The rapid rise in prices for food, fuel and commodities has been disastrous for the world’s poor, including Indonesian market vendor Lia Romi. But it’s a bonanza for multinational trading firms such as Glencore. While Romi has trouble feeding her family, Glencore – the world’s largest diversified commodities trader – […]
by Susan Vogel-Misicka, swissinfo.ch Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris wants to team up with a Swedish company to link and upgrade Switzerland’s Andermatt and Sedrun ski resorts. A letter of intent published on Wednesday shows that Andermatt Swiss Alps – a subsidiary of Sawiris’ Orascom Development – is joining forces with […]
by Ariane Gigon in Zurich, swissinfo.ch Voters in Zurich are being given mixed messages about whether to allow or prevent people from being able to decide how to end their own lives. The slogans are punchy and powerful: “Freedom at the end!” on one side against “Save life!” on the […]
by Eveline Kobler in Tunis, swissinfo.ch The Swiss ambassador to Israel says the democratisation process sweeping through the Arab world could pose a threat to Israeli security. Walter Haffner also tells swissinfo.ch that the agreement aimed at uniting the main Palestinian factions is a positive development. The interview was conducted […]
Defence Minister Ueli Maurer says there has been an increase in the recruitment of Muslims for militant training camps. In an interview with the SonntagsZeitung newspaper, Maurer said the government was aware of Swiss who went to these training camps, and others who visited Koran schools. He said the federal […]
by Sophie Douez, swissinfo.ch Under pressure from federal authorities to find housing for increasing numbers of asylum claimants, cantons are turning to emergency bunkers as a solution. The issue came to a head this week with police in Neuchâtel forced to intervene when members of a group of 31 claimants […]
by Eveline Kobler, swissinfo.ch The new Swiss president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences tells swissinfo.ch about the challenges of squaring religious faith with science. Werner Arber, an Aargau-born microbiologist and geneticist who shared the 1978 Nobel Prize for Medicine, is the first Protestant to hold the position. The 81-year-old […]
The rare blooming of a giant flower, taller than a man, that stinks of carrion, has been drawing thousands of visitors to Basel University’s botanical garden. The only previous time a titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) produced a flower in Switzerland was 75 years ago. World-wide, there have only been 134 […]
Abu Dhabi, 18 April 2011(WAM) – In its second annual Islamic Wealth Management Report, Bank Sarasin urged the Islamic banking community to take a stronger focus on Islamic Financial Planning. Bank Sarasin also calls for the industry to move forward by developing the Sharia framework, diversifying products and differentiating its […]