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Holderbank reports solid growth

This content was published on Mar 29, 2001 Presenting the results in Zurich, Holderbank said this year had started well and it predicted higher margins as new plants in the United States came into operation and costs were cut in Latin America, Asia and Oceania. Net sales were up by 14.9 per cent last year to SFr14.012 billion, while cash flow from operations…

Geneva welcomes masters of invention

This content was published on Mar 29, 2001 The organisers boast that about 1,000 inventions will be presented to the public for the first time at the Geneva fair. Most of the exhibitors are members of research departments of high-tech companies, institutes or state organisations. Based on previous years’ experience, about half of the inventions will find a buyer willing to market them.…

More Swiss surf the Internet than ever before

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 The survey, produced by MMXI Suisse, revealed that Swiss surf the World Wide Web for 12.5 minutes on average per day from home. The most popular Swiss Internet sites include the search engine search.ch and the Swiss Federal Railways web site. The American search engines Yahoo and Altavista are also included in the top ten…

Legal action over Swiss apartheid relations gets closer

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 The South African branch of the non-governmental organisation, the Jubilee 2000 Coalition, says it is continuing to carry out research about international links to the apartheid system that formally ended in 1994. Class action suits could involve financial institutions and companies in the United States, Germany and Britain as well as Switzerland. Its spokesman, Neville…

Government adopts new measures against BSE

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 The main changes to protect consumers from BSE are in the slaughtering techniques. The compressed air method and a technique that uses vibrations to destroy the base of the brain are being stopped to prevent brain tissue from entering the circulatory system. The veterinary authorities have also decided to ensure the removal of organs in…

Real cannibals are picky eaters

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 Mondher Kilani said rules govern both ritual cannibalism, practised by societies, and individual cases like Issei Sagawa from Japan, who admitted murdering a French friend in a Paris apartment in 1981 and devouring parts of her body. “Even in isolated examples, it’s noticeable that cannibals often have a relationship with the victim,” Kilani told swissinfo.…

Family watch firm stands test of time

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 In a watch industry faced with a concentration of forces putting large marketing budgets to win market share, Mondaine stands out as a family business that has stood the test of time. History recalls that the founder of the company, Erwin Bernheim, aged 75, should have been a tailor but an introduction to the watch…

Le Carré speaks out against the global pharmaceutical industry

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 The book, set in Africa, is about a fictional pharmaceutical company seeking to promote a “wonder cure” for tuberculosis. Le Carré told swissinfo that as part of his research he conducted off-the-record interviews with people working in Basel for the Swiss pharmaceutical industry. Le Carré said he would never reveal the names of his contacts,…

Think Tools slips into the red

This content was published on Mar 28, 2001 The company said it expected to return to profit in the second quarter of 2001 and forecast a substantial net profit for the year as a whole. Think Tools has faced severe problems due to Vontobel’s cancellation of its e-project, y-o-u bank. The failure of the venture led to the dismissal of several senior managers…

Zurich airport threatens legal action against Germany

This content was published on Mar 27, 2001 Germany has forced a renegotiation of the number of Swiss flights permitted to fly over its territory. It announced last May that it wanted changes to an agreement dating from 1984 which in recent years has seen the number of Swiss flights crossing southern Germany increase to around 140,000. Berlin says this has led to…

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