Former Swiss Life finance director’s sentence cut to 22 months, suspended
Geneva gripped by court case over couple’s involvement in girlfriend’s death
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A judge in Sion this week sentenced the driver of a van that crashed into a military vehicle on the A9 autoroute to 22 months in prison, going beyond the public prosecutor’s request for 18 months in prison and a 5-year suspended sentence. The accident took the lives of two of the driver’s fellow workers, both Portuguese, one age 62 and the other age 21. It also left three people injured, one of them, a 22-year-old Valais worker, who was left in critical condition.
The van crashed into a military vehicle that was stopped in the emergency lane of the A9 autoroute near Vernayaz in October 2010. The driver was over the legal alcohol limit. The judge, in passing the sentence, noted that he had already been condemned in 2002 for drunk driving and in 2004 he had killed a cyclist while driving although no alcohol was involved, according to Le Nouvelliste. The judge also noted that the man had falsely claimed at one point during the trial that one of his victims had been driving the van.
He gave up drinking only two months ago and had shown little remorse towards his victims, the judge added.
Several other court cases around the country are making headlines this week, including:
Zurich, Swiss Life, Dominique Morax, former head of finances for Swiss Life, saw his sentence reduced from 30 to 22 months for swindling the company’s directors in a 2002 deal; he was sentenced in 2010 but appealed.
Geneva, a court is hearing arguments that the owner of an Italian trucking firm should be charged with negligent homicide, in addition to his driver, for the death in March 2011 of a 20-year-old scooter rider. The driver, Serbian, was obliged by his boss to driver longer than the legally permitted number of hours, the victim’s family argues.
Vaud, the court is hearing arguments that the death of local councillor Catherine Ségalat in Vaux-sur-Morges was murder, while her stepson Laurent Ségalat’s lawyers say her fatal fall down a flight of stairs was an accident. Much depends on testimony from witnesses, some of whom say there was “tension” between the pair and others who say not. The politician died in January 2010.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Hewlitt-Packard, which has its Europe-Africa-Middle East head office in Meyrin, Geneva, announced Wednesday from its head office in California that it expects some 27,000 employees, about 8 percent of its global workforce “to exit the company” by the end of 2014. Details about where the job cuts will take place have not yet been provided, although the company says that early retirements will play a key role. Bloomberg reports that the enterprise services unit will see more cuts than other parts of the company, but the staff reductions will affect every part of the company.
The annoucement accompanied quarterly financial news of a 3 percent fall in revenue.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Hewlitt-Packard, Reuters
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Trafigura, the world’s third largest commodities trading company, announced it will be moving its legal headquarters from Geneva to Singapore, lured by lower taxes and proximity to China.
Trafigura Pte, a Singaporean incorporated entity will become the company’s headquarters for its trading division later this year, with its chief financial officer, Pierre Lorinet, moving to the southeast Asian city. He will join a team of 150 traders already there. The Financial Times reports that the company will maintain its team of traders in Geneva.
Geneva competes with London, Zug, Dubai and Singapore as the world’s largest commodities trading center, due to it low corporate taxes and access to trade financing. But whilst Geneva and Zug offer trading houses rates as low as 10 percent as compared to 24 percent in London, in Singapore those rates could be as low as 5 percent.
Geneva is the base for other major commodity traders including Gunvor, Vitol and Mercuria.
Links to other sources: Reuters
Loose wood and petrol in the tunnel caused huge detour and 20km traffic jam at start of holiday
Motorists coming out of the 20km traffic jam were met near Vevey by a very local cloudburst that did little to speed up traffic
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Vaud police are looking for a driver who lost a pallet of wood Wednesday afternoon on the A9 autoroute. The wood slid off the unknown vehicle about 100 metres into the Flonzalley tunnel after Lausanne, heading in the direction of Vevey. The wood scattered and was run over by eight vehicles, hitting the gas tank of one of them. Several other vehicles that either hit or tried to avoid the wood were spun off the road.
Fortunately, say police, there were no victims, but the damage to property is considerable.
