At certain times and in certain regions, water will become so scarce or so warm in Switzerland that humans will have to curb their activities and nature will suffer, according to a government study. On the other hand, more rain will lead to more loca...

The division of labour in ant colonies has little to do with age but is apparently determined by random factors, scientists believe. Female ants either take care of the queen and larvae inside the nest or venture out in search of food. Researchers a...

Swiss households saved an average of CHF880 ($950) in the second lockdown, compared with around CHF3,000 in the first lockdown in spring 2020. “The forced pause in consumption with closed restaurants and shops led the average household to put asid...

Global sales of art and antiques fell by more than a fifth during 2020 to $50.1 billion (CHF46.5 billion). With the cancellation of many art shows, online sales doubled to $12.4 billion, making up a quarter of all sales, according to a report from Sw...

Glencore’s top coal trader is to depart, completing a change of the old guard at the top of world’s most powerful commodity trader. Tor Peterson will leave the Swiss-based company later this year along with two of the candidates who lost out in ...

Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, has approved pharmaceutical company Lonza’s new site for making Moderna’s Covid-19 active substance. It issued the licence following a successful inspection of the production plant in Visp i...

At this year’s session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), Switzerland is focusing on equal pay, women’s economic independence, sexual and reproductive health rights, and the fight against discrimination and violence. The main foc...

Swiss authorities on Monday confirmed a police raid at the home of a Swiss hacker who took credit for helping to break into a US security-camera company’s online networks, part of what the hacker cited as an effort to raise awareness about the dang...

The Covid-19 pandemic has left a bitter taste in the Swiss candy sector. Sales last year dropped by 12% to CHF321 million ($345 million), announced umbrella association Biscosuisse on Monday. The slump in industry sales was more than double the volu...

Covid-19 has had a major impact on the Swiss Federal Railways, which reports a third fewer customers on trains and in stations in 2020 and a loss of CHF617 million ($663 million). “[The Federal Railways] looks back on an extremely challenging ye...

Rapid Covid tests are now free for everyone in Switzerland, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not. The government says this is an important step towards further relaxation of the coronavirus measures. As of Monday the government, which has...

Media reports over the weekend indicate that vaccinating everyone who wants to by the summer in Switzerland relies on meeting ambitious vaccine approval and delivery targets in spring. Swiss authorities are facing mounting criticism over the speed a...

The International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights in Geneva handed out several awards on Sunday to films that not only push cinematic boundaries but bring to light stories of youth struggles and injustice. The Grand Prize of Geneva for a cre...

Switzerland benefits from tax abuse by companies and individuals to the tune of around $12.8 billion (CHF11.9 billion) according to a new global ranking. However, it also loses out on $5.7 billion in revenue. According to an analysis by the Tax Just...

An international team led by the Federal Institute of Technology ETH Zurich analysed data from 7,250 water measuring stations around the world to find that changes in river flow in the last 40 years could only be the result of climate change. River ...

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) have developed a simple method to extract natural melanin from mushrooms also known as "black gold". This unlocks new opportunities to create new materials and ...

Exports of Swiss watches are unlikely to return to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels over the next couple of years according to estimates by the Vontobel private bank. The forecast is not all doom and gloom though. After taking a hit in 2020, Swiss w...

The government has begun consultations on the second phase of reopening, which includes outdoor dining, despite the “precarious” coronavirus situation. A final decision will be made on March 19. At its meeting Friday, the Federal Council (govern...

Humanitarian charity Swiss Solidarity has spent CHF40 million ($43 million) in donations on people in Switzerland left in need due to the coronavirus pandemic. In total, 1.7 million people have been supported, the organisation said on Friday. It has...

Zurich’s oldest private bank has agreed to pay $22 million (CHF20 million) in penalties to defer prosecution charges by the United States tax authorities. “This venerated banking institution knowingly offered banking services that assisted its ...

Switzerland’s largest international airport posted a loss in 2020, hit hard by an historic slump in traffic due to the pandemic. Flughafen Zürich AG, which operates Zurich airport, said in a statement on Friday that consolidated loss for the 2020...

As part of its agreement with American company Altimmune, Lonza will allocate a dedicated manufacturing facility for AdCOVID nasal spray vaccine near Houston, Texas. On Friday, Altimmune announced the specific role the Swiss company will play in t...

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 ...