Defence Minister Viola Amherd is standing by the government’s decision to buy F-35A jets despite pushback from a left-wing coalition. "I am convinced of the decision because we made a very serious, good evaluation," the defence minister told Swiss...

Switzerland plans to repatriate around 80 people currently suffering from Covid-19, a health official confirmed on Saturday. The Armed Forces Medical Service informed the cantons about the plan on Friday. About half of those affected fell ill while ...

Learning strategies and teaching models trigger fierce debates among educators. Researchers at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich have concluded that tackling a problem independently before receiving instruction delivers the best outcomes. T...

Music lovers are paying tribute to Swiss conductor and choirmaster Michel Corboz who has died at 87. The charismatic musician, specialized in the vocal arts and sacred music, died on Thursday of heart failure following an operation, his wife said on...

A dispute over reforms to the Swiss old-age pension scheme continues. Trade unions have rejected recent proposals and call for a national demonstration in Bern on September 18. Reforms of the state old-age pension scheme that are on the table are an...

The Federal Court, Switzerland’s highest court, on Friday ruled that a 15-person limit on political gatherings in Bern during the pandemic was unconstitutional, but it admitted a limit of 300, introduced by canton Uri. The Federal Court was ruling...

Yields from organic farming are more than 20% lower than with conventional methods, but organic farming is twice as environmentally friendly, a Swiss study has found. A field that is farmed organically has 230% more plant species diversity than a c...

Rail passengers were put in “the greatest” danger after a Swiss Federal Railways (CFF/SBB) technician tampered with hundreds of brake controls last year, it has been revealed. A ruling by the Federal Administrative Court, published on Friday by ...

Almost half of Swiss workers would like to continue spending part of their working week at home, slightly below the global average, a new survey shows. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a shift to remote working. Firms are now grappling with their back-t...

Former US Vice President Mike Pence has spoken in favour of a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the United States and Switzerland. The idea of reviving FTA talks has been rumbling on for several years. “If the Trump administration had been able t...

An official celebration has been held in the Swiss parliament building to mark 50 years since women gained the right to vote in Switzerland. Tribute has been paid to the pioneers of the women’s movement. Some 150 people from politics, business, sc...

Zurich choreographer and performer Martin Zimmermann has been awarded the country’s top prize for the performing arts. Zimmermann will receive the Swiss Grand Award for the Performing Arts/Hans Reinhart Ring 2021, worth CHF100,000 ($109,000), the ...

Switzerland’s economy grew by 1.8% in the second quarter thanks to stronger household consumption as the easing of Covid-19 restrictions helped reverse earlier declines. “In the second quarter, total GDP [gross domestic product] was only 0.5% lo...

International rail traffic, including connections between Germany and Switzerland, have been disrupted by striking German train drivers. Various Deutsche Bahn trains, including Swiss connections, have been cancelled from Thursday September 2 at 2am ...

The federal technology institute ETH Zurich has performed strongly again in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2022. Seven Swiss universities feature in the top 200. ETH Zurich dropped one place in the ranking to 15th, but it...

The government is beefing up its defences against cyberattacks, focusing on a command centre comprising 575 members of the armed forces who will be trained over the coming years. “Not a day goes by without a cyberattack,” Defence Minister Viola ...

Trainers for the Swiss Gymnastics Federation’s (STV) women’s team have resigned en masse following an ethics investigation that upheld athletes’ complaints of psychological abuse and a series of poor performances. The ethics committee’s repo...

The president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, has called on Kosovars in Switzerland to get vaccinated. Everyone must assume their responsibility in the pandemic, she said. Speaking at the Swiss Economic Forum (SEF), which opened in Interlaken on Wed...

The government has announced a CHF60 million ($65.6 million) programme to help Swiss tourism recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Economics Minister Guy Parmelin said the funds could help attract foreign guests back to Switzerland and boost business ...

Switzerland has come under pressure from Syria and Turkey after Syrian Kurds opened a “representation office” in Geneva. Damascus has sent a letter of protest to Bern, and in Ankara the Swiss embassy’s chief of mission has been summoned to the ...

The resident population of Switzerland grew by 64,300 people to 8,670,300 last year, an increase of 0.7%, despite the sharp increase in deaths caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The population grew in all 26 cantons apart from Neuchâtel, Appenzell Ou...

An official information brochure has listed the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Swiss culture sector last year. Preliminary findings show that the number of people working in the sector has dropped by 4.7%, according to the Federal O...

The city and canton of Geneva could claw back CHF125 million ($136 million) in alleged unpaid taxes from Prakash Hinduja who is accused of falsely claiming residency in Monaco. On Wednesday newspaper 24 heures revealed that the Federal Court had f...

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has repeated warnings that the house price bubble could burst with severe consequences for homeowners, banks and the economy. “We consider the vulnerabilities on the mortgage and real estate markets to be at a high le...

Health officials have warned of overcapacities in Swiss hospitals amid an increasing number of patients with Covid-19. The number of new infections and hospitalisations due to Covid has stabilised according to Virginie Masserey of the Federal Office...

Swiss researchers have dated the remains of a Neolithic pile dwelling in the Balkans, finding the settlement to be thousands of years older than originally thought. The stilted settlement on the banks of Lake Ohrid, situated between North Macedonia ...

The Swiss army plans to emit 40% less CO2, lean more heavily on renewable energy sources and do more to protect nature by 2050. Defence Minister Viola Amherd outlined on Tuesday how the army aims to reach “CO2 balance” with a renewed sustainabil...

The United States has raised its travel advisory levels for Switzerland because of rising Covid-19 infections rates. Switzerland was lifted to the highest level, urging American citizens not to travel to the country, according to the US state depart...

The coronavirus pandemic is pushing more and more Swiss people to shop online and use streaming services and social networks such as Netflix and TikTok, according to a study published on Monday. Television and radio retain their popularity. Coronavi...

Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court has sentenced a German woman, who was at the helm of a trading company, to 45 months behind bars in a hefty fraud case. The 71-year-old woman, a former director of the Lucerne-based trading company Fera, was ac...