Swiss Identity

Algeria negotiating release of missing tourists

This content was published on May 5, 2003 The statement came shortly before an Algerian radio station announced that the holidaymakers would be released soon. The Swiss foreign ministry said it could not confirm whether the release of the tourists was imminent. “We cannot confirm this information either because we do not have the information or because the well-being of the people dictates…

Demographics

ICRC calls for protection of Iraq’s dead

This content was published on May 5, 2003 The Geneva-based agency said it welcomed the appointment of a United States official to oversee the protection of these sites and the search for missing persons. “Our concern is what happened as a result of the latest war,” said Nada Doumani, chief ICRC spokeswoman in Baghdad, “and to ensure that there will be a process…

Demographics

Vaccines – a triumph of hope over delivery

This content was published on May 5, 2003 Several studies have convinced scientists that a vaccine is feasible, yet they are still far away from a final product. The problem is the ingenuity of the malaria parasite. It may only be single-celled but during the course of its lifetime and particularly while it is in the human body, it changes its forms, its…

Demographics

Drug companies return to the fray

This content was published on May 4, 2003 For the last 40 years, most pharmaceutical companies have neglected malaria because like other tropical diseases it offers little return on investment. Between 1975 and 1999 only four of almost 1,400 new drugs developed worldwide were antimalarials. Now, however, industrial expertise combined with funding from government and private sources has seen researchers trying to identify…

History

Swiss clock that calls to prayer

This content was published on May 4, 2003 The Belal prayer clock is equipped with software and a satellite location system which enables it to calculate the time of daily prayers from anywhere in the world. Its unique feature is the sound of a muezzin, or public crier, who summons the faithful to prayer in Islamic countries. The clock, manufactured in canton Bern,…

Culture

Diners in Zurich eat among the masters

This content was published on May 3, 2003 From Matisse to Picasso, Dégas and Chagall, diners have the rare treat of sitting beneath original works by the masters. On this day, swissinfo’s Joanne Shields had the pleasure. On a bustling Friday afternoon, I am joined for lunch at the Kronenhalle by Kristof Becker, the director of the Kunsthaus, Zurich’s modern art museum. He…

Demographics

Banking regulators call for tighter surveillance

This content was published on May 2, 2003 It says existing laws governing financial dealings are outdated, too complicated and incomplete. In a bid to modernise the existing system, the government in 2001 commissioned a panel of experts to assess the existing system of sanctions and to draw up a set of suggested amendments. The Commission has now proposed to that panel the…

Culture

Montreux festival reaches for the stars

This content was published on May 2, 2003 Jethro Tull and Yes were among the line-up in 1968, when the festival was in its second year and a much more modest event than it is today. The 1967 budget for what began as an event for jazz purists was SFr10,000 ($7,400). This year the figure is SFr15 million and the festival has long…

Culture

Nel bel Ticino

This content was published on May 2, 2003

A day in the host of a malaria parasite

This content was published on May 2, 2003 When an infected mosquito bites you, it injects saliva containing a form of the parasite into your bloodstream. Within 30 minutes – too short a time for your body to muster an effective defence – these threadlike structures, called sporozoites, penetrate your liver cells. Here they remain for a week or so, multiplying furiously. Just…

Swiss Identity

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Swiss Identity

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Algeria negotiating release of missing tourists

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ICRC calls for protection of Iraq’s dead

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Vaccines – a triumph of hope over delivery

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Drug companies return to the fray

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Swiss clock that calls to prayer

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Diners in Zurich eat among the masters

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Banking regulators call for tighter surveillance

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Montreux festival reaches for the stars

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Nel bel Ticino

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A day in the host of a malaria parasite

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