US tourist stabbed in Lausanne

A 50-year-old woman visiting the Vaud capital from the United States was “violently” attacked by a man with a knife while sightseeing in the Old Town, according to Lausanne’s newspaper 24 Heures. The attempted robbery was confirmed by local police.

Violence au centre-ville: une touriste agressée au couteau en plein jour à #Lausanne#Vaud @dominiquebotti https://t.co/DWbmOyQiRL

— 24 heures (@24heuresch) June 18, 2024

The tourist was stabbed in the shoulder as the assailant tried to flee with her bag.

Even though passersby attempted to intercept the attacker, he managed to escape.

He was, however, caught and arrested shortly thereafter. 

The police said such attacks are rare in the normally safe city, and no incidents “targeting tourists in particular” have been reported in Lausanne.

UK’s wealthiest family on trial in Geneva for human trafficking

Four members of the London-based Hinduja family, the richest in the UK, who own an Indian industrial conglomerate worth tens of billions of dollars, are on trial this week for exploiting their household staff at their villa in the Geneva community of Cologny.

Among criminal charges against them are claims that the family illegally brought the staff to Switzerland, confiscated their passports, underpaid them, and banned them from leaving the house.

Despite evidence presented to back the claims, the family denies the charges.

Cowbells will continue to ring in Aarwangen

Last November, after some new arrivals complained about the around-the-clock chiming of cowbells emanating from the pastures of Aarwangen, a community in canton Bern, local residents mobilised in support of the long-standing custom.

They gathered enough signatures on a petition to bring the issue to the ballot box.

On Tuesday they finally convened in the Town Hall to cast their votes.

In the end, 69 of the 70 eligible voters were in favour of maintaining the bell-ringing.

“It is a great thing,” a resident said about the nearly-unanimous pro-cow vote. “We stand united behind this tradition.”

READ ALSO: Village to vote on whether to ban cowbells 

Zurich Airport unveils its new high-tech baggage sorting facility

Seven years after the project began, Switzerland’s largest international airport showed off on Tuesday its new, largely underground facility that will effectively sort some 30,000 pieces of luggage ‘transiting’ through the airport every day.

(Up to 50,000 are handled on peak-travel days).

The facility includes 25 km of conveyor belts, 5,500 motors, and 5,600 sensors. Sorting is controlled in accordance with the new rules in force in the European Union.

The old sorting system will be permanently decommissioned this fall. 
 
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