A total of 39,258 refugees from Ukraine have been registered in Switzerland since Russia invaded its neighbour on February 24, according to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). That is 919 more than on Thursday. Of the total so far, 32,208 hav...

Finance authorities in low-tax business location Zug say their investigations have found no individuals or firms on the Swiss/EU Russian sanctions list operating in the canton. After criticism that the region wasn’t doing enough to chase down olig...

CERN, the European Centre for Nuclear Research on the Swiss-French border, on Friday restarted the world’s largest particle accelerator in a bid to find out more about the origins of the universe. The 27-kilometre Large Hadron Collider has been ou...

On Monday May 2 Switzerland will lift all remaining Covid-related entry requirements for travellers entering the country, regardless of their country of origin. As of May 2, the “usual rules” for entering Switzerland will again apply, writes the...

The Swiss authorities are planning to return to a regular reallocation of refugees from Ukraine in a bid to reduce the burden notably for some cities. The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said the aim was to house registered Ukrainian refugees ...

Switzerland and Japan have agreed closer cooperation on research during the visit of President and Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis to the east Asian country. The agreement on joint scientific research projects was signed during a three-day president...

Switzerland is among 33 countries currently participating in an annual international cyber defence exercise designed to simulate a large-scale cyberattack on critical infrastructure. Twenty-four members of Switzerland’s Cyber Battalion 42 are repr...

The contribution of Switzerland’s finance industry to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) has decreased over the past ten years. The share of GDP accounted for by financial and insurance services was 9% last year, down from 10% in 2011, t...

Trade unions say middle- and lower-income workers in Switzerland are facing a “shock” in 2022, with wages unable to offset rising inflation and health insurance costs. With inflation currently over 2% in Switzerland, the cost of living is going ...

A proposed new online voting system in Switzerland still needs technical improvements, according to a report by independent experts. The Federal Chancellery, which oversees e-voting on behalf of the government, said the system being developed by the...

The trend towards digitalisation in Switzerland appears to be stagnating, a survey has found. About 50% of respondents in this year’s poll say they used streaming services, down 10% on last year. “A certain fatigue is evident in the everyday us...

Swiss tourist resorts appear to have coped well despite the Covid pandemic over the winter season. A spokesman for Switzerland Tourism said resorts were running at 85% capacity compared with pre-pandemic figures. “The positive trend continued int...

Switzerland will decide case by case whether to curtail traders' purchases from Russia's state-controlled companies under European Union sanctions. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) which is in charge sanctions confirmed the Swiss po...

The city of Basel is the first to be given the green light by the Swiss authorities to sell cannabis for recreational use. The Federal Office of Public Health said it had approved a request for a pilot on the regulated sale of cannabis through local...

The Swiss justice authorities have opened criminal proceedings in connection with alleged smuggling of gasoil belonging to a Libyan state-owned company. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on Thursday confirmed that it had launched formal inves...

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have met in Tokyo and spoken out in favour of democracy, the rule of law, multilateralism and a rules-based global order following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the...

The traditional Easter march has taken place in the Swiss capital, Bern. This year the “Walk for Peace” focused on issues including the climate and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Up to 1,000 people, waving rainbow-coloured peace flags, gathered b...

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has justified the non-exclusion of Russian and Belarusian officials, saying IOC members are elected as individuals by the IOC and, according to the Olympic Charter, do not represent their country in the body....

The traditional Easter egg mosaic on the Place de la Navigation in Ouchy in Lausanne was pieced together for the 24th and final time on Sunday. In total about a million eggs have been used for 24 mosaics, raising nearly CHF850,000 ($900,000) for char...

The Swiss government has set up a working group to examine whether measures are needed to relieve the burden on households caused by rising energy prices. “[The government] is observing the development very closely in order to clarify whether supp...

Most Swiss want to see closer cooperation with intergovernmental defence alliance NATO, according to a representative survey. However, they do not want to become a member. Against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 35% of respondents su...

Lausanne director Tizian Büchi has won the Grand Prix at the Visions du Réel international film festival for his film L’Îlot (Like an Island). It is the first time a Swiss film has won the main prize in the International Competition since 2013. ...

Switzerland is demanding that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) exclude Russian and Belarusian officials from top positions in international sports federations. The Swiss Minister of Sport, Viola Amherd, sent a letter to IOC President Thoma...

The Alpine nation consumed 2.4 million kilowatt hours (kWh) more electricity in 2021, equivalent to the annual consumption of 479,800 households. “In addition to the pandemic-related 'compensatory effects' in the second quarter, general economic ...

The Swiss medical regulator has approved the Nuvaxovid vaccine for adults making it the fourth Covid-19 vaccine authorised in the country. Swissmedic announced its approval on Wednesday making Nuvaxovid the first protein-based vaccine to be license...

The government has decided to prepare a bail-out plan for Switzerland’s main electricity companies to prevent an energy shortage. The aim is to ensure financial liquidity for companies trading energy on an international scale and to avoid an elect...

Switzerland’s armed forces plan to invest up to CHF2.4 billion ($2.6 billion) over the next few years to boost the country’s cyber defence. Presenting a long-term planning document, Defence Minister Viola Amherd stressed the need to beef up prot...

The Swiss government has adopted a new set of European Union trade and finance sanctions against Russia and Belarus over the war in Ukraine. Economics Minister Guy Parmelin said his ministry also extended travel and financial restrictions on a furth...

A Swiss court has sentenced former Raiffeisen bank chief Pierin Vincenz to almost four years in prison for fraud, forgery of documents and criminal mismanagement. The judge on Wednesday handed down a jail sentence of 45 months as well as a suspended...

After a decade-long investigation, Swiss prosecutors have shelved an inquiry into various high-ranking Egyptians linked to money laundering and organised crime. Some CHF400 million in frozen funds are to be released. The investigation dates from 201...