The Local France

Franco-Swiss cold war breaks out over ski border car park

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 08:01:51 +0100

Switzerland and France are in a snowball fight over a cross-border car park which serves Swiss ski slopes but has been closed by the French due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Switzerland to impose quarantine on travellers from south-eastern France

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:58:14 +0100

Anyone travelling to Switzerland from the south-eastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur will soon be required to self-quarantine.

Bus shuttle service for French skiers in Switzerland risks stoking tensions

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 19:23:42 +0100

One of Switzerland's biggest ski resorts is set to launch a shuttle service to bus in skiers from nearby French ski stations in a move that could stoke tensions between authorities the two countries.

French nationals feared dead after Swiss avalanche

Sat, 17 Mar 2018 14:43:42 +0100

Four people were feared dead Saturday after an avalanche hit the Swiss ski area of Vallon d'Arbi, with one body already recovered and rescue workers searching for three others.

HSBC Private Bank hit by fraud charges in Paris

Fri, 21 Nov 2014 14:39:00 +0100

UPDATED: HSBC Private Bank, the Swiss subsidiary of British banking group HSBC, said on Friday it had been placed under formal investigation as part of a French tax fraud probe.

Swiss to help French probe ex-footballer Vieira

Tue, 24 Jun 2014 18:02:00 +0200

Swiss authorities said on Tuesday that they would give French tax authorities the bank details of former international footballer Patrick Vieira, who is being probed by officials Paris.

Sarkozy's 'disrespect' angers ex-Swiss leader

Tue, 10 Jun 2014 15:46:00 +0200

Former Swiss president Adolf Ogi has accused former French president Nicolas Sarkozy of lack of respect for Switzerland over remarks Sarkozy made in the margins of the Swiss Economic Forum held in Interlaken last Friday, according to media reports.

Johnny Hallyday’s official Swiss status questioned

Fri, 17 Jan 2014 12:30:05 +0100

French rock star Johnny Hallyday is officially domiciled in the Swiss mountain resort of Gstaad for tax purposes but an investigation led by state broadcaster RTS indicates that he and his family only spent 15 days there last year.

Swiss army trains for French invasion

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 11:05:00 +0200

A bankrupt France tears itself apart into several regions, and one of them marches over the border to Switzerland to get back its stolen money. The Swiss army has this imaginary scenario covered, according to military simulations revealed over the weekend.

Disgraced ex-minister's wife charged in tax probe

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 20:11:00 +0200

The estranged wife of France's disgraced former Budget Minister Jérôme Cahuzac has been charged with tax fraud and money laundering in the same scandal that cost her husband his job, a judicial source said on Friday.

List of French with Swiss accounts was 'made up'

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 15:09:00 +0200

A former banker who threatened to blow the lid on a list of French politicians and "big names" with Swiss bank accounts fabricated the entire story, it was revealed on Friday. "This list never existed," his lawyer said.

Driver killed in Swiss train crash 'was French'

Tue, 30 Jul 2013 18:08:00 +0200

The train driver who was killed after a head-on collision between two trains in Switzerland on Monday was a 24-year-old French national, according to media reports on Tuesday.

Murdered boy's image used for kindergarten ad

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 14:05:00 +0200

The parents of murdered four-year-old French boy Grégory Villemin are considering suing the organisers of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland after its promotional publication used an image of the toddler to promote its kindergarten.

French PM wants limits on 'fat cat' pay

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:40:00 +0100

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Monday praised Swiss voters for backing moves to curb executive pay and said France should take inspiration from their lead.

Alps murders: Swiss gunman faces probe

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 18:45:00 +0100

French police investigating the murder of a British-Iraqi family in the Alps have asked to question a Swiss gunman who killed three women in his home village, Swiss police said on Friday.

'Drug money' was Jewish donations: lawyer

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 18:46:00 +0200

The main Swiss suspect in what is believed to be a vast drug money laundering ring claims the large sums handed to Parisian clients came from Jewish community donations, his lawyer said in an interview with the Le Temps daily published Monday.

The French long to live… in France

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:11:05 +0200

A large majority of French people say France is the best country to live, study and work in. Who said the French were dissatisfied with their own lot?

France to ban Swiss pesticide as bee threat

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:00:00 +0200

The French government is to ban a pesticide made by Swiss giant Syngenta used in rapeseed cultivation that has been found to shorten bees' lifespan, Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll said on Friday.

French workers targeted in Swiss hate campaign

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 12:17:00 +0200

Residents of France who work across the border in Geneva have become the targets of a virulent anti-migrant campaign calling for their houses and cars to be burned.