The Federal Council on Friday re-confirmed neutral Switzerland’s policy of not supplying arms to conflict zones. It had been facing increasing pressure to review its position in light of the war in Ukraine. “The criteria applicable to exports de...

Switzerland’s Federal Court has upheld a ruling that the US ride-hailing firm should be treated as an employer, rejecting Uber’s attempt to overturn a Geneva court’s verdict. “According to the Federal Court, the cantonal court did not rule a...

Four out of five Swiss bathing sites met the most stringent “excellent” European Union water quality standard last year. The country has improved its overall position in a comparison survey, but it still remains below the European average. In a...

The Federal Council has approved a bilateral climate protection accord with Thailand to carry out carbon-offsetting projects in the southeast Asian country. “The agreement creates the framework conditions allowing Switzerland to carry out projects...

An albino Galapagos giant tortoise – the first to be born and kept in captivity – was shown to the press on Friday at a zoo in western Switzerland. It was one of two tortoises born last month at the Tropiquarium in the town of Servion as part of...

The Federal Electricity Commission (ElCom) has warned that households and businesses face much higher prices next year. It added that "uncertainties" regarding electricity supplies this winter persist. The independent regulator said on Thursday that...

The impact of global warming in the Alps can be seen from space, according to Swiss scientists. Vegetation above the tree line has increased in almost 80% of the Alpine area. The most marked change is a pronounced and widespread increase in vegetati...

From theory to practice: after announcing in 2020 that they had developed a machine to repair injured livers and keep them alive outside the body for a week, scientists have now used the technology to save a cancer patient. The Liver4Life multidisci...

The Ukrainian funds available to the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) for 2022 will not affect projects elsewhere, an official said on Thursday. Before the Russian invasion in February, the SDC had earmarked CHF25 million ($26 mill...

Both chambers of parliament have come out in favour of increasing military spending from CHF5.6 billion to CHF7 billion ($5.8 billion to $7.3 billion) by 2030. A Senate decision on Thursday, after the House of Representatives last month, means the a...

Switzerland’s chief EU negotiator Livia Leu has reiterated the country’s desire to move beyond institutional issues and focus on establishing common political ground before negotiations with Brussels can resume. The letter, dated May 30 and leak...

Swiss industrial firm Oerlikon has announced that it will hand over ownership of its business in Russia to local management. In a brief statement released on Thursday, the Oerlikon Group said it had entered into an agreement with the local managemen...

Switzerland’s secret service is facing renewed criticism due to its data collection practices concerning political parties and civil organisations. The Green Party and the non-governmental Public Eye organisation said the Federal Intelligence Serv...

Swiss authorities say they have registered at least 54,000 refugees from Ukraine, but only about 1,000 of them have received a work permit. The State Secretariat for Migration said more than 51,000 of the refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine have bee...

The Swiss authorities have vetoed Denmark's request to send Swiss-made armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) recently rejected Denmark's bid to provide about 20 Piranha III infantry fighting vehic...

China's commerce ministry has denied talks with Switzerland to update a free trade agreement between both countries are "frozen". China's human rights record, in particular the way it treats the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority in its northwest region ...

Parliament has decided to drop minimum prison sentences for excessive speeding on Swiss roads. Under current regulations in force since 2013, convicted offenders have faced at least a 12-month sentence. The Senate on Tuesday followed the House o...

Swiss flavour maker Firmenich and Dutch company Royal DSM have agreed a deal to form a new fragrance giant. The new company is expected to be a leader in nutrition, beauty and wellness products, according to a joint statement published on Tuesday. ...

Compared with nine other European countries, Switzerland remains a high-price island for medicines, according to an annual survey by health insurer body santésuisse and pharma research group Interpharma. The price difference was again most marked f...

Graduates from Switzerland’s two federal institutes of technology are among those from 50 global universities being offered fast-track work visas in Britain. The British government has opened up a “high potential individual” route for the “b...

Swiss police continue their search for the son of an Indonesian island governor, who went missing last week while swimming in the River Aare, near to Bern. Emmeril Mumtadz, 23, was reported missing to canton Bern police on Thursday morning. He is th...

Around 200 Hells Angels and Bandidos motorbike gang members faced off outside a court in the Swiss capital, Bern, on Monday ahead of the start of a month-long trial into a violent clash between the two gangs in 2019. In total, 22 rival gang members ...

Switzerland is considering emergency stockpiling of plastic packaging as the Ukraine war brings a world shortage of packaging material, reports the NZZ am Sonntag. Up to now the government has only stockpiled plastic to be able to produce disinfecta...

The overwhelming majority of products with packaging designed to appeal to children contain too much sugar, salt or fat, report Le Matin Dimanche and SonntagsZeitung newspapers. This is according to a survey conducted around Easter by the consumer o...

Switzerland wants to update its 2014 free trade agreement with China, but Beijing refuses to talk, owing to criticism of its human rights record, report the NZZ am Sonntag and SonntagsBlick newspapers. Bern wants to reduce customs duties for more Sw...

Spring 2022 in Switzerland was one of the warmest on record, with temperatures from March to May around 2.5 degrees above normal, public television weather service SRF Meteo said on Saturday. Only 2007 and 2011 were warmer, since records began in 18...

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet ended a controversial six-day visit to China on Saturday, saying she had held frank talks with Beijing and that it was “not an investigation”. Bachelet, the top official of the UN’s Genev...

The Swiss government is to send two more experts to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, after it opened an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine, reports Swiss public broadcaster RTS. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan opened an ...

Two people have been killed, and nine injured, after a mountaineering group was struck by chunks of ice cascading from a summit in western Switzerland. Police said that a French citizen, aged 40, and a Spaniard, 65, were killed on the Grand Combin m...

Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday adopted a resolution condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its military attacks on healthcare facilities. Out of the 183 members with a right to vote, 88 supported the resolut...