The petrol that spilled from the damaged tank spread along several hundred metres in the tunnel. Police quickly closed off the area for 25 minutes and sent some of the traffic on a long detour towards Yverdon and Bern before it headed back in the direction of Valais.
One lane was opened later, but with traffic was predictably heavy at the start of the four-day Ascension holiday weekend, a traffic jam some 20km long bogged down traffic as far back as the Ste Croix junction at Crissier. Traffic moved at a crawl until well after 18:00, when both lanes were opened, just as very local showers hit the area.
The accident required six police teams, fire trucks, special highway department units and a high-pressure cleaning machine.
Police are asking anyone with information about the driver and the vehicle that was carrying the wood to contact them at +41 21 644 4444 or to contact the nearest police station.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Carlos Fuentes, one of Latin America’s most prolific and eloquent authors, died Tuesday 15 May, aged 83, following a heart attack.
Fuentes, born in Panama to Mexican parents, was a frequent critic of governments and a defender of human rights. His novel “The Death of Artemio Cruz” focused on the excesses of the former Mexican ruling party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party.
Together with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa and Julio Cortazar, Fuentes belonged to part of a new Latin American literary movement in the 1960s and 1970s known as the “boom”, which often used a non-linear style and changing perspectives.
“The Old Gringo”, written in 1985, was the first Latin American book to reach the New York Times bestseller list.
As the son of a diplomat, Fuentes spent his childhood in several Latin American countries, before moving to Washington. Fuentes later studied at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva. He began a career in diplomacy, followed by work as a journalist.
Two big auction houses realize Monday sales of more than $40 million, more to come
Tiara on sale at Sotheby's in Geneva 15 May
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss franc is a pale safe haven in these days of troubled economies, compared to the bright, shining market in fine jewels, if Geneva auctions are any indication.
Monday was a big day, with Sotheby’s succeeding in the afternoon in a “white glove” (all lots sold) sale of 60 pieces of jewelry by designer Suzanne Belperron for CHF3.4 milliion ($3.2m), triple the pre-sale estimate.
The top item was a 1935 rock crystal and diamond ring that went for half a million dollars.
Christie’s in the evening held Lily Safra’s Jewels for Hope charity sale, which made CHF35m ($37.9m), almost double the pre-sale estimate.
The biggest ticket item was a ruby and diamond ring, the Hope Ruby, a cushion-shaped Burmese ruby ring of 32.08 cts, by Chaumet. Amer Radwan of Dubai’s Radwan Diamond and Jewelry Trading, paid CHF6.2 million for the gem, setting a world record for the per carat price for a ruby.
Christie’s holds its regular spring jewelry sale Wednesday 16 May and Sotheby’s continues its two-day sale Tuesday, with a lineup of historically significant jewels that include the Beau Sancy diamond, (estimate, CHF1.85-3.6m / $2-4m), the Murat Tiara (CHF1.4-2.3m) and a diamond brooch set with a 7.33 carat Fancy deep yellow diamond that was offered to the Corsini family by Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788), Bonnie Prince Charlie (CHF 280,000-480,000).
Lily Safra's jewels on auction 14 May include this pair of 19.43 and 19.16 carat pear-shaped diamond ear clips (photo: Christies)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Some CHF20 million in jewels will be auctioned for charity by Christies Monday night 14 May, in a sale called “Jewels for Hope” at the Hotel des Bergues in Geneva. The collection is owned by Lily Safra, one of Geneva’s most famous philanthropists along with her late husband, banker Edmond Safra, who died in a fire in 1999, a case of arson for which his bodyguard was imprisoned.
Lily Safra has headed the Safra Foundation since 2000; it provides financial support for projects in a number of fields, including religion, cultural and humanitarian relief.
Edmond Safra was her fourth husband; they were married for 20 years. He was estimated to have a fortune worth $2.5 billion in the early 1990s, amassed during his 40-year career as a financier. He founded the Trade Development Bank in Geneva and Republic National Bank of New York.
The proceeds from the sale will benefit 20 charities supported by the Safra Foundation.
