Corpse Sex Show Stirs Up Swiss

Footloose pachyderm tours downtown Zurich

(NEWSER) - An escaped elephant went on a tour of downtown Zurich yesterday evening, spending an hour on the loose before police apprehended her. Sabu, a 26-year-old female from the Swiss national circus, cooled off in Lake Zurich before roaming the streets of the business district and doing a little window-shopping on the Bahnhofstrasse, Bloomberg reports .See video of the escapade in the gallery above or by clicking here . More»

Embassy in Switzerland formally requests director's return

(NEWSER) - The American embassy in Switzerland formally requested the extradition of Roman Polanski last night, paving the way for the convicted director to face an American court for the first time since 1977. A tribunal in Zurich will now hold a hearing, although Polanski may appeal to the country's high court if, as expected, they rule in favor of extradition. Earlier this week a court rejected a bail request, saying Polanski posed a flight risk. More»

Fugitive director vows not to flee if he makes bail

(NEWSER) - A stint in a Zurich prison has left Roman Polanski "depressed" and "dejected," and the longtime fugitive will promise to stay in Switzerland should he be granted bail, his lawyer says. Polanski, who fled the US in 1977 after pleading guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl, "was in an unsettled state of mind" during a visit, the lawyer says. If bail is granted, "he would fulfill all the conditions and stay in Switzerland until the extradition proceeding are decided." More»

Mom of three is sick and tired of sordid case

(NEWSER) - The woman Roman Polanski had sex with when she was 13 never wants to hear about the case again. "I have survived, indeed prevailed, against whatever harm Mr. Polanski may have caused me as a child," Samantha Geimer, 45, said early this year after filing court papers to have the case thrown out. "I got over it a long time ago." More»

(NEWSER) - Some 800 Brits have signed up to commit suicide at a controversial Swiss clinic, reports the Guardian. The terminally ill patients have become members of Dignitas so they can travel to Zurich when the time comes to take a drug overdose. The number of British residents crossing the border for assisted suicide continues to climb, triggering heightened debate in Britain about a nationwide ban on the practice. More»