Новости за 21.11.2018

Streaming services like Netflix and Spotify are increasingly popular in Switzerland, especially among the young, but television and radio remain the most popular media across the whole population, a survey has found. Netflix has strongly increased its number of users this year, according to the Electronic Media Interest Group (IGEM) “digiMonitor” survey published on Wednesday. The video streaming service recorded nearly 600,000 new subscribers and now has 1.5 million occasional users, it said. The... Читать дальше...

Switzerland has returned 26 archaeological treasures to Egypt in line with its obligations under a UNESCO convention. They were handed to the Egyptian ambassador in Bern on Wednesday, the Federal Office of Culture said in a press release on Wednesday. The treasures include a statuette of the god Anubis, 12 funerary figurines known as uchabti and various amulets representing, for example, the eye of Horus (Egyptian symbol of protection, royal power, good health) and the djed (pillar-like symbol in Egyptian hieroglyphs representing stability). Читать дальше...

Shoes are hard to recycle because they're made of tiny bits of different materials. To lessen their impact on the environment they can however be cared for so as to make them live longer: that's where cobblers come in handy. To adapt to new types of shoes, a new shop in Geneva offers pressing and cobbling services for sneakers too.

Three recent Swiss diplomatic controversies have raised questions about whether the small Alpine country can still be considered a moral voice in world affairs, one that traditionally has been said to punch above its weight. Switzerland has always prided itself on being able to establish a place among larger countries because of its successful economy, historical neutrality and moral positions, including Geneva’s being host to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations Human Rights Council. Читать дальше...

Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber says he plans to run for a new four-year mandate in 2019. He said he did nothing wrong in meeting twice in 2016 with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whose organization is under investigation by Lauber’s office for corruption.  The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is under pressure since so-called “Football Leaks” revelations of secret meetings between Lauber and FIFA president Infantino, one year after a vast corruption scandal within the world football... Читать дальше...

It’s still rare for top diplomatic postings to go to women, but things are changing. Livia Leu, who since September has represented Switzerland in France and Monaco, agrees. Swiss public television, RTS, accompanied her during her first day at work in Paris.  Men cover the portrait wall of Leu’s predecessors. She is the first woman to get the job in the city where she did her apprenticeship in the diplomatic services almost 30 years ago.  Leu is well-known in the Swiss diplomatic corps. She is one of the few women at the top level. Читать дальше...

The government has decided it won’t attend an international conference next month to sign a United Nations-backed agreement on migration. It said it wanted to wait for parliamentary debates on the issue during the forthcoming winter session before giving the migration pact its final blessing, according to a statement published on Wednesday. However, the government maintains that the agreement is consistent with Switzerland’s interests, “as it aims to reduce irregular migration by setting benchmarks... Читать дальше...

A court in Tajikistan has sentenced to life imprisonment a man found guilty of killing four western tourists, including a Swiss citizen in July. A representative of the Tajik supreme court told the French news agency, AFP, that the judge handed down the verdict on Wednesday. The decision was reached following a four-week trial behind closed doors at a high security prison. The Swiss victim, part of a cycling group, was one of four people killed when a car intentionally ploughed into them. A Swiss... Читать дальше...

Only 34% of Swiss people believe their jobs are not at risk from automation and machine learning, according to a survey commissioned by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Almost half of the 2,092 people surveyed by the Link Institute for SBC felt that some of their daily tasks could be done by machines and algorithms, while 15% were convinced that robots could do much of their work. Only 2% felt that they could be completely replaced by technology in the near future.  Entrepreneurs, the... Читать дальше...

Swiss cities often rank highly in global quality-of-life surveys. But when their urban policies come under closer scrutiny, how do they compare? A recent study by the liberal think tank Avenir Suisse has taken a closer look at the urban policies of Switzerland’s ten biggest cities and ranked them based on 47 indicators in eight specific areas, ranging from the quality of local administrative services to mobility and life-work balance.  Avenir Suisse “City Monitoring” urban policy ranking (2018)  1. Читать дальше...

Swiss households have an average net monthly income of CHF7,124 ($7,140), according to the Swiss Statistical Office. This is after CHF2,909 has been spent on unavoidable payments like taxes, social contributions and health insurance.   Fixed expenses with a greater margin of choice also made a significant dent in the household budget, based on data from 2016. Lodging and energy bills added up to an average of 14.7% of total revenue (CHF1,476) while transport came to 7.7% and the grocery bill 6.3%. Читать дальше...

The strange and cumbersome corporate beast that is the industrial conglomerate must adapt — or die. In the US, General Electric’s share price has collapsed since its troubled power equipment division slumped to a loss and concerns grew about its financial health. In Switzerland, speculation swirls over Zurich-based ABB, which is in talks with Japan’s Hitachi about divesting all or part of its power-grids division. In the limelight is Ulrich Spiesshofer, ABB’s Germany-born boss since 2013. A company veteran... Читать дальше...