Of the 597 cases of adverse reactions to Covid-19 vaccines reported in Switzerland, 68.7% concerned women. On Thursday the Swiss medicines regulator Swissmedic released data on side effects of Covid-19 vaccines as of March 8. While women were clear...

Switzerland has called for “concrete measures” by the United Nations Security Council on Myanmar during a debate at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday. It was taking part in an “interactive dialogue” at the UN rights council w...

Rare earth metals like cerium and gadolinium, which are used in industry and hospitals, are increasingly being detected at Swiss wastewater plants, new research shows. For the first time scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science...

The threat of avian flu infecting Swiss poultry has receded to the point that precautionary measures can be lifted along parts of the border with Germany. The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) declared the risk to be minimal on Thursd...

The Covid-19 pandemic cost the state-owned Swiss postal service CHF139 million ($150 million) last year, which was largely responsible for driving down profits by 30%. Swiss Post delivered a record 182.7 million parcels in 2020, up nearly a quarter ...

After a weak start to the year, Switzerland’s economy should recover rapidly from a heavy coronavirus-driven slump to grow by 3% in 2021, the government said on Thursday. Gross domestic product will fall “significantly” in the first quarter of...

Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche says a drug normally used to treat other medical conditions has failed to prove its effectiveness at alleviating the symptoms of Covid-19. Phase III clinical trials on Actemra/RoActemra, in combination with Veklury...

Switzerland has called on North Korea to reopen its borders for urgent humanitarian aid and Covid-19 related medical evacuations, saying this is “crucial”. Swiss number two at the UN mission in Geneva Felix Baumann told the Human Rights Council ...

Ruag International has said it wants to divest its defence-related divisions to focus on the booming space market. The effect on jobs is not yet clear. "We are withdrawing from all defence-related businesses," CEO André Wall said in an interview w...

Switzerland’s highest court has clarified that each spouse should seek to support themselves financially after a divorce, a decision that particularly affects women. In a press release published on Tuesday, the federal court clarified important el...

With the Syrian conflict about to enter its eleventh year, Caritas has called on Switzerland to do more for that country. At an online press conference on Wednesday, the Swiss chapter of the charity Caritas called for Swiss authorities to recognis...

The Swiss government has signed a new deal with Pfizer/BioNTech for another three million vaccine doses, bringing the total number of doses ordered from five companies to nearly 36 million. The additional doses will be delivered to Switzerland in Ap...

Swiss lawmakers have agreed to revise the money laundering law but have rejected new rules for lawyers, notaries and other consultants. On Wednesday, parliamentarians ironed out their remaining differences in the revision of the Anti-Money Launderin...

Despite lockdowns and travel restrictions, 2020 was a record year for rescue missions in the Swiss Alps and Jura mountain ranges. A total of 3,471 people last year got into difficulty and had to be rescued, said the Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) on Tuesda...

The United Nations has condemned the recent Swiss vote to outlaw face-covering headgear – otherwise known as the burka ban – as discriminatory and “regrettable”. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said the politi...

The Lugano-headquartered Adienne pharma company has agreed to produce the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in its northern Italy plant, the Italian-Russian chamber of commerce has said. If the agreement between the Russia’s RDIF sovereign wealth...

Exports of Swiss armaments and munitions increased in value by nearly a quarter last year, bucking the trend of a slowdown in international trade across all industry sectors. Swiss companies exported war material worth CHF901.2 million ($965 million...

Zurich’s Sechseläuten spring parade has been cancelled owing to Covid-19 for the second year in a row, but the burning of the Böögg will this year go ahead – without spectators but with live television coverage. The Böögg is a snowman-like ...

The Swiss foreign ministry has chosen International Women’s Day to launch the “Swiss Women in Peace Processes” (SWiPP) network. The 15 Swiss women who will be part of the first iteration of the network come from various professional background...

A majority of Swiss people questioned in a survey agreed with the measures taken by the government against Covid-19. In French-speaking Switzerland the proportion of those who disapprove of the measures is significantly higher than in the German-spea...

The Swiss events sector contracted by almost two-thirds last year due to the cancellation of over 17,000 projects as a result of the pandemic, a survey has revealed. It also caused almost 4,500 job losses. As in many other countries, the people runn...

A defence ministry report has outlined measures to encourage the integration in the Swiss army of more women, who currently hold 0.9% of military roles. To mark International Women’s Day on Monday, the ministry published a long-awaited report enti...

Switzerland has suspended development aid for Myanmar, the foreign ministry has confirmed. Only emergency aid is being maintained, amid an intensified crackdown by the country’s military on massive protests against last month’s coup. “All paym...

Natallia Hersche, a Swiss-Belarus dual national who was jailed after participating in anti-government protests in Minsk last September, has been on hunger strike in prison for almost two weeks, it was confirmed on Sunday. Hersche has reportedly been...

Voters in canton Geneva have decided to grant additional financial support to low-income earners hit hard by the Covid crisis. Nearly 69% of voters on Sunday came out in favour of a parliamentary proposal, rejecting a challenge by the right-wing Swi...

Voters in canton Zurich have approved the mandatory disclosure of the nationality of suspected offenders. More than 55% of voters came out in favour of the proposal on Sunday according to the authorities. In the run-up to the ballot, supporters mai...

Several thousand people have taken to streets in south-eastern Switzerland to protest against the government’s policy to contain the Covid pandemic. Police said about 4,000 demonstrators walked peacefully through the town of Chur on Saturday carry...

A flag the size of a ten-storey building has been raised in the Swiss city of Geneva to warn of the negative impact of global climate change. The work of art consists of 13,250 of portraits from 190 countries around the world and carries the message...

Alexander Klee, one of the promoters of the renowned Paul Klee museum in the Swiss capital, Bern, has died aged 80. Alexander, a grandson of the painter Paul Klee, was himself a painter, graphic designer and press photographer. He had lived in Switz...

Having four women in Switzerland’s seven-person government played a key role in the decision to phase out nuclear energy ten years ago, according to Doris Leuthard, who was energy minister at the time of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima on March 1...