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News April 2006

29.05.2006
Heathrow 'should be phased out'
Heathrow airport should be phased out and replaced with a new international hub to the east of London, a planning charity has claimed.The Town and County Planning Association argues 30,000 homes could be built on the "catastrophically" planned west London site instead. 26.05.2006
Barclaycard's bad debts could exceed £1.5bn
Bad debts at Barclaycard, Britain's biggest credit card company, could exceed £1.5bn this year. Impairment charges - the new name for bad debt provisions - surged more than 40% to a record £1.1bn last year at Barclaycard, which has 11.2 million customers. In an otherwise upbeat trading update yesterday its parent, Barclays, warned they had continued to rise at a similar rate over the first quarter.
22.05.2006
Royal Mail said in alliance talks
Royal Mail is in advanced negotiations with U.S. groups FedEx and UPS to set up a strategic European alliance, the Sunday Times reported.
18.05.2006
Sainsbury's to lay out £100m on new sites
J SAINSBURY is to spend up to £100 million over the next two years on buying and developing new sites for its supermarkets in an effort to maintain its rate of growth.
Darren Shapland, the finance director, admitted that Sainsbury’s had been slow to increase its development sites over the past few years, while it had been distracted by its business recovery plans, and so had fewer new stores in the pipeline than its larger rival Tesco. But he said: “We are moving back into the space game.”
15.05.2006
Apple Computer wins apple logo lawsuit
A U.S. judge ruled on Monday in favor of Apple Computer Inc. in the latter's right to use the apple logo on its iTunes Music Store.
Early on Apple Corps Ltd., the  guardian of the Beatles' commercial interests, filed a lawsuit, charging the U.S. company of having broken a 1991 agreement in which each agreed not to infringe on the other's field of business.
Judge Edward Mann ruled that Apple Computer used the apple logo in association with the store, not the music, and thus did not breach the agreement..
11.05.2006
Main page content: UK manufacturing rebounds sharply in March
Manufacturing in the UK rebounded sharply in March, boosted by demand for transport products and electrical equipment, according to official figures released on Thursday.
Sterling rose and government bonds initially fell – pushing yields higher – as the much stronger than expected data reinforced expectations that the Bank of England may need to increase interest rates later this year in order to keep inflation in check.
08.05.2006
Vodafone slashes 'roaming' charges
Vodafone has unveiled plans to slash "roaming" call costs by at least 40 per cent within a year, as the leading mobile phones group caves in to heavy pressure from the European Union to reduce international charges.
Vodafone, which could have been forced by regulators to cut its international prices, today said reducing the charges, set to take place by next April, would benefit more than 30 million of its customers travelling abroad each year.
It said the move would see the average cost of roaming in Europe fall from more than €0.90 a minute to less than €0.55.
05.05.2006
Orange to cut 2,000 UK staff as part of Wanadoo merger
Up to 2,000 Orange employees in the UK will lose their jobs over the next four months after the mobile telecoms business merged with sister company Wanadoo, the internet service provider.
02.05.2006
Crude oil futures top $74 a barrel
Oil prices rose above $74 a barrel Tuesday -- flirting with their record high above $75 reached last month -- amid concern that international pressure on Iran to modify its nuclear program may lead to supply disruptions from the key exporter.

26.05.2009
Russian Investment Group offers to invest in Facebook

The Russian Internet Investment Group “Digital Sky Technologies” has offered to invest about 200 Million US-Dollar in the social networking portal Facebook. Founder Mark Zuckerberg has declined to comment whether the deal will go through or not but is intensely looking out for new investors.

13.05.2009
The White House takes to Facebook & Co.

The US-President Barack Obama is launching a presence on a variety of social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. The Web 2.0 administration is giving the White House an unfiltered communications channel to the public at large.

22.04.2009
Microsoft negotiates partnership with Yahoo

Microsoft, the largest software company worldwide, have resumed talks about a cooperation with the internet company Yahoo. According to recent media reports, they are discussing about a partnership in the field of internet search and advertising. It is still unclear whether the companies will reach a deal.

07.04.2009
Firefox presents its individually designable user interface

Thanks to an additional program called Personas, the Firefox user can now arrange the interface of their browser individually. With Personas, the user can choose hundreds of artist-created designs from sports, fashion or music categories, seeded with new styles from leading brands and gifted designers.