JAR diamond and ruby brooch, estimated value $1.25-1.5 million, to be auctioned Monday night at Christies sale in Geneva
The collection shows a wide range of design work, from a 1911 diamond lavaliere necklace by Cartier, estimated value CHF200-400,000, to 18 pieces designed for Lily Safra by contemporary jeweler Joel Rosenthal (JAR), the largest single-owner collection of his work seen at an auction.
The star of the JAR pieces is a ruby and diamond Camellia flower brooch created in 2003 and estimated at $1.2-1.5 million.
But diamonds are likely to bring in the highest bids, with two rings each expected to fetch at least $3 million: “The 34.05 carat rectangular-cut diamond ring (D/VVS1 potentially flawless, Type IIa) is a perfect stone estimated at $3.6-5 million” according to Christies.
“Formerly in the collection of Luz Mila Patiño, Countess du Boisrouvray, the famous 32.08 carats cushion-shaped Burmese ruby and diamond ring by Chaumet is offered with an estimate of $3-5 million.” A pair of diamond pearl-shaped clip earrings are estimated in the same price range.
Christies is holding its regular spring fine jewelry auction Wednesday 16 May in Geneva.
Ed. note: the Safra jewels are on display at the Hotel des Bergues until 18:00 this evening.
Swiss police dog at a recent training camp (not Krak)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 24-year-old Swiss border guard suffered serious injuries Sunday morning 13 May when a passenger attempted to flee from a car that was pulled over by guards. The young guard sustained two compound (open) fractures to his leg and was operated on successfully Sunday night; he will need several months to recover, according to customs authorities.
The passengers of a blue Renaut Clio with French plates were stopped at the Moillesulaz (Thônex) border area, at route de Genève 148 at 09:20 Sunday as they were leaving Switzerland. A 21-year-old Algerian jumped out of the car and tried to run back towards Switzerland.
Two guards immediately gave chase and as they caught him, one of them fell hard against a curb, breaking his leg badly. While his colleague stopped to give him first aid, the suspect ran off again and another border guard, in charge of a police dog, ordered the man to stop. When the order was ignored he called on the dog to give chase.
Krak, a 4-year-old German Shepherd, caught the man after 50 metres, biting him on the calf. The man suffered light injuries.
The car’s occupants were arrested by guards on suspicion of having committed a number of crimes in the Geneva region. They were turned over to Geneva police.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The death toll was unusually high for motorcyclsts in western Switzerland over the weekend: 1 person died in Geneva and 2 in Valais. A car accident Saturday at 17:40 took the lives of two men in Geneva.
The two men in the car crash were on the road from Peney to Bernex, in Aire-la-Ville, when their car crashed “violently” into a tree, say police. The 52-year-old passenger, a Portuguese man, died at the scene. Emergency workers gave the driver, a 75-year-old Geneva man, a long cardiac massage but were unable to save him.
Police are asking for anyone with information to contact them at +41 22 427 64 50.
Geneva, two fatal crashes in 12 hours
A 22-year-old Geneva man on a scooter died Sunday in Geneva, the canton’s sixth road death this year. The accident occurred on the viaduc de l’Ecu, say police, at 05:40 Sunday morning, when his scooter had a head-on crash with a car driven by a 62-year-old man from Togo. The circumstances of the accident are not yet clear and police are asking anyone with information to phone them at +41 22 427 64 50.
Valais, two motorcyclists killed in separate accidents
A 32-year-old Frenchman lost his life Sunday 13 May when the front of his motorcycle collided with a car that was stopped in a line of traffic, between Martigny and Fully. He was heading towards Fully at 15:40 when the accident occurred, about 200 metres short of the Branson bridge. Anyone with information is asked to phone police at the 117 emergency phone number.
Also in Valais, a 66-year-old man died Friday night on the A9 autoroute. He was pushing his motorcycle, which had broken down, through the Champsec tunnel in Sion, in the driving lane at 21:10, when a 32-year-old driver caught him with the front right edge of the car. The motorcyclist died at the scene of the accident.
Foreigners bring a wealth of business to Geneva, but the tourists are also part of the attraction for much of the city's petty crimes
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The daily police reports from Geneva police tend to confirm what too many citizens suspect, that petty crimes such as theft and drug-dealing are committed mainly by foreigners.
