Swiss Info

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 15:22:02 GMT
Luca Sabbatucci appointed Italian ambassador to Switzerland
Italy has appointed a new ambassador to Switzerland. Luca Sabbatucci, currently ambassador to international organisations in Paris, succeeds Gian Lorenzo Cornado, who has retired. In a statement released today, parliamentarian Simone Billi, represent...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 15:14:26 GMT
Swiss Arctic rowers set records in extreme conditions
After 33 days at sea, four Swiss rowers are back on solid ground having become the first people to row across the Arctic region unassisted. During their mission, the Arctic Row team braved adverse weather conditions and set new landmarks in the proce...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 14:21:28 GMT
Runaway Swiss wallaby reunited with owner
A wallaby has been captured in central Switzerland and returned to its owner after hopping away from a farm. The newspaper Blick published a short video of the marsupial (originally thought to be a kangaroo) near the edge of a woodland near a youth c...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 14:05:34 GMT
Second Swiss resort suspends summer skiing
Summer skiing in the Swiss Saas-Fee resort is to be suspended from next week following a similar decision in Zermatt. At the end of July, canton Valais resport Zermatt suspended operations due to melting glaciers. + Global consequences of a glacier-f...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 13:41:30 GMT
Swiss army completes firefighting mission in Corsica
The 22 members of the Swiss armed forces, who had been fighting the forest fires in Corsica using three Super Puma helicopters, returned to Switzerland on Friday. Since July 28, they had dropped 452 tonnes of water to extinguish the fires. + How to p...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 11:35:29 GMT
Swiss farmers call for financial support during drought
The Swiss Farmers’ Union is calling on the business community and politicians to help agriculture cope with the drought. A lack of rainfall has resulted in emergency slaughter due to a shortage of feed, a slump in milk production caused by animals ...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 10:19:09 GMT
Kurds sentenced for Swiss riots at Turkish children’s festival
A Swiss court has sentenced 11 men for rioting at a Turkish Children’s Festival in Basel in 2022. The court handed down suspended prison sentences in the majority of cases. Three further defendants were acquitted. With one exception, the 11 men wer...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 10:03:30 GMT
Maize import duties relaxed for Swiss farmers during drought
Swiss farmers will be allowed to import maize for animal feed duty-free from mid-August. The government announced the new measure to support the agricultural sector, which has been hit hard by the ongoing drought. + Sparse rainfall puts Switzerland o...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 09:40:11 GMT
Rockfalls suspend guided climbing tours on Matterhorn
Mountain guides are suspending climbing tours until further notice following a rockfall on the south face of the iconic Swiss mountain Matterhorn. A massive landslide threw up huge clouds of dust and loose boulders at an altitude of 3,900 metres on W...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 08:34:35 GMT
Second date rape case investigated in Swiss canton
A man has been arrested under suspicion of perpetrating serious sexual offenses after drugging several women in a second such case in the Swiss canton of Aargau. Videos show the man performing sexual acts on several women, at least one of whom was un...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 07:19:58 GMT
European wildfires face ‘major insurance gap’: Swiss Re
Swiss reinsurance giant Swiss Re cannot quantify the economic damage caused by the severe forest fires that have ravaged several European countries. However, the company expects that these events will not have a material impact on its financial resul...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 07:11:03 GMT
Pentagon ‘blocked’ critical F-35 fighter jet report
A critical report on the production of F-35 fighter jets has been banned by the Pentagon from publication in the United States, a source within the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) told Swiss public broadcaster RTS. An expert interviewed by ...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 06:23:27 GMT
Italy denied plaintiff status in Crans-Montana fire case
The Valais public prosecutor's office has rejected Italy's request to be a plaintiff in the criminal proceedings related to the fatal New Year’s Eve fire in Crans-Montana. Italy has lodged an appeal on the grounds of suffering "direct harm" by the ...

