Chinese dissident and artist Ai Weiwei says Credit Suisse told him it was closing his foundation's bank account in Switzerland citing his "criminal record" in China, despite the activist never being convicted of a crime. One of China's most high-pro...

Franco-Swiss cement group Lafarge-Holcim could yet be charged with crimes against humanity over its dealings in Syria, following a ruling by France’s highest appeals court. The company is under investigation in France for efforts to keep its cemen...

Experts say the number of new Covid-19 cases in Switzerland has stagnated at a high level while the situation in hospitals remains tense. Virginie Masserey of the Federal Office for Public Health said there were at total of 287 Covid patients in in...

The Covid-19 pandemic has fuelled racism and hate speech, with racial discrimination in Switzerland affecting more and more young people, says a new report. Forty percent of 15-24 year olds feel they have been discriminated against in the last five ...

The Trade Union Federation has called for a blanket salary rise for all employees as the Swiss economy recovers from the Covid-19 crisis. Switzerland’s main trade union umbrella group said employees should be entitled to a salary increase of at le...

The number of healthcare and support staff in Switzerland has increased by 19% since 2012, but another 70,000 people will be needed by 2029, according to a report by the Swiss Health Observatory (OBSAN). The growing need for staff reflects increasin...

The national financial supervisory body says more than 200 Swiss firms paid dividends despite a ban as they benefited from government-backed credits during the Covid crisis. The Federal Audit Office on Monday said a total of CHF43.1 million ($47 mil...

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and his counterpart from Kazakhstan, Mukhtar Tileuberdi, have signed accords on diplomatic staff. They also discussed bilateral issues, including long-standing cooperation in their common voting constituencies o...

Swiss children and adolescents have significantly stepped up their physical activities between 2014 and early 2020, according to a government study. The Swiss Sport 2020 study also found the gender gap has narrowed and that the urban-rural divide w...

A group that hacked a Swiss town’s database and posted sensitive information on the Darknet has threatened to target other municipalities, companies or hospitals. The Swiss newspaper Le Temps reported on Monday that it had established contact with...

The Swiss authorities have granted a third canton permission to cull a problematic wolf pack responsible for attacks on sheep. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) decided on Monday that three young wolves from the Beverin pack in the sout...

Canton Glarus’s traditional open-air assembly (Landsgemeinde), the oldest form of direct democracy in Switzerland, resumed on Sunday after a long hiatus on account of the coronavirus pandemic. Voters gathered in the ring on Zaunplatz at the canton...

Switzerland is carrying out its largest ever aid operation in the conflict zone of eastern Ukraine, the government announced Sunday. Switzerland is providing 2,300 tonnes of aid including water treatment chemicals, hospital equipment and medical mat...

Swiss climate experts propose the introduction of an individual CO2 budget so Switzerland can reach its goal of “net zero greenhouse gas emissions” by 2050. The radical proposal for Swiss climate policy was presented in the Sunday weekly newspap...

Finance Minister Ueli Maurer has reservations on the use of a mandatory heath certificate for daily life in Switzerland. In an interview with the SonntagsBlick newspaper published on Sunday, he said it would be “difficult” to require the populat...

Schools in German-speaking Switzerland registered a spike in the number of people infected with the coronavirus after the summer vacations. The weekly SonntagsZeitung conducted a survey of the 13 German-speaking cantons and found almost all register...

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 ...