The latest is almost typical: police Wednesday arrested seven people for crimes ranging from shoplifting to breaking and entering to being in Switzerland without legal entry papers or a means of survival, and all were foreigners.
But there was one unusual twist, a 24-year-old American citizen who lives in Carouge was picked up for shoplifting CHF500 worth of electronic goods near Rive. He admitted to the crime and said he was getting the five items as a birthday present for his brother.
He joined, on the daily report, a Mongolian and a Tunisian who were without papers and no visible means of support, an Algerian who was picked up for theft and no papers, a Frenchman without papers who admitted to a drug habit when police traced an April incident (breaking and entering a car) to him thanks to DNA from blood, a Frenchman for breaking and entering and an Albanian without papers who turned out to have been ordered out of the country without the right to return, by canton Valais.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Johann Schneider-Ammann, Swiss minister for the economy, met Monday 7 May with Geneva cantonal authorities and senior executives from Merck Serono, which announced a week ago it will be closing its Geneva European head office and cutting 700 jobs. Schneider-Ammann, who labeled the decision to close down Geneva operations and cut back staff in Aubonne a “hard blow” for the entire region and its economy, said he wanted to be sure that the company did not take the decision because Switzerland’s liberal labour laws make it easier to close operations here rather than in some other countries.
Merck Serono was represented by Karl-Ludwig Kley, chief executive of the German group Merck, Stefan Oschmann, member of the board of Merck and CEO of Merck Serono and François Naef,, chairman of the board of Merck Serono. The three insisted, according to Bern, that the company will continue to produce in Switzerland, but Schneider-Ammann pointed out the importance of Switzerland as a research centre, a key element in remaining competitive.
Pierre-François Unger, president of the Cantonal Council and François Longchamp, cantonal councillor, also took part in the meeting.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Swiss unemployment continued its downward slide in April, down to 3.1 percent from 3.2 percent in March and the 3.4 percent seen in January, the Secretariat for the Economy, Seco, reported Monday 7 May.
Geneva’s unemployment rate, the highest amongst all Swiss cantons, was at 5.2 percent in April, slightly down from 5.3 percent of the working force in March. The highest rates of unemployment continue to be in French-speaking cantons, most notably in western and southern Switzerland.
More people were out of work in the banking sector, where unemployment increased 1.4 percent from March, 7.9 percent since April 2012.
For the same month, Swiss consumer prices saw an increase of 0.1 percent, mainly due to higher prices for petrol, air transport and summer clothes. Over the past 12 months, consumer prices for domestic products remained unchanged, whilst imported goods cost consumers 3.6 percent less.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Pictet et Cie in Geneva, one of the country’s largest wealth and asset management banks, hit back hard Sunday night 6 May after two Swiss newspapers, in their print editions, claimed the bank is being targeted by the US Justice Department. Eleven other Swiss banks are under investigation by the US government for allegedly helping US-based American clients hide their money from the taxman in Swiss bank accounts. The Pictet case is different, dating back to one specific incident related to an external asset manager for whom the bank managed funds; the bank says it reported fully on the affair in 2010 under the terms of the Swiss-US treaty covering requests for judicial assistance.
Bloomberg reports that “The company ‘vigorously’ rebuts any allegation it is being targeted by U.S. tax authorities, including the Internal Revenue Service, Pictet said in an e-mailed statement today. “Pictet confirms that no accusation has been levelled against it by the U.S. authorities, including the IRS,” information confirmed by Reuters.
In other banking news Patrick Odier, president of the Swiss Bankers Association told RTS public television that Switzerland needs the new tax deal negotiated with Germany to make it through that country’s parliament, for Switzerland as a financial centre to development and jobs to be saved.
International Hand Hygiene Day at HUGlywood Boulevard
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – To celebrate World Hand Hand Hygiene Day, the Geneva University Hospital (HUG) is finding inspiration from Hollywood to create its own “hand hygiene boulevard” Monday 7 May.
