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Energy consumption reaches new heights

This content was published on Jun 15, 2005 The Federal Energy Office said the increase was slowed only by higher energy costs, warmer temperatures and falling aircraft fuel sales. The office said on Wednesday that overall energy consumption reached 877,290 terajoules last year, prompted by changes in the economy and population growth. A joule is the standard measure of energy and work. It…

Parliament opposes GM crop moratorium

This content was published on Jun 14, 2005 The House of Representatives narrowly rejected the move, following the line taken by the Senate earlier this year. The initiative will now go to popular vote. Engineered by a coalition of environmental groups, consumers and farmers, the initiative calls for a five-year moratorium on the import or trading of genetically modified plants or grain. But…

Aluminium giant cuts 110 Swiss jobs

This content was published on Jun 14, 2005 It said rising raw material costs, unfavourable changes in the euro-dollar exchange rate and tough market conditions in central Europe led to the decision. Alcan, the second-largest aluminium company in the world, said it was integrating extrusion activities at its sites in Singen in Germany and Sierre in canton Valais to improve efficiency. The Montreal-based…

Low-cost airlines boost Geneva airport

This content was published on Jun 14, 2005 In an interview with swissinfo, Jean-Pierre Jobin talks about his winning strategy for Geneva and its relations with Switzerland’s two other main airports: Zurich and Basel. Virtually abandoned by national carrier Swissair in 1996, Geneva airport has since managed to bounce back to become one of the country’s strongest-performing air hubs. Earlier this month it…

Swiss share prices boosted by events elsewhere

This content was published on Jun 14, 2005 However, the share-price hike highlights how much the Swiss economy depends on events beyond its control – and on the performance of a handful of major multinationals. The SMI reached a three-year high of nearly 6,270 points on Tuesday, representing a total market value for its 27 member companies of some SFr627 billion ($493 billion).…

CO2 tax needed to meet Kyoto target

This content was published on Jun 14, 2005 The Swiss environment agency has called for the implementation of a government plan for taxes on fossil fuels in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to ten per cent below 1990 levels by 2010. The agency said on Tuesday that there would be a slight decrease in Switzerland’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2010, but that…

Labour market stagnates

This content was published on Jun 14, 2005 The study by the Manpower employment agency on the worldwide labour market revealed that 85 per cent of Swiss firms did not expect any change in employee numbers in the forthcoming months. The survey included Switzerland for the first time in its quarterly reports since it began in 1962. Of the more than 800 Swiss…

Unions back extension of EU labour accord

This content was published on Jun 13, 2005 Monday’s announcement comes after a weekend poll showing that only a third of Swiss support the move, which goes to a nationwide vote in September. Launching their campaign ahead of the vote, union leaders said that Swiss workers stood to benefit from the labour accord. “There is a real threat of wage dumping and pressure…

Bank “super-merger” – will Swiss follow suit?

This content was published on Jun 13, 2005 But market observers say the tie-up between Italy’s Unicredito and Germany’s HVB Group is unlikely to change the current “hands-off” approach of Switzerland’s two largest banks. The long-term implications, however, could be considerable – and a move towards a more aggressive acquisition strategy at UBS and Credit Suisse is certainly not out of the question.…

Cancer groups urge action on killer disease

This content was published on Jun 12, 2005 According to the Swiss Cancer League, 1,300 women in Switzerland still die of the disease every year despite medical progress. Although the rate of breast cancer is higher in Switzerland than in many other European countries – around 5,000 new cases are diagnosed every year – there is no systematic strategy for detecting the disease…

Internal: Archive

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Internal: Archive

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Energy consumption reaches new heights

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Parliament opposes GM crop moratorium

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Aluminium giant cuts 110 Swiss jobs

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Low-cost airlines boost Geneva airport

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Swiss share prices boosted by events elsewhere

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CO2 tax needed to meet Kyoto target

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Labour market stagnates

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Unions back extension of EU labour accord

More

Bank “super-merger” – will Swiss follow suit?

More

Cancer groups urge action on killer disease

Popular Stories

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