Electricity prices are expected to leap by as much as 20% for many Swiss households and businesses this year, according to a survey of power providers. The ongoing war in Ukraine is expected to heap further pressure on costs, said the Swiss Associat...

Swiss prosecutors have launched a money laundering investigation against a refugee who claims to have made millions from cryptocurrency trading. Dadvan Yousuf, 22, generated media headlines last year with his rags-to-riches story since fleeing to Sw...

Zurich Insurance Group and Julius Bär bank have announced plans to abandon their Moscow offices amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. Zurich said on Friday that it would sell its Russian subsidiary in a management buyout. “Under its new owners, the bu...

Michelle Bachelet will become the first United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit China since 2005 during a six-day official mission that starts on May 23. Bachelet will visit Guangzhou, Kashgar and Urumqi, the capital city of the X...

New regulations for doctors dealing with euthanasia cases have been criticised as too harsh and difficult to implement by assisted suicide organisations. The guidelines agreed yesterday by the Swiss Medical Association notably state that “assisted...

The US ambassador to Switzerland has praised the “immense progress” made by Switzerland in the search for Russian funds in Swiss banks. The United States is very pleased with the efforts Switzerland has made so far to find the funds of Russians ...

Switzerland is re-opening its embassy in Kyiv, with five staff members set to return to the Ukrainian capital, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. The embassy was closed at the end of February, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to fears o...

The Swiss government has proposed letting its spy agency penetrate the country’s famous banking secrecy to snoop on financial transactions that it suspects are funding terrorism, espionage or violent extremism. Unveiling a draft amendment of the i...

The Swiss government wants to finalise the purchase of new US-built fighter jets before March 2023, without waiting for a possible public vote on the issue. The seven-member body said on Wednesday that the “deteriorating security situation” call...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will be among the leaders at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, which starts on Sunday after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 50 heads...

The Swiss government has outlined its plans to boost gas storage capacity in neighbouring countries to secure supplies ahead of winter. Gas makes up roughly 15% of Switzerland’s final energy consumption and is mostly used for heating and cooking. ...

A Paris appeals court has confirmed that the cement firm Lafarge must face charges of complicity in crimes against humanity over alleged payoffs to Islamic State group and other jihadist groups during Syria's civil war. Lafarge is now part of the Swi...

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has filed an indictment against a Swiss woman who attacked two people with a knife in a department store in the Swiss city of Lugano in 2020. The 29-year-old, who lives in canton Ticino in Ita...

Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss has been given a special award for his generosity and support to Swiss science. The 86-year-old business tycoon and philanthropist, who lives in the United States, was awarded the 2022 Gallatin Award by the Swiss-Ame...

Switzerland has moved from third to second in an annual ranking of the worst global tax havens. Overall however, the country is going in the right direction, reports the Tax Justice Network. Despite coming second behind the United States in this yea...

Landlocked Switzerland was home to previously unknown species of dolphins 20 million years ago, new research has found. During this period, part of Switzerland, known as the Upper Marine Molasse, was covered by an ocean teeming with prehistoric fish...

Switzerland has signed an agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) to host a centre of excellence for developing space technology. The European Space Deep-Tech Innovation (ESDI) centre will be set up at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), which...

Switzerland has recorded a significant increase in gold imports from the United Arab Emirates since the introduction of sanctions against Russia. NGO Swissaid calls for more transparency to determine whether this gold is coming from Russia. Swiss go...

The number of hate crimes reported by the LGBT+ helpline rose 50% in 2021. Concerns are high levels of underreporting are renewing calls for a nationwide reporting system for hate crimes. There were 92 reports of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes in 2021 accor...

The Swiss authorities will provide up to CHF250,000 ($250,000) a year to help Sri Lankans who were illegally adopted trace their roots and find their birth families. The government and cantonal funding will support a three-year pilot project by the ...

Private sector automotive, electricity and real estate companies have agreed to back Swiss government plans to ramp up adoption of fully electric and hybrid plug-in vehicles. The public-private initiative aims to increase the share of eco-friendly v...

The French comedian Dieudonné M’bala M’bala has lost his appeal against a 2021 conviction for racist content during performances in Switzerland, which included denying the existence of Nazi gas chambers. A Geneva appeals court has confirmed las...

Voters in Switzerland’s biggest city have decided to introduce an identity card for local residents, including illegal immigrants. In a local referendum on Sunday, 51.7% of voters confirmed a plan for the so-called ‘Züri City Card’. Parliame...

Proponents of youth suffrage in Switzerland have suffered another setback following a vote in canton Zurich. Final results from Sunday show 64.8% of voters rejected a proposal by the Zurich cantonal parliament to introduce the right to vote from the...

Canton Aargau has decided to extend the recall right to members of the government and parliament. An initiative launched in 2019 by the former Conservative Democratic Party (now merged with the Christian Democrats to form The Centre) won 84.3% of vo...

Several thousand people in Switzerland have called for safe bicycle routes as part of international family bike ride events. The week-end of protests began in Basel on Saturday followed by similar activities in seven other Swiss cities and towns as ...

Defence Minister Viola Amherd has held talks with United States government representatives on international security cooperation. Amherd said the Russian invasions of Ukraine made it clear that Switzerland should seek closer cooperation, including t...

Social media account holders are not legally responsible for monitoring comments that others make on their posts, a Swiss court has decided. The verdict came during a test case against former rightwing parliamentarian Yvan Perrin, whose Facebook pos...

Switzerland has already consumed its fair share of the planet’s natural resources for the entire year, according to an NGO that compares the performance of numerous countries. From May 13, Switzerland is taking more biocapacity than planet Earth c...

The Swiss medical regulator Swissmedic has approved Moderna’s Spikevax Covid-19 vaccine for use by children aged 6 to 11 years. The approval is for the vaccine’s two-dose series of 50 micrograms per dose, Moderna added. These are administered at...