The HUG says its goal is to alert the public, patients and its own staff to the dangers of infections contracted at hospital and the importance of hand sterilization.
Participants will have the chance to leave their hand prints and be filmed, just like the Hollywood stars, while learning about infection and hand hygiene.
The lunchtime event takes place a week and a half before the opening of the Cannes Film Festival.
Down but not out
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – For those who are asking why WRS radio is not currently on the air, it is simply a temporary problem with the SSR transmitter, which is being repaired as quickly as possible.
The station, which has been threatened with closure or sale by its parent, Swiss Public Broadcasting, sent a petition to SSR 27 April showing strong support from the English-speaking community for keeping the station alive.
Women in Airolo, Timor-Leste, finally get the vote in April 2012 (photo,©2012 UNDP)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Timor-Leste, widely known as East Timor, is slowly but surely making a recovery from the 1975-1999 independence battle that left it badly scarred.
The Geneva-based UN Development Programme this week issued photos taken in the Ainero district, which has remote areas that are difficult to reach, showing women voting for the first time in the second round of the presidential election.
The country became the first newly independent sovereign state in this century in 2002, three years after its long fight ended.
The eastern half of the island of Timor was a Portuguese colony until 1974, but within months Indonesia invaded and declared it part of its own territory. Indonesia, The Netherlands, East Indies and later Indonesia had shared the other half of the island.
East Timor’s independence became an international cause célèbre for the next 25 years, but the toll on the island’s development was very high.
UNDP has been involved in rebuilding the country since 1999, and one of its priorities has been reducing gender disparities.
UK comic Eddie Izzard: major stops in Geneva, Zurich for 2013 "Force Majeure" tour
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Eddie Izzard is a man of many hats and few shoes who loves to run. He is bringing his Force Majeure comedy tour to Switzerland in 2013 to give people here a firsthand look at the funny part of the Izzard phenomenon.
The show will be performed in English 25-26 April 2013 at the Geneva Arena and 27 April at the Hallenstadion in Zurch, both major venues a first for comedy in English.
He’s arguably best known to the British world as a stand-up comic but he’s also a film and theatre actor who is greatly in demand. He’s made a name for himself as a political activist and he has raised £1.86 million for charity by running marathons.
Izzard told GenevaLunch in an interview this week that he created the new show, Force Majeure, because after four years of world tours doing his previous show, Stripped, including a stint in Paris doing the show in French, “it was just time to do a new show.”
It will be the most expensive tour any comedian has done, says Izzard, with 20 countries lined up: three months of touring in 2013 and three in 2014, with the second tour to include Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Stripped was a huge hit, taking Izzard to 34 US cities, on a vast European tour and in 2010 he performed at Madison Square Garden in New York, the latter a feat accomplished by only three other comedians.
He would have liked to have done the tour in one go, but his busy film, TV and theatre schedule doesn’t permit it. He’s starred alongside a wealth of big names in the film industry, including Bob Hoskins and Robin Williams in “Secret Agent”, Sean Connery in “The Avengers”, Uma Thurman in “My Super X Girlfriend”, George Clooney and Brad Pitt in “Oceans Twelve”, Judi Dench and Jude Law in “Rage” and Tom Cruise in “Valkyrie”. His stage appearances make an equally impressive list.
Izzard’s more immediate passion is running, notably barefoot. He caught the public eye in August 2009 when he ran 43 marathons in 51 days for the charity Sport Relief.
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For someone who moves so frenetically, onstage and off, he is remarkably low key in person. He told GenevaLunch he’s not on-stage or jokey all the time, as some performers are, and it’s not really an issue for those around him. He likes to watch movies to relax.
“I think I have a natural comedy instinct. So does my brother, my father, so I guess it’s genetic. I just like laughing.”
The running dates back to 2002, when ancient Greek notions of being fit in mind and spirit and body began to appeal. “I thought, that’s a good place to be. I had this idea I was designed for running. We all have this ability.” He meets people through running, enjoys the fact it is healthy and that he can raise money through it.
