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Ten thousandth fairplay ball sold in Switzerland

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 Footballs, handballs and volleyballs made in child labour-free workshops in Pakistan are sold in fair trade shops and the outlets of the charity, Helvetas. Pakistan became the focus of efforts to stamp out child labour after estimates publicised in 1996 put the number of children in the ball-making business in the country at about 7,000.…

Swiss retrieve over a billion francs from former East Germany

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 The president of the association, Werner Stauffacher, said that he was more than happy with the progress made so far. He told a news conference in Zurich on Friday: “Around 95 per cent of claims on housing property, bank loans, land lease agreements and company ownership have been paid out by the German authorities.” Since…

Roche partner finds gene implicated in Alzheimer’s

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 A communiqué from Roche said the gene was located through a study involving 1,100 Icelandic patients and their unaffected relatives. “This finding underscores the role of genetics… and represents a critical milestone on the way to identifying a gene and its disease-linked variants,” it said. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in…

Life expectancy lower for poorly skilled

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 Over 25 per cent of roadsweepers, factory labourers and general industrial workers died before reaching the age of 65 – the pensionable age for men in Switzerland. In contrast, only 10 per cent of chemists, economists and teachers died before becoming pensioners. The survey looked at what had happened to 5,000 men from the canton…

Sales up for Straumann company

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 At a news conference, the management said operating profit had soared by 77.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, to reach SFr28.1 million. Straumann, the world number two in oral implantology, said it intended to increase its current staff of 478 by 50 between now and the end of the year. However,…

Hornussen players poised for big challenge

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 About 5,500 players will be competing in the eastern town of Frauenfeld in canton Thurgau for one of the highly-prized drinking horns, the Hornussen equivalent of an athlete’s gold medal. The rules are simple. The members of one team, which comprises 16 to 18 men, take turns at hitting a round puck placed on a…

Bad weather hits Alpine retreats

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 A common tourist view of Switzerland is a land of picture postcard beauty, populated by farmers tending their cows on Alpine hillsides. In the summer, visitors trekking through the Alps, or taking a cog wheel railway up a mountain, marvel at the isolated “homesteads” dotting the mountainsides. The reality is more stark. Today, few farmers…

Swiss spending more on holidays

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 Foreign tourists spent SFr11.7 billion ($6.84 billion) in Switzerland last year, an increase of SFr135 million over 1998 ( 1.2 per cent). In a communiqué, the Office said that Swiss holiday spending abroad in 1999 rose to SFr10.4 billion, up SFr484 million from the previous year ( 4.9 per cent). The lion’s share of foreign…

Ukrainian Roma receive money from Holocaust fund

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 The administrators of the fund said 3,966 Ukrainian Roma would receive $400 each. They said the sum represented a significant financial boost to the needy Holocaust survivors, whose average monthly income is only $20. Speaking at the ceremony in Kiev, the fund’s president, Rolf Bloch, underlined the importance of the payments. He said the fund…

Out & about in Switzerland: Chateau d’Oex hosts a bevy of beetles

This content was published on Aug 18, 2000 The Lémania Coccinelle Club, which organises the event, calls it an exclusive meeting “reserved for VWs and derivatives with air-cooled engines”. About 450 cars motored to the first event in 1991, and the club expects to attract about three times as many this year. A Ferris wheel is being set up in the middle of…

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Ten thousandth fairplay ball sold in Switzerland

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Swiss retrieve over a billion francs from former East Germany

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Roche partner finds gene implicated in Alzheimer’s

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Life expectancy lower for poorly skilled

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Sales up for Straumann company

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Hornussen players poised for big challenge

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Bad weather hits Alpine retreats

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Swiss spending more on holidays

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Ukrainian Roma receive money from Holocaust fund

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Out & about in Switzerland: Chateau d’Oex hosts a bevy of beetles

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