09.03.2009
Skype converts voice messages to text

Skype plans in close cooperation with Spinvox to upgrade the answering machine in the VoIP software. In the future it should be possible to receive the content of a voice message by SMS or e-mail. The transformation of the voice message into written text assumes Spinvox.

20.02.2009
Social Media activities are gaining importance

1’000 marketing specialists from Europe, Asia and the USA have agreed that the integration of social media activities in the framework of the classical marketing mix is visibly to grow. The aim of the companies will be to profit from the enthusiasm of internet users on the new social media activities in form of information transfer, internal and external communities as well as real-time applications.

15.01.2009
Over one million Internet-Users in December 2008

According to the latest figures from the market research institution ComScore, the Internet usage in December 2008 exceeded the one million mark. With approximately 41percent most Internet-Users are found in Asia, directly followed by Europe with 28 percent. The third position face the Americans with 18 percent.

15.01.2009
Games will dominate the entertainment landscape

Online games were prospering as interest in almost every other category of entertainment declines. According to the expectations social gaming, more interactivity and better technology will help gaming dominate the entertainment landscape in future. Over a four-year period the online game industry grew by 40%.

22.12.2008
Microsoft launches iPhone program

Microsoft has launched a freeware graphics viewer for iPhone users, so that they can view large images directly on their mobile phone. The free application allows images stored on the Internet to be quickly browsed per 3D accelerated deep zoom system.

10.12.2008
Facebook users hit by virus

120 million Facebook Users are targeted by a virus
designed to get hold of sensitive information like credit
card details. The virus tricks users by sending a
message to people's inboxes, pretending to be from a
Facebook friend, telling them to be in a video. For
playing the video the users get asked to download the
latest version of Adobe Flash Player. If they do, the
virus attacks the computer.

10.11.2008
Warning over the danger of online painkillers

Experts have carried out a study which shows the
wide availability of strong painkillers over the internet
and warned of the dangers of purchasing drugs online.
The number of unregulated suppliers operating online
is growing continuously and usually they have no
professional qualifications or healthcare expertise. The
Government now warned that buying medicines online
could have serious consequences.

03.07.2008
Stop Piracy in Switzerland

“Piracy has steadily increased”, writes the official press release of the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss administration is counterfeiting this issue since July 1. The problem of product piracy became more important in the last years because of the Internet and because of the technical possibilities. With the new law that is active since July 1 protection of intellectual property rights will be better.

05.06.2008
Rhaetian Railways: Candidate for World Heritage

The Swiss universities of applied sciences are giving away their first bacholor diplomas. In the coming months the first graduates are heading into job markets with their bachelor diplomas from universities of applied sciences. The new curricula have been set three years ago. The gradautes will be integrated in work process.

20.05.2008
The First Bachelor Diplomas

The Swiss universities of applied sciences are giving away their first bacholor diplomas. In the coming months the first graduates are heading into job markets with their bachelor diplomas from universities of applied sciences. The new curricula have been set three years ago. The gradautes will be integrated in work process.

28.04.2008
Swiss Bear Shot

The bear JJ3 in the Swiss Alps was shot because it was a risk for the people who lived in the area. The bear was shot after the risk plan for bears, which was invented in 2006 as a reaction to the bear that came to Switzerland in 2005. Wild life is a big risk for agriculture: hungry bears steal lambs.

23.04.2008
The Club of Rome Relocates to Winterthur

The Club of Rome has decided to move from Hamburg (Germany) to Winterthur (Switzerland). The move to Winterthur has been discussed for a long time. In a first time, the Club of Rome wanted to move to Zurich itself but a Referendum made impossible the move. Now Robert Heuberger makes possible the move with private goods: He guarantees to spend 360,000 CHF a year in a period of five years. The Club of Rome will open up the main office in Switzerland.

11.04.2008
Del Ponte Cannot Promote Her Book

Carla Del Ponte, former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal is not allowed to do her book presentation. As an official Swiss representative, Del Ponte is not allowed to give a speech about her new book “The Hunt: Me and War Criminals.”

02.04.2008
University of Zurich: 175th Birthday

This year, the university of Zurich is celebrating its 175 year's birthday. With many activities throughout the whole year, science meets the public. The slogan that leads through the year is the following: Share knowledge (“Wissen teilen”). Professors of many disciplines show their knowledge and their way of doing research in blogs. A big service for the public just for the grace that the public offers the possibility to maintain the university.

