Switzerland’s president Guy Parmelin is to visit the United States to cement cooperation on vocational education and training (VET). The move is part of a wider effort to intensify bilateral relations in the areas of business, education, research a...

Several leading Swiss epidemiologists have expressed reservations about tightening the scope of the Covid certificate, as has happened in neighbouring Austria. The Swiss Covid certificate, compulsory since September 13 for admission to restaurants, ...

Some 3,000 people opposed to the Swiss government’s anti-coronavirus measures gathered near Bern on Friday in a peaceful protest that had been authorised by the city authorities. Police were present but did not intervene. Speakers included Robert ...

Geneva’s cantonal parliament has approved a law to reduce outside lighting at night in an environmental move. But there are exceptions, and not everyone is happy. The law, approved on Thursday, limits the use of illuminated outdoor signs and night...

Swiss President Guy Parmelin has drawn a mixed assessment of the national “vaccination” week now drawing to a close. In an interview on Friday with public broadcaster RTS, he said he was “sad” that some of the free concerts organised as part...

Switzerland’s justice minister, Karin Keller-Sutter, has called for humanitarian aid for migrants stuck at the European Union’s eastern border but says Europe must not give in to blackmail by Belarus. In an interview with the Friday edition of t...

The organisers of the annual Baselworld watch fair, which was cancelled the past two years due to the pandemic, have again postponed the 2022 spring edition. The relaunch of Baselworld, the world’s largest and oldest watch and jewellery trade fair...

Swiss Environment Minister Simonetta Sommaruga has praised a surprise US-China declaration on climate change made this week at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. "If the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases want to work together, that's a good...

As of Friday morning, trains are running again with a reduced service on the Geneva to Lausanne rail line. The line had been suspended since Tuesday afternoon after land collapsed near the tracks. The first passenger trains were able to circulate on...

Switzerland has cancelled plans to erect a marketing and meeting venue in Beijing at the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in light of expected Covid-19 restrictions. The Swiss foreign ministry had already been forced to mothball plans to host a H...

The Swiss authorities do not expect a sustained wave of Afghan refugees despite large numbers crossing the border in recent months, mostly illegally. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) calculates that more than 1,500 Afghan refugees have ente...

The Swiss federal authorities can proceed with awarding a cloud computing contract to five US and Chinese companies, including Amazon, Microsoft and Alibaba, after Google dropped an appeal against the decision to leave it out of the project. “The ...

Economics Minister Guy Parmelin has presented a government strategy to make the Swiss tourism sector more sustainable. He said the policy approach would remain unchanged but take into account the impact of the Covid-19 crisis to keep a competitive e...

The government has appointed Christian Dussey as new chief of the Swiss intelligence service. The 55-year-old diplomat will take up his post next April and replace Jean-Philipp Gaudin who stepped down last August. Dussey has been Swiss ambassador t...

The number of victims of anti-personnel landmines around the world increased by more than 20% last year, according to a non-governmental organsiation based in Geneva. The latest Landmine Monitor, published by the research arm of the International Ca...

The diamond jewels once worn by the guillotined queen were sold within five minutes in Geneva, at a price well above expected. During the French Revolution, which would lead to her and her husband King Louis XVI being executed in 1793, Marie-Antoine...

The Swiss heath system is still one of the best among OECD countries. But the country is lagging behind with its Covid vaccinations, an international report says. Health status is high in Switzerland, with life expectancy among the highest among the...

Swiss federal prosecutors are set to drop a criminal investigation into Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal. There is not a strong enough case to file charges, they said on Tuesday. The Office of the Attorney General said that it had informed the ...

Switzerland has dropped one spot, to 15th, in an annual league table that ranks countries according to their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Climate experts have blamed the failure of the CO2 law at the ballot box. The Climate Change Per...

Some 42% of women in Switzerland have experienced domestic violence – and 24% of men, according to a survey released on Tuesday. The representative study, conducted by the Sotomo research centre in autumn 2021 for an umbrella organisation of women...

Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis has played down chances of his neutral country embracing Western sanctions against China over its human rights record. He also says Switzerland won’t rush into “rash decisions” with the European Union. “It’s...

Switzerland will continue its financial support for a United Nations scheme to promote the agency’s development work across the world, with an extra CHF9.4 million ($10.3 million). In 2016, the UN decided to reform its development program through ...

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis met with the State Secretary of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Monday to mark 100 years of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Holy See. Diplomatic relations date back t...

No more domestic flights in Switzerland by 2030, compulsory sustainability education in the school curriculum, a financial centre with sustainable investments – these are the demands of the Youth Session of the Swiss parliament. The Youth Session,...

New mobile vaccination units, information campaigns and special events are set to go live as Switzerland, which has one of the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rates in Europe, heads into a week-long offensive to increase uptake. With around 73% of peopl...

Between 3,500 and 5,000 people who oppose the Covid law coming before voters in three weeks’ time converged on the small city of Fribourg on Saturday, mainly to voice their rejection of the Covid certificate. Organisers claimed the rally attracted...

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has told Swiss delegates at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow that her country will no longer accept the export of its raw materials, notably cobalt, by commodities giant Glenc...

In response to claims by the Chinese artist that his foundation’s bank account had been shut because of his “criminal record” in China, the Swiss bank told the media on Saturday the decision had in fact been made on administrative grounds. “...

Bettina Müller, a biomechanical engineer at the federal technology institute ETH Zurich, plans to bring to market a new tool that for the first time can measure changes in patients’ skin structure. Dermatologists rely on palpation – grasping a ...

Self-employed male doctors earn on average 25% more than female self-employed doctors, according to the latest statistics from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Doctors who undertook surgery are also bigger earners, the pre-pandemic statistics s...