Fri, 7 Aug 2026 06:06:45 GMT
Switzerland shortlists three films for Oscars
The historical drama A bras-le-corps, the black-and-white philosophical film Cosmos and the documentary about Gaza’s survivors, Qui vit encore, are in the running for Switzerland’s Oscar nomination. The three French language films have been short...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 14:30:30 GMT
Just one-quarter of Swiss believe old-age pension will be secure in 20 years
The Swiss pension system is showing signs of increasing fragility, according to a study published on Thursday by the consultancy firm VermögensZentrum (VZ). Public confidence in the state old-age pension scheme stands at roughly 25%. Expected pensio...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 13:28:00 GMT
Voters rejected population cap initiative over foreign policy fears: survey
The “No to ten million” immigration initiative failed at the ballot box in June due to fears among voters over the potential foreign policy consequences, a new analysis by institute gfs.bern shows. According to survey results published on Thursda...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 12:45:00 GMT
Retailers urge policy relief for bricks-and-mortar shops as online sales boom
Swiss retail sales rose slightly in the first half of 2026. But while online retail continued to grow, parts of the non-food bricks-and-mortar sector saw a decline in turnover. Online retail continued to grow strongly in the first six months of 2026,...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 12:03:00 GMT
'Lex Netflix' generates millions more in investment for Swiss film production
Investment in Swiss film production rose by 25% in 2025 thanks to the implementation of an obligation under the Film Act, dubbed Lex Netflix. Streaming platforms and television broadcasters allocated CHF19.9 million ($24.5 million) to domestic produc...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 11:25:30 GMT
Sextuplets born to a cheetah at Basel Zoo
Six cheetahs have come into the world at Basel Zoo. The sextuplets consist of four males and two females. The cubs are all healthy and have been given names, the zoo announced on Thursday. In the year 2026, newborns at Basel Zoo are being given names...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 10:25:00 GMT
Switzerland unlikely to meet emissions reduction target by 2030: environment minister
Switzerland will find it difficult to meet its 2030 climate target, Environment Minister Albert Rösti said on Thursday. He pointed to budgetary restrictions imposed by the government. As a significant proportion of Switzerland's CO₂ reductions is ...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 09:42:00 GMT
Basel public prosecutor opens criminal case after Legionnaires' disease fatality
The Basel-City Public Prosecutor’s Office has opened criminal proceedings on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with a Legionella outbreak in which one person has died. The public prosecutor’s office in the Swiss city has opened proceedings ...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 09:05:00 GMT
Price for mailing letters in Switzerland to go up in 2027
Swiss Post will raise the price for posting a letter starting in 2027, the country's price watchdog announced on Thursday. Parcel prices, however, will remain unchanged until the end of 2029. The weight categories for letters will also be revised. Th...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 08:20:00 GMT
FIFA leadership backs Infantino amid pressure on his presidency
Following fierce criticism of Gianni Infantino’s plans to sell off stakes in the World Cup, FIFA’s leadership has demonstratively rallied behind their president. The Zurich-based body will not tolerate attacks on its integrity, members of the man...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 07:45:00 GMT
Isabella Rossellini lights up opening of Locarno film fest
The Locarno Film Festival kicked off ten days of cinema on Wednesday, featuring tributes, new discoveries and competition. Italian actress Isabella Rossellini was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the opening ceremony. "This award fills ...

Thu, 6 Aug 2026 07:04:17 GMT
Decorated Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami announces retirement
Lara Gut-Behrami announced on Wednesday that she was retiring with immediate effect. Having suffered a serious knee injury in November 2025, the 35-year-old from canton Ticino in southern Switzerland will not be making a comeback this season. This of...

Wed, 5 Aug 2026 15:16:07 GMT
Two new cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Switzerland
Two new cases linked to a Legionella infection have been reported in Switzerland. According to the health department of canton Basel-City, one of the infected individuals had to be hospitalised. The total number of cases of infection with the Legione...

Wed, 5 Aug 2026 14:31:32 GMT
Swiss canton Graubünden falls victim to cyber attack
The Office for Information Technology in the Swiss canton of Graubünden has detected a cyberattack on one of its SharePoint servers. Initial findings suggest that no data was leaked and no accounts were compromised. On Tuesday, the Federal Office fo...

Wed, 5 Aug 2026 13:52:35 GMT
Batteries keeping pace with Swiss home solar trend
Summer 2026 is shaping up to be one of the hottest ever recorded in Switzerland. These are ideal conditions for driving solar energy production, which is reaching record levels. The related market of home batteries, designed to store photovoltaic ele...

Wed, 5 Aug 2026 10:41:29 GMT
Drought forces cancellation of Swiss rock festival
Organisers have cancelled the Raina Rock open-air music festival in canton Basel Country, Switzerland, due to the ongoing drought. A member of the organising committee told the Keystone-SDA news agency that the event could not go ahead for safety rea...

Wed, 5 Aug 2026 10:05:36 GMT
Swiss Gotthard road tunnel to close for 12 nights in August
The Gotthard road tunnel in southern Switzerland will be closed to traffic for 12 nights between August 10 and 27, 11pm to 5am. The closure for maintenance work will only apply at night time from Monday to Thursday, said the Federal Roads Office. + T...

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