Geneva - Airlines will suffer losses of 4.7 billion dollars in 2009, the International Air Transport Association said Tuesday, downgrading a previous forecast.
"The state of the airline industry today is grim," Giovanni Bisignani, the head of the IATA, said.
A forecast at the end of last year had predicted a 2.5 billion dollar loss.
The IATA also revised its estimate losses for 2008 from 5 billion dollars to 8.5 billion, citing a particularly bad fourth quarter.
Zurich - Swiss Life, the largest insurance company in Switzerland, announced Tuesday it was forming a strategic partnership with German insurer Talanx.
Talanx was to purchase up to a 9.9 per cent stake in Swiss Life and a 8.4 per cent share in MLP, a German pension specialist, from Swiss Life.
The news came as Swiss Life announced a 345 million Swiss franc (306.9 million dollars) net profit for 2008 and said it had a solid capital base.
Geneva/Berlin - Switzerland and Germany are friendly neighbours and big commercial partners, but a war of words over banking secrecy is shaking the relationship, and few punches are being pulled.
Fights between friends and family can be nastier than enemies.
The row started a week ago, when Peer Steinbrueck, Germany's finance minister, said in an off-the-cuff remark that so-called tax havens were running scared, like Native Americans fleeing mounted troops.
Geneva - Holcim, a Swiss cement supply company, said Monday it had opened international arbitration proceedings against Venezuela, after the South American government failed to pay compensation for the nationalization of its branch there last year.
Along with two other foreign-owned cement companies, Holcim's assets were seized by Caracas in the summer, the company said in statement.
In violation of an agreement between the company and Venezuela, the Swiss firm was never compensated and the government cut off all contact by October.
Nyon, Switzerland - The only Premier League club remaining in the UEFA Cup, Manchester City, were on Friday drawn into a quarter-final clash against Bundesliga side SV Hamburg.
The draw conducted in Nyon saw the other remaining German team in the competition, Werder Bremen, having to take on Serie A's only remaining club, Udinese.
The two remaining French sides were both given Ukrainian opposition, with Paris Saint-Germain facing Dynamo Kiev, while Shakhtar Donetsk face Olympique Marseille.
Nyon, Switzerland - Holders Manchester United and FC Porto were drawn against each other in the Champions League quarter-finals in Friday's draw made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
German champions Bayern Munich face a much sterner task in the form of Spanish Liga leaders Barcelona while last year's finalists Chelsea take on English Premier League rivals Liverpool in a European competition for the fifth season in succession.
Geneva - Airlines will suffer losses of 4.7 billion dollars in 2009, the International Air Transport Association said Tuesday, downgrading a previous forecast.
Zurich - Swiss Life, the largest insurance company in Switzerland, announced Tuesday it was forming a strategic partnership with German insurer Talanx.
Geneva/Berlin - Switzerland and Germany are friendly neighbours and big commercial partners, but a war of words over banking secrecy is shaking the relationship, and few punches are being pulled.
Geneva - Holcim, a Swiss cement supply company, said Monday it had opened international arbitration proceedings against Venezuela, after the South American government failed to pay compensation for the nationalization of its branch there last year.
Nyon, Switzerland - The only Premier League club remaining in the UEFA Cup, Manchester City, were on Friday drawn into a quarter-final clash against Bundesliga side SV Hamburg.
Nyon, Switzerland - Holders Manchester United and FC Porto were drawn against each other in the Champions League quarter-finals in Friday's draw made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
