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Privacy stepped up for Google Street View

This content was published on Jun 16, 2009 Passers-by must be informed before being captured on special roaming cameras used by Google to map streets, Hanspeter Thür announced on Monday. Sensitive data such as faces and car number plates must be obscured, he said. Thür said checks would be carried out to ensure the conditions were met. If faces were visible he would…

Unions say executives creating “wage cartel”

This content was published on Jun 15, 2009 The wage gap between high and low earners expanded by 72 per cent in the past seven years, Travail Suisse noted in a report released on Monday. Not adjusted for inflation, average management salaries in major companies has leapt by 83 per cent since 2002 while nominal wages went up by 8.4 per cent in…

Secret banking wins libertarian friends in US

This content was published on Jun 15, 2009 They are two of the US’s abating breeds – civil libertarians and fiscal conservatives – and inasmuch as President Barack Obama has taken a more conciliatory foreign policy than his predecessor, the niceties have not trickled down to tax evaders and their enablers. That’s an unlucky development for Switzerland but not much of a surprise.…

Business lobby paints bleak economic outlook

This content was published on Jun 15, 2009 The Swiss Business Federation, economiesuisse, predicted economic growth would drop to -2.9 per cent for 2009 and -0.8 per cent in 2010, with prices staying relatively stable. Unemployment rates could reach four per cent on average in 2009 and 5.3 per cent in 2010. The group said the financial crisis would hit the economy and…

Holcim eyes Australian market in Cemex deal

This content was published on Jun 15, 2009 The world number two in the cement sector announced on Monday it had agreed to a sale price of A$2.02 billion (SFr1.76 billion) in a deal funded entirely with equity. “This important strategic acquisition enables the group to move into the aggregates and concrete business in an attractive mature market,” said a Holcim statement. The…

Mineral water industry has thirst for fight

This content was published on Jun 13, 2009 A powerful new lobby aims to prevent a global wave of adverse public opinion to bottled water crashing onto Swiss shores. The industry has suffered from a “back to tap water” environmentalist campaign. Green groups have managed to influence public sentiment in the US, Canada, Britain and France by highlighting the double pollution peril of…

Swine-flu vaccine found faster than expected

This content was published on Jun 12, 2009 The Swiss pharmaceutical concern said scientists had been able to speed up the process greatly by using cell-based technology instead of chicken eggs typically used to grow the necessary cultures. “This advance has cut weeks off the time required to begin vaccine production,” Novartis said in a statement. The company hopes to produce millions of…

Woman’s case prompts contraceptive scrutiny

This content was published on Jun 12, 2009 A spokesman for the Swiss Agency for Therapeutics (Swissmedic) told Swiss television late on Thursday that it had collected extensive research on various birth control pills and would come to a finding on their health effects in the autumn. The announcement comes after a 16-year-old woman suffered a lung embolism that left her severely disabled.…

“Made in Switzerland” brand retains its appeal

This content was published on Jun 12, 2009 Switzerland’s exports are down, in line with other countries, but manufacturers will prosper in the long run if they market traditional qualities of reliability and value, a Swiss Brands conference heard. Swiss companies should not change their strategy of producing expensive, well-made goods because some consumers have become more price conscious, according to Stephan Feige…

WHO declares “unstoppable” swine flu pandemic

This content was published on Jun 11, 2009 Switzerland, which has 20 confirmed cases, responded by saying it would not be introducing new measures to limit the spread of the disease as a result of the pandemic upgrade, but would follow the situation closely. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan told a news conference on Thursday that the scientific conditions for an influenza pandemic had…

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Privacy stepped up for Google Street View

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Unions say executives creating “wage cartel”

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Secret banking wins libertarian friends in US

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Business lobby paints bleak economic outlook

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Holcim eyes Australian market in Cemex deal

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Mineral water industry has thirst for fight

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Swine-flu vaccine found faster than expected

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Woman’s case prompts contraceptive scrutiny

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“Made in Switzerland” brand retains its appeal

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WHO declares “unstoppable” swine flu pandemic

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