01.02.2008
Radio and Television licences

The Federal Office of Communications has received 75 applications for the 41 licences that are available for VHF radio. The projects that were handed in have to be checked and therefore a hearing will be organised. The projects will be chosen in the mid’s of the year 2008. This application is attractive for 34 applicants: Those receive money from the radio concession..

07.01.2008
Communication Prize for the VBS

The VBS (Department of Defence and Sports of Switzerland)
has won a prize for their communication skills.
The centre for electronical media has won the “Master of Communication 2007”. This prize is another one for the VBS
since it has already a good kudos for its films: In many international competitions, the VBS has carried off prizes.

04.12.2007
Political Relevance of Blogs

A broad survey of blog mentions in Swiss medias has led to the discovery that the relevance of blogs for a broader public is not given. The Master thesis in political sciences has analyzed the most important newspaper-entries about blogs. From this data, the longer attended assumption had to be affirmated: blogs are just active like volcanos in the little contexts and not the broader of society. The impact of blogs on politics is insignificant.

23.11.2007
33rd America's Cup Postponed

On 22 November, the America's Cup organisation has stated an official press release that reports that the 33rd competition of the America's Cup must be postponed. Due to legal uncertainties between the title defending team Alinghi from Switzerland and BMW Oracle, Germany's team, the race will not take place in 2009.

19.11.2007
Exhibition on The Swiss Myth of Tell

William Tell, the mythical figure of Switzerland par excellence has stood as source of inspiration for centuries. A new exhibition of the Swiss National Library in Berne shows the influence of the myth of Tell on advertising art. The library shows many pictures and posters of its own collections.

14.11.2007
More News For Switzerland

Switzerland has recently gotten a new news radio. With DRS 4, Swiss people are able to receive news just in time. The new radio program is also introducing the new DAB frequence to Swiss households. This program can only be received with DAB, cable or the Internet, there is no more available via the traditional short wave way.

06.11.2007
2 Million Copies of Leopard Sold

Apple has sold nearly 2 million copies of its recently launched operating system Leopard. For a market comparison: Microsoft, market leader in operating systems for computers, has sold 20 million units of its new system Windows Vista in the first month after the release.

25.10.2007
Swiss National Library Archives Web Pages of Elections 2007

For the first time in Internet and state history of Switzerland, the National Library of Switzerland archives the web pages from parties, who are in electoral competitions. It is the purpose of the library to archive everything written, that is produced in Switzerland. Scientists can access a broad choice of Swiss publications over a waste period of time.

14.09.2007
University of St. Gallen Starts Research for Disabled Persons

One of the most difficult questions about disabilities in society is now in research at the University of St. Gallen: How should disabled persons be integrated in society? The scientific approach is focused on the economic point of view. This research can be realised due to cooperation with the myhandicap foundation.

07.09.2007
Swiss Youth is Interested in Global Development

The last contest of Micheline Calmy-Rey shows it: Swiss youth is interested in their future. The contest was launched in February 2007 and over 100 projects with huge potential were sent in. Now the President of Confederation has to choose between these projects: Which ones are the most social? Which is the most outstanding project? Prizes worth a total of 25000 CHF will be given to the best ones.

31.08.2007
Cities – An Indicator for Social Development?

Cities are built in every place, where many people meet. Centralisation is one of the most striking developments of industrialisation but even existed in the Middle Ages or in early civilisations. Cities could be seen as a factor, indicator or effect of specialisation of jobs: people can learn the thing they really like to do and make their living of it. And cities also need respect for people: Where so many people live not everybody can live the way he wants, he has also the will of others.

17.08.2007
Andreas Spillmann New Director of the Swiss National Museums

Andreas Spillmann is the new director of the Swiss National Museums. After his studies he began a career as actor for theatre but soon took up studies in economy. He already had important positions in cultural environments and will be an important person for the new positioning of Swiss museums.

10.08.2007
Harry Potter 7 in the Internet

Harry Potter’s internet story opens a new chapter: Not only was the book scanned and published before the book came into stores, now a French student has published his own French translation in the internet. Perhaps this shows a new trend, which should be followed by the editors: Pre-publication of the books in the Internet to make happy their readers.