Israel added Switzerland and the United States to its "no-fly" list on Monday over concerns about the spread of the Covid-19 Omicron variant. From Tuesday December 21 at 10pm, Israelis will need special permission to fly to Switzerland, the United S...

In a survey of 1,000 Swiss residents, half of the respondents approved of movement restrictions for people not vaccinated against Covid-19. Older residents are even more wary of the unvaccinated. According to the survey, published on Sunday by the ...

Klyushin, who is accused by the United States of commercial espionage, was handed over to the American police on Saturday and put on a flight to the US from Zurich. The news of his extradition was confirmed by the Swiss Federal Office of Justice on ...

An estimated 300 opponents of the recently announced Covid-19 restrictions took part in a rally in the Swiss capital Bern on Saturday. The demonstration was announced on social media as a response to tighter restrictions on gatherings announced by ...

Over 3,000 swimmers are expected to take a cold plunge for the 82nd edition of the Christmas Cup in Lake Geneva. Some 1,500 intrepid swimmers took to the waters on Saturday, with similar numbers anticipated on Sunday. The water temperature was aroun...

A 70-year-old Swiss man was killed in an avalanche on Friday while returning to Zermatt after a day of skiing. The incident occurred on Friday afternoon in the Furgg Garten region near the Swiss ski resort of Zermatt. The cause of the avalanche – ...

A Swiss man who had previously been found guilty of spying on a German tax authority in 2017 has received a suspended fine in Switzerland for attempted economic espionage, Swiss media have reported. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland...

The Federal Council has given the green light for Switzerland to join the “Square Kilometer Array Observatory” (SKAO) – an international project to build the world’s largest-ever radio telescope. The government agreed on Friday that Switzerl...

A proposal calling for a de-facto ban on mandatory vaccinations has been handed in to the Swiss authorities. Campaigners on Thursday said they collected more than 125,000 signatures within just over 12 months for a people’s initiative aimed at ens...

Parliament has approved next year’s regular national budget which foresees a deficit of CHF2.3 billion ($2.5 billion). The House of Representatives and the Senate on Thursday agreed on extra expenditure of CHF236 million, notably for rail projects...

The Swiss National Bank has decided to stick to its expansionary monetary policy, a day after the US Federal Reserve announced it was tightening monetary policies amid rising inflation. On Thursday, the SNB announced it was keeping the monetary poli...

The Swiss parliament has decided to extend a series of financial compensations for individuals and companies hard hit by the government’s anti-Covid restrictions. As part of the legal amendment, the government will again take over the costs for Co...

A Swiss court has found the Zurich-based Falcon Private Bank guilty of money-laundering offences. The Federal Criminal Court on Wednesday ordered the Abu Dhabi-owned bank to pay a fine of CHF3.5 million ($3.8 million) for failing to set up the neces...

Parliament has approved a major reform of the Swiss pension system, including a controversial rise in the retirement age for women. The overhaul also foresees financial compensation – staggered over nine years for women directly affected by the ch...

Swiss cantons have dealt with the pandemic with varying degrees of success, according to a study by thinktank Avenir Suisse. But clarity on the roles and responsibilities of different authorities is needed for better management of the pandemic going ...

Plans to introduce the birthright citizenship in Switzerland have suffered a setback in parliament. The Senate clearly rejected a left-wing proposal to change from the current regulation on citizenship that is determined by the nationality of one of...

The Swiss health authorities have recommended extending anti-Covid vaccinations to children aged between five and 11. The statement by the Federal Office of Public Health and the government advisory commission for vaccination on Tuesday came four da...

Switzerland’s two main teaching associations have called for urgent, coordinated measures in schools as the country grapples with a major outbreak of the virus among pupils. “Shortly before the Christmas holidays and due to the extremely high da...

Authorities, environmental groups, and energy providers have named 15 major hydropower projects that could help Switzerland achieve energy security and a green transition over the coming decades. The projects were chosen for their energy efficiency ...

A Russian businessman has failed to convince a Swiss court to halt his impending extradition to the United States to face industrial espionage charges. On Monday, the Federal Criminal Court backed a previous court decision to extradite Vladislav Kly...

Geneva prosecutors have dropped a criminal investigation into suspected money laundering connected to former Spanish king Juan Carlos. Investigators said there was not enough evidence to support claims that a $100 million (CHF92 million) payment fro...

Mondelez, owner of the Toblerone chocolate brand, has launched new legal proceedings against a Bern manufacturer, complaining that the rival product exploits its reputation. The American food group says there is a risk of confusion between the “Sw...

Death rates among residents of Swiss nursing and retirement homes were 80% higher than normal in the last months of 2020, when the country was in the grip of a virulent second wave of Covid-19. During the whole course of last year, some 16% more dea...

Four Swiss-based companies will received state funding to develop a range of new drugs to treat coronavirus, which are expected to be available by the end of 2022. The contracts were signed in the context of the Federal Funding Programme for Covid-1...

A heated debate about the origin of the 203 works of art on display at the Kunsthaus Zurich has resulted in the museum of fine arts and the Bührle Foundation, which loaned the paintings, agreeing to disclose their contracts. The question is no long...

People who refuse to get vaccinated against Covid-19 must expect their freedoms to be curtailed for a long time, according to Guy Parmelin, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year. “We don’t want compulsory vaccination in Switzerland. ...

The latest Swiss train timetable, which came into effect on Sunday, provides new long-distance and regional connections for “commuters, climate-conscious leisure passengers and night owls”, according to the Federal Railways. The changes include ...

Mario Gattiker, the retiring head of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), will now take over tasks in Switzerland’s dossier with the European Union. The government has asked him to continue the analysis of differences in regulations between S...

The Swiss-flagged San Padre Pio, which had been detained by Nigeria for nearly four years, has left the country, the Swiss foreign ministry confirmed on Saturday. The vessel is no longer in Nigeria’s exclusive economic zone and is currently en rou...

The Swiss medical regulator has approved the use of Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11. However, the Federal Vaccination Commission has yet to recommend extending the immunisation campaign to this group. “The clinica...