A Swiss-Chinese research team has found new signs that giraffes developed their long necks not to reach high-lying food, but rather to boost their mating chances. Analysis of a 17-million-year-old giraffe-like fossil in the Xinjiang region of north-...

An academic survey has found that homophobia remains rife in Swiss classrooms, the NZZ am Sonntag reported on Sunday. One in four high school students admit to uttering anti-gay slurs or engaging in violence against a presumed homosexual classmate i...

The president of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) says rich industrialised countries and the pharmaceutical industry must prepare for the next pandemic. Critical of vaccine nationalism, Thomas Cuen...

Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has been targeted by hackers, according to media reports. The Basel-based company says no sensitive data has been stolen. Novartis confirmed to Swiss media on Sunday that it had been the victim of a hacking attack...

Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin says it is the responsibility of unions to negotiate a salary raise to cope with rising food prices due to the war in Ukraine. He also expects energy prices to rise further due to new sanctions on Russia. “The...

About 24,000 Swiss people offered to provide housing for Ukrainian refugees after Russia invaded Ukraine. The private hosts could accommodate 57,000 people but most of the rooms, apartments and houses are still empty, according to the Swiss NGO Campa...

Electronic payment systems across a variety of platforms experienced a brief disruption on Saturday. The outages affected banking services and digital payment apps. The services of Swiss bank UBS and Raiffeisen, along with credit card company Visa, ...

A three-day weekend has caused long tailbacks at the Gotthard tunnel in central Switzerland, with a south-bound traffic jam up to 14 kilometres long forming on Saturday morning. In most Swiss cantons, Whit Monday is a public holiday. The Gotthard ro...

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 ...