The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Former Swiss police chief opens café in Bern

Nicoletta della Valle takes over a café in Bern
Nicoletta della Valle takes over a café in Bern Keystone-SDA

As head of the Federal Office of Police, Nicoletta della Valle had to deal with the mafia and terrorist organisations. After retiring, she has opened a coffee bar in Bern, offering free counselling for various life situations.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

Reducing from 100 to zero was not an option for Della Valle, as the Bern-based Tamedia newspapers wrote on Friday. “Suddenly chilling out is not for me,” Della Valle said. And so she is now venturing into the catering industry and studying for her landlord’s licence.

+ Outgoing Swiss federal police chief warns of insufficient resources

“Sempre Berna” is the name of the café she wants to open in Bern’s Mattenhof neighbourhood. But it’s not just about drinking coffee. Together with around 50 volunteers, including retired legal, theological and psychological experts, she wants to provide low-threshold counselling services.

Advice is available on writing job applications or deciphering complex administrative texts, for example, depending on what the volunteers offer. The bar is due to open in mid-October.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.  

Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.

If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch

Popular Stories

News

Pay rises planned for Swiss employees next year

More

Workplace

Swiss businesses plan employee pay raises in 2026

This content was published on Swiss companies' expectations for salary growth are down by 0.3 percentage points compared to a year ago, according to a survey conducted by the Center for Economic Research (KOF).

Read more: Swiss businesses plan employee pay raises in 2026
6,400 apprenticeships to be filled this autumn in Switzerland

More

Workplace

Over 6,000 apprenticeships remain unfilled in Switzerland

This content was published on By mid-August, which is the start of the Swiss school year, some 6,400 apprenticeship vacancies remain, mainly in the construction, catering and machinery industries.

Read more: Over 6,000 apprenticeships remain unfilled in Switzerland
Golden Leopard for Japanese film "Tabi to Hibi" at Locarno

More

Culture

Japanese film Tabi to Hibi wins Golden Leopard at Locarno

This content was published on The Japanese film Tabi to Hibi by director Sho Miyake won the Golden Leopard, the top prize in the international competition, on the final day of the Locarno Festival.

Read more: Japanese film Tabi to Hibi wins Golden Leopard at Locarno
5 megatonnes of emissions from 2050 despite net zero

More

Emissions reduction

Switzerland could produce up to 5Mt of emissions annually by 2050

This content was published on Two to five megatonnes of CO2 equivalents per year: this is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that Switzerland is still expected to produce annually in 2050, a new study shows.

Read more: Switzerland could produce up to 5Mt of emissions annually by 2050
Customs duties threaten 100,000 jobs in Switzerland

More

Global trade

US tariffs putting 100,000 jobs at risk in Switzerland

This content was published on US tariffs of 39% on Swiss imports will directly affect 100,000 jobs, mainly in the watchmaking, machinery, metals, and food industries, economiesuisse warns.

Read more: US tariffs putting 100,000 jobs at risk in Switzerland
Switzerland releases four million for Sudan

More

Foreign Affairs

Switzerland releases CHF4 million for Sudan

This content was published on Switzerland has released CHF4 million (nearly $5 million) to help Sudan, which has been severely affected by famine and cholera.

Read more: Switzerland releases CHF4 million for Sudan

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR