World Radio Switzerland

Cabinet ordered to sort out staff shortages

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:15:55 UT

The Federal Supreme Court has ordered the Federal Cabinet to resolve the staff shortages at the government department for data protection and freedom of information.

The lack of staff means some businesses are struggling to complete their paper work.

It’s the third time the Court’s made the ruling and it says delays are no longer acceptable.

It follows the case of an individual who another government department refused to help because he did not have the right information after the data protection department told him they were too short staffed to help.

The department has until the end of March to resolve the issue.

More duty free shops arriving in airports?

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:27:04 UT

Passengers landing at the country’s airports could see more duty free shops on arrival.

The Federal Cabinet has submitted plans to allow people entering Switzerland to buy tax free alcohol and cigarettes.

At the moment only passengers leaving the country can buy duty free goods.

If the proposals get the go ahead, Switzerland would follow the example of five other European countries which already have duty free shops in both arrival and departure lounges.

The Federal Cabinet predicts increasing the number of shops would create between 60 and 80 news jobs and turnover would go up from 50 to 60 million francs a year.

It added that the move would not undermine the country’s retail trade and that current limits would stay the same.

UBS asks Bern to give tax data to U.S.

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:22:26 UT

UBS is pushing the Swiss government to support the sending of stolen data to U.S. tax authorities.

The Tages-Anzeiger newspaper published the document sent by UBS to parliament.

In it, UBS said the risks are too great for the Swiss financial reputation and the Swiss economy if Parliament refuses to send the information.

The agreement between Bern and Washington to reveal the names of nearly 4,500 American UBS customers was blocked by a Swiss court in January.

'Iceman' Janka clinches World Cup

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:19:28 UT

Carlo Janka has become one of the youngest-ever winners of the Alpine skiing Overall Men’s World Cup after his victory in the giant slalom in Germany.

The 23-year-old from the canton of Graubünden dominated the Garmisch event and his closest rival for the title, Benni Raich, finished in 8th place.

So with just tomorrow’s slalom left, Janka can’t be caught and he will add the World Cup to his Olympic gold medal.

Ski battle heats up in Germany

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:48:12 UT

The gap between Carlo Janka and Austrian Benjamin Raich in the overall Alpine skiing World Cup standings has been cut to 38 points.

Janka finished 6th in the last Super G of the season in Garmisch yesterday, conceding 16 points to the Austrian.

Janka will hope his gold medal performance in Vancouver will stand him in good stead in today’s Giant Slalom before the final event, the Slalom, which takes place tomorrow.

Women still lagging behind in Swiss labour market

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:11:30 UT

Topics: workplace

Builders say Zurich stadium is safe

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:51:16 UT

The construction company working on Zurich’s troubled Letzigrund stadium says the structure is safe and the pillars don’t need replacing.

Authorities closed the ground in February because of safety fears after cracks were found in one of the pillars supporting the roof.

But Implenia says the pillar supported a 41 ton weight and that it’s pointless to reinforce all 31 pillars.

Zurich authorities have put in temporary reinforcements but FC Zurich and Grasshoppers Zurich have complained that they block the view of the playing surface.

Set your Swatch for a record year

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:27:50 UT

Watch group Swatch says it’s expecting record annual results for this year.

The Swiss company says it’s already seen a 40 percent rise in sales in January and February, in comparison to the same period last year.

It also surpasses figures from the same time in 2008.

Nick Hayek, the chief executive didn’t rule out the possibility of any future acquisitions, saying “We have the means of doing, so if something interesting came up, why not?”

Discounters Aldi and Lidl popping up everywhere

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:24:57 UT

Tobacco giant eyes Geneva's international district

Alex Helmick — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:00:02 UT

Japan Tobacco International plans to start construction in 2011 and finish in 2014.

IATA forecasts brighter economic skies

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:22:36 UT

The airline industry is set to do better than expected this year, according to the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA)

It now predicts losses of $2.8 billion—half of what was forecast in December.

Global income is set to rise and passenger numbers are expected to go up about 6 percent.

IATA’s director general warns, however, that it will likely still take three years for the industry to return to levels seen in 2008.

Swisscom forced to lower lease rates

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:16:57 UT

Swisscom has once again been punished for its dominant market position.

The Federal Communications Commission has forced the telecom company to lower prices for access to Swisscom leased lines.

Swisscom has reduced monthly wholesale prices for leased lines by almost a third for 2009.

That means other providers can now use leased lines throughout Switzerland at competitive prices.

SNB holds interest rate at 0.25%

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:14:11 UT

The Swiss National Bank has revised its predictions for the country’s gross domestic product for 2010.

The bank predicts GDP for this year will be 1.5 percent—that’s up 1 percent from three months ago.

However, as predicted, the bank is keeping the interest rate at a quarter percent.

Big year for big construction company

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:27:54 UT

The country’s largest construction company, Implenia, had a good 2009 despite the financial crisis.

Implenia posted a profit of 47 million francs, up 17.7 percent from the previous year, surpassing analysts’ expectations.

The company says the better-than-expected profit is due largely to rigorous management of costs.

Woman who faked racist attack denied visa

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:15:27 UT

The Brazilian woman who harmed herself to claim she had been the victim of a racist attack in Zurich will have to leave Switzerland by the end of the month.

In February of last year, the 28-year-old cut herself over 200 times and claimed she had been attacked outside Zurich Stettbach station.

The alleged incident caused outrage in Brazil and even the country’s president condemned such a violent act.

She has since been charged and fined for making a false claim and authorities in Zurich have refused to extend her visa.