Voters have decided to commit the Bern cantonal government to a policy of zero greenhouse emissions and climate protection. The amended constitutional clause demands that the cantonal and local authorities take steps to slow down climate change and ...

Citizens in canton Uri have decided against lowering the legal voting age to 16, the latest setback for supporters of youth suffrage in Switzerland. A clear 68.4% of voters in the central Swiss region rejected on Sunday a proposal to change the cant...

Voters in canton Solothurn have thrown out a proposal to give its more than 100 municipalities the right to grant non-Swiss residents a say in local matters. Official results from Sunday's ballot show 73.2% of voters rejecting the left-wing initiati...

Thousands of people in several Swiss cities joined a Global Climate Strike day of protest, just weeks before the COP26 environmental summit. They responded to an international appeal from the “Fridays for Future” movement, whose activities had b...

The Swiss government plans to end free Covid tests for everyone after October 10, extending a previous deadline by ten days. After October 10, it only plans to finance free testing until the end of November for people who have received a first dose ...

An archaeologist in Aegerten, northwest Switzerland, recently discovered a 2,000-year-old amphora, a ceramic vessel that was used to transport olive oil in Roman times. The amphora was found this spring in the bed of the old Zihl river. It was large...

The World Health Organization (WHO) has backed a Covid-19 treatment developed by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche and United States biotech company Regeneron. WHO also made it clear that it wants both companies to make the treatment available to low...

Police in the federal capital Bern again used water cannon and rubber bullets against participants in an unauthorised Covid demonstration on Thursday evening. Some 800 people took part in the protest against government anti-Covid restrictions. This ...

Switzerland will boost its humanitarian aid contribution to Yemen by another CHF1 million, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. This comes on top of the CHF14 million ($15 million) alrea...

Switzerland’s top universities and research institutes have called on the government to intensify efforts to regain access to European Union research collaborations. Switzerland has been relegated to “non-associated third party” status in the ...

The 16 largest family-owned companies based in Switzerland generate a combined turnover of roughly CHF245 billion ($265 billion) and employ over 567,000 people, says a new audit by consulting firm EY and the University of St Gallen. However, none of ...

Swiss central bank chairman, Thomas Jordan, has returned from minor heart surgery to announce that interest rates will remain unchanged, despite increased inflation fears. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said on Thursday it would keep interest rates i...

President Guy Parmelin said high-level talks with the European Union must resume, after the vice-president of the European Commission for Inter-institutional Relations, Maroš Šefčovič, suggested that outstanding Swiss contributions to the Cohesio...

The cantons of Bern and Jura have signed a road map on the politically delicate issue of how the town of Moutier will move from canton Bern to neighbouring canton Jura. The aim is for the switch to take place by 2026 at the latest, the two cantons s...

The Swiss parliament has backed greater commitment to protecting the external borders of Europe’s Schengen zone. On Wednesday it passed a government decision to increase Switzerland’s contribution to the EU’s European Border and Coast Guard Ag...

The Swiss government is facing increasing pressure to maintain free tests against Covid-19. A parliamentary health committee on Wednesday demanded the government review its plans to make people pay for asymptomatic tests. It said free tests were a ...

The Swiss parliament has agreed new advertising and sponsorship regulations for tobacco products. However, the supporters of a total ban on tobacco advertising are unimpressed. The long-running debate was heated until the end, with the political lef...

An alliance of non-governmental groups has called for improved access to education for refugees in Switzerland. The groups said they had collected more than 17,000 signatures for a non-binding petition, demanding a right to education regardless of t...

Guy Parmelin, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year, has called for solidarity to tackle global environmental and trade issues. Addressing the United Nations general assembly in New York, Parmelin said the Covid pandemic had entrenched p...

The rates of new Covid infections and hospital admissions have fallen in Switzerland over the past week. But the overall situation remains tense, and the vaccination rate is still too slow, say health officials. “The situation has continued to cal...

Swiss businesses are rubbing their hands over the planned opening of United States borders to fully vaccinated Europeans, having been shut out for 18 months. Tour operators are already receiving the first bookings. “We’re pleased that holidays i...

Five years after voters roundly rejected the idea, campaigners have again launched a people’s initiative aimed at introducing an unconditional basic income for all in Switzerland. This time they say they have clarified how it will be financed. The...

The Swiss parliament has agreed to reform the national organ donation system, moving from explicit to presumed consent. The issue is due to go to a nationwide vote at a later date. On Monday, the Senate followed an earlier vote by the House of Repre...

On World Alzheimer’s Day Swiss organisations have called for better framework conditions for the prevention, research and treatment of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. They also expressed alarm at the ever-growing number of cases. About ...

German prosecutors have closed the illegal donations case involving the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party co-leader Alice Weidel, it has been reported. Germany had asked Switzerland for legal assistance concerning the affair. According t...

Switzerland could “do more” to prevent violence against young children, a top Swiss official admitted to a United Nations panel of experts reviewing the country's child rights record. Switzerland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the C...

The number of gamblers banned from Swiss casinos rose sharply last year to over 10,000, driven by the growth in online gambling sites, the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag has reported. At the end of last year, a total of 72,322 people were banned fro...

Students at several universities in Switzerland have staged protests against the mandatory use of Covid certificates to attend courses. On Monday, demonstrators in the cities of Zurich, Lucerne, Bern and St Gallen called for free access to educatio...

Some 72% of non-vaccinated people in Switzerland are holding out due to fears about mRNA technology, while 31% are “fundamentally” against the Covid-19 vaccination, according to a survey. The representative survey by research group Sotomo, repor...

Several thousand people gathered in Winterthur (northern Switzerland) on Saturday in opposition to the current measures to tackle the spread of the coronavirus. Several groups backed the demonstration, including the so-called “Freiheitstrychler”...