Barefoot running is new for him and he loves it. “It seems more hardcore, but it’s actually easier. The more you do the easier it gets. It feels strangely powerful.” We were moving without shoes for at least 2,000 years, he points out.
“The past is in your future. Running with shoes is like writing with gloves.”
By 2020 he intend to be doing another kind of running, for office, possibly as a member of Parliament. He’s been an active member of the Labour party since the 1990s and was most recently out stumping in March for Labour Mayor of London candidate Ken Livingstone.
Meanwhile, Izzard, who is good at getting down to the bare bones of matters, has a show to plan.
Ed. note: tickets go on sale Friday 4 May at TicketCorner. Details, International Comedy Club, run by Guy Stevens of Jackanapes Productions who, with Mike Perrin Productions in the UK is bringing Izzard to Switzerland.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The new doubledecker trains called Duplex Regio CFF that will be put into service on two lines by 9 December 2012 had their first ride on the rails Thursday 26 April. The trains were unveiled for officials and guests on a run from Romont to Geneva.
The trains are part of a fleet of 13 that will provide 33 percent more seats and more trains overall in French-speaking Switzerland. Passenger traffic in the region has increased by 44 percent in the past eight years.
The new trains, which each have 337 seats (277 in second class), will be used on the Geneva-Lausanne-Romont and Geneva-Lausanne-Vevey CFF lines. The trains will be doubled during rush hour, with 674 seats each.
They will be put into operation progressively, with the first one going into service in June. The CFF will hold open houses in September in seven cities to introduce the public to the new trains.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The tickets for Paleo Music Festival came and went in no time Wednesday, after sales opened, and by evening the six days of concerts were sold out.
The Nyon festival, one of Europe’s most popular summer outdoor festivals, will welcome 230,000 music fans from 17 to 22 July. The festival has 210 concerts and more than 200 stalls.
Paleo reserves 1,500 tickets a day that it sells the day of the concerts, starting at 009:00 daily during the festival, online and at Ticketcorner outlets.
It also organizes an online ticket market where people can buy and sell tickets “at a fair price”, to fight black market sales.
Tickets are not sold at the Festival ticket offices.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Police are investigating the death of politician and former local media figure Michel Chevrolet, age 39, at his home Tuesday 24 April. The city of Geneva issued a statement noting that he died “suddenly” and a number of politicians have issued statements noting their shock at the death of one of the city’s most dynamic young politicians. Police have issued no details and early media reports that implied the possibility of foul play have been toned down. (Correction: please note that our own translation of “brutalement” as “brutally” was most likely a misinterpretation; under the circumstances “sudden” is probably a more accurate translation)
Chevrolet, a member of the PDC, was born in Argentina, but grew up mainly in Geneva, where he became involved in politics at an early age. He came to local fame as the editor-in-chief at radio station Leman Bleu and later at One FM, before creating a communications agency, comChevrolet.
The municipal councilor’s campaign for a seat on the administrative council in February 2011 was characterized at the time by TSR public TV as “American” and he was described Tuesday by more than one politician, in several local media, as very warm and outgoing.
The Tribune de Geneve cites friends who say he was busy planning two trips abroad and had invited numerous people to a grand gala in May to celebrate the expansion of his communications agency and the recent purchase of a magazine. “Michel was someone who lived at 200 kph,” the Tribune quotes Green Party national councilor and fellow Argentinian Antonio Hodgers as saying.
For his 2011 campaign Chevrolet created a Lip Dub about Geneva, a city he defended passionately.
WW2 event revival for young athletes from greater Lake Geneva region in France and Switzerland
Revived after 60 years: the Jeux de Geneve
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Geneva is reviving its Jeux de Genève sports event 12-13 May, with 2,000 young athletes from the region competing in 22 disciplines.
The Games date back to the second world war, with Geneva running the Games from 1940-1951 as a forum where athletes could be selected for international competitions.
The new games are part of growing cross-border programmes that are starting to give the greater Lake Geneva region a clearer profile. Athletes from Vaud, Ain, Haute-Savoie and Geneva will be competing.
A number of special competitions in various sports will be part of the overall games and awarding titles, including the Coupe genevoise, the Championnats genevois, and a Championnat romand.
