World Business Report

Switzerland Puts Local Job Seekers Ahead Of Immigrants

12.16.2016 - By BBC World ServicePlay

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The Swiss parliament has passed legislation aimed at limiting immigration, by putting people living in the country first in the queue when they apply for jobs. Immigration has been a divisive issue in the Alpine country and it had been feared Switzerland could have introduced restrictions on citizens of the European Union. which would have created a rift with Brussels. BBC Geneva Correspondent, Imogen Foulkes, explains why the government made the compromise.

Human toilet waste is being used to alleviate the shortage of electricity in Kenya. It is not only boosting power supplies in that part of East Africa, but is also helping with the problem of inadequate sewage systems. The waste is collected and dried before being burned to generate power, as the BBC’s Joshua Thorpe explains.

The BBC's Business News Team has spent another busy week reporting on developments like an increase in US interest rates, Italy's unfolding banking crisis and new research that claims money cannot buy happiness. We reflect on the weeks's events with Mark Gilbert from Bloomberg in London and Mamta Badkar, at the Financial Times in New York.

Major chains of supermarkets continue to threaten to put the traditional British corner shop out of business, but the often family run stores are still open. In the UK many of them are operated by Indian and Pakistani immigrants who keep their store open for long hours everyday. Many are still owned by people whose families came to the UK in the 1960's or 1970's who saw the economic potential of a grocery store. BBC World TV presenter Babita Sharma tells us about her new documentary programme, Booze Beans and Bhajis, which looks at the impact of immigration and economic change on small retail outlets.

(Picture: Poster in Switzerland highlights immigration. Getty Images.)

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