Worldcrunch
Did you say Cocoa Chanel? Daring designs, fancy hairdressers, lickable tattoos, edible clothes. Switzerland, which is chocolate heaven even on a bad day, is wearing its sweetest delicacies on its sleeve as the Salon du Chocolat comes to Zurich for the fir
A Swiss mountaintop is not the place you’d expect the “world’s best smoked salmon” to come from. But the Balik farm sends its perfectly sliced and salted catch around the world, thanks to a secret recipe handed down fro
The reassigning of US prosecutors away from foreign tax fraud cases is the latest sign that the standoff between Washington and Bern may be moving rapidly toward a final, negotiated settlement. Heads rolling at top Swiss banks may have helped pave the way
Determined to make their new pay-as-you-go garbage system work, municipal authorities in Yverdon are hot on the trail of trash cheaters. But before they can issue fines, the Swiss town must identify the violators – which means rifling through the refuse
Wall Street was buzzing this week after Greg Smith quit his top executive job at Goldman Sachs with a scathing criticism of the investment bank in the New York Times. In Switzerland, where banking secrecy is paramount, his public act is virtually unthinka
Analysis: Because it’s not making news anymore, people think the problem of under-capitalization of big banks in the West has been taken care of. Not so. Indeed, big banks continue to behave like companies who cause environmental damage. We all must cover
“Terra” potato chips, a popular Swiss brand, has gotten people talking about its latest flavor options. How? By having consumers come up with the new recipes themselves. But the real novelty is that the “inventors” of the winning flavors get a nice little
Politicians in Zurich are debating whether rental agreements can forbid tenants to own a car. But in Bern, the Swiss capital, some 80 people have already signed such contracts.
Energy efficiency is all well and good – just as long as it doesn’t get in the way of aesthetics. That’s the message being sent by critics of new regulations that make it easier for people to retrofit Zurich’s existing buildings with solar panels
A 39-year-old Bosnian-born sex worker in Zurich hounded a former client who had tried to break off their relationship. She was convicted of several charges, though the court found her not guilty of “coercion” to have sex.
A pair of recent cases in Switzerland has turned new attention to the issue of “Babyklappe” – drop-off points for abandoned newborns. The country currently has just one such facility, though more could be on the way.
‘Coercion’ is already a crime under Swiss law. But a new bill coming up before parliament would single out coercion in the form of forced marriages. Not surprisingly, debate over the issue is bound to be highly charged — and about much
A growing number of mental health professionals are employing the Buddhist concept of “mindfulness” to treat depression. Patients are encouraged to sit up straight and focus their attention on their bodies, thoughts and feelings.
A group of Swiss Muslim organizations are hoping to set up a national parliament of sorts. The Umma Schweiz, as the representative body would be called, could be up and running by 2013. But not all of Switzerland’s 400,000 Muslims are convinced it’s a goo
Essay: Nestlé board chairman Peter Brabeck used an exchange during the recent World Economic Forum in Davos to take a dig at Europeans who aren’t as devoted to work as he is. Of course, some also don’t pull in seven-figure salaries.
Swiss authorities have spent years investigating a jet-setting Pakistani man whose Zurich-based family somehow qualified for nearly $10,000 a month in social benefits. A Swiss court has finally delivered a verdict in the high-profile fraud case.
Nikolai Winter can be sure his latest sculpture will get some attention: located on a mountaintop at one of the jet set’s favorite ski resorts, his “elegant” female hand is flipping the bird to all the rich and famous who whiz by.
Some 500 people annually spend a night in Zurich’s so-called “Boozers’ Hotel,” a sober-up facility run by local police. City officials agree they need to keep the drunk tank operating, but debate over who should pay for
Zurich’s “2047 Crew” is believed to be using paint-filled fire extinguishers to reach higher and wider with their signature tags in the otherwise immaculate Swiss city. It is another sign of graffiti writers getting bolder – both in terms of tools and tar
More than ever before, the economic leaders gathered for this year’s annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos are turning their attention from finance to science – or at least recognizing how intimately the two are related.