The project is backed by the Association Genevoise des Sports, the canton and the city of Geneva, with a focus on the role sports play in peace.
The sports disciplines and the four sites where the Games take place
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 40-year-old Kosovo man who lives in Geneva was arrested by police 19 April for the murder of a 78-year-old man in Carouge 10 April. The man, who was picked up after he returned from a brief trip abroad, has confessed to the crime. The victim was found in his apartment with his throat cut.
Swiss rental market seeing impact of economic slowdown
Tight market for homes keeping prices up
Trendy city centre areas, such as that around the new Prime Tower in Zurich, are able to demand top prices for housing (photo, Prime Tower)
GENEVA / ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – New apartment leases in urban Switzerland have risen 10 percent a year in the past five years but this could be coming to an end, according to property consultants Wuest & Partner in their most recent quarterly assessment of the Swiss real estate market, but not before a new increase this year. Home prices remain high, with no sign of the very tight market easing, according to “Property market Switzerland 2012/1″.
The report notes that typical transaction prices for standard single-family houses today range from CHF500-700,000 in non-urban areas and CHF1.5 million to CHF2.5 million in Zurich, Geneva and Switzerland’s high-end tourism destinations.
The company has also just published its second annual “Immo-Monitoring”, an in-depth report on the market that shows a dangerous level of overheating in real estate in 102 communes, more than half of them in French-speaking Switzerland, reports news agency ats. Geneva is, to no one’s surprise, one of the hot spots: the price of single-family homes has risen 136 percent in 10 years (2001-2011) while the price of owner-occupied (PPE) apartments has risen 200 percent.
Overheating does not necessarily equate bubble, the consultancy’s Robert Weinert told ats. Investors have few alternatives and the 78,000 newcomers to the Geneva area in 2011 kept demand high.
The report parallels one published by Credit Suisse in February, which expect real estate prices, even high ones, to remain relatively stable: the elements needed to push prices down are not there, with immigration remaining high, confidence in markets high ad interest rates low.
“The effect of interest rates on the housing market is causing price distortions which are increasingly
growing at two distinct rates. Whilst one area experiences a run on condominiums like it
has never seen before, restricting the supply and so causing a worrying increase in property
prices, other areas face problems in placing rental properties, in particular new-build and upscale
properties, and only find relief in the persistently high rate of immigration. The trend is exacerbated
by the fact that the expansion of supply, driven by the increasing focus of institutional
investors on property, is increasingly focused on rented housing. As things currently stand, this
trend is likely to continue throughout the year as fundamental data remain unchanged. The result
will be increasing vacancy rates in the rental sector and continued price rises in residential
property offered for sale. Thanks to the low share of speculative real estate sales though, property
prices are not increasing as a result of a speculative price bubble, but rather as a result of a
overheating of demand. Falling demand and sharp rises in interest rates are much-feared triggers
that could bring about a possible price correction, though not in 2012.”
Angelina Jolie in Pakistan, one of 40 missions she has undertaken for UNHCR in the past 10 years (photo, ©2012 UNHCR)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Actress Angelina Jolie, who has for a decade been an active Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, has been named Special Envoy of High Commissioner António Guterres.
Jolie has done more than 40 field visits around the world, says the Geneva-based organization, “becoming an expert on the phenomenon of forced displacement and a tireless advocate on their behalf.”
The new post begins immediately. She will focus on complex emergencies: “large-scale crises resulting in the mass displacement of people, to undertake advocacy and represent UNHCR” and its commissioner at the diplomatic level, “engaging with relevant interlocutors on global displacement issues”, the UNHCR said in a statement Tuesday.
Tickets go on sale Wednesday 25 April – expect a mad rush
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The programme for the Paleo Music Festival in Nyon was published Tuesday 17 April.
Headlining the programme: Sting, The Cure, Lenny Kravitz, David Guetta, Manu Chao, Justice, Garbage, Franz Ferdinand, Stephan Eicher, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Roger Hodgson, Bloc Party, The Kills, Bon Iver, M83, H.-F. Thiéfaine, Camille, The Kooks, Groundation, Kurt Vile, Warpaint, Other Lives, Miles Kanes, OrelSan, 1995, Chinese Man.
