Switzerland is sending 30 tonnes of humanitarian supplies to Nepal, which is struggling to cope with a Covid-19 health crisis. “The consignment comprises 40 respirators provided free of charge by the Armed Forces Pharmacy, 10 oxygen concentrators ...

Switzerland has welcomed the conclusion of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. In a statement released on Friday late afternoon, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) called on the ...

Nigeria will release a Swiss-flagged ship that has been detained for more than three years. An agreement to this effect was signed by the Nigerian justice minister and the Swiss ambassador to Nigeria, according to the Swiss foreign ministry. A corre...

Swiss Nobel Laureate Didier Queloz is moving to the top-ranked Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich to help establish a new centre looking at the origins of life. The 2019 winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics will be designated director of ...

Challenging scientific advice could have averted some mistakes that were made during the coronavirus pandemic, says Swiss health minister Alain Berset. In an interview with Swiss public broadcaster SRF, Berset admitted that he was too quick to imple...

Four ex-football officials from Germany and Switzerland have been collectively awarded nearly CHF1 million ($1.1 million) following a collapsed fraud trial in the Alpine nation. They were accused of making corrupt payments to secure the 2006 World C...

Around 20% of pupils in Canton Zurich have had the coronavirus, preliminary results of an antibody study have found. This is the third time that the University of Zurich (UZH) has tested 2,500 schoolchildren across the canton as part of its Ciao Cor...

Swiss politicians are calling for the partial sale of defence contractor RUAG to be put on hold to investigate allegations of a second major hack against the company. The government-owned RUAG International plans to sell off its armaments divisions ...

Rubber from used tyres has been used in road construction in the United States and Bavaria for many years. Swiss scientists are now investigating whether this form of recycling can be introduced in Switzerland. Around 70,000 tonnes of scrap tyres ar...

Over the past 12 months less than 1% of workplaces visited by the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (SUVA) were found to be flouting Covid-19 health measures. SUVA carried out 19,245 workplace inspections across the country between March 2020 a...

Women spent more time than men on unpaid domestic and family work in Switzerland last year (28.7 hours a week compared with 19.1 hours). However, men have pulled up their socks since 2010, when they spent only 16.2 hours a week on such chores. Both ...

Bernese musician Stephan Eicher will receive the Grand Prix Music 2021, presented by the Federal Office of Culture and worth CHF100,000 ($111,000). As a “cosmopolitan chansonnier”, Swiss musician Stephan Eicher “lets his words and melodies tra...

The Swiss special prosecutor who was recused from an investigation of FIFA President Gianni Infantino for biased conduct has blasted the decision while handing in his resignation. The Federal Criminal Court found earlier in May month that Stefan Kel...

The number of stopping sites for Yenish, Sinti and Roma communities in Switzerland is still insufficient, says a foundation for travelling peoples. The 47 areas in the country would need to be supplemented by 80 to 90 new sites in order to meet the ...

An international study puts Switzerland above the average when it comes to alcohol intake, although during the pandemic, drinkers seem to have slowed down. The report published on Wednesday by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Developmen...

The Swiss government has specified more details about the use of a planned Covid-19 certificate, which is likely to be available by the end of June. The document is meant for people who have been vaccinated against or recovered from the virus, or th...

The Swiss government has been forced to introduce a transition period for the trade of medical devices with the EU, with a mutual recognition agreement set to expire on May 26. The current agreement allows Switzerland to be a part of the European Un...

The government has decided to welcome up to 1,600 refugees over two years as part of an international resettlement programme. This figure for 2022/2023 is unchanged from the quota for the current period. However, the government said it will take in ...

A third of Swiss children say they are on the receiving end of physical violence at school, while almost the same amount report violence at home. The numbers come from a survey of 1,700 people aged nine to 17 in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, carrie...

Amnesty International has launched fresh allegations about human rights violations in Swiss asylum centres. The organisation said it had received “disturbing” accounts of abuse by security personnel in five national centres. Asylum seekers notab...

The Swiss foreign ministry is examining the possibility of a permanent Swiss diplomatic representation at the Vatican, it said on Tuesday, confirming media reports. At present, the Swiss ambassador to Slovenia, Denis Knobel, who is co-accredited to ...

In the latest version of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, eight Swiss or Swiss-resident names figure among the 500 richest people in the world. The richest of the Alpine-based billionaires is Geneva-based Ernesto Bertarelli, who according to his o...

Reports to Switzerland’s Money Laundering Reporting Office (MROS) rose 25% last year, with many of them related to Covid credits, the office said in its annual report published on Tuesday. MROS received 5,334 such reports in 2020, concerning more...

The Swiss contribution was made at a donor conference organised by the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday, which is hoping to raise almost $1 billion to help the Rohingya. The Swiss offer of $8.7 million (almost CHF8 million) will mainly go towards...

Swiss people’s trust in their country’s banks is at its highest in 20 years, boosted by Covid credits and a commitment to sustainability, according to a new survey. People from almost all political camps have a positive perception, with 75% de...

The amount of hours worked by employees in Switzerland in the pandemic year 2020 saw a collapse unprecedented since records began three decades ago. Faced with the restrictive health measures, both the total number of jobs (down 0.7%) and the weekly...

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has been forced to cancel its flagship annual meeting that was due to be staged in Singapore this summer. Singapore has recently seen an escalation in the number of coronavirus infections, forcing the island state to t...

Sales of meat substitutes in Switzerland hit CHF117 million ($130 million) last year, with plant-based burgers being particularly popular. The Covid-19 pandemic also played a role. This figure has almost doubled since 2016, the Federal Office for Ag...

An organisation representing the LGBTQ community in Switzerland says complaints of abusive behaviour have not declined, despite the law against hate crimes currently being tightened. The “Hate Crime Report” from Pink Cross, the Lesbian Organisat...

More than 300 victims of human trafficking in Switzerland received support last year from the “Advocacy and Support for Migrant Women and Victims of Trafficking” (FIZ) service. This is a “sad record”, FIZ said in its annual report on Monday....