This content was published on May 3, 2010 “It has a huge potential and helps us to improve the competitive edge of Switzerland,” said Jean-Daniel Gerber, head of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco), at a news conference on Monday. He said the introduction of the SuisseID card, which is also available as a USB stick, makes the use of multiple passwords…

Shanghai World Expo

This content was published on May 3, 2010 The World Expo in Shanghai is officially underway, with the Swiss exhibition attracting large crowds wanting to ride a ski lift to “mountains” and “meadows” installed on the roof. Blaise Godet, Switzerland’s ambassador to China, says the Swiss have a real advantage in that Switzerland is beautiful. But the pavilion hopes to go beyond the…

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