By some accounts, private jet traffic around the Swiss mountain resort of Davos has doubled for this year’s edition of the World Economic Forum. Airport parking spots for lear jets are running out…just like the locals’ patience.
Switzerland is gradually becoming more tolerant of gays. But many homosexuals say they’re still reluctant to come out at work, where clear cases of discrimination continue to occur.
As it does every January, the upscale Belvédère Hotel in Davos will host World Economic Forum guests. Only this year, the VIP’s won’t receive their usual greeting from Ernst Wyrsch, the hotel’s recently-retired director, who has long min
Following a similar project outside of Amsterdam, Swiss developers plan to build an entire village for people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. The $27 million Swiss facility will recreate the environment of the 1950s. Not all think i
Some of the world’s trendiest new “bars” don’t serve beer, whiskey or wine. What they do offer is chocolate, and lots of it. From Paris to Tokyo, chocolate bars are attracting all ages eager to indulge their cocoa cravings and fe
Zurich Airport is among the first to begin to test two devices that can detect dangerous liquids. In the future, all of Europe hopes to gradually relax its strict bans on liquids in carry-on luggage.
A new documentary film takes food giant Nestlé to task for its water bottling practices. Critics say the multinational is busy extracting ground water for its bottled brands and leaving locals, often in poor corners of the world, with the dirty remains.
Lawyers for both Philipp Hildebrand, the recently resigned president of the Swiss National Bank, and for Bank Sarasin, a Swiss private bank, may take separate actions on privacy grounds against the Zurich weekly Weltwoche that broke the story that led to
Questions about controversial foreign exchange transactions cost Philipp Hildebrand his job as president of the Swiss National Bank. Swiss leaders are eager to put the affair behind them. But the damage to the country’s financial credibility may already b
As more older men become fathers, researchers are focusing on potential health effects of their children. Initial studies show a link between older fathers and children with various genetic defects. But some caution that more research is needed before dra
Located near Zurich, the upscale Küsnacht Practice has two goals: to treat their clients’ alcohol and drug problems, and make sure the experience is as comfortable as humanly possible. For those with the money to afford it, the establishment can arrange “
Since its invention, photography has helped researchers understand clouds. Now, Switzerland’s Fotomuseum Winterthur explores the link between the science and symphony of clouds.
The human brain is an incredible machine, but it may have reached the limit of its abilities. Evolution could cause our brains to grow a bit more, though bigger may not necessarily be better.
For the first time, the high-end fish eggs are being bred in Switzerland, where the well-to-do have long enjoyed imported caviar. But it was an odd twist that allowed for the sturgeon to flourish: lukewarm water coming out of a draining gallery in railway
After four people were killed recently while crossing the street in Bern, the Swiss city looked to the Austrian luxury crystal maker’s affiliate that mixes Swarovski glass beads into road surfacing to increase visibility. It’s a top-end
Turned away from state centers in and around Switzerland’s Basel, some migrant asylum seekers have had no choice but to sleep on the streets. A handful of concerned citizens, however, have organized through e-mail and Facebook to offer their homes as emer
Dating sites make fantastic claims about the number of users who find true love. But a closer look shows that online dating has the same pitfalls as conventional dating: men shy away from successful women and too many women care more about paychecks than
Alcohol, apples and seashells… Swiss authorities have tried almost everything to clear snow off roads and sidewalks. This time, a Geneva-based startup claims it can cut down the use of salt by 70% by replacing it with ‘Snowfree’, a produ
With a final decision looming, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has reversed his longstanding opposition to using instant replay to help referees. But other soccer officials oppose the idea, like UEFA President Michel Platini and German legend Franz Beckenbaur
The fight against addiction may have a powerful new weapon. Rehab will rid your body of addictive substances and teach you how to live without drugs, but temptation remains. What if you could forget ever having taken cocaine?