Switzerland edition

US actress Eva Longoria poses on Friday at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Photo: AFP

Thieves pinch Swiss jewels from Cannes

Jewellery worth more than $1 million made by Swiss luxury watchmaker and jeweller Chopard and due to be loaned to stars walking the red carpet at the Cannes film festival were stolen from a hotel, French police said on Friday. READ () »

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Photo: AFP

Chinese premier set to visit Switzerland

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang embarks this weekend on his first foreign trip since taking office, with a stop in Switzerland on the itinerary and free trade talks between the two countries close to completion. READ () »

The former Salvation Army band, Takasa, shorn of their uniforms. Photo:Eurovision

Sally Ann band bows out of Eurovision contest

The Salvation Army band carrying Switzerland’s hopes into the Eurovision Song Contest was vanquished on Thursday night in Malmö, Sweden. READ () »

Photo: Romano

Over a third of Geneva workers live elsewhere

More than a third of Geneva’s active working population lives outside the canton, with the majority residing in neighbouring France and the rest largely in the canton of Vaud, according to a report issued on Thursday. READ () »

Swiss goalie Martin Gerber prepares to celebrate victory with team-mates. Photo: Andre Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images

Swiss advance to world hockey semifinals

Switzerland headed to the world ice hockey championship semifinals after a 2-1 win over the Czech Republic on Thursday in Stockholm. READ () »

John Bond, just one of several former Xtrata executives sacked from Glencore Xstrata board. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Chairman purged from Glencore Xstrata board

The chairman of newborn mining and commodities giant Glencore Xstrata, John Bond, was on Thursday axed by its annual general meeting in Zug, just weeks after the Swiss-based group was created via a merger of two key players. READ () »

Richemont headquarters in Geneva. Photo: Richemont

Richemont plans higher dividend after profit rise

Geneva-based luxury goods giant Richemont boosted net profit for the 2012-2013 year by 30 percent as expected, with strong performances in its jewellery and watch divisions and by favourable exchange rates, the group said on Thursday. READ () »

EU citizens face Swiss residence quotas

Switzerland will begin restricting residence permits to citizens from 17 European Union countries, including the UK, on June 1st. READ () »

Yemen kidnappers return Red Cross hostages

Kidnappers in Yemen have freed three International Red Cross employees, including a Swiss and a Kenyan, along with two Egyptian hostages, following tribal mediation, a local official said on Thursday. READ () »

Features

My Swiss Career

Ann Söderblom

'Switzerland is extremely entrepreneur-friendly'

After working for a large company, Swedish-born Ann Söderblom, 31, recently took the plunge from employee to entrepreneur. Söderblom, who advises expats on how to start their own business, tells The Local why Switzerland is the perfect place to set up your own company. READ () »

Christoph Blocher, Swiss People's Party cabinet minister ousted in 2009. Would he still be in government if the people had voted? Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Swiss to decide on direct democracy 'loophole'

Swiss direct democracy means voters get to have their say on almost everything – except who represents them in the seven-person government cabinet. Citizens are being asked to change this in a national vote on June 9th. READ () »

Photo: Children First Association

Deficient Swiss day care dogs working parents

Politics, crime and . . . day care? In Switzerland these days, child care is often front-page news. Authorities and parents are wringing their hands over everything from high prices and long waiting lists to overly detailed regulations that govern child-care facilities. READ () »

Photos (left to right): Helge Øverås, Chris J. Moffett, Linnaeus University, Cooling/Living Vienna

Top ten celebrity expats living in Switzerland

Whatever happened to Shania Twain, Tina Turner and Phil Collins? For one reason or another, all have ended up in Switzerland. They're just three of our top ten celebrity expats living in the country. Find out where they are and why. READ () »

Healer Denis Vipret works with a patient. Photo: Boris Heger/AFP/File

Unscientific 'healers' enjoy rude Swiss health

Denis Vipret moves around the circle of 20 people waiting for his healing touch, touching their shoulders and pumping his right hand lightly to transfer its energy to each patient. READ () »

More News

World Cycling Centre in Aigle, canton of Vaud, home to the UCI. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Cycling union's head wins Swiss backing

International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid can count on the support of the Swiss federation in his bid for re-election, the sport's global governing body said on Thursday. READ () »

Kenyan nominated to head UN trade body

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has nominated former Kenyan minister and member of parliament Mukhisa Kituyi to lead the UN's Geneva-based trade and development body when the current chief steps down at the end of August. READ () »

Unions hail Bangladesh garment industry deal

Swiss-based labour federations Industrial Global Union and UNI Global Union on Thursday praised top retailers for joining their drive to make Bangladesh's garment factories safer, after 1,127 people died in a factory collapse last month. READ () »

The diamond now known as the "Winston Legacy." Photo: Christie's

Swatch jeweller buys auction-record diamond

Prestigious jeweller Harry Winston, acquired earlier this year by Swatch Group, bought a new colourless, flawless 101.73-carat diamond for a record $26.7 million at an auction in Geneva on Wednesday, auctioneer Christie's said. READ () »

Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Transformed Red Cross museum set to reopen

Hope and human resilience are the guiding themes of the new permanent exhibit at Geneva's International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum, which reopens its doors to the public this weekend after a nearly two-year makeover. READ () »

Aerial view of Bois-Mermet prison. Photo: Canton of Vaud

Vaud police capture two of five prison escapees

Police have captured two of the five prisoners who made a dramatic escape this week from a jail near Lausanne using weapons and tools passed to them from accomplices on the outside. READ () »

Photo: AFP

Driver of Bern-Zurich train passes out

An accident was avoided after a driver fainted while at the controls of an Intercity train operated by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) on Wednesday, according to media reports. READ () »

The villa housing the orphanage where the two bodies were found. Photo: Pädagogische Lebensgemeinschaft

Zurich victim in Spiez orphanage murders

The woman victim in a double murder at a Spiez orphange in the canton of Bern was formally identified as a 51-year-old resident from the canton of Zurich, police said on Wednesday. READ () »

Photo: Richard Bartz

Night vision guns pushed for culling Swiss boar

A debate is under way among hunters and animal rights groups in Switzerland over the controversial use of night vision guns to shoot wild boar. READ () »

Marie: her body was found in a wood in the canton of Fribourg. Photo: Vaud cantonal police

Vaud police confirm abducted woman is dead

Police discovered the lifeless body of Marie in the Torny-Le-Grand region of the canton of Fribourg, less than two days after the 19-year-old woman was abducted on Monday by a 36-year-old convicted murderer under house arrest, officials confirmed on Wednesday. READ () »

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