Internal: Archive

Think tank given credibility boost by choice of boss

This content was published on Nov 26, 2000 A sociologist and leader of student protests in 1968, Held doesn’t fit the stereotype of the neo-liberal right-winger. His appointment has silenced critics, who had claimed that the new think tank is no more than an effort by private enterprise to extend its influence over politics. The “Foundation on the Future of Switzerland” is funded…

Divisions in Switzerland show up in pension age vote

This content was published on Nov 26, 2000 According to a forecast, published by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation two hours after polls closed, one initiative was rejected by 64 per cent of voters, the other by 56 per cent. However, according to the same forecasts, voters in French-speaking western Switzerland and the southern, Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, approved the intiatives. Federal votes often…

Swiss cast ballots on defence spending and retirement age

This content was published on Nov 26, 2000 Voters are widely expected to reject all of the five federal issues, following Sunday’s vote. The main proposal, put forward by left-wing parties as well as peace and development aid groups, foresees slashing the army’s current annual budget of SFr5 billion ($2.75 billion) to just over SFr3 billion ($1.7 billion) over the next 10 years.…

Business Outlook

This content was published on Nov 26, 2000 The markets will also be focusing on how the integration of the recently acquired US investment bank, Paine Webber, is coming along. So far, it appears to be proceeding well with few defections among the top staff. The country’s biggest telecommunications company, Swisscom, releases its third-quarter figures on Wednesday. The telecom industry has rapidly gone…

Spanish bidders press for Swiss UMTS auction to go ahead

This content was published on Nov 26, 2000 In a statement on Saturday, Telefonica expressed its displeasure at the indefinite postponement of November’s sale of third generation licences. The company said it wanted the situation to be resolved swiftly. On November 13, the Communications Office stopped the auction just hours before it was scheduled to take place as the number of bidders for…

Switzerland set to clinch trade agreement in Mexico

This content was published on Nov 26, 2000 The deal is expected to benefit Swiss companies, which are expected to make savings on import duties of around SFr100 million. Couchepin will sign the document in the presence of the Mexican president, Ernesto Zedillo. His visit to Mexico concludes a six-day tour of Latin America during which he clinched trade deals with Chile and…

Switzerland determined to reach future agreement on world climate

This content was published on Nov 26, 2000 After tough negotiations between 185 countries represented in The Hague, the Dutch minister for the environment, Jan Pronk, announced that it had been impossible to hammer out a manifesto on how best to reduce Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions globally. In an interview with the Swiss newspaper, SonntagsZeitung, the head of the Swiss delegation, Philippe Roch,…

The week in business

This content was published on Nov 25, 2000 SAirGroup’s board meeting on Wednesday failed to deliver a new corporate strategy to turn around losses at its flagship carrier, Swissair. There had been speculation that SAirGroup may be ready to sell a stake in Swissair to American Airlines, British Airways or Lufthansa. But after the meeting, the company said such a sale was not…

Secrets of the senses revealed

This content was published on Nov 25, 2000 All these questions and many more are being answered at a new exhibition in Lucerne. The natural history museum is shedding light on the mysteries of vision, sound, smell, touch and taste. It is using technology to explain how the senses enable humans and animals to interact with the world. With the aid of night…

New body to oversee tighter BSE controls

This content was published on Nov 24, 2000 The agency would start work next March, if the authorities approve new measures to fight the disease, which were proposed by the federal veterinary office earlier this month. The main measure involves extending a ban on feeding bone meal to cattle to all other farm animals. The veterinary office said that retailers, farmers and butchers,…

Internal: Archive

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Internal: Archive

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Think tank given credibility boost by choice of boss

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Divisions in Switzerland show up in pension age vote

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Swiss cast ballots on defence spending and retirement age

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Business Outlook

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Spanish bidders press for Swiss UMTS auction to go ahead

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Switzerland set to clinch trade agreement in Mexico

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Switzerland determined to reach future agreement on world climate

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The week in business

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Secrets of the senses revealed

More

New body to oversee tighter BSE controls

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