Some 230,000 music-lovers are expected to show up for the six-day frenzy of great music that ranges from rock to folk and French and world music.
Tickets go on sale 25 April at www.paleo.ch and at a number of sales points.
The full programme, ticket information and details about the 210 concerts on six stages and the 200 stands is at paleo.ch.
Programme, status 17 April 2012 (subject to change)
Hot air balloon fans had better luck in 2011, with sunny skies in Geneva
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The cold damp bise that blows along Lake Geneva down to the city of Geneva, from the north, is keeping the Hot Air Balloon festival out of the skies Saturday 14 April.
The Montgolfiades internationales de Genève had to cancel Saturdays balloon flights from a number of parks in the city and it appears unlikely, given the weather forecast, that they will be able to go up Sunday, organizers told news agency ats.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A 78-year-old Spanish man, identified by press reports as Julio, has become Geneva’s second murder of 2012.
According to Geneva police, the man was found Tuesday 10 April at 10:10, but his murder took place a few days earlier. His throat had been “significantly slit” by an unknown person who entered his apartment in Carouge.
Although the police report does not provide any further details, local press reports say the man had been living alone for the past two or three years, since his wife went to live in an assisted care facility.
The man was a friendly person, who didn’t always lock his door, neighbours told 20 Minutes and the Tribune de Genève.
Police say there are not yet any suspects in the case.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – An 8.6 earthquake registered off the coast of Indonesia is raising fears throughout Indian Ocean nations of a major tsunami like the one in 2004 that killed tens of thousands of people. The Hindu in India reports that “the tremors were felt far and wide in southern and eastern parts of India, Sri Lanka, Australia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.” Stuff in New Zealand says the quake was originally listed as 8.9, then downgraded.
The earthquake was registered at 431 km from the Indonesian city of Banda Aceh and tsunami watch alerts were issued.
View Larger MapThe Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has been issuing bulletins every half hour.
The Hong Kong Observatory, part of the Geneva-based World Meteorological Organization system, provided an early alert showing the location of the earthquake (above).
The search for work continues - Photopress/Martin Ruetschi
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland’s unemployment rate fell from 3.4 to 3.2 percent in March, despite government predictions that it will slowly climb during the rest of this year. The jobless rate in canton Valais, which traditionally has one of the highest unemployment rates after Geneva, fell by 0.9 percent, compared to the national drop of 0.2 percent, the biggest improvement of any canton.
Geneva remains the canton with the highest unemployment rate, at 5.3 percent for March, but the difference compared to other regions is diminishing: Vaud in March was 5.2 and Neuchatel and Ticino were both at 4.8 percent.
Geneva’s jobless rate has been falling steadily, from 7 percent in 2010 to 6 percent last year and 5.5 percent for 2012 to date. Valais in March had an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent.
Finance jobs took a dip, although the hiring situation for the big banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, has improved slightly.
March saw 25 percent fewer finance jobs being offered than a year earlier, with 35 percent fewer in the banking industry, while the insurance industry was less affected. Half of the open jobs were in Zurich, with only 17 percent in French-speaking Switzerland.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A Montreal man who was among 1,700 whose names were provided to the Canadian revenue service after bank data was stolen by a Geneva HSBC computer employee is now suing his country’s tax department. The suit brought against the Canada Revenue Agency in March comes as a Zurich court has gone after German tax authorities for accepting stolen data.
The CBC broadcasting company reports that the “application seeks an injunction to prevent the government from continuing to use “stolen data” to find out more about Canadians with Swiss bank accounts.
It also suggests that because the Canada Revenue Agency may be conducting a clandestine criminal investigation, Canadians with offshore bank accounts should not have to give the CRA information that might lead to criminal charges.”
The case dates back to data stolen by Frenchman Herve Falciani, who called himself a whistleblower and who tried to sell the information, which was at least three years old, to a number of governments. A French high court ruled early in 2012 that the data could not be used.
